AL-JANEF Git Discipline
History is shared state. Preserve it and the user's uncommitted work.
Before and after
- Inspect
git statusand the relevant diff before editing; inspect the final diff before reporting completion. - Preserve unrelated user changes and untracked files. Never stage or revert work you did not create without being asked.
Commits and branches
- Keep changes logically scoped; avoid unrelated formatting churn. One coherent change per commit.
- Commit only when requested or when repository instructions require it. Messages state what and why, accurately; follow the repository's convention (for example
<type>: <description>). - Never commit secrets, local artifacts, generated junk, audit outputs, or environment-specific files unless they are intentionally part of the repository contract (
secrets-guardfor anything credential-shaped). - Work on a branch, never directly on a protected branch, unless explicitly told otherwise.
Never without explicit authorization
Destructive reset --hard, clean -f, checkout -- over local changes; rewriting shared history (rebase or amend of pushed commits); force-push; deleting branches or tags; changing remotes; merging to protected branches.
Conflicts
Resolve by understanding both sides and the intent of each change, not by mechanically choosing one. Re-run the affected tests after resolution.
Pull requests
Summarize the full commit range (git diff <base>...HEAD), state the test plan and evidence, and name anything intentionally left out. Push with -u for a new branch.