Stack Maintenance

Stack Maintenance

Keep stacked GitHub pull requests boring: map the real stack, act from the bottom, verify after every remote action, and rewrite branches only with a lease.

Use this skill for PR chains, dependent branches, branch retargeting, merge queues, stale parent branches, and review/merge triage. Prefer existing stack tools (gh stack, gh pr stack, jj spr) when the repository has them; fall back to plain gh and git only after confirming the tool is unavailable or insufficient.

Rules From Prior Stacked PR Incidents

• Trust fresh GitHub metadata, not memory. Fetch baseRefName, headRefName, mergeStateStatus, mergeable, reviewDecision, checks, and auto-merge state before acting.
• For evidence, compare against the PR head from GitHub (headRefOid or origin/<headRefName> after fetch), not just a local branch; local branches can be stale.
• Stacked PRs usually merge bottom-up. A child can become conflicted after its parent merges; expect to rebase or retarget it before merging.
• mergeable and CLEAN mean mergeable into the current baseRefName, not necessarily into main. Report the base explicitly in triage.
• Do not recommend gh pr merge for a PR whose base is another stack branch unless the intent is to merge into that parent branch; otherwise retarget or wait for the parent to land first.
• gh pr merge --auto --squash can merge immediately for intermediate stack branches. Re-read the PR afterward; do not infer from command text.
• Main may use a merge queue. If GitHub says the merge strategy is controlled by the queue, retry without an explicit strategy, then re-read state, mergedAt, and mergeCommit.
• Do not approve a PR before reviewing its diff and running the relevant local check. "Clean" only means mergeable, not reviewed.
• Use --delete-branch=false for stack branches unless the user explicitly asks to prune. Other PRs may still depend on them.
• Use git push --force-with-lease, never plain force, after rebasing a PR branch.
• Stop before rewriting someone else's branch unless ownership and permission are clear.

Map The Stack First

Start with the current checkout and remote state:

git status --short --branch
git fetch origin --prune

List open PRs with the fields that matter:

gh pr list --state open --limit 100 \
  --json number,title,author,baseRefName,headRefName,isDraft,mergeable,mergeStateStatus,reviewDecision,autoMergeRequest,statusCheckRollup,url

Classify PRs into four buckets:

1. Merge candidates: non-draft, MERGEABLE, CLEAN, no failing checks, not CHANGES_REQUESTED.
2. Review candidates: clean but unapproved; inspect before approving.
3. Stack repair: wrong base, conflicted, stale parent, or child branch blocked by a parent merge.
4. Leave alone: draft, changes requested, branch owned by someone else, or unclear intent.

For a focused PR, inspect the exact relationship:

gh pr view <n> --json number,title,author,baseRefName,headRefName,headRefOid,mergeable,mergeStateStatus,reviewDecision,autoMergeRequest,statusCheckRollup,url

Merge Or Queue Safely

Merge bottom-up. After each merge, re-read the next child because the base may have changed.

For intermediate stack branches:

gh pr merge <n> --auto --squash --delete-branch=false

For a main-branch PR with merge queue behavior:

gh pr merge <n> --auto --delete-branch=false

Verify immediately:

gh pr view <n> --json number,state,mergedAt,mergedBy,mergeCommit,mergeStateStatus,autoMergeRequest,url,title

If the command reports an error that implies a race, stale base, or already-merged PR, re-read the PR before retrying. GitHub may have completed the merge while the CLI reported a confusing GraphQL error.

Review Before Approval

For a clean but unapproved PR:

gh pr diff <n> --name-only
gh pr diff <n> --patch

Run the smallest relevant check in a clean checkout or temporary worktree. Approve only after the diff and check match the intended change:

gh pr review <n> --approve --body "Reviewed diff and validated with <command>."

Then merge or queue it using the rules above.

Repair A Conflicted Child

Prefer stack tooling when available:

gh stack view
gh stack sync
gh stack submit

If using plain Git, repair in a throwaway worktree:

pr=123
base_branch=parent-branch
head_branch=child-branch
git fetch origin "$base_branch" "$head_branch"
tmp=$(mktemp -d "/tmp/pr${pr}.XXXXXX")
git worktree add -B "fix-pr${pr}" "$tmp" "origin/$head_branch"
cd "$tmp"
git rebase "origin/$base_branch"

Resolve conflicts, choosing the final intended content rather than mechanically taking either side:

git status --short
git add <file>
git rebase --continue

Run the relevant check. Push back with a lease:

git push --force-with-lease origin "fix-pr${pr}:$head_branch"

Re-read the PR. Merge only when it returns to MERGEABLE and CLEAN.

Clean temporary worktrees after use:

git worktree remove --force "$tmp"

Retarget Wrong Bases

If the commits are correct but the PR targets the wrong parent:

gh pr edit <n> --base <correct-base-branch>
gh pr view <n> --json number,baseRefName,headRefName,mergeable,mergeStateStatus,url

If retargeting introduces conflicts, repair the branch against the new base before merging.

Done Criteria

• Every acted-on PR has fresh gh pr view evidence after the action.
• Merged PRs show state: MERGED, mergedAt, and a merge commit.
• Queued PRs show auto-merge or merge-queue state expected by the repository.
• Rewritten branches were pushed with --force-with-lease.
• Local temporary worktrees are removed.
• Final report lists merged, queued, repaired, and intentionally skipped PRs separately.