Repo Setup

Repository Setup

The target repository is already cloned by the container runtime at /workspace/repo. Work directly in that checkout — do not create git worktrees or clone a second copy of the target repo. Each issue/PR gets its own container, so /workspace/repo is already isolated.

Steps

1. Enter the repository and refresh refs:

   cd /workspace/repo
   git fetch --all --prune
   

2. Determine the branch name:

   • New issue: issue-<number>-<slug> (e.g. issue-42-fix-login)
   • Existing PR: get the PR head branch with:

     BRANCH=$(gh pr view <number> --json headRefName --jq .headRefName)
     

   • Operator chat (a New operator chat turn — a repo but no issue/PR): there is nothing to branch from yet. Stay on the default branch for read-only exploration and answering questions. Only create a branch once the operator asks for a change that needs a PR, and name it for the work (e.g. chat-<slug>); don't invent an issue-* branch for a chat.

3. Preserve in-progress follow-up work. If /workspace/repo is already on the intended branch and has uncommitted changes, keep them and skip branch reset/checkout. The previous event may have left in-progress changes that the current follow-up event needs to continue. If there are uncommitted changes on a different branch, stop and inspect before switching — do not risk carrying changes to the wrong branch or discarding work.

   git status --short
   git branch --show-current
   

4. Prepare the branch in /workspace/repo if step 3 did not already find the right branch with in-progress changes:

   • New issue — create or reset the issue branch from the default branch:

     DEFAULT_BRANCH=$(gh repo view --json defaultBranchRef --jq .defaultBranchRef.name)
     git switch -C <branch> "origin/$DEFAULT_BRANCH"
     

   • Existing PR — check out the PR branch:

     gh pr checkout <number>
     

     If gh pr checkout fails, fall back to:

     git fetch origin "$BRANCH:$BRANCH" 2>/dev/null || true
     git switch "$BRANCH"
     git pull --ff-only origin "$BRANCH" 2>/dev/null || true
     

5. Run all subsequent commands from /workspace/repo.

Important

• Never push to or force-push the default branch.
• Never git reset --hard or git clean -fd when there are uncommitted changes unless the situation skill explicitly determines those changes are disposable.
• Multi-repo investigation may clone other repositories under ~/dev/..., but the target repo for this issue/PR stays /workspace/repo.