inarush0 Git workflow
Andrew delegates all git housekeeping to agents. The goal: he merges a PR, then immediately starts the next task without touching git himself. Never leave the repo in a state that requires manual cleanup.
Invariants
- Never commit to the default branch (
main, or whateverorigin/HEADpoints at). - Never create a branch from a stale base. Always fetch/pull first.
- One unit of work = one branch = one PR.
- Never force-push a branch that has an open PR unless explicitly asked.
- Never merge a PR. That is Andrew's call.
A. Starting new work
Run this before writing any code.
git rev-parse --abbrev-ref HEAD # where am I?
git status --porcelain # uncommitted work?
Decision:
- On a feature branch with commits related to the task → this is resumed work. Go to section B.
- On a feature branch unrelated to the task → start fresh (below).
- On the default branch → start fresh (below).
- Uncommitted changes present → stop and ask before switching branches. Do not stash silently.
Start fresh:
DEFAULT=$(git symbolic-ref --quiet --short refs/remotes/origin/HEAD 2>/dev/null | sed 's|^origin/||')
DEFAULT=${DEFAULT:-main}
git checkout "$DEFAULT"
git pull --ff-only origin "$DEFAULT"
git checkout -b <branch-name>
If git pull --ff-only fails, the local default branch has diverged. Report it
and ask — do not merge or reset without permission.
If refs/remotes/origin/HEAD is missing, repair it once with
git remote set-head origin --auto.
Branch naming
Format: <type>/<issue-number>-<slug>. Omit the issue number when there is no issue.
- Types:
feat,fix,chore,docs,refactor,test,perf. - Slug: 2-5 words, lowercase, hyphenated, from the issue title or the task.
- Examples:
feat/412-oauth-token-refresh,fix/88-null-user-crash,chore/bump-deps.
If the task references an issue, read it first to get the title and acceptance
criteria: gh issue view <N>.
If the task is a bare description with no issue number, check whether one
already exists before inventing a branch:
gh issue list --search "<keywords>" --state open.
Base branch
Default to the repo's default branch. Branch from a long-lived branch instead
when there is evidence for it: the issue is assigned to a milestone/epic branch,
the task says so, or open PRs in the repo target that branch
(gh pr list --json baseRefName). When you pick a non-default base, say so
explicitly in your first message about the branch.
B. Resuming work
When picking up a session that already has a branch:
git log --oneline -10
git status --porcelain
gh pr view --json number,state,baseRefName,isDraft 2>/dev/null
- Keep using the existing branch. Do not create a parallel branch for the same work.
- If a PR is already open, keep pushing to the same branch; the PR updates itself.
- If the branch is far behind its base and that matters,
git fetch origin && git rebase origin/<base>(only if no one else is on the branch), or ask.
C. Committing
- Commit in logical units as you go, not one giant commit at the end.
- Conventional-commit subjects:
feat: add token refresh,fix: handle null user. - Never
git add -Ablindly. Stage the files you actually changed. - Never commit secrets,
.envfiles, or large build artifacts.
D. Completing work
git push -u origin HEAD
gh pr create --base "$DEFAULT" --title "<title>" --body "<body>"
PR body must include:
- A short summary of what changed and why.
Closes #<N>when there's an issue (useRefs #<N>if it shouldn't auto-close).- Test plan: what you ran, what passed.
Open the PR ready for review, not draft. After creating it, report the URL.
Before pushing: run the repo's tests/typecheck/lint if they exist. Do not open a PR on knowingly broken code — if something fails and you can't fix it, say so and ask before opening the PR.
If a PR for the branch already exists, update its body instead of opening a
second one: gh pr edit <N> --body "<body>".
E. When blocked
Ask, don't improvise, when: the working tree is dirty and you'd need to stash;
the base branch has diverged; a push is rejected; there are merge conflicts (use
the resolving-merge-conflicts skill); or the repo has an unfamiliar convention
that contradicts this skill. Repo-level CLAUDE.md/AGENTS.md conventions win
over this skill.