Land Branch

Land Branch Workflow

Use this skill to land a feature branch in one smooth flow.

Note: Steps 1-2 use scripts in ./scripts/ that are pre-allowlisted in settings.json, so they won't require permission prompts.

Prerequisites

• You're on a feature branch (not main)
• All changes are committed
• The feature is ready to merge

Step 1: Verify Branch State

# Use the allowlisted script to verify we're ready to land
./scripts/verify-branch

This script checks:

• You're not on main (need to be on a feature branch)
• No uncommitted changes (commit or stash first)

Recovering from Commits on Main

If you accidentally made commits directly on main instead of a feature branch:

# Check how many commits you're ahead of origin/main
git log --oneline origin/main..HEAD

# Create a new branch with your commits (pick a descriptive name)
git branch my-feature-branch

# Reset main back to match origin/main
git reset --hard origin/main

# Switch to your new branch
git checkout my-feature-branch

# Verify: your commits should now be on the feature branch
git log --oneline -5

Why this works:

• git branch creates a new branch pointing to your current commit
• git reset --hard origin/main moves main back to where it should be
• Your commits are preserved on the new branch

Now continue with the land-branch workflow from Step 2.

Step 2: Pull and Rebase onto Main

# Use the allowlisted script to fetch, rebase, and push
./scripts/rebase-main

This script:

• Detects fork vs direct repo (reads .claude-workspace)
• Fetches latest main from correct remote
• Rebases current branch onto main
• Pushes with --force-with-lease (safe force push)

If rebase has conflicts, resolve them manually, run git rebase --continue, then re-run the script.

Step 2.5: Check for Downstream Dependencies

IMPORTANT: If your changes modified any pattern's input type (the type parameter to pattern<Input>), you MUST check if other patterns import and use that pattern.

# Get list of changed .tsx files
CHANGED_PATTERNS=$(git diff --name-only $MAIN_REMOTE/main...HEAD -- '*.tsx')

if [ -n "$CHANGED_PATTERNS" ]; then
  echo "Changed patterns:"
  echo "$CHANGED_PATTERNS"
  echo ""
  echo "Checking for downstream dependencies..."

  for file in $CHANGED_PATTERNS; do
    # Extract the pattern name from the file path
    PATTERN_NAME=$(basename "$file" .tsx)

    # Search for imports of this pattern in other files
    IMPORTERS=$(grep -l "from.*['\"].*${PATTERN_NAME}['\"]" patterns/**/*.tsx 2>/dev/null | grep -v "$file" || true)

    if [ -n "$IMPORTERS" ]; then
      echo ""
      echo "⚠️  $PATTERN_NAME is imported by:"
      echo "$IMPORTERS"
      echo "   → Check if input type changes require updates to these files!"
    fi
  done
fi

What to check:

• If you changed a pattern's input type (added/removed/renamed fields)
• Find all patterns that import and instantiate that pattern
• Update their instantiation calls to match the new type
• Common case: page-creator.tsx imports many patterns for its launcher buttons

Example: If hotel-membership-extractor.tsx input changes from 10 fields to 3 fields, page-creator.tsx must be updated to only pass the 3 valid fields.

Verify Importing Patterns Deploy Successfully

After updating any importing patterns, you MUST verify they compile and deploy:

# For each pattern that imports the changed pattern, test deployment
# Example: if page-creator.tsx imports hotel-membership-extractor.tsx

cd ../labs && deno task ct charm new \
  --api-url http://localhost:8000 \
  --identity ../labs/claude.key \
  --space testing \
  /path/to/community-patterns/patterns/$USER/page-creator.tsx

Why this matters:

• TypeScript compilation happens at deploy time, not at save time
• A pattern may look fine in your editor but fail to deploy due to type mismatches
• Catching these errors before landing prevents broken patterns on main

If deployment fails:

1. Read the error message (usually shows the exact type mismatch)
2. Fix the instantiation call to match the new input type
3. Re-deploy to verify the fix
4. Commit the fix before proceeding

Step 2.6: Verify Pattern README is Up to Date

IMPORTANT: Before creating a PR, verify that patterns/$GITHUB_USER/README.md is up to date for any patterns touched in this branch.

# Get list of changed pattern files
CHANGED_PATTERNS=$(git diff --name-only $MAIN_REMOTE/main...HEAD -- 'patterns/*/[^W]*.tsx' 'patterns/*/WIP/*.tsx')

if [ -n "$CHANGED_PATTERNS" ]; then
  echo "Patterns changed in this branch:"
  echo "$CHANGED_PATTERNS"
  echo ""
  echo "⚠️  Verify README.md is updated for these patterns!"
fi

For each changed pattern, check:

1. New patterns - Add a complete entry to README.md:

   • Pattern name as heading
   • One-line description
   • "Interesting features" bullet list highlighting notable implementation details
   • Place in correct section (Stable Patterns or WIP Patterns)

2. Significantly modified patterns - Review the existing entry:

   • Does the description still match what the pattern does?
   • Are the "Interesting features" still accurate?
   • Did you add new features worth mentioning?

3. Patterns moved from WIP to root - Update both sections:

   • Remove from WIP Patterns section
   • Add to Stable Patterns section with full description

Example README entry format:

#### `pattern-name.tsx`
One-line description of what this pattern does.

**Interesting features:**
- Notable implementation detail or framework feature used
- Interesting pattern or technique
- Integration with other patterns

If README needs updating:

1. Edit patterns/$GITHUB_USER/README.md to add/update pattern entries
2. Commit the README update
3. Continue with creating the PR

Step 2.7: Verify Pattern Compiles Before PR

CRITICAL: Always verify changed patterns compile before creating a PR. This catches missing imports, type mismatches, and other errors that will fail CI.

# From community-patterns directory, test that a pattern compiles
# Note: Command must be on ONE LINE (multi-line breaks argument parsing)
cd ../labs && deno task ct charm new --identity ../labs/claude.key --api-url http://localhost:8000 --space test-compile ../community-patterns/patterns/$GITHUB_USER/my-pattern.tsx

If compilation succeeds: You'll see a charm ID like baedrei...

If compilation fails: You'll see a CompilerError with the exact file and line:

[ERROR] Cannot find name 'computed'.
1039 |     const notesDiffChunks = computed(() => {
     |                             ^

To fix:

1. Read the error message - it shows the exact file and line
2. Fix the issue (often a missing import like computed, cell, derive)
3. Commit the fix
4. Re-run to verify
5. Continue with creating the PR

Why this matters:

• CI runs typecheck on all PRs - failures will block the merge
• Catching errors locally is faster than waiting for CI
• Common issues: missing imports after adding new framework features

Step 3: Create PR

# Check if PR already exists for this branch
EXISTING_PR=$(gh pr view $CURRENT_BRANCH --json number --jq '.number' 2>/dev/null)

if [ -n "$EXISTING_PR" ]; then
  echo "PR #$EXISTING_PR already exists for this branch"
  PR_NUMBER=$EXISTING_PR
else
  # Create new PR
  # Adjust --repo flag based on fork status
  if [ "$IS_FORK" = "true" ]; then
    gh pr create \
      --repo jkomoros/community-patterns \
      --title "$(git log -1 --format=%s)" \
      --body "$(cat <<'EOF'
## Summary
Auto-generated PR for branch landing.

## Testing
- [x] Tested locally

🤖 Generated with [Claude Code](https://claude.com/claude-code)
EOF
)"
  else
    gh pr create \
      --title "$(git log -1 --format=%s)" \
      --body "$(cat <<'EOF'
## Summary
Auto-generated PR for branch landing.

## Testing
- [x] Tested locally

🤖 Generated with [Claude Code](https://claude.com/claude-code)
EOF
)"
  fi

  # Get the PR number
  PR_NUMBER=$(gh pr view --json number --jq '.number')
fi

echo "PR #$PR_NUMBER ready"

Step 4: Wait for CI and Merge

By default, wait for CI checks to pass before merging.

# Wait for CI then merge (default behavior)
./scripts/land-pr

# Or specify a PR number explicitly
./scripts/land-pr 123

To skip waiting for CI (use with caution):

# Force merge without waiting for CI
./scripts/land-pr --force

# Or with explicit PR number
./scripts/land-pr --force 123

The land-pr script:

• Waits for all CI checks to pass (unless --force is used)
• Merges with rebase strategy
• Deletes the feature branch
• Switches to main and pulls merged changes
• Pushes to origin (for forks)

Complete Flow Using Scripts

All steps use allowlisted scripts that don't require permission prompts:

# Step 1: Verify we're ready
./scripts/verify-branch

# Step 2: Rebase and push
./scripts/rebase-main

# Step 3: Create PR (use gh commands as shown above)

# Step 4: Wait for CI and merge
./scripts/land-pr

# Or force merge without waiting for CI
./scripts/land-pr --force

Important Notes

• Waits for CI by default - ensures checks pass before merging
• Use --force sparingly - only when you're confident CI will pass
• Always uses --rebase for merging (preserves commit history)
• Auto-deletes the branch after successful merge
• Force-with-lease is safe - it only pushes if no one else pushed
• If the PR needs review, stop after Step 3 and wait for approval
• For self-merging (when you have write access), all steps can run automatically
• Always verify README.md is current with pattern changes (Step 2.6)
• Always run typecheck before creating PR to catch CI failures early (Step 2.7)