Orchestra Merge

Merge

Merge a reviewed implementation branch into main. Resolve any conflicts, close the work item, and clean up.

Prerequisites

• Spec status must be reviewed
• impl/{ticket-id} branch must exist
• Review must have produced a PASS verdict

Steps

1. Load the Spec

• Locate the spec from $ARGUMENTS (path or work item name)
• Confirm status: reviewed in the frontmatter — stop if not reviewed
• Note the branch name: impl/{ticket-id}

2. Sync with Main

Ensure main is up to date before merging:

git checkout main
git pull

3. Merge the Branch

git merge impl/{ticket-id} --no-ff -m "feat({ticket-id}): {spec title}"

Use --no-ff to preserve the branch history as a distinct unit of work.

4. Resolve Conflicts If Any

If conflicts arise:

• Read each conflicting file fully before resolving
• Prefer the implementation branch's intent — it was reviewed
• If a conflict involves logic that is genuinely ambiguous, stop and surface it to the user rather than guessing
• After resolving all conflicts, stage and complete the merge:

  git add .
  git commit -m "feat({ticket-id}): merge impl branch, resolve conflicts"
  

5. Mark Closed

Update the spec frontmatter:

status: closed

Commit:

git add .orchestra/work/{id}-{name}/spec.md
git commit -m "chore({ticket-id}): close work item"

6. Delete the Branch

git branch -d impl/{ticket-id}

Only delete after a successful merge — confirm git branch -d (safe delete) not -D (force).

7. Update the Roadmap

Find the row for this milestone in .orchestra/roadmap.md and update its status to Done:

| {Milestone Name} | .orchestra/work/{slug}/prd.md | Done |

Commit alongside any other cleanup:

git add .orchestra/roadmap.md
git commit -m "chore({ticket-id}): update roadmap status to Done"

8. Push to Origin

git push

9. Report

Output a concise summary:

• Merged branch and commit range
• Conflicts resolved (if any) and how
• Work item closed
• Roadmap updated
• Pushed to origin
• Final status: closed

Quality Checks

• Spec status was reviewed before proceeding — not complete or draft
• --no-ff used to preserve branch history
• No conflicts left unresolved
• Branch deleted cleanly with -d (not -D)
• Spec status updated to closed
• Roadmap row updated to Done
• Pushed to origin

Boundaries

• Do not close the branch if the merge failed — leave it for inspection
• Do not skip the status check — merging an unreviewed branch defeats the pipeline