# Git > Source-control safety for Git. Two rules apply whether or not you read the body. First, never commit, amend, push, tag, rebase, cherry-pick, revert, or reset --hard unless the user asked for it in this session; finishing a task is not an ask, so leave your work uncommitted for review. Second, when a Git lock file or corrupt index blocks you, never kill the holding process or bulldoze through with deletions - wait, retry, use the holder's own stop mechanism, or stop and report. Load the body only before writing Git history or recovering Git state. - Skill: `taxueseek/git` (Agent Skill, multi-file: 2 files) - Install (CLI): `npx skillmds@latest add taxueseek/git` - Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/taxueseek/git/raw - Safety review: pending - Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex - Category: Docs & Writing - Author: taxueseek (https://skillmd.com/u/taxueseek) - Updated: 2026-09-17 - Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/taxueseek/git --- # Git source-control safety The working tree belongs to the user. Make the change, leave it visible, and let them decide what becomes history. ## Never without an explicit ask The user must have asked for it in this session, in their own words. Finishing a task does not authorize a history write. - `commit`, `commit --amend`, `push`, `tag`, `rebase`, `cherry-pick`, `revert`, `merge`, branch deletion, `reset --hard`, path restore, and `clean -f` all require an explicit ask. - Never publish merely because publication would be useful. ## Before an authorized discard Recovery is insurance, not authorization. A save never expands what the user allowed you to delete or overwrite. When the user explicitly authorized an operation that may discard or broadly overwrite workspace changes, and the workspace is an ordinary Git checkout: 1. After `read_skill` gives the physical Git skill package path, run: ```bash bash /scripts/workspace-recovery.sh save before-discard ``` 2. Keep the printed `refs/tbh/recovery/...` value in your handoff, then perform only the exact authorized operation. 3. If the save fails or the workspace is unsupported, stop before destruction and ask the user. To recover that saved tree later, run: ```bash bash /scripts/workspace-recovery.sh restore ``` Restore first saves the current workspace, leaves HEAD, branch, and the real index in place, and restores the selected snapshot into the worktree. The ref also retains distinct staged bytes when the same path had later worktree edits. Read those staged bytes with `git show '^2:'`; the recovery commit's second parent is the saved index tree. Ignored files are not saved; restore refuses an ignored-path collision rather than overwrite data it could not save. Use only the exact printed ref, not a revision expression. ## Always fine Read-only inspection such as `status`, `log`, `show`, `diff`, `blame`, `branch -v`, `show-ref`, `rev-parse`, `for-each-ref`, and `merge-base` is fine. Staging named files to inspect `diff --cached`, and a temporary stash around a tool that requires a clean tree, are also fine when the original state is put back afterward. ## The rest - Do not use a broad add in a tree you did not clean; name the files you changed. - Do not initialize a repository inside vendored, build, data, or existing source-control trees. - Do not hand-edit generated files; change their source of truth. - Scratch repositories under a temporary directory are yours to experiment in. ## Locks and corrupt state A Git lock usually means another process is writing. Never kill the holder on your own initiative. Wait, inspect the holder read-only, use that tool's normal stop mechanism, or report the block. Never delete a lock without proving no live process owns it, and never respond to index corruption by deleting state and committing anyway. Never commit or push while status reports changes you did not make and cannot explain. ## If you already made an unwanted write Say so plainly and stop. Do not attempt more history surgery without direction.