willakins Simplify Branch History
UTILITY SKILL. INVOKES: git and bundled scripts.
Read Rewrite Playbook.
USE FOR:
- "squash this branch before review"
- "clean up these messy commits"
- "reword or reorder branch commits"
- "simplify this PR branch history"
DO NOT USE FOR:
- Creating ordinary new commits; use
commit. - Resolving active merge conflicts; use
fix-merge-conflicts. - Fixing failing CI or missing CI triggers.
- Rewriting protected branches:
main,master,develop,staging,production, orrelease/*.
Workflow
- Confirm the branch with
git status -sb; stop on protected branches or dirty worktrees. - Run
scripts/inspect_branch_scope.sh [branch] [remote] [base_branch]; stop if no branch-only commits exist. - Run
scripts/create_safety_branch.sh [branch]; stop if it fails. - Rebase onto the chosen base only when needed, resolving conflicts in context.
- Run
scripts/snapshot_branch_diff.sh [branch] [remote] [base_branch]. - Rewrite with interactive rebase, or
git reset --soft <base>plus logical commits when churn is heavy. - Run
scripts/verify_branch_diff.sh [branch], targeted tests, andgit log --oneline <base>..HEAD. - Push with
scripts/force_push_rebased_branch.sh [branch] [remote] [expected_remote_sha]unless local-only.
Safety Rules
- Preserve the final branch diff and never include commits already reachable from the base.
- Use the captured expected remote SHA for the final lease; do not fetch immediately before force-pushing.
- Do not claim success until the diff is verified and the branch is pushed or explicitly left local-only.
Output
Report branch/base, backup branch, old and new commit counts, final commit subjects, validation run, and push status.