Git Operations Skill

Purpose

Core git command patterns, branching strategies, and safety protocols for a project.

Current branch: !git branch --show-current 2>/dev/null || true

Branching Convention

Safe Operation Patterns

Before Any Destructive Operation

git status
git stash list
git log --oneline -5
git branch backup/$(date +%s) HEAD

Merge Strategy

git merge --no-commit --no-ff branch_name
git diff --cached --stat
git merge --continue  # or --abort

Conflict Resolution

git diff --name-only --diff-filter=U
git checkout --ours path/to/file    # keep ours
git checkout --theirs path/to/file  # keep theirs

Cherry-Pick

git cherry-pick --no-commit <commit>
git diff --cached --stat
git cherry-pick --continue

Common Error Patterns

Push Operations

Standard Push (after workflow)

# 1. Verify unpushed commits exist
git log --oneline origin/main..HEAD

# 2. Push to remote
git push origin main

# 3. Verify push succeeded
git log --oneline origin/main..HEAD  # should be empty

Push Safety Rules

• NEVER use --force or --force-with-lease without explicit user confirmation
• Always verify unpushed commits BEFORE push
• Always verify push success AFTER push
• If push fails due to divergence, report to user -- do NOT auto-rebase

Finishing Flow

After work is complete on a branch, execute one of these four actions based on context.

Merge to Main

git checkout main
git merge --ff-only <branch>  # try fast-forward first
# if ff fails: git merge --no-ff <branch>
# MANDATORY cleanup -- see Post-Merge Cleanup

Post-Merge Cleanup (MANDATORY final step of every merge)

Applies to ff, --no-ff, and squash merges (PR merged via gh/Gitea too). Squash merges are invisible to git branch --merged.

# from the main checkout, never from inside the worktree
git -C <worktree> status --porcelain --untracked-files=no   # must be empty
git worktree remove <worktree>        # --force only for untracked build output (node_modules)
git branch -D <branch>
git worktree prune

• Uncommitted tracked changes -> REFUSE, keep worktree + branch, report the files.
• Never delete remote branches here. Never touch the main checkout.
• Put the result in the final report (Worktree Cleanup table).
• Stale leftovers: /worktree-gc (dry run by default).

Create PR

git push -u origin <branch>
gh pr create --title "<title>" --body "<body>"
# keep branch and worktree

Keep Branch

# no action needed -- branch stays as-is
git push -u origin <branch>  # optional: push to remote for safety

Discard Branch

git checkout main
git worktree remove .scaffolding/worktrees/<task_id> 2>/dev/null
git branch -D <branch>
git worktree prune