gc — Git Catch-Up

Local checkouts drift behind the remote. Never claim something is missing, unmerged, or stale from a checkout you haven't synced. Fetch first, then judge.

The routine

1. Fetch everything:

   git fetch --all --prune

2. See where you stand vs. the remote default branch:

   git status -sb                    # ahead/behind for the current branch
   git log --oneline origin/main -5  # what's actually on the remote

3. Reconcile:
   • Behind, clean tree → git pull --ff-only (or rebase your branch onto origin/main).
   • Local changes → stash or commit to your ticket branch first, then update.
   • "Missing" code → check origin/main and other branches before concluding it's gone; it usually landed on a branch your checkout hadn't fetched.
4. Prune what's dead: deleted-on-remote branches are cleaned by --prune; drop merged local branches (see worktree-cleanup).

Why this is a discipline, not a nicety

A checkout that's a few commits behind will confidently report already-merged work as "unmerged" and already-fixed bugs as "still broken." Audits, status reports, and "is this done?" answers must be made against the remote, not against a stale local main. When in doubt: git fetch before you assert.