Repair and Review Sapling Stacks

Sapling replaces amended commits; descendants restack or orphan on conflicts. Review edits in Smartlog (sl).

Edit a lower commit

1. Run sl and sl status. Confirm @, target, and pending files. Unlike Git's index, sl amend includes all pending changes by default.
2. At stack top, preview with sl absorb --dry-run, then inspect sl absorb targets before confirming. Accept only unambiguous chunks; unmatched changes stay pending. Absorbing can restack descendants and delete empty commits.
3. For a new file or ambiguous change, run sl addremove if needed, then sl amend --to REV with the intended target. Or sl goto REV before amending. Confirm only intended files are pending.
4. Inspect sl after edit. If children are orphaned, run sl restack; resolve conflicts then sl rebase --continue, or sl rebase --abort if unsafe. Verify graph and tests before publishing.

Recover a mistaken edit

• sl undo restores the graph before the last graph operation; sl redo reverses that undo. It does not restore working-copy edits or retract remote publication.
• Use sl unamend on a draft leaf whose predecessor has matching parents; the delta becomes pending. Use sl uncommit on a mistaken draft leaf when no changes are pending.
• Inspect an earlier version with sl log -r "predecessors(REV)", replacing REV with the target; inspect a candidate via sl show before sl unhide.

Choose the GitHub review shape

Use only already-authorized GitHub credentials. Sapling needs a PAT; docs recommend gh auth login --git-protocol https. If absent, ask the owner to configure credentials; never create or broaden them. Check sl ssl and default / default-push. Get owner authorization before remote changes: sl pr submit --stack, sl push --to remote/my-feature, or creating a GitHub PR. Stacked PRs include draft ancestors and all lower commits, so GitHub diffs overlap; use ReviewStack where supported. Branch-based PRs use one branch per review. sl push -f force-updates a branch; require explicit owner approval and follow team policy.

Pitfalls

• Amend changes commit IDs. Follow Smartlog, not stale hashes.
• sl unhide also reveals ancestors. Local undo/hide does not retract a pushed commit or close/update its PR.
• Release 0.2.20260929 asks before goto of an obsolete commit or committing atop one; HGPLAIN=1 retains old script behavior. Don't bypass the interactive prompt.
• For .github/workflows PRs, default gh scopes lack workflow; sl pr submit may create/update the PR, then abort on its archive-branch update. Check GitHub; stop and ask the owner to approve gh auth refresh -s workflow before expanding scope or retrying.

See SOURCES.md for official references, version scope, and validation limits.