Finishing a Development Branch

Prerequisites

Overview

Verify technical checks and requirement closure first, then present integration options.

Announce at start: "I'm using the finishing-a-development-branch skill to complete this work."

Step 1: Verify Tests

Run project test suite. If failing, stop and fix.

Step 2: Verify Requirement Closure

Confirm from plan artifacts:

• 04-verification.md is updated
• unmapped_req = 0
• open_cr = 0
• open_dr = 0
• pending_recheck = 0

If any check fails, stop. Do not offer merge/PR/discard options.

Step 3: Write Risk Map

Write docs/plans/YYYY-MM-DD-<feature-name>/97-risk-map.md (create the file; skip if no plan folder exists for this work).

Template:

# Risk Map: <feature-name>

## Untested Scenarios
<!-- Edge cases and boundary conditions not covered by tests -->
-

## Implementation Assumptions
<!-- Things assumed to be true that were not verified -->
-

## Fragile Areas
<!-- Components or interactions that were tricky to implement or felt unstable -->
-

## Intentionally Deferred
<!-- What was consciously left out of scope -->
-

Fill each section honestly. Empty sections are allowed but must be left blank intentionally, not skipped.

Step 4: Security Review (Conditional)

If the implementation touches any of the following, invoke agent-workflow:security-review before proceeding:

• API endpoints or HTTP handlers
• Authentication / authorization logic
• User input processing
• Sensitive data (tokens, passwords, PII)
• File upload or external service calls

If none of the above apply, skip this step.

Step 5: Verify Commit-msg Hook

Run:

git config core.hookspath

• If a path is returned and the hook file exists → proceed.

• If not configured → stop and prompt the user:

  This project has no commit-msg hook. The agent-workflow repo provides one that enforces conventional commit format.

  Options:

  1. Copy .githooks/ into this project and configure: git config core.hookspath .githooks
  2. Point to agent-workflow hooks directly: git config core.hookspath <agent-workflow-path>/.githooks
  3. Skip — proceed without hook

  Which do you prefer?

  Execute the user's choice before continuing. If option 3, still enforce single-line conventional commit format manually.

Step 6: Determine Base Branch

Find base (main/master) via git merge-base and confirm if needed.

Step 7: Present Options

Present exactly:

1. Merge back to <base-branch> locally
2. Push and create a Pull Request
3. Keep the branch as-is (handle later)
4. Discard this work

Step 8: Execute Choice

Option 1: Merge Locally

• Checkout base branch
• Pull latest
• Merge feature branch
• Re-run tests on merged result
• Delete feature branch if tests pass

Option 2: Push and Create PR

• Push feature branch
• Create PR with summary and test plan

Option 3: Keep As-Is

• Report branch preserved
• No action

Option 4: Discard

• Require exact typed confirmation: discard
• Delete feature branch

Red Flags

Never:

• Proceed with failing tests
• Proceed with open requirement closure gates
• Delete work without explicit confirmation
• Force-push without explicit request

Integration

Called by:

• agent-workflow:subagent-driven-development
• agent-workflow:executing-plans