finishing-a-development-branch

The saved excerpt is a snapshot from when this skill was listed. The external source remains the complete and most current version.

---
name: finishing-a-development-branch
description: Use when implementation is complete, all tests pass, and you need to decide how to integrate the work
---

# Finishing a Development Branch

## Overview

**Core principle:** Verify tests → Detect environment → Present options → Execute choice → Clean up.

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

## Step 1: Verify Tests

Run the project's full test suite (`npm test` / `cargo test` / `pytest` / `go test ./...`).

**If tests fail**, report the failures and stop — the menu comes after a green suite:

```
Tests failing (<N> failures). Must fix before completing:

[Show failures]
```

**If tests pass:** continue to Step 2.

## Step 2: Detect Environment

```bash
GIT_DIR=$(cd "$(git rev-parse --git-dir)" 2>/dev/null && pwd -P)
GIT_COMMON=$(cd "$(git rev-parse --git-common-dir)" 2>/dev/null && pwd -P)
# Capture now, while still inside the workspace — Step 5 changes directory
# before cleanup (Step 6) needs this value
WORKTREE_PATH=$(git rev-parse --show-toplevel)
```

This determines which menu to show and how cleanup works:

| State | Menu | Cleanup |
|-------|------|---------|
| `GIT_DIR == GIT_COMMON` (normal repo) | Standard 3 options | No worktree to clean up |
| `GIT_DIR != GIT_COMMON`, named branch | Standard 3 options | Provenance-based (see Step 6) |
| `GIT_DIR != GIT_COMMON`, detached HEAD | Reduced 2 options (no merge) | Externally managed — leave in place |

## Step 3: Determine Base Branch

The base branch is whatever this work forked from — usually named in the
plan, the conversation, or the branch's upstream. If it is not already
known, ask: "This branch split from <your best guess> - is that correct?"
Confirm before merging: merging into the wrong base is expensive to undo.

## Step 4: Present Options

**Normal repo and named-branch worktree — present exactly these 3 options:**

```
Implementation complete. What would you like to do?

1. Merge back to <base-branch> locally
2. Push and create a Pull Request
3. Keep the branch as-is (I'll handle it later)

Which option?
```

**Detached HEAD — present exactly these 2 options:**

```
Implementation complete. You're on a detached HEAD (externally managed workspace).

1. Push as new branch and create a Pull Request
2. Keep as-is (I'll handle it later)

Which option?
```

Present the menu exactly as written — concise, with every option coming
from the list above. Discarding the work happens only in response to your
human partner explicitly asking for it (see "If your human partner asks to
discard the work" below). Wait for their answer; the integration decision
is theirs.

## Step 5: Execute Choice

### Option 1: Merge Locally

```bash
# Get main repo root for CWD safety
MAIN_ROOT=$(git -C "$(git rev-parse --git-common-dir)/.." rev-parse --show-toplevel)
cd "$MAIN_ROOT"

# Merge first — verify success before removing anything
git checkout <base-branch>
git pull
git merge <feature-branch>

# Verify tests on merged result
<test command>
```

If tests fail on the merged result: stop, leave the worktree and branch in
place, and investigate — nothing has been pushed, so the merge is local
and recoverable.

Once the merged result is green: clean up the worktree (Step 6), then
delete the branch:

```bash
git branch -d <feature-branch>
```

### Option 2: Push and Create PR

```bash
git push -u origin <feature-branch>
# From a detached HEAD, name the new branch on the remote:
# git push origin HEAD:refs/heads/<new-branch>
```

Then create the pull/merge request against <base-branch> with the forge's
tooling — its CLI if one is available, or the creation URL most forges
print when you push — following the repo's PR template and conventions if
present, and report the URL to your human partner.

Keep the worktree — your human partner iterates on PR feedback there.

### Option 3: Keep As-Is

Report: "Keeping branch <name>. Worktree preserved at <path>."

### If your human partn