finishing-a-development-branch

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

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:

Step 3: Determine Base Branch

<BASE_BRANCH> comes from the repository's Herdrpowers Configuration section. When it is declared, merge and PR targets are that branch — do not silently retarget main because it exists. Without a declared value, 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 4 options:

Implementation complete. What would you like to do?

1. Merge back to <base-branch> locally
2. Push to origin and create a Pull Request
3. Push to origin only (no PR)
4. Keep the branch as-is (I'll handle it later)

Which option?