Stacked PRs Workflow

Workflows for managing stacked (dependent) pull requests with proper visualization, merge-based updates, and iterative CodeRabbit review cycles.

Core Principles

No Force Pushes - Always use merge commits, never rebase/force-push
Draft First - PRs start as drafts until CI passes and CodeRabbit approves
Bottom-Up Processing - Address feedback from lowest PR in stack first
Comprehensive Reviews - Address all CodeRabbit comments including nitpicks
Visual Stack - Use PR titles and descriptions to show stack relationships

Skill Contents

Available Resources

📚 references/ - Detailed documentation

🔧 scripts/ - Automation scripts

check stack status

Workflow Overview

Phase	Description	Reference
Creation	Create stacked PRs with proper titles and descriptions	`references/pr-formatting.md`
Updates	Merge changes through the stack (no rebasing)	`references/merge-workflow.md`
Reviews	Process CodeRabbit feedback in cycles	`references/review-cycles.md`
Readiness	Mark ready only after CI + CodeRabbit approval	`references/readiness-checklist.md`

Quick Reference

PR Title Format

[JIRA-KEY] type(scope): description (PR N/M)

Stack Visualization (in PR Description)

## PR Stack

| # | PR | Title | Status |
|---|-----|-------|--------|
| 1 | #78 | PNPM migration | Merged |
| 2 | **#79** | Shell to JS | This PR |
| 3 | #80 | Skills content | Depends on #79 |
| 4 | #81 | Validation & CI | Depends on #80 |

Merge Flow (Not Rebase)

# After fixing issues in PR #79
git checkout feat/pr-80-branch
git merge feat/pr-79-branch --no-edit
git push origin feat/pr-80-branch
# Repeat for subsequent PRs in stack

Scripts

Script	Purpose
`scripts/check-stack-status.ts`	Check CI and CodeRabbit status for all PRs in stack

References

Reference	Content
`references/pr-formatting.md`	PR title and description templates
`references/merge-workflow.md`	How to propagate changes through the stack
`references/review-cycles.md`	Processing CodeRabbit feedback iteratively
`references/readiness-checklist.md`	When to mark PRs ready for review
`references/automation-patterns.md`	Polling loops, callbacks, and autonomous operation

Key Requirement: CodeRabbit Approval

PRs should only be marked "Ready for Review" when:

All CI checks pass
All CodeRabbit comments addressed (including nitpicks)
CodeRabbit has approved (happens automatically after addressing feedback)
All previous PRs in the stack are merged

Important: Do NOT explicitly request CodeRabbit approval. It approves automatically after you've addressed all its comments and pushed fixes.

Programmatic Automation

For autonomous AI agents, use polling loops to monitor status:

async function waitForPRReady(prNumber: number, repo: string, maxAttempts = 30, intervalMs = 60000) {
  for (let attempt = 1; attempt <= maxAttempts; attempt++) {
    const status = await checkPRStatus(prNumber, repo);

    if (status.ciPassed && status.coderabbitApproved && status.openComments === 0) {
      return { ready: true, status };
    }

    console.log(`Attempt ${attempt}/${maxAttempts}: CI=${status.ciPassed}, CR=${status.coderabbitApproved}, Comments=${status.openComments}`);

    if (attempt < maxAttempts) {
      await sleep(intervalMs);
    }
  }
  return { ready: false, reason: 'timeout' };
}

See references/automation-patterns.md for complete polling implementations.

Skill Dependencies

Skill	Purpose
`coderabbit-workflow`	Thread replies, comment export, local CLI reviews
`pr-workflow`	Base PR management patterns

coderabbit-workflow - Detailed CodeRabbit workflow patterns
pr-workflow - GitHub CLI commands for PR management

stacked-prs