Restack

Manage stacked branches without external tooling. Infers the dependency graph from git history (merge-base ancestry + commit distance) — no metadata files, no init step, no account.

Handles the common stacking pain points:

• Trunk advances → cascade rebases through the stack
• Mid-stack edit → rebase descendants onto the changed branch
• PR lands → detect merged branches, clean up, re-parent descendants
• What's my stack? → show tree structure with per-branch state

Usage

/restack [status | sync | <description of what to do>]

• With no arguments — run status and ask the user what they'd like to do.
• With status — show the current stack state.
• With sync — fetch trunk, detect landed branches, restack.
• With a description — interpret intent and act.

Helper script

This skill includes scripts/restack.py — a deterministic Python helper for graph inference and status detection. Requires Python 3.9+ (stdlib only).

Locate the script relative to this skill file. Invoke as:

python3 <skill-dir>/scripts/restack.py <subcommand> [options]

Subcommands: status, graph, restack, sync, cleanup. Run with --help for full usage. Default output is compact key-value (LLM-friendly). Add --json for structured output.

Branch selection

The script supports three modes for selecting which branches to analyze:

• --branches a,b,c — explicit list
• --prefix paul/ — all branches matching a prefix
• Neither — all local branches with commits ahead of trunk

If the user has a naming convention (e.g., paul/* branches), use --prefix. Otherwise, let it auto-discover.

Instructions

You are managing stacked branches. Follow the steps below. This skill uses incremental discovery — read reference files only when triggered by specific conditions.

Reference files live in references/ adjacent to this skill.

Step 1: Determine Context

1. Check for interrupted operation. Look for branches matching restack/pre-rebase/*. If found, a previous restack was interrupted. Show the user what backups exist and offer to restore or clean up (python3 <script> cleanup).

2. Identify trunk. The script auto-detects main or master. If neither exists, ask the user.

3. Identify branches. If the user specified branches, use those. Otherwise, detect from context:

   • If the user has a branch prefix in their git config or CLAUDE.md, use --prefix
   • Otherwise, let the script auto-discover all local branches ahead of trunk

4. Guard working tree. If there are uncommitted changes:

   git stash push -m "restack: uncommitted changes"
   

Step 2: Assess State

Run the status command:

python3 <script> status [--trunk <trunk>] [--prefix <prefix> | --branches <list>]

This outputs a tree showing each stack with per-branch state:

• ok — branch is based on the current tip of its parent
• needs-restack — parent has moved, branch needs rebasing
• landed — all patches are in trunk (PR was merged)
• orphaned — no detectable parent

Incremental discovery triggers from status output:

• ⚠️ If ambiguous entries appear → read references/ambiguous-graph.md
• ⚠️ If landed branches appear → read references/landed-branch.md
• ⚠️ If orphaned branches appear → ask the user what to do (rebase onto trunk, skip, or specify parent)

If the user ran /restack with no arguments, present this status and ask what they'd like to do.

Step 3: Execute

Based on user intent and status, pick the appropriate flow:

Restack (trunk advanced)

→ Read references/trunk-advance.md for the basic cascade pattern.

Then read the matching topology reference based on the graph structure:

Topology detected	Read this file
Linear stack (A→B, no branching)	trunk-advance.md is sufficient
Three or more branches in a chain (A→B→C→D)	references/deep-chain.md
Multiple branches off the same parent (B,C on A)	references/fan-out.md
Fan-out with depth (A→B,C and C→D→E)	references/deep-fan.md
Fan-out, reconverge, fan-out again (hourglass)	references/fan-deep-fan.md
Multiple independent stacks side by side	references/independent-stacks.md
Mixed (combination of above)	Read ALL applicable files

1. Run the restack command to see the plan:

   python3 <script> restack [--trunk <trunk>] [--branches <list>]
   

   This creates backup refs and outputs the rebase plan.

2. Present the plan to the user. Wait for confirmation.

3. Execute the rebases in topological order (the order from the output):

   • If parent is trunk: git rebase --empty=drop <trunk> <branch>
   • If parent is another stacked branch (strategy: onto-backup): git rebase --empty=drop --onto <parent> restack/pre-rebase/<parent> <branch>
   • The backup ref restack/pre-rebase/<parent> captures the parent's pre-rebase tip — this is the correct --onto cut point.

4. If a rebase conflicts, resolve the conflict, then git rebase --continue. Continue with the next branch in the cascade.

5. After each successful rebase, push with --force-with-lease.

6. After all rebases complete, clean up: python3 <script> cleanup

Mid-stack edit (user amended a branch)

→ Read references/mid-stack-edit.md for the cascade pattern.

The --branch flag restacks only the descendants of the edited branch (not the branch itself, since the user already changed it).

1. Run:

   python3 <script> restack --branch <edited-branch> [--trunk <trunk>]
   

2. The plan output shows the rebase strategy for each branch:

   • Immediate children of the edited branch (strategy: onto-merge-base): Use the merge-base as the cut point, NOT the backup ref. This is because the backup captures the post-edit state:

     git rebase --empty=drop --onto <parent> <merge-base> <child>
     

     Any of the parent's old commits that get replayed are dropped by --empty=drop.
   • Deeper descendants (strategy: onto-backup): Use the normal backup ref approach.

3. Execute in topological order, resolve conflicts, push, clean up.

Sync (fetch trunk + detect landed + restack)

→ Read references/landed-branch.md for landed branch handling.

1. Fetch the remote and update local trunk:

   git fetch origin
   git checkout <trunk> && git merge --ff-only origin/<trunk>
   

2. Run the sync command to analyze:

   python3 <script> sync [--trunk <trunk>] [--branches <list>]
   

3. If landed branches are detected, confirm with the user before deleting them:

   • Delete local: git branch -D <branch>
   • Delete remote: git push origin --delete <branch>
   • ⚠️ If a mid-stack branch landed (not the bottom of the stack) → read references/mid-stack-landing.md

4. After landed branches are cleaned up, re-run status. If remaining branches need restacking, proceed with the restack flow above.

Rebase Strategy Reference

Two --onto strategies depending on context:

Strategy: onto-backup (normal restack — parent was rebased by this operation):

git rebase --empty=drop --onto <parent> restack/pre-rebase/<parent> <child>

The backup ref is the parent's pre-rebase tip. Takes only the child's unique commits.

Strategy: onto-merge-base (mid-stack edit — parent was changed outside this operation):

mb=$(git merge-base <parent> <child>)
git rebase --empty=drop --onto <parent> $mb <child>

Uses the merge-base because the backup ref would capture the post-edit state. Any parent commits that get replayed are dropped as empty.

Without --onto, a plain git rebase <parent> would replay ALL commits from the merge-base, including the parent's old commits that now have new SHAs — causing duplicates and conflicts.

Rules

• Always show the plan before executing rebases. Wait for confirmation unless the user explicitly asked to just do it.
• Use --force-with-lease when pushing rebased branches, never --force.
• Create backups before any rebases. The script handles this via restack/pre-rebase/* refs.
• Clean up after success. Run python3 <script> cleanup to remove backup refs.
• Don't delete landed branches without user confirmation.
• Handle conflicts inline. When a rebase conflicts, resolve it yourself (git rebase --continue), then continue the cascade. Only involve the user if the conflict is genuinely ambiguous.
• Preserve the user's working state. Stash before starting, restore the original branch and pop stash after.