Git Workflow

Git operations assistant. Lightweight, high-frequency tool for commit messages, PR descriptions, branch strategy, conflict resolution, code archaeology, and bisect debugging.

Scope: Git workflow operations only. NOT for code review (honest-review), CI/CD pipelines (devops-engineer), changelogs or release notes (changelog-writer), or writing application code.

Dispatch

$ARGUMENTS	Mode
commit	Generate conventional commit message from staged diff
pr	Generate PR description from branch diff
strategy	Recommend branch strategy for project
conflict	Guide merge conflict resolution
archaeology <file or function>	Analyze git history for code understanding
bisect	Assist with git bisect to find regression commits
Empty	Show mode menu with examples

Canonical Vocabulary

Use these terms exactly throughout all modes:

Term	Definition
conventional commit	Structured commit format: type(scope): subject per Conventional Commits 1.0
commit type	One of: feat, fix, docs, style, refactor, perf, test, build, ci, chore, revert
breaking change	Commit with ! suffix or BREAKING CHANGE: footer requiring major version bump
scope	Optional parenthesized component name after type: feat(auth): ...
trunk-based	Strategy where all developers commit to main/trunk with short-lived feature branches
git-flow	Strategy with develop, feature, release, and hotfix branches
github-flow	Simplified strategy: main + feature branches with PR-based merging
conflict marker	Git-inserted <<<<<<<, =======, >>>>>>> delimiters in conflicted files
blame	git blame annotation showing last modifier per line
archaeology	Using git history commands to understand why code exists
bisect	Binary search through commits to find the one introducing a bug
good/bad commit	Bisect terminology: good = before bug, bad = after bug

Mode 1: Commit

Generate a conventional commit message from the current staged diff.

Commit Steps

1. Run git diff --cached to get staged changes
2. If nothing staged, run git diff and report: "No staged changes. Stage files first with git add."
3. Run uv run python skills/git-workflow/scripts/diff-summarizer.py on the diff output
4. Analyze the diff to determine:
   • Type: feat/fix/docs/style/refactor/perf/test/build/ci/chore/revert
   • Scope: affected component (from file paths, module names)
   • Subject: imperative, lowercase, no period, max 72 chars
   • Body: what changed and why (wrap at 72 chars)
   • Breaking: whether BREAKING CHANGE: footer is needed
5. Reference data/conventional-commits.json rules for type selection
6. Present the commit message. Ask: "Commit with this message? [yes / edit / cancel]"
7. If approved, run git commit -m "$(cat <<'EOF'\n<message>\nEOF\n)"

Mode 2: PR

Generate a PR description from the branch diff against the base branch.

PR Steps

1. Detect base branch: git symbolic-ref refs/remotes/origin/HEAD 2>/dev/null | sed 's@refs/remotes/origin/@@' (fallback: main)
2. Run git log --oneline <base>..HEAD to list commits
3. Run uv run python skills/git-workflow/scripts/commit-parser.py on git log output
4. Run git diff <base>...HEAD --stat for change statistics
5. Run uv run python skills/git-workflow/scripts/diff-summarizer.py on the diff stat
6. Generate PR description with:
   • Title: short summary under 70 chars
   • Summary: 1-3 bullet points of what changed
   • Changes: grouped by commit type from parsed commits
   • Test plan: checklist of verification steps
   • Breaking changes: if any commits have breaking changes
7. Present the description. Ask: "Create PR with this? [yes / edit / skip]"

Mode 3: Strategy

Recommend a branch strategy for the project.

Strategy Steps

1. Analyze the repository:
   • Team size: check git shortlog -sn --all | wc -l
   • Release cadence: check tags with git tag -l --sort=-creatordate | head -20
   • Branch count: git branch -r | wc -l
   • CI/CD presence: check for .github/workflows/, Jenkinsfile, .gitlab-ci.yml
2. Reference data/branch-strategies.json for strategy comparison
3. Score each strategy against the project profile
4. Present recommendation with:
   • Recommended strategy and why
   • Comparison table showing trade-offs
   • Migration steps if switching from current approach
   • Team size and release cadence alignment

Mode 4: Conflict

Guide merge conflict resolution.

Conflict Steps

1. Run git diff --name-only --diff-filter=U to list conflicted files
2. If no conflicts: "No merge conflicts detected."
3. For each conflicted file:
   • Read the file to identify conflict markers
   • Analyze both sides (ours vs theirs)
   • Check git log --merge -p -- <file> for context on diverging changes
   • Determine the intent of each side
4. Present resolution guidance per file:
   • What each side changed and why
   • Recommended resolution (keep ours / keep theirs / merge both / rewrite)
   • The resolved content
5. Ask: "Apply this resolution? [yes / edit / skip per file]"
6. After resolving: remind to git add <files> and continue the merge/rebase

Mode 5: Archaeology

Analyze git history to understand why code exists and how it evolved.

Archaeology Steps

1. Parse $ARGUMENTS[1] as a file path or function name
2. For file paths:
   • git log --follow --oneline -- <file> for full history
   • git log --follow --diff-filter=A -- <file> for creation commit
   • git blame <file> for line-by-line attribution
3. For function names:
   • git log -p --all -S '<function>' -- '*.py' '*.js' '*.ts' (pickaxe search)
   • git log -L :<function>:<file> if file is known (function-level log)
4. Analyze the history to answer:
   • When was this code introduced and by whom?
   • What was the original intent? (from commit messages)
   • How has it evolved? (key modification commits)
   • Are there related changes in other files?
5. Present a narrative timeline with key commits and their context

Mode 6: Bisect

Assist with git bisect to find the commit that introduced a regression.

Bisect Steps

1. Ask for (if not provided):
   • Bad commit: where the bug exists (default: HEAD)
   • Good commit: where the bug did not exist
   • Test command: how to verify (optional, for git bisect run)
2. Start bisect: git bisect start <bad> <good>
3. If test command provided:
   • Run git bisect run <command>
   • Parse output for the first bad commit
4. If manual:
   • At each step, explain the current commit context
   • Ask: "Is this commit good or bad?"
   • Run git bisect good or git bisect bad
5. When bisect identifies the commit:
   • Show the full commit with git show <hash>
   • Explain what the commit changed
   • Suggest investigation areas
6. Clean up: git bisect reset

Reference Files

Load ONE reference at a time. Do not preload all references into context.

File	Content	Load When
references/commit-and-pr-guide.md	Conventional commit patterns, PR templates, diff analysis	commit or pr mode
references/branch-strategies.md	Strategy comparison, migration paths, team sizing	strategy mode
references/history-and-debugging.md	Conflict resolution, archaeology techniques, bisect patterns	conflict, archaeology, or bisect mode

Data File	Content	Load When
data/conventional-commits.json	Full spec as structured data with type definitions	commit mode (script input)
data/branch-strategies.json	Strategy comparison with pros/cons/team size	strategy mode (script input)

Script	When to Run
scripts/commit-parser.py	pr mode -- parse git log into structured JSON
scripts/diff-summarizer.py	commit or pr mode -- summarize diff statistics

Critical Rules

1. Never commit without user approval -- always present the message first
2. Never force-push, reset --hard, or run destructive git commands
3. Always use conventional commit format per the spec in data/conventional-commits.json
4. Commit subjects must be imperative, lowercase, no period, max 72 chars
5. PR descriptions must link changes to evidence from the diff
6. Never skip git bisect reset after a bisect session
7. Archaeology mode is read-only -- never modify code or history
8. Conflict resolution must explain both sides before recommending
9. Branch strategy must consider actual team size and release cadence, not ideals
10. Scripts output JSON to stdout -- parse programmatically, never regex
11. Stage-before-commit: if diff --cached is empty, do not fabricate a commit message
12. Do not generate changelogs or release notes -- redirect to changelog-writer