Git Workflow
Guided workflows for common git operations that benefit from structured steps.
PR Preparation
When preparing a pull request:
- Gather context
- git log main..HEAD --oneline — list all commits on the branch - git diff main...HEAD --stat — see all changed files - git status — check for uncommitted work
- Draft PR content
- Title: under 70 chars, describes the change (not the branch name) - Body: summarise the "why", list key changes, add test plan - Use the commit history to write the summary — don't rely on memory
- Push and create
git push -u origin HEAD gh pr create --title "..." --body "$(cat <<'EOF' ## Summary -... ## Test plan - []... 🤖 Generated with [Claude Code](https://claude.com/claude-code) EOF)" - Verify —
gh pr view --webto open in browser
Branch Cleanup
Clean up merged branches safely:
- Switch to main and pull latest
git checkout main && git pull - List merged branches (excludes main/master/develop)
git branch --merged main | grep -vE '^\*|main|master|develop' - Delete local merged branches
git branch --merged main | grep -vE '^\*|main|master|develop' | xargs -r git branch -d - Prune remote tracking refs
git fetch --prune - List remote branches with no local tracking (optional)
git branch -r --merged origin/main | grep -vE 'main|master|develop|HEAD'
Merge Conflict Resolution
When a PR has conflicts:
- Assess the conflict scope
git fetch origin git merge origin/main --no-commit --no-ff git diff --name-only --diff-filter=U # List conflicted files - For each conflicted file, read the file and resolve:
- Keep both changes if they're in different areas - If architecturally incompatible, prefer the main branch's approach and re-apply the PR's intent on top
- If rebase is cleaner (few commits, no shared history):
git rebase origin/main # Resolve conflicts per commit, then: git rebase --continue - If rebase is messy (many conflicts, architectural divergence):
- Abort: git rebase --abort or git merge --abort - Extract useful code: git show origin/branch:path/to/file > /tmp/extracted.txt - Apply changes manually to main - Close original PR with explanation
- Verify — run tests, check the diff looks right
Monorepo Release Tags
In monorepos, scope tags to the package:
# ❌ Ambiguous in monorepos
git tag v2.1.0
# ✅ Scoped to package
git tag contextbricks-v2.1.0
git push origin contextbricks-v2.1.0Pattern: {package-name}-v{semver}
.gitignore-First Init
When creating a new repo, always create .gitignore BEFORE the first git add:
cat > .gitignore << 'EOF'
node_modules/
.wrangler/
dist/
.dev.vars
*.log
.DS_Store
.env
.env.local
EOF
git init && git add . && git commit -m "Initial commit"If node_modules is already tracked:
git rm -r --cached node_modules/
git commit -m "Remove node_modules from tracking"Private Repo License Audit
Before publishing or sharing a private repo:
gh repo view --json visibility -q '.visibility'If PRIVATE, ensure:
LICENSEcontains proprietary notice (not MIT/Apache)package.jsonhas"license": "UNLICENSED"and"private": true- No
CONTRIBUTING.mdor "contributions welcome" in README