Git Workflow Skill

Expert patterns for Git version control: branching, commits, collaboration, and CI/CD.

Critical Rules (Non-Negotiable)

1. No direct push to main — always open a PR.
2. No merge before all review threads are resolved — run the merge gate in references/pull-request-workflow.md.
3. No squash unless user asked — atomic commits preserved; keeps GPG signatures and bisection.
4. No "tested/verified/working" without pasted command output — if you cannot run the check, say so.
5. No edits to installed skill/plugin cache paths (~/.claude/skills/, ~/.claude/plugins/cache/, **/.bare/**) — always the repo worktree. Verify pwd first.
6. Force-push only with --force-with-lease — never plain --force.

See references/pull-request-workflow.md for the merge-gate command, atomic-commit guidance, and review-thread SHA-citation pattern.

Reference Files

Load references on demand based on the task at hand:

Reference	Content Triggers
references/branching-strategies.md	Branching model, Git Flow, GitHub Flow, trunk-based, branch protection
references/commit-conventions.md	Commit messages, conventional commits, semantic versioning, commitlint
references/pull-request-workflow.md	PR create/review/merge, thread resolution, merge strategies, CODEOWNERS, signed commits + rebase
references/ci-cd-integration.md	GitHub Actions, GitLab CI, semantic release, deployment
references/advanced-git.md	Rebase, cherry-pick, bisect, stash, worktrees, reflog, submodules, recovery
references/github-releases.md	Release management, immutable releases, --latest=false, multi-branch
references/git-hooks-setup.md	Hook frameworks, detection, recommended hooks per stage
references/claude-code-hooks.md	Claude Code settings.json hooks — merge gate, cache-path rejection, auto-lint
references/code-quality-tools.md	shellcheck, shfmt, git-absorb, difftastic

Conventional Commits

<type>[scope]: <description>

Types: feat (MINOR), fix (PATCH), docs, style, refactor, perf, test, build, ci, chore, revert

Breaking change: Add ! after type or BREAKING CHANGE: in footer.

Branch Naming

feature/TICKET-123-description
fix/TICKET-456-bug-name
release/1.2.0
hotfix/1.2.1-security-patch

Hook Detection

Before first commit, detect and install hooks:

ls lefthook.yml .lefthook.yml captainhook.json .pre-commit-config.yaml .husky/pre-commit 2>/dev/null || echo "No hooks"

Install: lefthook.yml -> lefthook install | captainhook.json -> composer install | .husky/ -> npm install | .pre-commit-config.yaml -> pre-commit install

Critical Release Rules

1. Immutable releases: Deleted releases permanently block tag reuse; bump version instead.
2. Multi-branch releases: Use --latest=false from non-default branches.
3. Pre-release: Version bumped, CI green, CHANGELOG updated, git pull BEFORE gh release create.

PR Merge Requirements

Before merging: all threads resolved, CI checks green (including annotations), branch rebased, commits signed (if required). For signed commits + rebase-only repos, use local git merge --ff-only.

Verification

./scripts/verify-git-workflow.sh /path/to/repository

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Contributing: https://github.com/netresearch/git-workflow-skill