Git & GitHub Workflow

User Confirmation Required

Use AskUserQuestion before these potentially destructive operations:

• Creating commits (git commit)
• Pushing to remote (git push)
• Creating pull requests (gh pr create)
• Merging PRs (gh pr merge)
• Any destructive operation (hard reset, force push, delete branch)

No confirmation needed for read-only or local operations:

• git status, git diff, git log, git branch
• git add (staging)
• git checkout, git switch (switching branches)
• git fetch
• gh pr view, gh pr list, gh issue list

Conventions

Commits

• Messages: 1-2 sentences describing the change
• If many changes, break into multiple atomic commits
• Use imperative mood ("Add feature" not "Added feature")
• Never use --amend unless explicitly requested

Branches

• Simple hyphenated names describing purpose
• Examples: add-user-auth, fix-null-pointer, refactor-api-client

Pull Requests

• Title: concise summary of the change
• Description must include:
  1. What: Simple explanation of changes
  2. Testing: How changes were tested
  3. Deploy: Steps to deploy

Common Workflows

Check repo state

git status
git log --oneline -10
git branch -a

View diffs

Staged changes (ready to commit):

git diff --cached          # full diff
git diff --cached --stat   # summary

Unstaged changes (modified but not staged):

git diff                   # full diff
git diff --stat            # summary

All changes in current branch vs base (for PR context):

git diff main...HEAD --stat   # summary
git diff main...HEAD          # full diff
git log main..HEAD --oneline  # commits that would be in PR

Create a commit

git add <files>
git commit -m "Commit message here."

For multi-line messages:

git commit -m "$(cat <<'EOF'
Short summary of changes.

Additional context if needed.
EOF
)"

Create a branch and PR

git checkout -b descriptive-branch-name
# ... make changes and commits ...
git push -u origin HEAD
gh pr create --title "Title here" --body "$(cat <<'EOF'
## Description

Brief description of changes.

## Testing

How this was tested.

## Deployment

Steps to deploy this change.
EOF
)"

Get PR info

gh pr view --json number -q .number  # get PR number for current branch
gh pr list                            # list open PRs

Review a PR

gh pr view <number>
gh pr diff <number>
gh pr checks <number>
gh api repos/{owner}/{repo}/pulls/<number>/comments  # view PR comments
gh pr review <number> --approve
gh pr review <number> --request-changes --body "Feedback here"

Merge a PR

gh pr merge <number> --squash --delete-branch

Working with issues

gh issue list
gh issue view <number>
gh issue create --title "Title" --body "Description"
gh issue close <number>

Safety Rules

• Never force push to main
• Never use --no-verify unless explicitly requested
• Never amend commits that have been pushed
• Always verify before destructive operations (hard reset, etc.)
• Prefer merge commits over rebases to preserve history
• Flag potential secrets or sensitive files before committing (.env, credentials, API keys)