# Pr And Branch Hygiene

> Michel's standards for branch naming, commit discipline, and pull-request authoring across all projects. Use whenever the user creates a branch, opens or updates a pull request, prepares a commit, drafts a PR description, or asks how to organize work for review. Triggers on phrases like "open a PR", "push the branch", "create a commit", "draft PR description", "ready for review", "merge this", an…

- **Type:** Skill
- **Install:** `agentstack add skill-m2laborg-agent-skills-pr-and-branch-hygiene`
- **Verified:** Yes — security-reviewed for prompt injection and unsafe behavior
- **Seller:** [M2LabOrg](https://agentstack.voostack.com/s/m2laborg)
- **Installs:** 0
- **Category:** [Cloud & Infrastructure](https://agentstack.voostack.com/c/cloud-infrastructure)
- **Latest version:** 0.1.0
- **License:** MIT
- **Upstream author:** [M2LabOrg](https://github.com/M2LabOrg)
- **Source:** https://github.com/M2LabOrg/agent-skills/tree/main/pr-and-branch-hygiene
- **Website:** https://m2laborg.github.io/agent-skills/

## Install

```sh
agentstack add skill-m2laborg-agent-skills-pr-and-branch-hygiene
```

Requires the [AgentStack CLI](https://agentstack.voostack.com/docs/cli). Works with Claude Code, Cursor, and any MCP-compatible agent.

## About

# Pull Request and Branch Hygiene

Apply consistently for every change that ships through a PR — Azure DevOps (`Azure DevOps`), GitHub (personal `M2LabOrg/*`), or any other host.

## 1. Branch Naming

- **Always** start from a fresh `main`. Never branch off `master` (it's stale or absent on most of Michel's repos).
- Format: `mdsm/`
- Tie to a tracked work item when one exists: `mdsm/-` is also fine (e.g. `mdsm/443029-cross-paragraph-gender`).

```bash
git checkout main && git pull
git checkout -b mdsm/
```

## 2. Commit Discipline

- **Atomic commits.** One logical change per commit. Easier to revert, easier to review.
- **Imperative subject**, max ~72 chars: `"Fix gender enforcement for AWS Translate"` not `"Fixed bug"`.
- **Body when non-trivial**: explain *why*, not *what*. The diff shows what.
- Keep refactors and behavior changes in **separate commits**. Reviewers can ignore the refactor and focus on the behavior diff.
- Never `--force` push a branch under review without coordinating. Use `--force-with-lease` if you must.

## 3. Pre-Push Checklist

Run before every `git push`:

- Lint + format (project-specific; e.g. `python -m manage checks --fix` for ``)
- Unit tests for affected area
- For ``: bump `container.toml` / `layer.toml` version if you touched containers / layers
- Eval suite (when a relevant skill applies, e.g. `eval-development`)
- Verify no secrets, debug prints, or commented-out blocks slipped in: `git diff --staged`

## 4. PR Description Template

Always use this exact structure:

```markdown
## Summary

## Linked work
- PBI: #  (Azure DevOps)
- Issue: #  (GitHub)

## Changes
-   — 
- ...

## Validation
- [ ] Unit tests pass
- [ ] Lint/format clean
- [ ] Local stack run (Docker) — paste eval table or summary
- [ ] DEV deploy verified (if applicable)

## Eval / Results

## Risks / Rollback

## Screenshots / Diagrams

```

## 5. PR Mode

- **Open as Draft** until the eval/validation section is filled and CI is green. Promote to "Ready for review" only when you'd be comfortable merging it yourself.
- Self-review the diff in the PR UI before requesting reviewers — catches roughly half of "obvious" feedback.
- Tag reviewers explicitly. Don't rely on auto-assignment.

## 6. Targeting & Merging

- **Target `main`.** Never `master`.
- Prefer **squash merge** unless commits are individually meaningful and well-crafted.
- Delete the branch after merge.

## 7. Hosts

| Host | Account | URL pattern |
|---|---|---|
| Azure DevOps (work) | Azure DevOps org / MEPS | `https://dev.azure.com/Azure DevOps/_git/` |
| GitHub (personal) | **M2LabOrg** | `https://github.com/M2LabOrg/` |

For personal projects under `M2LabOrg`, mirror the same PR template and discipline. Use GitHub Issues in place of PBIs.

## 8. Updating an Open PR

- Address each review comment with either a code change *or* an inline reply explaining why not.
- Push as **additional commits** during review (don't rebase). Squash at merge time if needed.
- Re-run the eval / validation suite and update the PR description's results section so reviewers don't have to ask.

## 9. Anti-Patterns to Avoid

- "WIP" commits with broken state pushed to a PR branch under review.
- Mega-PRs (>500 lines diff) for non-mechanical changes — split them.
- PR descriptions that say only "see PBI". Reviewers should not have to context-switch.
- Renaming the branch after the PR exists; create a new branch and a new PR instead.

## Source & license

This open-source skill is cataloged on AgentStack and links to its original source — we do not rehost the code.

- **Author:** [M2LabOrg](https://github.com/M2LabOrg)
- **Source:** [M2LabOrg/agent-skills](https://github.com/M2LabOrg/agent-skills)
- **License:** MIT
- **Homepage:** https://m2laborg.github.io/agent-skills/

Install and usage instructions live in the source repository linked above.

## Pricing

- **Free** — Free

## Security capabilities

Automated source analysis of v0.1.0 — what this tool can access:

- **Network access:** no
- **Filesystem access:** no
- **Shell / process execution:** no
- **Environment & secrets:** no
- **Dynamic code execution:** no

*"Yes" means the capability is present in the source — more access means more to trust, not that it is unsafe.*


## Versions

- **0.1.0** — security scan: passed — Imported from the upstream source.

## Links

- Listing page: https://agentstack.voostack.com/l/skill-m2laborg-agent-skills-pr-and-branch-hygiene
- Seller: https://agentstack.voostack.com/s/m2laborg
- Browse the marketplace: https://agentstack.voostack.com/browse

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Listed on AgentStack — the marketplace for AI agent skills and MCP servers. Every listing is security-reviewed. Creators keep 70%.