Merge Protocol

Merge Protocol

Overview

Coordinate the final step of development: moving finished work into the mainline or disposing of it cleanly.

Core principle: Validate first, present choices, execute the selected path, then tidy up.

Announce at start: "I'm using the merge-protocol skill to finalize this work."

Prime Directive

> NO INTEGRATION WITHOUT PASSING TESTS

No exceptions. No workarounds. No shortcuts.

When to Use

• All planned implementation work is done and committed
• The test suite runs green on the current branch
• Review feedback (if solicited) has been resolved
• You are ready to land, shelve, or abandon the branch
• Following delegated-execution or task-runner completion
• When a workspace-isolation branch needs teardown

Cognitive Traps

| Rationalization | Truth | |-----------------|-------| | "Tests were green an hour ago, no need to re-run" | Any commit since then invalidates stale results. Re-verify now. | | "Merging is mechanical — nothing breaks" | Conflicts and integration regressions are real. Test the merged state. | | "I'll remove the worktree tomorrow" | Orphaned worktrees pile up and create confusion. Remove them immediately. | | "Let me just merge — skip the menu" | Always present all four paths. The human picks the workflow. | | "Abandonment is obvious — no confirmation needed" | Destroying work permanently demands explicit typed confirmation. Always. |

The Workflow

Phase 1: Validate the Suite

Run the full test suite before anything else:

# Execute the project's test runner
npm test / cargo test / pytest / go test ./...

On failure:

Suite failures detected ( failing). Resolution required before proceeding:

[Display failing tests]

Integration cannot continue until the suite is green.

Halt here. Do not advance to Phase 2.

On success: Proceed to Phase 2.

Phase 2: Identify the Trunk Branch

# Determine the ancestor branch
git merge-base HEAD main 2>/dev/null || git merge-base HEAD master 2>/dev/null

Or confirm: "This branch diverged from main — correct?"

Phase 3: Offer Integration Paths

Present exactly these four choices:

Work is complete and verified. Select an integration path:

1. Merge into  locally
2. Push and open a Pull Request
3. Leave the branch untouched (I'll handle it myself)
4. Abandon this work entirely

Which path?

Keep it terse — no extra commentary.

Phase 4: Execute the Selected Path

Path 1: Local Merge

# Switch to trunk
git checkout 

# Sync with remote
git pull

# Integrate the feature branch
git merge 

# Validate the merged state

# Remove the merged branch
git branch -d 

Then: Proceed to Phase 5 (Worktree Teardown)

Path 2: Pull Request

# Push the branch upstream
git push -u origin 

# Open the PR
gh pr create --title "" --body "$(cat 

## Verification Steps
- [ ] 
EOF
)"

Then: Proceed to Phase 5 (Worktree Teardown)

Path 3: Defer

Report: "Branch preserved. Worktree remains at ."

Do not tear down the worktree.

Path 4: Abandon

Require explicit confirmation:

Permanent deletion warning:
- Branch 
- All commits: 
- Worktree at 

Type 'abandon' to proceed.

Wait for the exact word.

After confirmation:

git checkout 
git branch -D 

Then: Proceed to Phase 5 (Worktree Teardown)

Phase 5: Worktree Teardown

Applies to Paths 1, 2, and 4:

Detect if the current branch lives in a worktree:

git worktree list | grep $(git branch --show-current)

If so:

git worktree remove 

Path 3: Worktree stays intact.

Decision Matrix

| Path | Merges | Pushes | Keeps Worktree | Removes Branch | |------|--------|--------|----------------|----------------| | 1. Local merge | Yes | No | No | Yes | | 2. Pull request | No | Yes | Yes | No | | 3. Defer | No | No | Yes | No | | 4. Abandon | No | No | No | Yes (force) |

Frequent Errors

Skipping validation

• Consequence: Broken code lands on trunk, failing PR created
• Correction: Always verify the suite before presenting paths

Open-ended prompting

• Consequence: "What now?" leads to ambiguity and stalling
• Correction: Present exactly four structured paths

Premature worktree removal

• Consequence: Destroys workspace needed for PR or deferred work
• Correction: Only tear down worktrees for Paths 1 and 4

Silent abandonment

• Consequence: Work deleted without the human's awareness
• Correction: Require typed "abandon" before any destructive action

Guardrails

Prohibited:

• Proceeding when tests fail
• Merging without validating the integrated result
• Deleting branches without explicit confirmation
• Force-pushing unless the human specifically asks

Mandatory:

• Run suite before presenting paths
• Present exactly four options
• Obtain typed confirmation for Path 4
• Tear down worktree only for Paths 1 and 4

Integration

Invoked by:

• godmode:delegated-execution (final step) — After all delegated tasks finish
• godmode:task-runner (final step) — After all execution batches complete

Complements:

• godmode:workspace-isolation — Tears down the worktree created by that skill

Source & license

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

• Author: NoobyGains
• Source: NoobyGains/godmode
• License: MIT

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