Finishing A Development Branch

Finishing a Development Branch

Overview

Core principle: Verify tests → Detect environment → Present options → Execute choice → Clean up.

Announce at start: "I'm using the finishing-a-development-branch skill to complete this work."

Step 1: Verify Tests

Run the project's full test suite (npm test / cargo test / pytest / go test ./...).

If tests fail, report the failures and stop — the menu comes after a green suite:

Tests failing ( failures). Must fix before completing:

[Show failures]

If tests pass: continue to Step 2.

Step 2: Detect Environment

GIT_DIR=$(cd "$(git rev-parse --git-dir)" 2>/dev/null && pwd -P)
GIT_COMMON=$(cd "$(git rev-parse --git-common-dir)" 2>/dev/null && pwd -P)
# Capture now, while still inside the workspace — Step 5 changes directory
# before cleanup (Step 6) needs this value
WORKTREE_PATH=$(git rev-parse --show-toplevel)

This determines which menu to show and how cleanup works:

| State | Menu | Cleanup | |-------|------|---------| | GIT_DIR == GIT_COMMON (normal repo) | Standard 3 options | No worktree to clean up | | GIT_DIR != GIT_COMMON, named branch | Standard 3 options | Provenance-based (see Step 6) | | GIT_DIR != GIT_COMMON, detached HEAD | Reduced 2 options (no merge) | Externally managed — leave in place |

Step 3: Determine Base Branch

The base branch is whatever this work forked from — usually named in the plan, the conversation, or the branch's upstream. If it is not already known, ask: "This branch split from - is that correct?" Confirm before merging: merging into the wrong base is expensive to undo.

Step 4: Present Options

Normal repo and named-branch worktree — present exactly these 3 options:

Implementation complete. What would you like to do?

1. Merge back to  locally
2. Push and create a Pull Request
3. Keep the branch as-is (I'll handle it later)

Which option?

Detached HEAD — present exactly these 2 options:

Implementation complete. You're on a detached HEAD (externally managed workspace).

1. Push as new branch and create a Pull Request
2. Keep as-is (I'll handle it later)

Which option?

Present the menu exactly as written — concise, with every option coming from the list above. Discarding the work happens only in response to your human partner explicitly asking for it (see "If your human partner asks to discard the work" below). Wait for their answer; the integration decision is theirs.

Step 5: Execute Choice

Option 1: Merge Locally

# Get main repo root for CWD safety
MAIN_ROOT=$(git -C "$(git rev-parse --git-common-dir)/.." rev-parse --show-toplevel)
cd "$MAIN_ROOT"

# Merge first — verify success before removing anything
git checkout 
git pull
git merge 

# Verify tests on merged result

If tests fail on the merged result: stop, leave the worktree and branch in place, and investigate — nothing has been pushed, so the merge is local and recoverable.

Once the merged result is green: clean up the worktree (Step 6), then delete the branch:

git branch -d 

Option 2: Push and Create PR

git push -u origin 
# From a detached HEAD, name the new branch on the remote:
# git push origin HEAD:refs/heads/

Then create the pull/merge request against with the forge's tooling — its CLI if one is available, or the creation URL most forges print when you push — following the repo's PR template and conventions if present, and report the URL to your human partner.

Keep the worktree — your human partner iterates on PR feedback there.

Option 3: Keep As-Is

Report: "Keeping branch . Worktree preserved at ."

If your human partner asks to discard the work

This path exists only as a response to an explicit request to throw the work away. Confirm first:

This will permanently delete:
- Branch 
- All commits: 
- Worktree at 

Type 'discard' to confirm.

Wait for that exact confirmation. When it arrives:

MAIN_ROOT=$(git -C "$(git rev-parse --git-common-dir)/.." rev-parse --show-toplevel)
cd "$MAIN_ROOT"

Then clean up the worktree (Step 6) and force-delete the branch:

git branch -D 

Step 6: Cleanup Workspace

Runs for Option 1 and confirmed discards. Options 2 and 3 always preserve the worktree. Both callers have already changed directory to the main repo root — worktree removal must run from outside the worktree — and use the GIT_DIR/GIT_COMMON/WORKTREE_PATH values captured in Step 2, from before that directory change.

If GIT_DIR == GIT_COMMON: Normal repo, no worktree to clean up. Done.

If WORKTREE_PATH is under .worktrees/ or worktrees/: Superpowers created this worktree — we own cleanup:

git worktree remove "$WORKTREE_PATH"
git worktree prune  # Self-healing: clean up any stale registrations

Otherwise: The host environment owns this workspace — leave it in place. If your platform provides a workspace-exit tool, use it.

Brain Mode

In a Brain vault (a .brain/ directory exists in this directory or an ancestor), this skill closes the artefact lifecycle after Step 6 and before it reports the outcome.

Plan status — read the state, don't guess at provenance. Check the plan's status. If it is still implementing when you finish, set its terminal status before presenting the outcome:

• brain_edit(resource="artefact", path="", operation="edit", frontmatter={"status": "completed"})

(omit body — frontmatter-only change), or "parked" when load-bearing work is still open. This applies whether or not the branch was merged; completed means "execution is finished".

Never move a plan that already reads completed or parked — the executor above you (superpowers-brain:executing-plans, superpowers-brain:subagent-driven-development, or superpowers-brain:subagent-driven-development-light) got there first, and its ruling stands. Setting the same terminal status twice is harmless; leaving a finished plan at implementing because you assumed someone else would do it is the failure this check exists to prevent.

Design status — always yours. No executor covers this. When the plan you just finished was the last plan targeting its design, move that design from active to implemented and record what shipped:

• brain_edit(resource="artefact", path="", operation="edit", frontmatter={"status": "implemented"})
• Update the design body where implementation diverged from it — the design

is the durable record, and a stale one is worse than none.

If other plans still target that design, leave it active and say which plans remain.

Step 6's workspace-exit tool is the platform's own worktree tool where one exists — ExitWorktree in a harness that provides it. Use it instead of cd-ing out and leaving the harness's view of the workspace stale.

Quick Reference

| Option | Merge | Push | Keep Worktree | Cleanup Branch | |--------|-------|------|---------------|----------------| | 1. Merge locally | yes | - | - | yes | | 2. Create PR | - | yes | yes | - | | 3. Keep as-is | - | - | yes | - | | Discard (explicit request only) | - | - | - | yes (force) |

Common Rationalizations

| Excuse | Reality | |--------|---------| | "Tests passed earlier this session" | Run the suite on the tree you are about to integrate. A green run only proves the tree it ran on. | | "They obviously want it merged" | Integration is your human partner's decision. Present the menu and wait. | | "They seem done with this feature — I'll offer to discard it" | The menu is complete as written. Discard happens only when your human partner asks for it in so many words. | | "'Yeah, get rid of it' counts as confirmation" | Only the typed word discard authorizes deletion. | | "The PR is up, so the worktree is clutter now" | PR feedback gets fixed in that worktree. It stays until the work lands. | | "This other worktree looks stale — I'll clean it too" | Clean up only worktrees under .worktrees/ or worktrees/. Everything else belongs to the host. | | "The merged-result failure is probably flaky" | A failing merged result stops everything. Branch and worktree stay put while you investigate. | | "The base branch is obviously main" | Confirm the fork point or ask. Merging into the wrong base is expensive to undo. | | "The push was rejected — force-push will fix it" | A rejected push means the remote moved. Investigate; force-push only on your human partner's explicit request. |

Source & license

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

• Author: Rob-Morris
• Source: Rob-Morris/agent-skills
• License: MIT

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