Finishing a Development Branch

Overview

Guide completion of development work by presenting clear options and handling chosen workflow.

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

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

Integration with Other Skills

Before finishing a branch, ensure quality gates are met:

1. Pre-flight review: Run pre-flight-review before finishing to catch:

   • Architecture issues introduced in the branch
   • Security vulnerabilities in new code
   • Scope drift (files changed outside the stated intent)

2. QA pass: Run qa-tester (STANDARD mode) on the feature before declaring it ready. The ship-readiness verdict determines next steps:

   • SHIP: proceed with merge/PR
   • CONDITIONAL: present issues to user, let them decide
   • BLOCKED: fix P0/P1 issues before finishing

3. Safety guard: If merging to main/master or deploying:

   • Activate safety-guard (GUARD mode)
   • CAREFUL warns before destructive git operations (force-push, reset)
   • FREEZE restricts edits to the current branch scope

4. Session retro: After finishing, run session-retro to:

   • Log patterns discovered during development
   • Record decisions made during the branch lifecycle
   • Feed learnings into learnings-keeper for future branches

5. Documentation check: After merging, verify docs are updated. If the project uses auto-documentation, trigger doc refresh.

The Process

Step 1: Verify Tests

Before presenting options, verify tests pass:

# Run project's test suite
npm test / cargo test / pytest / go test ./...

If tests fail:

Tests failing (<N> failures). Must fix before completing:

[Show failures]

Cannot proceed with merge/PR until tests pass.

Stop. Don't proceed to Step 2.

If tests pass: Continue to Step 2.

Step 2: Determine Base Branch

# Try common base branches
git merge-base HEAD main 2>/dev/null || git merge-base HEAD master 2>/dev/null

Or ask: "This branch split from main - is that correct?"

Step 3: Present Options

Present exactly these 4 options:

Implementation complete. What would you like to do?

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

Which option?

Don't add explanation - keep options concise.

Step 4: Execute Choice

Option 1: Merge Locally

# Switch to base branch
git checkout <base-branch>

# Pull latest
git pull

# Merge feature branch
git merge <feature-branch>

# Verify tests on merged result
<test command>

# If tests pass
git branch -d <feature-branch>

Then: Cleanup worktree (Step 5)

Option 2: Push and Create PR

# Push branch
git push -u origin <feature-branch>

# Create PR
gh pr create --title "<title>" --body "$(cat <<'EOF'
## Summary
<2-3 bullets of what changed>

## Test Plan
- [ ] <verification steps>
EOF
)"

Then: Cleanup worktree (Step 5)

Option 3: Keep As-Is

Report: "Keeping branch <name>. Worktree preserved at <path>."

Don't cleanup worktree.

Option 4: Discard

Confirm first:

This will permanently delete:
- Branch <name>
- All commits: <commit-list>
- Worktree at <path>

Type 'discard' to confirm.

Wait for exact confirmation.

If confirmed:

git checkout <base-branch>
git branch -D <feature-branch>

Then: Cleanup worktree (Step 5)

Step 5: Cleanup Worktree

For Options 1, 2, 4:

Check if in worktree:

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

If yes:

git worktree remove <worktree-path>

For Option 3: Keep worktree.

Quick Reference

Option	Merge	Push	Keep Worktree	Cleanup Branch
1. Merge locally	✓	-	-	✓
2. Create PR	-	✓	✓	-
3. Keep as-is	-	-	✓	-
4. Discard	-	-	-	✓ (force)

Common Mistakes

Skipping test verification

• Problem: Merge broken code, create failing PR
• Fix: Always verify tests before offering options

Open-ended questions

• Problem: "What should I do next?" → ambiguous
• Fix: Present exactly 4 structured options

Automatic worktree cleanup

• Problem: Remove worktree when might need it (Option 2, 3)
• Fix: Only cleanup for Options 1 and 4

No confirmation for discard

• Problem: Accidentally delete work
• Fix: Require typed "discard" confirmation

Red Flags

Never:

• Proceed with failing tests
• Merge without verifying tests on result
• Delete work without confirmation
• Force-push without explicit request

Always:

• Verify tests before offering options
• Present exactly 4 options
• Get typed confirmation for Option 4
• Clean up worktree for Options 1 & 4 only

Integration

Called by:

• subagent-driven-development (Step 7) - After all tasks complete
• executing-plans (Step 5) - After all batches complete

Pairs with:

• using-git-worktrees - Cleans up worktree created by that skill