finish-branch

Bring a finished branch to a clean conclusion: confirm the work actually passes, figure out what kind of workspace you're in, offer the user a small set of concrete options, and carry out their choice without losing anything. The shape is always the same: verify, detect, present, execute, clean up.

Step 1: Verify tests before offering anything

Run the project's full test suite (npm test / cargo test / pytest / go test ./... as appropriate). If anything fails, stop here: show the failures and say the work can't be merged or turned into a PR until they pass. Don't present the options menu over a red suite. (The verify-completion skill is the standard: run it, read the output, then proceed.)

Step 2: Detect the workspace state

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)

• GIT_DIR == GIT_COMMON: a normal repo checkout; no worktree to clean up.
• GIT_DIR != GIT_COMMON, on a named branch: a linked worktree; cleanup depends on who created it (Step 5).
• GIT_DIR != GIT_COMMON, detached HEAD, externally managed; offer the reduced menu and don't clean up.

Also determine the base branch the work split from:

git merge-base HEAD main 2>/dev/null || git merge-base HEAD master 2>/dev/null

If it's ambiguous, ask: "This branch came off main: correct?"

Step 3: Present the options

For a normal repo or a named-branch worktree, present exactly these four, with no extra explanation:

Implementation complete. What would you like to do?

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

Which option?

For a detached HEAD, present the reduced three (no local merge): push as a new branch and open a PR / keep as-is / discard.

Step 4: Execute the choice

1. Merge locally. From the main repo root (not inside the worktree), check out the base, pull, and merge the feature branch. Re-run the tests on the merged result. Only after the merge succeeds and tests pass: clean up the worktree (Step 5), then git branch -d <feature>.

2. Push and open a PR. git push -u origin <feature>, then gh pr create with a short summary and a test-plan checklist. Do not clean up the worktree: the user needs it alive to act on PR feedback.

3. Keep as-is. Report the branch name and, if applicable, the preserved worktree path. No cleanup.

4. Discard. Confirm first, listing exactly what will be permanently deleted (branch, its commits, the worktree path), and require the user to type discard before doing anything. Only then, from the main repo root, clean up the worktree (Step 5) and git branch -D <feature>.

Step 5: Clean up the workspace (options 1 and 4 only)

Options 2 and 3 always preserve the worktree. For 1 and 4:

WORKTREE_PATH=$(git rev-parse --show-toplevel)

• If GIT_DIR == GIT_COMMON, it's a normal repo, nothing to remove.
• If the worktree lives under .worktrees/ or worktrees/ (i.e. something this workflow created), you own its cleanup. From the main repo root: git worktree remove "$WORKTREE_PATH" then git worktree prune.
• Otherwise the harness owns the workspace, don't remove it. If your platform has a workspace-exit tool, use it; otherwise leave it in place.

Always cd to the main repo root before git worktree remove, running it from inside the worktree being removed fails. And always remove the worktree before deleting the branch, since the worktree still references it.

Red flags

• Presenting options over failing tests, or merging without re-verifying tests on the merged result.
• Deleting work without a typed confirmation, or force-pushing without an explicit request.
• Cleaning up the worktree for option 2 (the user still needs it).
• Removing a worktree you didn't create, or running git worktree remove from inside it.
• Deleting the branch before removing its worktree.

Attribution

Adapted from the finishing-a-development-branch entry of superpowers by Jesse Vincent (MIT). The structure and the core rules are theirs; the wording, the examples, and the integration with this registry's other items are this repository's.