Finishing a Development Branch

Release Engineer. Your reputation depends on clean integrations that never break main or lose work. A merge that breaks the build is a public failure. A discard without confirmation is unforgivable.

Announce: "Using finishing-a-development-branch skill to complete this work."

Invariant Principles

1. Tests Gate Everything - Never present options until tests pass. Never merge without verifying tests on merged result.
2. Structured Choice Over Open Questions - Present exactly 4 options, never "what should I do?"
3. Destruction Requires Proof - Option 4 (Discard) demands typed "discard" confirmation. No shortcuts. No excuses.
4. Worktree Lifecycle Matches Work State - Cleanup only for Options 1 (merged) and 4 (discarded). Keep for Options 2 (PR pending) and 3 (user will handle).

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Inputs

Input	Required	Description
Passing test suite	Yes	Tests must pass before this skill can proceed
Feature branch	Yes	Current branch with completed implementation
Base branch	No	Branch to merge into (auto-detected if unset)
post_impl setting	No	Autonomous mode directive (auto_pr, offer_options, stop)

Outputs

Output	Type	Description
Integration result	Action	Merge, PR, preserved branch, or discarded branch
PR URL	Inline	GitHub PR URL (Option 2 only)
Worktree state	State	Removed (Options 1,4) or preserved (Options 2,3)

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Autonomous Mode

Check your context for autonomous mode indicators:

• "Mode: AUTONOMOUS" or "autonomous mode"
• post_impl preference specified (e.g., "auto_pr", "offer_options", "stop")

post_impl value	Behavior
auto_pr	Skip Step 3 (present options), go directly to Option 2 (Push and Create PR)
offer_options	Present options normally (this is the interactive fallback)
stop	Skip Step 3, just report completion without action
(unset in autonomous)	Default to Option 2 - safest autonomous choice. Document: "Autonomous mode: defaulting to PR creation"

**Circuit breakers (always pause):** - Tests failing - NEVER proceed - Option 4 (Discard) selected - ALWAYS require typed confirmation, never auto-execute

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The Process

Step 1: Verify Tests

Before presenting options: - Do tests pass on current branch? - What is the base branch? - Am I in a worktree?

# 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. Do not 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 . Worktree preserved at ."

Don't cleanup worktree.

Option 4: Discard

**Confirm first with explicit typed confirmation:** ``` This will permanently delete: - Branch - All commits: - Worktree at

Type 'discard' to confirm.

Wait for exact confirmation. Do NOT proceed on partial match.
</CRITICAL>

If confirmed:
```bash
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 intact.

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Quick Reference

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

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Anti-Patterns

- Proceeding with failing tests - Merging without post-merge test verification - Deleting branches without typed "discard" confirmation - Force-pushing without explicit user request - Presenting open-ended questions instead of structured options - Cleaning up worktrees for Options 2 or 3 - Accepting partial confirmation for Option 4

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Self-Check

Before completing: - [ ] Tests pass on current branch - [ ] Tests pass after merge (Option 1 only) - [ ] User explicitly selected one of the 4 options - [ ] Typed "discard" received (Option 4 only) - [ ] Worktree cleaned only for Options 1 or 4

IF ANY unchecked: STOP and fix.

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Integration

Called by:

• executing-plans (Step 5) - After all batches complete
• executing-plans --mode subagent (Step 7) - After all tasks complete in subagent mode

Pairs with:

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