Agent Skills: Git Operations

Git Operations

Stage all changes, create conventional commits, manage branches safely, and resolve conflicts with systematic approaches.

When to Use

Automatically activate when the user:

• Explicitly asks to commit and push ("commit and push", "push these changes")
• Mentions saving work to remote ("save to github", "push to remote")
• Needs to create or manage branches ("create a feature branch", "switch branches")
• Encounters merge conflicts ("fix conflicts", "resolve merge")
• Wants isolated workspace for parallel work ("create worktree for feature X")
• Asks to finish development ("finish this branch", "complete development")
• Mentions rebasing, pulling, or other git operations

What It Does

1. Commit and Push Workflow

• Stages all changes
• Generates conventional commit message (or uses provided message)
• Pushes to remote branch (with -u for new branches)
• Shows PR link for GitHub repos
• Validates before each step

2. Branch Management

• Create feature branches from latest main
• List and manage active branches
• Delete branches safely (with verification)
• Switch between branches
• Rename branches

3. Merge and Rebase

• Merge branches with conflict detection
• Rebase with safety checks
• Handle merge conflicts systematically
• Preview changes before merge/rebase

4. Isolated Worktrees

• Create parallel workspaces for simultaneous development
• Automatically verify .gitignore configuration
• Setup development environment in worktree
• List and manage active worktrees
• Clean up worktrees after completion

5. Conflict Resolution

• Identify conflicted files
• Show conflict markers
• Guide manual resolution
• Verify resolution before commit

Approach

Smart Commit Message Generation

When user doesn't provide a message, analyze staged changes to generate conventional commit:

Steps:

1. Analyze changed files (git diff --cached --name-only)
2. Determine commit type:
   • feat: New feature (default)
   • fix: Bug fix
   • docs: Documentation changes
   • test: Test updates
   • chore: Dependencies, config changes
   • refactor: Code restructuring
3. Extract scope from directory/component (first changed file path)
4. Generate description in imperative mood ("Add", not "Added")
5. Keep under 90 characters

Example analysis:

Changed: src/auth/login.ts, src/auth/password.ts
Type: feat
Scope: auth
Message: feat(auth): add password reset functionality

Worktree Safety

Critical verification for project-local worktrees:

1. Check if worktree directory is in .gitignore
2. If NOT in .gitignore:
   • Add pattern: .worktrees/ or worktrees/
   • Commit immediately
   • Then proceed
3. This prevents accidental commits of worktree contents

Process:

# Verify .gitignore
if ! grep -q "^\.worktrees/$\|^worktrees/$" .gitignore; then
  echo ".worktrees/" >> .gitignore
  git add .gitignore
  git commit -m "chore: add worktree directory to gitignore"
fi

# Create worktree
git worktree add .worktrees/feature-name -b feature/feature-name

Conflict Resolution Strategy

1. Identify conflicts: Run git status to list conflicted files
2. Show markers: Display conflict markers with context
3. Guide resolution: Explain each side of conflict
4. Verify: Check file has no remaining markers
5. Stage and commit: Add resolved file and complete merge

Example Interactions

Simple Commit and Push

User: "Push these changes"

Skill:
1. Runs git status to see changes
2. Stages all with git add .
3. Analyzes diff to generate message
4. Commits with: feat(auth): add login endpoint
5. Pushes with git push
6. Shows: "Successfully pushed to origin/feature-x"

Creating Feature Branch with Worktree

User: "Set up a worktree for the authentication feature"

Skill:
1. Verifies .worktrees/ in .gitignore (adds if needed)
2. Creates: git worktree add .worktrees/auth -b feature/auth
3. Runs: cd .worktrees/auth && npm install
4. Runs tests to verify clean baseline
5. Reports: "Ready to work in .worktrees/auth/"

Resolving Merge Conflict

User: "Fix the conflicts"

Skill:
1. Identifies conflicted files: git status
2. Shows markers with context
3. Guides through each conflict
4. User resolves in editor
5. Verifies no remaining markers
6. Stages and completes merge

Tools Used

• bash scripts: Smart commit message generation, worktree management
• git commands: All core git operations with safety validation
• gh cli: GitHub-specific operations (PR creation, branch management)
• Read/Write: Verify .gitignore, update configuration
• Bash evaluation: Execute git commands with error handling

Success Criteria

• ✅ All changes committed with meaningful message
• ✅ Commits follow conventional commit format
• ✅ Changes pushed successfully to remote
• ✅ New branches created with -u flag
• ✅ No local changes remain after push
• ✅ Worktree directory verified in .gitignore
• ✅ Merge conflicts resolved completely
• ✅ Pre-commit validation prevents errors
• ✅ PR link shown for GitHub repos
• ✅ User understands next steps

Integration

Works well with:

• feature-planning: Commits implementation tasks after planning
• test-fixing: Commits test fixes automatically
• code-review: Commits feedback implementation
• branch-management: Integrates with branch workflows

Safe Operations Checklist

✅ Always run git status first
✅ Review changes before committing
✅ Use git diff to preview
✅ Verify branch before pushing
✅ Use git push -u for new branches
✅ Confirm before destructive operations
✅ Test in isolated worktree when risky
✅ Keep commits atomic and focused

Common Patterns

Commit and Push in One Step

bash scripts/smart_commit.sh

Commit with Custom Message

bash scripts/smart_commit.sh "feat(api): add user endpoint"

Create Feature Branch

git checkout main
git pull origin main
git checkout -b feature/your-feature-name

Create Worktree for Development

git worktree add .worktrees/feature-name -b feature/feature-name
cd .worktrees/feature-name
npm install  # or appropriate setup

Finish Development Branch

# Option 1: Merge locally
git checkout main
git pull
git merge feature/your-feature
npm test
git push

# Option 2: Create PR
git push -u origin feature/your-feature
gh pr create --title "feat: description"

# Clean up worktree (if used)
git worktree remove .worktrees/feature-name