dev-update-working-branch

name	dev-update-working-branch
description	Update the current working branch with the latest main. Fetches origin/main, updates local main, and rebases the current branch onto main.
user-invokable	true

Update the current working branch with the latest changes from main. Fetches origin/main, fast-forwards local main, and rebases the current feature branch onto main for clean linear history.

When to use

• Before pushing fixes during /dev-review-pr when the branch is behind
• Before running /dev-resolve-feedback (must update before resolving)
• Any time GitHub shows the branch is behind main
• Before creating a PR to minimize merge conflicts

Workflow

1. Verify on a feature branch

BRANCH=$(git branch --show-current)

If on main, report "Already on main — use git pull instead" and stop.

Check for uncommitted or untracked changes:

test -z "$(git status --porcelain=v1 --untracked-files=all)"

If the output is non-empty, report "Uncommitted changes detected — commit or stash before updating" and stop. This catches tracked modifications, staged changes, and untracked files (which can cause "would be overwritten by rebase" errors).

2. Fetch and update local main

git fetch origin main
git branch -f main origin/main

This updates local main to match origin/main without switching branches. The -f flag forces the update (safe because we are not on main).

3. Rebase onto main

git rebase main

If there are conflicts, report them and stop — the user must resolve manually with git rebase --continue or git rebase --abort.

4. Report result

Updated <branch-name> with latest main.
- Fetched origin/main
- Local main updated to <commit>
- Rebased <branch-name> onto main
- <N> new commits from main

Rebase rewrites history — push with: git push --force-with-lease

If the rebase was a no-op (already up to date), report that instead.

What it does NOT do

• It does NOT push — the user decides when to push
• It does NOT switch to main — stays on the current branch
• It does NOT resolve conflicts — reports them for manual resolution

Safety

• Refuses to run if on main (nothing to rebase)
• Refuses to run if there are uncommitted changes (rebase would fail)
• Uses rebase for clean linear history (force-push required after)
• Does not modify remote state