finishing-a-development-branch

name	finishing-a-development-branch
description	Use when implementation is done and the work needs final verification, pre-PR local role review, closeout, commit, PR creation, review handling, merge, and worktree cleanup.
metadata	{"author":"eng-cc"}

Workflow authority: doc/engineering/workflow/source-of-truth.md is the single normative workflow spec. Keep this skill as short operational guidance only; if behavior changes, update source-of-truth first, then sync this file.

Finishing a Development Branch

When to Use

Use this skill when code and docs are already updated and you are moving into branch closure:

• close the task
• verify the final diff
• collect fresh local involved-role subagent review
• close the task after review findings are resolved
• commit
• prepare or create the PR
• decide whether the PR is a normal CI/review PR or a manual packaging CI hold
• watch required checks/review and merge normal PRs
• handle review comments
• clean up after merge

Default Oasis7 Path

1. Confirm the task has its own worktree and .pm task.
2. Run the final local checks for the changed surface.
3. Before final closeout, apply the source-of-truth Learning Intake / Loop Closeout ladder to reusable findings from the task:
   • no-op for transient observations
   • short execution-log note for current-task-only route or evidence details
   • reflection signal for useful follow-up ideas or repeated friction that is not ready for committed task truth
   • task-scoped working_memory for temporary structured learning that supplements, but does not replace, the execution log
   • candidate task or memory promotion only after owner review
4. Dispatch fresh local subagent review for every involved relevant role, address valid findings, and record the passed evidence packet before final closeout or commit.

Use the same role-selection rule as requesting-repo-owned-review, including:

• producer_system_designer when scope, product contract, user promise, acceptance, or system-level semantics change
• gameplay_designer when gameplay rules, progression, balance, encounter/resource loops, or player verb semantics are touched
• game_visual_interaction_designer when visible UI/gameplay presentation, visual direction, interaction feel, player-facing screen flow, screenshot/visual-review surfaces, accessibility/readability, or UI-heavy claims are touched
• runtime_engineer when runtime/server/simulation/gameplay enforcement, replay, recovery, checkpoint, long-run behavior, or crates/oasis7* runtime paths are touched
• blockchain_ops_engineer when deployment, node ops, topology/inventory, service/host contracts, health baselines, upgrade/rollback/restore drills, packaging/release ops, or operator-facing runbooks are touched
• wasm_platform_engineer when crates/oasis7_wasm_*, builtin wasm modules, ABI/schema, manifest/hash, wasm build/receipt, wasm determinism workflows, or doc/world-runtime/wasm/* are touched
• agent_engineer when agent behavior, prompts, provider contracts, model/runtime config, subagent dispatch contracts, or agent tooling are touched
• viewer_engineer when Viewer/Web/UI/WebGPU/browser validation paths are touched
• qa_engineer when the claim depends on verification, release readiness, test strategy, or evidence sufficiency
• repository_health_engineer when the diff changes cross-cutting architecture, shared workflow surfaces, docs/code contracts, large refactors, repeated bug signatures, or known technical-debt boundaries
• liveops_community when external messaging, incidents, player promises, community feedback, release notes, or channel runbooks are touched

5. Close the task:

./scripts/pm/task-closeout.sh --role <owner_role> --task-uid <TASK-UID> --verify-command "<fresh verification command>"

6. Commit exactly this task slice.

The pre-PR local role review packet is recorded before final closeout/commit and uses this shape:

- Pre-PR Local Role Review: passed
- Task UID: <task_uid>
- Source Worktree: <absolute path>
- Source Branch: <branch>
- Source Head: <reviewed git sha; must be current source head or an ancestor whose later changes are only the task review evidence files>
- Comparison Ref: <base ref>
- Reviewed Changed Paths: <semicolon-separated paths or diff summary ref>
- Review Package: <path to review package or n/a with reason>
 Role Selection Basis: 
 Review Roles: 
 Review Evidence: 
 Review Verdicts: 
 Review Findings Disposition: 
 Finding Disposition Evidence: 
 Verification Matrix:  required evidence -> observed evidence or explicit deferral>
 Visual Evidence: 
 WASM Evidence: 
 Ops Evidence: 
 LiveOps Evidence: 
 Residual Risk: 
 Slice Ledger: 

7. Run PR preflight / create:

./scripts/prepare-task-pr.sh --create

8. Record the PR purpose decision:

   • normal_pr_ci_watch: default for ordinary implementation/documentation PRs. Keep watching required checks, mergeability, review decisions, comments, and unresolved review threads. Treat REVIEW_REQUIRED as informational, not as a blocker. Treat mergeStateStatus=BEHIND as informational too unless GitHub actually requires a branch update or reports a conflict; if the PR is otherwise mergeable and the repository merge path accepts it, merge can proceed without a local rebase. If mergeStateStatus=BLOCKED is only missing review approval and user/task policy explicitly allows skipping it, use the repository admin merge path as normal flow after re-checking gates.
   • manual_packaging_ci_hold: only when the user/task says the PR exists specifically to run manual-trigger packaging/release CI jobs. Record the manual job/purpose, responsible operator/role, expected success signal, stale-date/timeout escalation, ops readiness/rollback/runbook evidence when release ops are implicated, external/status messaging evidence when player- or community-facing, and the exact resume criterion. Stop before auto-merge until the operator/user resumes.

9. For normal_pr_ci_watch, keep the loop moving without waiting for another prompt:

   • if checks fail, inspect the failing job, fix, rerun local verification, push, and continue watching
   • before merge, explicitly check PR comments and review threads; if review comments arrive, use:

./scripts/pr-review-thread-closeout.sh --unresolved-only

• when required checks pass, the PR is mergeable through the repository/GitHub merge path or through an explicitly authorized review-approval admin path, PR comments/review threads have been checked, and no requested changes, actionable comments, or blocking unresolved review threads remain, merge the PR using the repository's configured merge path

10. After merge, sync local main and remove the task worktree / branch.

Required Checks Before Commit

• worktree diff matches task scope
• task execution log updated
• relevant formal docs updated
• local verification rerun for the affected surface
• learning intake / loop closeout decision recorded when the task produced reusable findings, follow-up ideas, repeated friction, or failure signatures
• pre-PR local role review packet recorded when the next step is PR creation
• PR purpose decision recorded after PR creation
• normal PRs are watched through required checks, mergeability, review decisions, and comment closeout to merge; REVIEW_REQUIRED alone is not a blocker, BEHIND alone does not force a local rebase when the repository merge path can still merge cleanly, and review-approval-only BLOCKED may use an explicitly authorized admin merge path; only manual packaging CI PRs may pause before merge

Post-Merge Cleanup

• fast-forward local main
• remove the task worktree
• delete the task branch after leaving that worktree

Known Failure Modes

• Stopping at PR creation for a normal PR instead of continuing through checks, comments, mergeability, merge, and cleanup.
• Treating REVIEW_REQUIRED or BEHIND as automatic blockers when repo policy says they are informational by themselves.
• Merging before checking unresolved comments, review threads, requested changes, and required checks.
• Deleting or cleaning up the worktree before the merge and main-branch sync are actually complete.

Guardrails

• Do not land locally unless the user explicitly asks for local landing.
• Do not skip .pm closeout just because the execution log is updated.
• Do not claim "done" while the branch still lacks required verification or PR creation.
• Do not treat review-thread resolution as merge readiness.
• Do not stop at PR creation for normal PRs; continue watching CI/review, fix failures, merge, and clean up.
• Do not merge a normal PR without first checking PR comments and review threads and resolving or answering actionable items.
• Do not auto-merge PRs opened specifically for manual packaging/release CI until the operator/user resumes the normal merge path.
• Do not turn learning intake into a universal extra gate; use no-op or a short execution-log note when there is no reusable learning to preserve.

---

Source: eng-cc/oasis7 — distributed by TomeVault.