stacked-prs

name	stacked-prs
description	Manages stacked branches and pull requests. Use when working with dependent PRs, chained branches, rebasing a branch stack, syncing or submitting multiple related PRs, or managing PR base targets. Triggers on "create a stack", "stack PRs", "stacked branches", "push to stack", "dependent PRs", "chained branches", "rebase my stack", "sync stack", "submit stack", "land stack", "import stack", "split branch", "fold branch".
argument-hint	[init|create|insert|split|fold|move|sync|restack|submit|status|checkout|serve|pr|land|import|clean|archive]
allowed-tools	Bash(git *), Bash(gh *), Bash(${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/skills/stacked-prs/scripts/stacked-prs *), Read, Grep, Glob, TodoWrite
effort	high

Stacked PRs

Manage stacked branches and pull requests using git config metadata, Deno helper scripts, and gh CLI.

Arguments provided: $ARGUMENTS

Requires: git 2.38+ (for --update-refs), gh CLI

Quick Start

1. Create your first branch and commit as usual
2. /stacked-prs init to register it as a stack
3. /stacked-prs create to add child branches
4. /stacked-prs submit to create PRs with correct bases and nav comments
5. /stacked-prs sync after rebasing or pulling main
6. /stacked-prs land after the bottom PR merges

Building Review-Ready Stacks

Stacked PRs are reviewed and merged one branch at a time, from the bottom up. When each PR lands, GitHub runs CI against main at that moment. Every branch must therefore be independently correct: it must compile, pass all tests, and satisfy any linting/coverage gates on its own, without code that only exists in an upstack branch.

The independent-branch rule

Before creating or submitting any branch, confirm it meets both conditions:

1. Independently buildable. The code at the tip of this branch would pass CI if rebased onto main right now, without any upstack branches included.
2. Scope-complete. The branch contains every change required for its stated purpose. Never leave a feature in a broken or partial state with "will be fixed in the next PR" as the plan.

The stack enforces this naturally: as PRs land from the bottom up, each PR's CI run does not include any upstack code. A branch that only works because of code in an upstack sibling will block the stack.

How to draw branch boundaries

Good split points:

• Preparatory refactors below, new behavior above. Rename, extract, or reorganize in a lower branch so the upper branch's diff is clean and focused.
• Types or interfaces below, implementations above. Defining types in a lower branch and building against them in a higher branch is a clean, testable separation.
• Tests belong with the code they test. Never split a feature and its tests across branches. A branch that adds code but omits its tests may fail a coverage gate when it lands.
• Feature flags as a boundary tool. When a feature cannot be split cleanly, introduce a flag in a lower branch (gating the new behavior off), implement the feature in middle branches, and remove the flag in the top branch. Every branch is green because the new code is always behind the flag until the final PR flips it on.

Anti-patterns to avoid:

• Leaving failing behavior in a lower branch that a higher branch will "fix later". That lower PR will fail CI when it lands.
• Splitting setup and teardown of a single concept across non-adjacent branches.
• Writing a branch that only passes tests because of uncommitted work in the working tree.

Verifying CI health before submitting

Before running /stacked-prs submit, verify each branch is clean at its own tip. The reliable method is a temporary worktree per branch:

# Verify branch A on its own:
git worktree add /tmp/check-A <branch-A>
cd /tmp/check-A && <your CI command>
git worktree remove /tmp/check-A

# Verify branch B (includes A's commits implicitly since B is stacked on A):
git worktree add /tmp/check-B <branch-B>
cd /tmp/check-B && <your CI command>
git worktree remove /tmp/check-B

If any branch fails, fix it before submitting. A stack with a broken lower branch blocks every upstack PR from landing.

When helping a user author branches, proactively flag when proposed changes would leave a branch in a state that cannot pass CI independently, and suggest how to restructure the split.

Commit hygiene within a branch

Reviewers read commits one at a time. Within a branch:

• Keep each commit focused on one logical change.
• Write commit messages that explain why, not just what.
• Squash exploratory, fixup, or WIP commits with git rebase -i before submitting.

Stacks limit diff size at the PR level; commits tell the story of how each PR makes its change.

Branch descriptions

Git's native branch.<name>.description key (markdown, written with git branch --edit-description <branch> or git config branch.<name>.description "...") is the source of truth for the branch's PR body. submit uses it verbatim as the body when creating the PR and overwrites the body of the existing open PR whenever the two drift, so edits made directly on GitHub do not survive the next submit.

Treat the description as a living document:

• Write it when the branch is created and update it in the same session as any change that alters the branch's purpose or scope.
• Follow the target repository's PR template and conventions; the description ships as the PR body unchanged.
• Branches without a description fall back to gh's --fill behavior (body from commit messages) and their PR bodies are never touched by submit.

Setting a description is a plain metadata config write and needs no confirmation gate.

Sub-commands

If no argument is provided, assess the current context (branch, dirty state, stack membership) and suggest the most appropriate action.

init

Start a new stack from the current branch. Backed by cli.ts init.

1. Run cli.ts init --dry-run [--stack-name <name>] [--merge-strategy merge|squash] to compute the plan (the CLI guards against running on the base branch, against a branch already in a stack, and against a stack-name collision).
2. Present plan: stack name, merge strategy, base branch, and the exact config writes.
3. Wait for confirmation.
4. Run cli.ts init --force [...same flags] to apply. --force skips the CLI's own TTY prompt since confirmation is already gated above.

Full invocation:

${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/skills/stacked-prs/scripts/stacked-prs init \
  [--branch <name>] [--stack-name <name>] [--merge-strategy merge|squash] \
  [--base-branch <name>] [--force] [--dry-run] [--json]

import

Discover and register an existing chain of branches/PRs as a stack. Backed by cli.ts import, which wraps import-discover with a config-write step.

1. Run cli.ts import --dry-run [--stack-name <name>] [--merge-strategy merge|squash] to compute the plan (calls import-discover under the hood and guards against already-in-stack branches + stack-name collisions).
2. Present plan: every discovered branch and its parent, the chosen stack name and merge strategy, plus any PR-base-mismatch warnings surfaced by the discoverer.
3. Wait for confirmation.
4. Run cli.ts import --force [...same flags] to apply.
5. Offer to run submit to add nav comments to the now-imported PRs.

Full invocation:

${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/skills/stacked-prs/scripts/stacked-prs import \
  [--branch <name>] [--stack-name <name>] [--merge-strategy merge|squash] \
  [--owner <owner> --repo <repo>] \
  [--force] [--dry-run] [--json]

create

Create a new branch in the stack off the current branch. Backed by cli.ts create <branch>.

Before invoking, apply the independent-branch rule from "Building Review-Ready Stacks": confirm the new branch's intended scope is self-contained and would not leave the current (parent) branch in a CI-failing state. If the user's plan would violate the rule, flag it and suggest a better split.

After creating, offer to set the branch's description (git config branch.<name>.description "..."). It becomes the PR body on submit (see "Branch descriptions"), so writing it at creation time keeps the eventual PR ready from the first submit.

1. Run cli.ts create <branch> --dry-run [flags] to compute the plan. The output lists the resolved case (child / auto-init / auto-init-worktree) and the literal git commands that will run.
2. Present plan: show the user the case, resolved parent / stack name / merge strategy / worktree path (if any), and the exact commands the execution step will run.
3. Wait for confirmation.
4. Run cli.ts create <branch> --force [flags] to apply. --force skips the CLI's own TTY prompt since confirmation is already gated above.

The CLI resolves the create case automatically:

• Child branch: when the current branch is already in a stack.
• Auto-init from base: when the current branch is the repo's default branch. A new stack is registered (default name: the new branch name; default merge strategy: squash, overridable via git config stack.default-merge-strategy).
• Auto-init + worktree: same as auto-init, but the new branch lives in a worktree at <dir>/<branch> and the current repo stays on the base branch. Only valid from the base branch.

Full invocation:

${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/skills/stacked-prs/scripts/stacked-prs create <branch> \
  [-m <message>] [--create-worktree <dir>] \
  [--stack-name <name>] [--merge-strategy merge|squash] \
  [--force] [--dry-run] [--json]

insert

Insert a new branch between a branch and its parent. Backed by cli.ts insert <new-branch> --child <selected>.

1. Run cli.ts status --stack-name=<name> --json to display the tree and help the user pick the child to insert before.
2. Run cli.ts insert <new-branch> --child <selected> --dry-run to compute the plan (branch created off the child's current parent; child reparented under the new branch).
3. Present plan and wait for confirmation.
4. Run cli.ts insert <new-branch> --child <selected> --force to apply.
5. If the user has staged changes they want on the new branch, offer to commit them (the CLI itself just creates the branch).
6. Suggest restack --upstack-from=<new-branch> once commits exist.

Full invocation:

${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/skills/stacked-prs/scripts/stacked-prs insert <branch> \
  [--stack-name <name>] [--child <name>] [--force] [--dry-run] [--json]

split

Split a branch's content into two branches. Backed by cli.ts split, which supports two modes via --by-commit <sha> or --by-file <paths>.

--by-commit

Original branch keeps earlier commits; new branch above gets later commits.

1. Run cli.ts status --stack-name=<name> --json and git log --oneline <parent>..<current-branch> to help the user pick the last SHA to keep on the original branch.
2. Run cli.ts split --branch <current> --new-branch <upper> --by-commit <sha> --dry-run (the CLI guards against single-commit branches, branch-name collisions, and splits at the tip).
3. Present plan: kept SHAs, moved SHAs, reparented children (original's children will be reparented to the new upper branch).
4. Wait for confirmation.
5. Run cli.ts split ... --force to apply.
6. Suggest restack --upstack-from=<new-branch> if the original had children.

--by-file

Extract files into a new branch inserted below the original. This is inherently lossy with commit history — the CLI collapses the extracted portion into a single commit on the new lower branch, and the remainder into a single commit on the original.

1. Run git diff --name-only <parent>..<current> to help the user choose the file list.
2. Run cli.ts split --branch <current> --new-branch <lower> --by-file <f1,f2,...> --extract-message <msg> --remainder-message <msg> --dry-run.
3. Present plan: extracted files, remainder files, parent/child rewiring.
4. Wait for confirmation.
5. Run cli.ts split ... --force.
6. Suggest restack --upstack-from=<original-branch> if the original had children.

Full invocation:

${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/skills/stacked-prs/scripts/stacked-prs split \
  [--stack-name <name>] [--branch <name>] --new-branch <name> \
  (--by-commit <sha> | --by-file <f1,f2,...>) \
  [--extract-message <msg>] [--remainder-message <msg>] \
  [--force] [--dry-run] [--json]

fold

Merge a branch into its parent. Inverse of split. Backed by cli.ts fold.

1. Decide the strategy: ff (preserve commits) or squash (collapse into a single commit on the parent).
2. Run cli.ts fold --branch <current> --strategy <ff|squash> --dry-run (the CLI guards against folding the only branch, folding a root whose parent is the base branch, and against ff when the branch has diverged from its parent).
3. Present plan: parent, children to reparent, strategy, and the exact merge/commit/config/branch-delete commands.
4. Wait for confirmation.
5. Run cli.ts fold ... --force to apply. The CLI runs the merge, reparents children, removes the folded branch's stack metadata, and deletes the branch.
6. Suggest restack --upstack-from=<parent> if children were reparented.

Full invocation:

${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/skills/stacked-prs/scripts/stacked-prs fold \
  [--stack-name <name>] [--branch <name>] [--strategy ff|squash] \
  [--message <msg>] [--force] [--dry-run] [--json]

move

Detach a branch and reattach it as a child of a different parent. Backed by cli.ts move.

1. Run cli.ts status --stack-name=<name> --json and help the user pick the branch to move and its new parent.
2. Run cli.ts move --branch <branch> --new-parent <parent> --dry-run (the CLI guards against no-ops, cycle creation, and non-stack new parents).
3. Present plan: the moved branch's old and new parent, any children being reparented back to the old parent, and the git rebase --onto call.
4. Wait for confirmation.
5. Run cli.ts move ... --force to apply. On conflict the CLI stops and reports recovery.resolve / resume / abort commands (same shape as restack / sync).
6. Suggest restack --upstack-from=<moved-branch> for descendants.

Full invocation:

${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/skills/stacked-prs/scripts/stacked-prs move \
  [--stack-name <name>] [--branch <name>] --new-parent <name> \
  [--force] [--dry-run] [--json]

sync

Bring every stack in the repo back in line with origin. Mirrors gt sync: applies to every stack, not just the one containing the current branch. In one pass the CLI:

• Fetches every base branch referenced by any stack (for example, main).
• Fast-forwards each local base branch when safe, warning and skipping any base that has diverged from origin.
• Detects PRs that merged on GitHub, deletes those branches locally, reparents their children onto the next surviving ancestor, retargets the children's PR bases via gh, and updates navigation comments.
• Restacks the surviving branches and force-pushes with --force-with-lease.

Backed by cli.ts sync, which has three modes:

• --dry-run: compute and print the plan without mutating anything.
• No flags: print the plan and prompt [y/N] before executing.
• --force: execute without the prompt (non-interactive or trusted automation).

Optionally restrict the run to a subset of stacks with --filter=<globs>: a comma-separated list of stack-name globs where any entry starting with ! is a negation. A filter with only negations (e.g. --filter="!di*") includes every stack except those matching the excludes. A filter with any positive glob narrows to those matches (minus any negations). When the filter matches no configured stacks, cli.ts sync prints No stacks match --filter=... and exits without fetching or prompting. The dry-run plan's filter and filteredOut fields surface the active expression and the stack names that were skipped so Claude can report them to the user.

1. Run cli.ts sync --dry-run --json [--filter=<globs>] to inspect the plan. Parse the returned stacks[] array (each entry has stackName, baseBranch, rebases[], branchesToPush[], prunes[], and isNoOp) plus top-level baseFastForwards[] with { baseBranch, action: "ff" | "skip-diverged", ... } entries.
2. No-op check: if plan.isNoOp is true, report "All stacks are already synced with origin" and stop. The CLI still fetches base branches in this path so the user's origin refs stay current.
3. For each non-no-op stack, run cli.ts verify-refs --stack-name=<name> (read-only). If any stack reports duplicate patches or structural drift that the per-branch rebase cannot fix, stop and ask the user to resolve manually.
4. Collect every branch with status planned across all stacks. Run checkWorktreeSafety on the union. If any dirty worktrees are returned, present them with cleanup commands and stop.
5. Present the full plan grouped by section:
   • Base branches to fetch and fast-forward, plus any bases flagged skip-diverged (call out the warning; the CLI will continue past them).
   • Merged PRs to prune per stack (branch to delete, PR number, children being reparented, PR bases to retarget on GitHub).
   • Each stack's rebase list (old-parent to new-target) and branches to force-push.
6. Wait for confirmation.
7. Run cli.ts sync --force [--filter=<globs>] to execute. Forward the same --filter expression used during planning so execution operates on the same stack set. Execution order per stack is: prune merged branches (with PR base retargets and nav updates), restack survivors, then git push --force-with-lease. On the first conflict or push failure it stops and reports failedAt: <stackName>.
   • If a conflict: resolve the files in the stack that failed, then run cli.ts restack --stack-name=<failed> --resume. Re-run cli.ts sync [--filter=<globs>] to finish the remaining stacks.
8. Run cli.ts verify-refs --stack-name=<name> per synced stack as a post-flight check. If it is not clean on any stack, print the report and ask the user to inspect.
9. Report per-stack results: fast-forwarded bases, pruned branches, pushed branches.

restack

Rebase the stack tree without fetching or pushing. Useful for local reorganization before reviewing the diff.

Flags: --upstack-from=<branch>, --downstack-from=<branch>, --only=<branch> (default: full stack)

cli.ts restack has three modes:

• --dry-run: compute and print the plan without mutating anything.
• No flags: print the plan and prompt [y/N] before executing.
• --force: execute without the prompt.

On successful completion, HEAD is restored to the branch you were on when you started. On conflict, HEAD stays on the conflicted branch so you can resolve.

1. Run cli.ts verify-refs --stack-name=<name> (read-only). If it reports structural problems, stop. If it reports drift, remember for the plan.
2. Run cli.ts restack --dry-run --json --stack-name=<name> [flags].
3. No-op check: if every entry is skipped-clean and verify-refs was clean, report "Stack is already fully synced" and stop.
4. Collect planned branches from the dry-run and run checkWorktreeSafety. If any dirty worktrees, present and stop. (The CLI repeats this check internally before touching git; this step surfaces failures earlier in the plan output.)
5. Present plan (tree with old-parent to new-target, drift notes if any).
6. Wait for confirmation.
7. Run cli.ts restack --force --stack-name=<name> [flags] to execute. On conflict, the rebase stops at the first conflicted branch; resolve the files and run git rebase --continue or cli.ts restack --stack-name=<name> --resume. --resume skips the prompt since the original plan was already approved.
8. Run cli.ts verify-refs (informational only, do not gate; there is no push step). If it reports problems, print them so the user can inspect.

submit

Push every stack branch, create or update PRs with correct bases and draft state, and refresh the stack navigation comments. Mirrors gt submit. Backed by cli.ts submit.

Before running submit, remind the user to verify each branch is CI-clean at its own tip (see "Verifying CI health before submitting" in the "Building Review-Ready Stacks" section). If the user has not yet verified, ask whether they want to do so before proceeding. A stack with a broken lower branch will block every upstack PR from landing once it reaches GitHub CI.

Draft policy: A PR's draft state is a function of its position in the stack. PRs whose parent is the stack's base branch (e.g. main) are submitted as ready for review. All other PRs in the stack are kept as drafts so they cannot be merged out of order. The submit plan reconciles drift on every run via the desiredDraft and draftAction fields per branch.

Body policy: The branch description (branch.<name>.description) is the source of truth for the PR body (see "Branch descriptions"). New PRs for described branches are created with the description as the body and the oldest commit's subject as the title (bodyAction: "set"); existing open PRs whose body has drifted from the description are overwritten (bodyAction: "update"), discarding any manual GitHub-side edits. Branches without a description use gh's --fill and are never body-edited. Titles are set once at creation and never updated.

cli.ts submit has three modes:

• --dry-run: compute and print the plan without mutating anything.
• No flags: print the plan and prompt [y/N] before executing.
• --force: execute without the prompt.

Add --only=<branch> to scope per-branch ops (push, create/edit, draft flips) to a single branch in the stack. Nav comments still rebuild stack-wide so sibling PRs reflect any newly-created PR. The CLI errors out if <branch> is not a live (non-tombstoned) member of the stack.

1. Run cli.ts submit --dry-run --stack-name=<name> to inspect the plan. Add --json to get the raw SubmitPlan shape. Add --only=<branch> to limit per-branch actions to one branch.
2. No-op check: if the plan reports isNoOp: true, report "All PRs are up to date with correct bases, draft state, and nav comments" and stop.
3. Present full plan:
   • Git: branches to force-push.
   • GitHub: PRs to create (branches with action "create"; show base + flag --draft for any branch where desiredDraft is true, plus the derived title when bodyAction is "set").
   • GitHub: PRs to update base (branches with action "update-base"; show old -> new base).
   • GitHub: PR bodies to overwrite from branch descriptions (branches with bodyAction: "update"; call out that GitHub-side manual edits will be lost).
   • GitHub: PRs to flip draft state (branches with draftAction of "to-draft" or "to-ready"; show the transition and the reason, e.g. "parent is feat/a, not main").
   • Comments: nav comments to create/update. Note that the dry-run plan only reflects nav actions for PRs that already exist on GitHub. Any branch with action "create" will also get a nav comment posted after its PR is opened, even though the dry-run plan doesn't list it.
4. Wait for confirmation.
5. Run cli.ts submit --force --stack-name=<name> to execute. The CLI pushes with --force-with-lease, then creates/edits PRs via gh pr create|edit (body and title from the branch description where present, --fill otherwise; base retarget and body sync share one gh pr edit call), flips draft state via gh pr ready / gh pr ready --undo, and finally rebuilds the nav plan against the live PR set (so freshly-created PRs are included) and posts/updates nav comments.
6. Report the PR URLs from the CLI output.

pr

Open the pull request for a branch in the browser. Mirrors gt pr. Backed by cli.ts pr. Read-only and needs no confirmation.

• cli.ts pr opens the current branch's PR.
• cli.ts pr --branch <name> opens the PR for an explicit branch.
• cli.ts pr --print prints the URL instead of opening the browser.
• cli.ts pr --json returns a structured lookup result.

status

Show current stack state. No confirmation needed (read-only).

1. On a non-default branch, run cli.ts status --stack-name=<name> to get ladder output for that stack. On the default branch, plain cli.ts status behaves like --all.
2. Display formatted with the compact ladder renderer:

   │ ◯      feature/auth-ui     up-to-date
   │ ◉      feature/auth-tests  #102 (draft)  behind-parent
   ◯─┘      feature/auth-api    #103 (open)   up-to-date
   ◯─┘      feature/auth        #101 (open)   up-to-date
   

3. When the user wants every stack at once, run cli.ts status --all. It renders every configured stack grouped by base branch. Archived stacks are hidden; add --archived to include them. In the TUI, press a to toggle archived stacks (they render dimmed with an (archived) tag).
4. Sync status compares each root branch against origin/<base> when that remote-tracking ref exists (falling back to the local base branch when there is no origin). Add --fetch to refresh the remote-tracking ref first; a fetch failure prints a warning and falls back to the last-fetched ref.
5. Branch descriptions: when branch.<name>.description is set (markdown, written with git branch --edit-description <branch> or git config branch.<name>.description "..."), status shows the dimmed first line under the branch; add --description to print descriptions in full. The supported markdown subset is bold, italic, inline code, links, paragraphs, and flat bullet lists; unsupported syntax stays literal. Setting a description is a plain metadata config write and needs no confirmation gate. The tooling itself never writes this key unprompted. Descriptions are also the source of truth for PR bodies on submit; see "Branch descriptions".

Interactive view

Run stacked-prs status --interactive (or -i) to launch a TUI. Without --all, it opens on the current stack tab by default, except on the default branch where it starts on the all-stacks tab. The TUI renders every configured stack as a horizontal left-to-right tree with per-stack colors, shows PR state and sync status per branch, and provides arrow-key navigation plus a live commit detail pane for the focused branch.

Key bindings: ? shows the full list. Press L on a branch whose stack is eligible to land (root PR merged, or every PR merged) to open the land modal, which plans and executes the full cleanup automatically without requiring Claude. Press a to toggle whether archived stacks are shown, and A to archive or unarchive the focused stack (applied immediately, with a status notice). The TUI's two write operations are L (land) and A (archive).

checkout

Open an interactive branch picker that renders the same ladder output as status, prefixes the selected branch row with a cursor, and runs git checkout <branch> when Enter is pressed. Esc or Ctrl-C aborts without changing branches. Up/Down moves one branch, Page Up/Page Down jumps between stacks, and Home/End jumps to the top or bottom of the list. Printable typing updates a fuzzy filter, Backspace edits it, and Ctrl-U clears it. The selected row is rendered in white text, overriding the status colors on that row. The current branch starts selected when it is visible, including when it is the stack base; otherwise the first candidate is selected. Split escape and UTF-8 input sequences are buffered, and unsupported escape sequences are ignored. The picker renders inline in the current terminal scrollback and leaves the final frame visible with checkout or abort output below it. When the ladder is taller than the terminal, it keeps a viewport-sized window around the selected row, counting wrapped ladder and prompt rows. Terminal dimensions are re-read on every redraw, so a resize is reflected after the next handled keypress. The picker includes the base branch shown at the bottom of the ladder. This is a local working-tree operation, not a stack rewrite, so the picker itself is the confirmation surface.

Use the same display scoping as status: on a non-default branch it defaults to the current stack, on the default branch it defaults to --all, and the --all / -a, --stack-name, --archived, --pr / -p, --fetch, and --description flags carry over.

serve

Open a local browser view for explicit repository folders and visualize configured stacks. No confirmation needed (read-only).

1. Run cli.ts serve [folders...]. If no folders are provided, the command uses the current working directory as the only repository.
2. The command starts a localhost server and opens the default browser.
3. The browser renders branch relationships as a lane graph and includes the same status metadata as the CLI for those repositories: stack name, base branch, merge strategy, branch parentage, PR number/state/draft state when available, sync status, current-branch markers, and expanded markdown branch descriptions when branch.<name>.description is set.
4. When multiple repositories have a stack with the same name, the top selector can show that shared stack as one combined graph. Each repository appears as the root node, then connects to its base branch, then to its stack branches.
5. Repositories with no stacked-prs metadata are omitted from the browser view.
6. Archived stacks are hidden by default; the header's "Show archived" switch reveals them (dimmed, with an (archived) badge), and the choice persists across reloads.
7. The view updates live by default: the page watches each repository's .git and polls GitHub, then re-renders the changed repository and shows a toast, so no manual reload is needed.

Use --port <number> to choose a specific port, --host <host> to bind a specific interface, --no-open to print the URL without launching a browser, --no-watch to disable live updates, and --poll-interval <seconds> to set the PR poll cadence (default 60, 0 disables polling). Use --debug to print the repository and trigger reason before each live refresh, including the relevant Git file category or PR poll interval.

land

Handle cleanup after a PR merges. Auto-splits the stack if landing creates multiple roots.

Preferred path: press L in the TUI. It plans and executes the full land automatically. Use the Claude-orchestrated steps below only when the TUI is not available.

Two supported shapes are handled by executeLandFromCli (in src/commands/land.ts):

• root-merged: exactly one root PR is merged, no other branch is merged. Remaining branches are rebased onto the base branch and force-pushed.
• all-merged: every PR in the stack is merged. No rebase or push is needed; all branches are deleted and config is removed.

Claude-orchestrated steps:

1. Run cli.ts land --stack-name=<name> --json
2. If ok: true: report landed branches and any splits shown in the output.
3. If error: "conflict":
   • Show the user the conflictFiles list and recovery.resolve command.
   • After the user resolves conflicts, run recovery.resume (the --resume command).
   • Repeat from step 1 until ok: true.
4. If error: "blocked": report the preflight blockers and ask the user to resolve them.

Read-only operations (cli.ts status, cli.ts land --dry-run --json) run without confirmation. The cli.ts land command itself requires no separate confirmation step -- the plan is built and executed in one call. cli.ts checkout is also unplanned: it renders an interactive picker and only runs git checkout <branch> after the user presses Enter.

clean

Detect and remove stale stack/branch config entries (orphaned branches, missing parents, empty stacks, stale resume-state, legacy stack-merged flags on live branches).

clean also understands stack.<name>.landed-branches, stack.<name>.landed-pr, and stack.<name>.landed-parent: multi-value keys that act as the stack-level tombstone list for branches that have been landed and deleted (the second records the PR number as <branch>:<number> so nav comments can keep showing merged PRs after the branch ref is gone, and the third records the branch's stack-parent as <branch>:<parent> so the tombstone keeps its structural position in the tree). Entries in any of these keys are expected and are not stale. A branch with a live stack-name entry whose ref is missing is ALSO not stale when that branch appears in landed-branches - the tombstone's structural placement is preserved intentionally. The branch-level branch.<name>.stack-merged = true key is the legacy pre-migration form; when it appears on a live branch with a live stack-name, clean reports a legacy-merged-flag finding and --force removes it. See CLAUDE.md for the full git-config schema.

Flags: --stack-name=<name>, --force, --json

1. Run cli.ts clean [--stack-name=<name>] --json (read-only, no gate needed) to get the structured report.
2. No-op check: if findings is empty, report "No stale config found" and stop.
3. Present plan: show each finding with its kind, subject (branch or stack), details, and the config keys that would be removed.
4. Wait for confirmation.
5. Run cli.ts clean [--stack-name=<name>] --force to apply.
6. Report the removed keys.

archive

Mark a stack as archived (or clear the flag with --unarchive). An archived stack keeps all of its config but is hidden by default from status, TUI, and serve views, and is skipped by sync. Explicit single-stack operations such as status --stack-name, submit, restack, land, and clean continue to work regardless of archive state. No confirmation needed (single config write, no git/gh mutation).

Flags: [<stack>] (defaults to the current branch's stack), --unarchive, --json

1. Run cli.ts archive [<stack>] to archive, or cli.ts archive [<stack>] --unarchive to restore.
2. Reveal archived stacks on demand: cli.ts status --archived, cli.ts sync --archived, the a key in the TUI, or the "Show archived" switch in the serve web UI.

Confirmation Gate Rules

CRITICAL: Never execute any of these without showing the plan first:

• git push (any variant)
• git rebase
• git branch -d
• gh pr create
• gh pr edit
• gh pr ready
• gh pr comment
• gh api --method PATCH

Always allowed without confirmation (read-only):

• git status, git log, git branch --show-current, git fetch
• gh pr list, gh pr view, gh repo view
• stacked-prs status
• stacked-prs status --json
• stacked-prs status --interactive / -i
• stacked-prs checkout (local branch switch after interactive selection)
• stacked-prs serve (read-only local HTTP server and browser UI)
• stacked-prs nav --dry-run
• stacked-prs verify-refs
• stacked-prs restack --dry-run (with or without --json)
• stacked-prs clean --json (report-only; --force mutates)
• stacked-prs archive / archive --unarchive (single config write, no gate)
• stacked-prs create --dry-run (with or without --json)
• stacked-prs land --dry-run (with or without --json)
• stacked-prs submit --dry-run (with or without --json)
• stacked-prs sync --dry-run (with or without --json)
• stacked-prs init --dry-run (with or without --json)
• stacked-prs import --dry-run (with or without --json)
• stacked-prs insert ... --dry-run (with or without --json)
• stacked-prs fold ... --dry-run (with or without --json)
• stacked-prs move ... --dry-run (with or without --json)
• stacked-prs split ... --dry-run (with or without --json)
• stacked-prs pr (read-only PR lookup; also opens the browser, which is a local action, not a repo mutation)

If the plan changes mid-execution (e.g., rebase conflicts), pause and re-present the remaining operations before continuing.

Scripts

All scripts are accessed through a single unified CLI entry point:

${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/skills/stacked-prs/scripts/stacked-prs <subcommand> [flags]

--stack-name is auto-detected from the current branch's git config when not provided. --owner and --repo are auto-detected from gh repo view when not provided.

status

${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/skills/stacked-prs/scripts/stacked-prs status \
  [--stack-name=<name>] [--owner=<owner> --repo=<repo>] [--json] [--pr|-p] [--all] [--archived] [--fetch] [--description] [--interactive|-i] [--theme <theme>]

Returns human-readable ladder output by default. Pass --json for structured JSON with full stack state. Pass --all to render every configured stack grouped by base branch in the terminal. On the default branch, plain status behaves like --all; on other branches it stays scoped to the current stack unless --all is passed. Descriptions are markdown from the native branch.<name>.description key, shown first-line by default, in full with --description, and always raw in --json. Rendering supports bold, italic, inline code, links, paragraphs, and flat bullet lists; unsupported syntax stays literal. Pass --interactive / -i to launch the read-only TUI. Without --all, it starts on the current stack, except on the default branch where it starts on the all-stacks view. The TUI renders every stack as a horizontal tree with per-stack colors, PR state, sync status, and a live commit detail pane. PR metadata is opt-in: pass --pr / -p to load PRs from GitHub; otherwise status stays local-only and skips PR fetching. Pass --theme light or --theme dark to override auto-detection. Archived stacks are hidden from the --all view by default; pass --archived to include them (--json always includes every stack with an archived flag, and the TUI toggles them with the a key). Root branches compare against origin/<base> when that remote-tracking ref exists, falling back to the local base branch otherwise; pass --fetch to refresh the ref first. Fetch failures degrade to warnings on stderr.

checkout

${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/skills/stacked-prs/scripts/stacked-prs checkout \
  [--stack-name=<name>] [--owner=<owner> --repo=<repo>] [--pr|-p] \
  [--all|-a] [--archived] [--fetch] [--description]

Renders the same ladder as status, lets the user move a > cursor with Up/Down, jump between stacks with Page Up/Page Down, jump to list edges with Home/End, fuzzy-filter by typing printable characters, edit the filter with Backspace, clear it with Ctrl-U, override status colors on the selected row with white text, and run git checkout <branch> on Enter. Esc or Ctrl-C aborts. The current branch starts selected when it is visible, including the base branch. Split escape and UTF-8 input sequences are buffered; unsupported escape sequences are ignored. The picker renders inline in the current terminal scrollback and clips tall ladders to the terminal viewport around the selected row, counting physical rows created by wrapped ladder and prompt lines. It re-reads terminal dimensions on every redraw. The branch list includes the base branch and excludes landed tombstone rows because those refs no longer exist locally.

serve

${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/skills/stacked-prs/scripts/stacked-prs serve \
  [folders...] [--host <host>] [--port <port>] [--no-open] \
  [--no-watch] [--poll-interval <seconds>] [--debug]

Starts a local browser UI for the provided repository folders. Relative folders are resolved from the current working directory. When no folders are provided, the current working directory is used as the only repository. Each repository's stacks render using the same metadata returned by status --all --pr. PR metadata is best-effort: it is loaded when the repository's origin remote points at GitHub and gh pr list is available. If PR loading is unavailable, the view still renders local stack metadata. Each stack's name (and each repository header in the single-stack view) carries a muted relative time of the most recent commit on that stack, for example 2 days ago. Stacks are ordered most-recent-commit first in both the overview and the switcher dropdown, and each switcher entry shows that relative time too. Archived stacks are hidden by default; a "Show archived" switch in the header reveals them (the preference is remembered across reloads). The view updates live by default (a .git file watch plus GitHub polling re-render changed repositories with a toast); pass --no-watch to disable it or --poll-interval <seconds> to change the PR poll cadence (0 disables polling). Branch descriptions render expanded as muted markdown blocks under each branch. Pass --debug to print the repository and trigger reason before each live refresh, including the relevant Git file category or PR poll interval.

restack

${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/skills/stacked-prs/scripts/stacked-prs restack \
  [--stack-name=<name>] \
  [--upstack-from=<branch>] \
  [--downstack-from=<branch>] \
  [--only=<branch>] \
  [--resume] \
  [--dry-run] \
  [--force] \
  [--json]

Performs per-branch topological rebase of the tree. Walks the tree in DFS order, snapshots each branch's parent SHA before any mutation, and rebases each branch individually with an explicit git rebase --onto call against the new target and the snapshotted old-parent SHA. Root branches target origin/<base-branch>; intermediate branches target their parent's current (possibly just-rewritten) tip. On successful completion HEAD is restored to the branch the caller started on so the walk does not strand the user on the last-rebased leaf. On the first conflicted branch the walk stops and leaves git mid-rebase with HEAD on the conflicted branch; resolve the files and run git rebase --continue or re-invoke with --resume to pick up the remaining branches.

Same three-mode shape as submit/sync: --dry-run prints the plan without mutating anything (combine with --json for structured output); with no flags the CLI prints the plan and prompts [y/N]; --force skips the prompt. When every entry is skipped-clean, the CLI prints Stack is already fully synced. Nothing to do. and exits without prompting. --resume skips the prompt since the original plan was already approved.

nav

${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/skills/stacked-prs/scripts/stacked-prs nav \
  [--stack-name=<name>] [--owner=<owner> --repo=<repo>] [--dry-run]

Creates or updates stack navigation comments on PRs. Use --dry-run to preview without writing.

verify-refs

${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/skills/stacked-prs/scripts/stacked-prs verify-refs \
  [--stack-name=<name>]

Verifies all stack branches have correct ancestry after a rebase and detects duplicate patches across branch ranges (caused by failed --update-refs). Outputs JSON with branch status, repair commands for stale branches, and a duplicates array listing commits whose patch-id appears in multiple branches. Exits with code 1 if any branches are stale or duplicates are found.

create

${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/skills/stacked-prs/scripts/stacked-prs create <branch> \
  [-m <message>] [--create-worktree <dir>] \
  [--stack-name <name>] [--merge-strategy merge|squash] \
  [--force] [--dry-run] [--json]

Creates a new branch in the stack off the current branch. Auto-resolves between child-in-stack, auto-init, and auto-init-with-worktree based on the current branch's git config. Prints a plan (including the literal git commands that would run) and prompts on TTY unless --force is passed. --dry-run reports the plan without mutating anything.

import-discover

${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/skills/stacked-prs/scripts/stacked-prs import-discover \
  [--branch=<name>] [--owner=<owner> --repo=<repo>]

Discovers the tree of local branches between the given branch and main, then annotates each with PR data from GitHub. Returns JSON with the discovered tree, base branch, and any warnings (e.g., PR base mismatches).

submit

${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/skills/stacked-prs/scripts/stacked-prs submit \
  [--stack-name=<name>] [--owner=<owner> --repo=<repo>] \
  [--only=<branch>] [--dry-run] [--force] [--json]

Runs the full submit flow: force-pushes branches, creates or edits PRs (with --draft derived from the stack's shape; title and body from the branch description when set, --fill otherwise), syncs open PR bodies that have drifted from their branch descriptions, flips draft state when needed, and applies the nav comment plan. --dry-run prints the plan without mutating (combine with --json for the raw SubmitPlan shape: per-branch actions including bodyAction/title/description, an isNoOp flag, an optional scope.only field, and nav comment plan); with no flags the CLI prints the plan and prompts [y/N]; --force skips the prompt. --only=<branch> restricts per-branch ops (push, create, edit, body sync, draft flips) to a single live branch in the stack while leaving the nav comment rebuild stack-wide; the CLI errors out if the branch is not a live member.

sync

${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/skills/stacked-prs/scripts/stacked-prs sync \
  [--dry-run] [--force] [--filter=<globs>] [--archived] [--json]

Applies to every non-archived stack in the repo by default. Archived stacks are skipped (and listed under Archived (skipped): in the plan); pass --archived to include them. Fetches each distinct base branch from origin once, fast-forwards each local base branch when safe (warning and continuing past any that have diverged), prunes branches whose PRs merged (deleting the branch locally, reparenting its children, retargeting their PR bases on GitHub, and refreshing nav comments), then for each surviving stack runs restack and force-pushes with --force-with-lease. Stops at the first conflict or push failure; the returned JSON (--json) records failedAt: <stackName> so the caller can resume that stack with cli.ts restack --stack-name=<failed> --resume and then re-run cli.ts sync for the rest. Same three-mode shape as submit: --dry-run, interactive default, --force.

Pass --filter=<globs> with a comma-separated list of stack-name globs to restrict the run to a subset of stacks. Entries prefixed with ! are negations: --filter="!di*" syncs every stack whose name does not match di*; --filter="feat-*,!feat-draft*" syncs stacks named feat-* except those matching feat-draft*. Only matched stacks' base branches are fetched and fast-forwarded; skipped stack names appear in plan.filteredOut. If the filter matches nothing, the CLI prints No stacks match --filter=... and exits without fetching.

pr

${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/skills/stacked-prs/scripts/stacked-prs pr \
  [--branch=<name>] [--owner=<owner> --repo=<repo>] [--print] [--json]

Opens the PR for the current (or specified) branch in the browser via gh pr view --web. --print emits the URL instead. --json returns the raw lookup result ({ ok, branch, pr?: { number, url, state, isDraft }, error? }).

land

${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/skills/stacked-prs/scripts/stacked-prs land \
  [--stack-name=<name>] [--dry-run] [--json] [--resume]

Lands a merged PR and cleans up the stack. Builds the land plan, executes rebases and force-pushes (root-merged case) or deletes all branches (all-merged case), and auto-splits the stack when multiple roots result. Pass --dry-run to print the plan without executing. Pass --json for structured output. Pass --resume to continue after resolving a rebase conflict. Exits with code 1 on failure (conflict or blocked).

clean

${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/skills/stacked-prs/scripts/stacked-prs clean \
  [--stack-name=<name>] [--force] [--json]

Detects four classes of stale git config: orphaned branch entries (config references a deleted ref), stale stack-parent (parent ref does not exist), empty stacks (stack metadata with no member branches), and stale resume-state (resume marker but no rebase in progress). Default: print report and prompt to apply. Pass --force for non-interactive use. Pass --json for structured output.

archive

${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/skills/stacked-prs/scripts/stacked-prs archive \
  [<stack>] [--unarchive] [--json]

Sets (or clears with --unarchive) stack.<name>.archived. Defaults to the current branch's stack when no name is given. Archived stacks are hidden by default from status/TUI/serve views and skipped by sync; reveal them with --archived (CLI), the a key (TUI), or the "Show archived" switch (serve). Explicit single-stack operations still work on archived stacks.

init

${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/skills/stacked-prs/scripts/stacked-prs init \
  [--branch <name>] [--stack-name <name>] [--merge-strategy merge|squash] \
  [--base-branch <name>] [--force] [--dry-run] [--json]

Initializes the current branch (or --branch) as the root of a new stack. The CLI guards against running on the base branch, against a branch already in a stack, and against a stack-name collision. Same three-mode shape as submit: --dry-run, interactive default, --force.

import

${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/skills/stacked-prs/scripts/stacked-prs import \
  [--branch <name>] [--stack-name <name>] [--merge-strategy merge|squash] \
  [--owner <owner> --repo <repo>] [--force] [--dry-run] [--json]

Wraps import-discover with a config-write step. Flattens the discovered tree into (branch, parent) pairs and writes all four config keys per branch in a single run. Guards against any discovered branch already being in a stack, and against stack-name collisions. Warnings from the discovery phase (e.g. PR base mismatches) are surfaced in the plan.

insert

${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/skills/stacked-prs/scripts/stacked-prs insert <branch> \
  [--stack-name <name>] [--child <name>] [--force] [--dry-run] [--json]

Creates <branch> off the parent of --child (default: current branch) and reparents the child under the new branch. Config-only plus the branch creation; no rebase happens because the inserted branch starts empty.

fold

${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/skills/stacked-prs/scripts/stacked-prs fold \
  [--stack-name <name>] [--branch <name>] [--strategy ff|squash] \
  [--message <msg>] [--force] [--dry-run] [--json]

Merges --branch (default: current) into its parent, reparents its children onto the parent, removes the folded branch's stack metadata, and deletes the branch ref. --strategy=ff requires a fast-forward; --strategy=squash collapses the branch into a single commit on the parent.

move

${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/skills/stacked-prs/scripts/stacked-prs move \
  [--stack-name <name>] [--branch <name>] --new-parent <name> \
  [--force] [--dry-run] [--json]

Reparents --branch under --new-parent, reparents its direct children back to its previous parent, and runs git rebase --onto <new-parent> <old-parent> <branch>. On conflict the CLI stops and returns recovery commands matching the restack / sync shape.

split

${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/skills/stacked-prs/scripts/stacked-prs split \
  [--stack-name <name>] [--branch <name>] --new-branch <name> \
  (--by-commit <sha> | --by-file <f1,f2,...>) \
  [--extract-message <msg>] [--remainder-message <msg>] \
  [--force] [--dry-run] [--json]

Two modes:

• --by-commit <sha>: keep commits up to <sha> on the original branch, move the remaining commits onto a new upper branch, and reparent the original's children under the new branch.
• --by-file <paths>: extract the listed file changes into a new lower branch inserted between the original and its parent. Lossy: each side collapses to a single commit with --extract-message and --remainder-message.

Config operations

Config operations (set-branch, remove-branch, set-strategy, get, validate, land-cleanup) are library functions in src/lib/config.ts, not CLI subcommands. They are called internally by the other subcommands and are not invoked directly. The branch-structure primitives (configInsertBranch, configFoldBranch, configMoveBranch, configSplitStack) are the underlying config mutations used by insert, fold, move, and the auto-split path of land.

References

• Workflows and usage guide for end-to-end recipes combining CLI commands and Claude-orchestrated skill flows. Surface this when a user asks "how do I use this?" or wants a worked example.
• Git commands reference for rebase, --onto, conflict resolution, and edge cases