| name | creating-bta-prs |
| description | Renames BookThatApp issue worktree branches to the user's existing BTA branch convention, commits and pushes focused changes, and creates GitHub PRs from the repository template. Use when asked to prepare a BTA worktree branch and open a PR. |
Creating BTA PRs
Prepare an existing BookThatApp issue worktree for review by matching the user's BTA branch naming convention, committing only the intended changes, pushing the renamed branch, and creating a GitHub PR from the repository's PR template.
When to use
- The user asks to rename a BookThatApp issue/worktree branch before opening a PR.
- The user asks to follow existing branch names such as
bugfix/..., feature/..., or another local convention.
- The user explicitly asks to commit, push, and create a PR using
.github/pull_request_template.md.
This is not a general Git tutorial. Keep the workflow focused on the current worktree, branch naming, a focused commit, and PR creation.
Safety rules
- Work only in the target repository/worktree the user named or the current workspace. Do not modify sibling worktrees while inspecting branch conventions.
- Inspect existing branch names before choosing the new name. Do not invent a convention from memory.
- Check status before staging, committing, renaming, pushing, or creating the PR.
- Do not discard, overwrite, or silently include unrelated changes. If unrelated changes exist, leave them alone and report the blocker or stage only the intended paths.
- Only push or create a PR when the user explicitly asked for it.
- Use the repository's default branch as the PR base, not a hard-coded
main or master.
- Use the repository's PR template when it exists. If it is missing, report that honestly and create the body from the best available repo convention only if the user still wants the PR.
- Clean up temporary PR body files after
gh pr create, even when PR creation fails.
Workflow
1. Confirm the target worktree and current state
Use git -C when the target repo is not the current working directory so commands cannot drift into another worktree:
repo=/path/to/issue-worktree
git -C "$repo" rev-parse --show-toplevel
git -C "$repo" status --short --branch
git -C "$repo" branch --show-current
Stop before changing anything if:
- The command is not running in the intended repository.
- The current branch is not the issue branch the user wants prepared.
- Status contains unrelated changes that cannot be excluded safely.
2. Inspect branch naming conventions
List local branches, and include remote branches when useful for convention discovery:
git -C "$repo" branch --list
git -C "$repo" branch --list --remotes
Choose a new branch name that follows the user's existing pattern. Prefer names that keep the issue identifier and describe the fix briefly, for example:
bugfix/trello-962/safari-back-links
Decision points:
- If the user specifies a prefix such as
bugfix/, keep it.
- If existing branches include ticket IDs, keep the issue ID in the same position.
- Use a short slug for the specific change; avoid broad names like
fixes or updates.
- If a local or remote branch with the target name already exists, stop and ask before choosing an alternate.
Check for collisions before renaming:
new_branch=bugfix/TICKET/short-slug
git -C "$repo" branch --list "$new_branch"
git -C "$repo" branch --list --remotes "*/$new_branch"
Rename only the current branch:
git -C "$repo" branch -m "$new_branch"
git -C "$repo" status --short --branch
3. Verify and commit focused changes
Review the diff before staging:
git -C "$repo" status --short
git -C "$repo" diff --stat
git -C "$repo" diff --check
Use git diff --check to catch whitespace errors before committing. If it fails, fix the reported touched-file issues or report the blocker; do not ignore it to force a commit.
Stage only the intended files:
git -C "$repo" add path/to/intended-file path/to/other-file
git -C "$repo" diff --cached --stat
git -C "$repo" diff --cached --check
git -C "$repo" status --short
Commit with a focused message that describes the actual change:
git -C "$repo" commit -m "Fix Safari back link handling"
If there is already an appropriate commit, do not create an empty or duplicate commit. Verify the branch contains the intended commit instead:
git -C "$repo" log --oneline --decorate -5
4. Discover the default branch and PR template
Use GitHub metadata for the base branch:
repo_nwo=$(cd "$repo" && gh repo view --json nameWithOwner --jq '.nameWithOwner')
default_branch=$(cd "$repo" && gh repo view --json defaultBranchRef --jq '.defaultBranchRef.name')
Use .github/pull_request_template.md from the target repo when it exists:
template="$repo/.github/pull_request_template.md"
test -f "$template"
Build the PR body from a temporary copy of the template, filling only what is known. Include verification results and blockers honestly; do not claim checks passed unless they ran and passed.
pr_body=$(mktemp)
cp "$template" "$pr_body"
$EDITOR "$pr_body"
If no editor is available, write the body with a heredoc while preserving the template's headings.
5. Push and create the PR
Only do this when explicitly requested by the user.
Push the renamed branch and set upstream:
git -C "$repo" push -u origin "$new_branch"
Create the PR with the default branch as base, the renamed branch as head, and the template-derived body:
gh pr create \
--repo "$repo_nwo" \
--base "$default_branch" \
--head "$new_branch" \
--title "Fix Safari back link handling" \
--body-file "$pr_body"
Always remove the temporary body file:
rm -f "$pr_body"
Prefer a shell trap while creating the body so cleanup happens on failure:
pr_body=$(mktemp)
trap 'rm -f "$pr_body"' EXIT
cp "$template" "$pr_body"
6. Final verification and report
After creating the PR, verify the branch and PR state:
git -C "$repo" status --short --branch
gh pr view --repo "$repo_nwo" --json url,baseRefName,headRefName,title
Report:
- Old branch name and new branch name.
- Commit hash and summary, or why no new commit was created.
- Push result and upstream branch.
- PR URL, base branch, and head branch.
- Verification run, including
git diff --check and any repo-specific checks.
- Any blockers, missing template sections, skipped checks, or unrelated dirty files left untouched.
Example command sequence
repo=/Users/zain/Code/GitHub/book-that-app/bta-trello-962
old_branch=$(git -C "$repo" branch --show-current)
git -C "$repo" status --short --branch
git -C "$repo" branch --list
new_branch=bugfix/trello-962/safari-back-links
git -C "$repo" branch --list "$new_branch"
git -C "$repo" branch --list --remotes "*/$new_branch"
git -C "$repo" branch -m "$new_branch"
git -C "$repo" diff --check
git -C "$repo" add path/to/focused-change
git -C "$repo" diff --cached --check
git -C "$repo" commit -m "Fix Safari back link handling"
repo_nwo=$(cd "$repo" && gh repo view --json nameWithOwner --jq '.nameWithOwner')
default_branch=$(cd "$repo" && gh repo view --json defaultBranchRef --jq '.defaultBranchRef.name')
pr_body=$(mktemp)
trap 'rm -f "$pr_body"' EXIT
cp "$repo/.github/pull_request_template.md" "$pr_body"
git -C "$repo" push -u origin "$new_branch"
gh pr create --repo "$repo_nwo" --base "$default_branch" --head "$new_branch" --body-file "$pr_body"
git -C "$repo" status --short --branch
