workspace-isolation

name	workspace-isolation
description	Use before approved implementation plans or substantial feature/fix work when workspace isolation, branch provenance, setup baseline, or worktree safety must be decided.

Workspace Isolation

Use this before substantial implementation starts. The goal is to protect the user's current checkout and create baseline evidence without fighting the runtime.

Ownership

• Top-level session or PM/coordinator owns isolation decisions.
• Specialists may request this skill through NEEDS_CONTEXT when the packet lacks workspace, branch, or baseline facts.
• Do not create, remove, or rewrite worktrees as a delegated specialist unless PM explicitly assigned that setup task.

Flow

1. Detect current state:
   • git rev-parse --show-toplevel
   • git rev-parse --git-dir
   • git rev-parse --git-common-dir
   • git rev-parse --show-superproject-working-tree
   • git branch --show-current
   • git status --short
2. If git-dir and git-common-dir differ and the repo is not a submodule, treat the checkout as already isolated. Record path, branch or detached state, and skip worktree creation.
3. Prefer runtime-native workspace/worktree tools when available. Do not use manual git worktree when the host runtime owns isolation.
4. Manual worktree fallback is allowed only when the user already authorized implementation or isolation and the target directory is safe:
   • Prefer an existing ignored .worktrees/ directory.
   • Otherwise prefer an existing ignored worktrees/ directory.
   • If no ignored project-local directory exists, return NEEDS_USER_INPUT with options: add an ignored .worktrees/, use a user-named location, or work in place.
5. Run the smallest project setup and baseline checks from .github/instructions/project.instructions.md. If those commands are unknown or fail, report the blocker before implementation.

Safety Rules

• Never add .gitignore, create external directories, or run network-heavy setup unless authorized by PM/top-level flow and tool permissions.
• Never delete a worktree here. Cleanup belongs to development-branch-closeout.
• Do not treat a submodule as an isolated worktree.
• If sandbox or permissions block isolation, record isolation_status=blocked and continue only if PM chooses work-in-place or stops the task.

Output

Return or record these fields in the PM packet:

• workspace_path
• branch_state
• isolation_status: already_isolated | created | work_in_place | blocked
• baseline_commands
• baseline_result
• next_owner