| name | dirty-worktree-safe-publish |
| description | Safely commit and push intended changes from a mixed or dirty worktree. Use when the user asks to push updates, commit current work, publish a fix, or handle git status with unrelated local changes, nested repositories, ignored generated files, or possible index.lock issues. |
Dirty Worktree Safe Publish
Use this skill to publish only the intended work without disturbing unrelated changes.
Workflow
-
Map repository boundaries.
- Confirm the repo root with
git rev-parse --show-toplevel.
- Detect nested repositories such as
Workflow-Scripts/ and manage them independently.
- Check branch and remote before committing.
-
Inspect dirty state.
- Run
git status --short.
- Classify changes as intended, unrelated user work, generated artifacts, ignored runtime output, or nested-repo changes.
- If a touched file contains unrelated edits, inspect the diff carefully before staging.
- If the task is in
Workflow-Scripts/, run git commands from that nested repository, not the host project repository.
-
Verify publish scope.
- Run the relevant tests/builds for the intended change when feasible.
- Stage files explicitly with file-scoped
git add commands.
- Review
git diff --cached --stat and git diff --cached before committing.
-
Commit and push.
- Use a clear commit message that matches the changed repo.
- Push the current branch to the expected remote.
- Report commit hash and push target.
-
Handle git blockers.
- If
.git/index.lock appears, verify no git process is active before removing it.
- Do not use broad cleanup or destructive commands unless the user explicitly approves.
- After resolving a blocker, rerun the same narrow staging flow.
Guardrails
- Never stage with
git add . in a mixed worktree unless the user explicitly asked to include everything and the diff was reviewed.
- Never commit nested-repo changes from the parent repo.
- Never revert unrelated changes to make the worktree look clean.
