sync-force-to

name	sync-force-to
description	Force-sync current branch into a remote target branch by deleting and re-pushing. Creates a backup PR before overwriting so the old state can be restored via GitHub's 'Restore branch'. Use when 'sync-to' failed due to conflicts, or when user says 'sync force to', 'force sync to', 'force push to branch'.
argument-hint	<target-branch> | --setup
allowed-tools	Bash(bash *), Glob, Grep, Read, Edit

DO NOT auto-invoke this skill. This destructively overwrites a remote branch. Always ask for user confirmation before proceeding.

sync-force-to

Overwrite a remote target branch with the current branch by deleting the remote target and re-pushing. Avoids git push --force by using delete + push instead.

Before overwriting, the script automatically:

1. Pushes the old target state as a backup/YYYYMMDDHHMM-<target> branch
2. Creates a PR for the backup branch against the default branch
3. Closes the PR and deletes the backup branch
4. The closed PR retains GitHub's "Restore branch" button for recovery

If the target branch doesn't exist yet (first-time push), backup steps are skipped.

Usage

Normal mode

Run the bundled script:

bash $HOME/.claude/skills/sync-force-to/scripts/sync-force-to.sh $ARGUMENTS

Report the script output to the user verbatim. Do not add extra commentary unless there was an error.

Setup mode (--setup)

When $ARGUMENTS is --setup, do NOT run the script. Instead, configure the current project's GitHub Actions workflows to skip CI on backup/* branches:

1. Find all workflow files: .github/workflows/*.yml and .github/workflows/*.yaml
2. For each workflow file, check on: triggers (push, pull_request, etc.)
3. For each trigger that could run on backup/** branches:

• If the trigger has a branches: filter that already excludes backup/**, skip it
• If the trigger has a branches: filter, add '!backup/**' to the list to exclude it
• If the trigger has NO branch filter (runs on all branches), add branches-ignore: ['backup/**']
• If the trigger already has branches-ignore:, add 'backup/**' to the existing list

4. Report what files were changed

Important notes for setup:

• Do not modify triggers for workflow_dispatch, schedule, or other non-branch triggers
• Only modify push and pull_request / pull_request_target triggers
• Preserve existing YAML formatting and comments as much as possible
• Show the user the diff of changes before committing