sync

name	sync
version	1.0.0
category	workspace
description	Fast, verified multi-repo synchronization across all workspace-hub submodules including pull, push, and submodule pointer updates.
type	reference
tags	[]

Sync

Usage

/sync [subcommand] [scope]

Subcommands

Subcommand	Description
(default)	Full sync: pull all → commit dirty → push → update pointers → verify
status	Show status table for all repos (clean/dirty/unpushed/behind)
pull	Pull latest from all repos (stash uncommitted first)
push	Push all repos with unpushed commits
pointers	Update workspace-hub submodule pointers and push

Scope

• all (default) — All 26 submodules
• work — Work repositories only
• personal — Personal repositories only
• <repo-name> — Single specific repository

Execution Protocol

CRITICAL: This skill exists because git sync is the #1 activity (68+ sessions) and the #1 source of friction. Follow this protocol exactly.

Phase 1: Discovery (read .gitmodules, NOT .gitignore)

WORKSPACE_ROOT="/d/workspace-hub"
cd "$WORKSPACE_ROOT"

# Get submodule list from .gitmodules (NEVER parse .gitignore)
git submodule status

Phase 2: Pre-flight checks

For each submodule:

1. Check if HEAD is detached → fix to tracking branch
2. Check for uncommitted changes → stash before pull
3. Check for divergence: git rev-list --count HEAD..origin/main and git rev-list --count origin/main..HEAD

# Per-repo status check
cd "$WORKSPACE_ROOT/$repo"
git fetch origin --quiet


*See sub-skills for full details.*
### Phase 3: Pull (with stash safety)

```bash
cd "$WORKSPACE_ROOT/$repo"

# Stash if dirty
if ! git diff --quiet HEAD 2>/dev/null; then
    git stash push -m "pre-sync-$(date +%Y%m%d-%H%M%S)"
    STASHED=true
fi

# Pull with rebase (never merge for sync pulls)

*See sub-skills for full details.*
### Phase 4: Commit dirty repos

```bash
cd "$WORKSPACE_ROOT/$repo"
if ! git diff --quiet HEAD 2>/dev/null; then
    git add -A
    git commit -m "chore: sync updates

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.6 <[e-mail]>"
fi

Phase 5: Push

cd "$WORKSPACE_ROOT/$repo"
AHEAD=$(git rev-list --count origin/main..HEAD 2>/dev/null || echo 0)
if [ "$AHEAD" -gt 0 ]; then
    git push origin main
fi

Phase 6: Update workspace-hub submodule pointers

cd "$WORKSPACE_ROOT"
git add $(git submodule status | awk '{print $2}')
if ! git diff --cached --quiet; then
    git commit -m "chore: sync submodule pointers

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.6 <[e-mail]>"
    git push origin main
fi

Phase 7: Verification (MANDATORY — never skip)

cd "$WORKSPACE_ROOT"
git submodule status

Success criteria (ALL must pass before reporting success):

• No submodules in detached HEAD state
• No submodules with uncommitted changes
• No submodules with unpushed commits
• Workspace-hub submodule pointers match remote HEAD

See sub-skills for full details.

Existing Script

The ./scripts/repository_sync script handles the mechanics:

# Quick status of all repos
./scripts/repository_sync status all

# Pull all
./scripts/repository_sync pull all

# Full sync (commit + push)
./scripts/repository_sync sync all -m "End of day sync"

Use the script where it works. Fall back to manual git commands per-repo when the script doesn't cover a case (detached HEAD fix, stash conflict resolution, submodule pointer updates).

Windows / MINGW64 Notes

• Path root is /d/workspace-hub/ (not D:\)
• while [ "$(pwd)" != / ] loops never terminate — use $WORKSPACE_ROOT var
• mklink /J for junctions requires unquoted paths
• Shell scripts must use LF endings (CRLF breaks bash)
• Enable long paths: git config --global core.longpaths true

Git LFS Push Failure Triage

If a repo push fails only because a Git LFS pre-push hook is installed but git-lfs is missing on the machine:

1. Check whether the outgoing commit actually includes any files tracked by LFS patterns from .gitattributes.
2. If the commit only changes normal text/code/docs files and does not add or modify any LFS-tracked files, a safe fallback is:

git push --no-verify origin main

3. Record that git-lfs is missing and recommend proper installation for future binary/LFS pushes.

Do not use --no-verify if the commit includes files that match LFS patterns such as *.zip, *.pdf, *.pptx, or any other configured LFS paths.

Stale Gitlink / Missing .gitmodules Triage

If root verification fails with:

fatal: no submodule mapping found in .gitmodules for path '<path>'

then the repo likely contains a stale gitlink entry (mode 160000) for a path that is no longer declared in .gitmodules.

Diagnosis:

git ls-files --stage <path>
git ls-tree HEAD <path>
git show HEAD:.gitmodules

If HEAD/index still show the path as a gitlink but .gitmodules is missing or has no matching entry, and the directory on disk is just an empty leftover, a safe cleanup is:

git rm --cached <path>
rmdir <path> 2>/dev/null || true
git commit -m "fix(git): remove stale <path> gitlink"

Then rerun:

git submodule status
git status --short

Do not remove the gitlink blindly if the path still has a valid .gitmodules entry or contains real local work that has not been reviewed.

Anti-Patterns (NEVER do these)

• NEVER parse .gitignore to discover repos — use .gitmodules
• NEVER report sync as successful without verification phase
• NEVER auto-resolve stash pop conflicts or merge conflicts
• NEVER bypass Git LFS hooks with --no-verify before confirming the pushed commit contains no LFS-tracked files
• NEVER force-push without explicit user confirmation
• NEVER skip repos silently — report every repo's status
• NEVER use git add -A without first running git status

Iron Law

No sync shall be reported as successful without completing Phase 7 verification and confirming all four success criteria pass — ever.

Rationalization Defense

Excuse	Reality
"All the pushes succeeded so it's done"	Push success does not equal sync success. Detached HEADs, dirty repos, and pointer mismatches are invisible without verification.
"Verification is redundant — I watched each step succeed"	Individual step success does not guarantee end-state correctness. Verification checks the final state, not the steps.
"I'll skip verification because the user is waiting"	A false-positive "sync complete" causes harder-to-debug failures later. The 10 seconds verification takes prevents hours of debugging.
"Only one repo changed, no need for full verification"	Submodule pointers and cross-repo state can break from a single repo change. Always verify all four criteria.

Red Flags

These phrases signal you are about to violate the Iron Law:

• "sync looks good" (without running git submodule status)
• "all repos pulled successfully, we're done"
• "skipping verification to save time"
• "probably fine — no errors were reported"

Sub-Skills

• Error Handling