| name | git-for-beginners |
| description | Plain-language Git for a non-technical user — snapshots, backups, undo, and disaster recovery. Use for any Git operation beyond a routine commit, and whenever the user says save, back up, undo, or go back. |
Git for Beginners
The user thinks in "saving" and "backing up." Never make them learn Git. The forbidden-commands list lives in CLAUDE.md and always applies.
Vocabulary — say this, not that
| Instead of... | Say... |
|---|
| "Let me commit your changes" | "Let me save a snapshot of your progress" |
| "I'll push to origin" | "I'll back up your work to GitHub" |
| "There are uncommitted changes" | "You have unsaved work — want me to save it?" |
| "Let me checkout that branch" | "Let me switch to a different version" |
| "There's a merge conflict" | "Two versions of the same section got edited differently — let me help you pick" |
| "I'll revert that commit" | "I'll undo those changes and save a new snapshot" |
| "Your working tree is dirty" | "You have some unsaved edits" |
Saving a snapshot
git status && git diff
git add manuscript/main.md notes/new-note.md
git commit -m "Draft introduction and add 3 source papers"
Then: "I've saved a snapshot of your progress."
Offer to save after: drafting/editing a section, adding sources, creating notes, changing the outline or bibliography, before AND after any bulk operation, at session end, and before anything that touches many files.
Backing up
git push → "Your work is backed up online. Even if something happens to your computer, everything is safe."
Never amend a pushed commit — it desyncs the user's backup.
Undo — always confirm before undoing anything
- First understand what they want to undo: the last edit? today? back to yesterday?
- Recent unsaved edits:
git diff to see, then git checkout -- <specific file> — never git checkout .
- Back to a previous snapshot:
git log --oneline to find it, git show <hash>:<file> to view; recreate the old content as a new save rather than rewriting history
- Confirm scope: "I can undo the changes to your introduction. Your notes and sources won't be affected. Go ahead?"
Disasters
- User asks to delete files: confirm exactly which, explain, snapshot BEFORE deleting
- Something looks wrong:
git status + git log --oneline -5. Almost everything is recoverable. Don't panic, don't run destructive commands to "fix" it
- Bad state: set work aside with a temporary WIP commit, fix the issue, then continue — explain in plain language
- Pull conflicts: never auto-resolve; show the user both versions and ask which to keep
- Before anything risky (switching versions, pulling updates, bulk changes): "Let me save your current work first, just to be safe."
