| name | git-spotlight |
| description | Use this skill to make the main clone of a repo reflect the current HEAD of a worktree branch for review. Use when you want to spotlight a worktree, make the main clone reflect a worktree's HEAD, or browse worktree work in your editor. |
| trigger_phrases | ["spotlight worktree","git spotlight"] |
| tags | ["git","worktree"] |
Git Spotlight
The spotlight technique points the main clone's spotlight branch at the current HEAD of a worktree, so you can browse and review the work in your editor without disturbing your own branch.
Prerequisites
- You must know the absolute path to the worktree directory.
- You must know the absolute path to the main clone directory (the repo root, not the worktree).
Step 1 - Confirm worktree is fully committed
git status
Must show nothing to commit, working tree clean. If not, commit or stash all changes before continuing.
Step 2 - Check main clone state
git status
Stop and ask the user what to do if the main clone is dirty. Do not proceed until the main clone is clean.
Step 3 - Get the worktree HEAD SHA
git rev-parse HEAD
Save this SHA for the next step.
Step 4 - Check out the spotlight branch in the main clone
git branch --list spotlight
- If the branch does not exist:
git checkout -b spotlight
- If the branch already exists:
git checkout spotlight
Then reset it to the worktree HEAD:
git reset --hard <SHA>
Step 5 - Verify
git log --oneline -1
git status
Confirm the top commit matches the worktree HEAD and the tree is clean.
Tell the user
Inform the user that the spotlight is set.
Notes
- The
spotlight branch is a plain local branch. It is never pushed to the remote.
reset --hard is safe here because spotlight is dedicated to this purpose and has no independent history worth preserving.- If the worktree gains new commits later, re-run this procedure to advance
spotlight to the new HEAD.
