git-branch

name	git-branch
description	Branch management for implementation. Use when you need to create a branch, switch branches, checkout, or verify branching strategy before implementing code. Do not use for commits (use git-commit), pull requests (use pull-request), or advanced git operations (rebase, merge).

Git Branch — Branch Management

Check Branching Strategy Config

cat .memory/git-config.md 2>/dev/null

If Branching Strategy is filled in, use the configured strategy. The detect-branching-strategy.sh hook automatically seeds on sessionStart.

If the config has Confidence: medium, confirm with the dev before using (see Detect Branching Strategy section).

Check Git State

Before starting implementation:

git branch --show-current
git status
git fetch origin

Remote Synchronization

If on main/master/develop, check synchronization:

git rev-list HEAD..origin/<branch> --count

Situation	Action
Branch behind (commits behind remote)	Alert and suggest pull
Branch with uncommitted local changes	Alert about pending changes
Branch up to date and clean	Proceed normally

If the main branch is behind:

Your branch [main] is [N] commits behind the remote.

I recommend updating before creating a new branch:

[P] Pull and continue
[I] Ignore and continue anyway (not recommended)
[A] Abort implementation

Evaluate Situation for Branch Creation

Situation	Action
Already on a feature branch (not main/master/develop)	Use current branch
On main/master/develop without changes with work item	Create branch automatically (see below)
On main/master/develop without changes without work item	Ask if they want to create a branch
On main/master/develop with changes	Alert and ask how to proceed

Automatic Creation (when there is a work item)

When the source of work is a GitHub issue or Azure DevOps work item, create the branch automatically.

Naming convention:

feature/<id>-<short-description>

Rules for <short-description>:

• Derived from the work item title
• Lowercase letters, numbers, and hyphens only
• Maximum 50 characters in the total branch name
• Remove articles, prepositions, and unnecessary words

Examples:

Work Item	Branch
#42 "Implement user authentication"	feature/42-user-authentication
#108 "Add rate limiting to API endpoints"	feature/108-rate-limiting-api
WI 5678 "Create financial reports endpoint"	feature/5678-financial-reports-endpoint

Action: Create branch and inform the user:

Branch created: feature/<id>-<short-description>

[C] Continue with this branch
[R] Rename branch: _

The user can rename, but the flow does not block waiting for confirmation to create.

Interactive Creation (without work item)

When the source is tasks.md (without issue/work item), ask the user:

You are on the main branch. Do you want me to create a branch for this implementation?

Suggestion: feature/<short-description>

[S] Yes, create suggested branch
[N] No, continue on current branch
[C] Create with another name: _

Existing Branch

If the user is already on a feature branch, use the current branch without additional questions.

Detect Branching Strategy

When .memory/git-config.md does not exist or does not have Branching Strategy, detect automatically:

# 1. Default branch
DEFAULT_BRANCH=$(git symbolic-ref refs/remotes/origin/HEAD 2>/dev/null | sed 's@^refs/remotes/origin/@@')

# 2. Does develop branch exist?
HAS_DEVELOP=$(git ls-remote --heads origin develop 2>/dev/null | grep -q develop && echo "yes" || echo "no")

# 3. Do release/* or hotfix/* branches exist? (GitFlow pattern)
HAS_GITFLOW_BRANCHES=$(git branch -r 2>/dev/null | grep -qE '(release|hotfix)/' && echo "yes" || echo "no")

Detection rules

develop	release/* or hotfix/*	Strategy	Confidence	Action
Yes	Yes	GitFlow	High	Save and inform
Yes	No	GitFlow	Medium	Ask to confirm
No	No	Trunk-Based	High	Save and inform

High confidence — save automatically and inform:

Branching strategy detected: [trunk-based|gitflow]
Integration branch: [branch]

Saved to .memory/git-config.md. To change: edit the file or delete it.

Medium confidence — ask to confirm:

I detected a `develop` branch in the repository.

Which branching strategy does the project use?

[G] GitFlow (features → develop)
[T] Trunk-Based (features → main/master)

Save config

Save to .memory/git-config.md:

# Git Config

Branching Strategy: [trunk-based|gitflow]
Integration Branch: [main|master|develop]

Behavior by Strategy

Action	Trunk-Based	GitFlow
Branch created from	Integration Branch	Integration Branch (develop)
PR target	Integration Branch	Integration Branch (develop)
next-task returns to	Integration Branch	Integration Branch (develop)