merge-queue

name	merge-queue
description	Process open PRs — merge when CI passes, handle rebases, file issues for failures. Run in a dedicated window.

Merge Queue

Process all open PRs. Merge what's ready, rebase what's behind, file issues for failures.

Run this in a dedicated terminal window. Invoke periodically with /merge while other windows do /work.

Step 1: Scan

# Check CI status on main — failing main blocks the entire queue
gh run list --branch main --limit 1 --json status,conclusion

# List open PRs. Drafts are excluded — `isDraft: true` is an explicit
# author signal of "not ready for merge", and some long-lived draft PRs
# may exist as deploy targets that must never be merged or rebased by this skill.
gh pr list --json number,title,headRefName,statusCheckRollup,mergeable,body,reviewRequests,reviews,labels,isDraft \
  --jq 'map(select(.isDraft | not))'

If main CI is failing: file a P0 beads issue (if one doesn't already exist), report prominently, and stop. Nothing can merge until main is green.

bd create "CI failing on main: <summary>" -t bug -p 0 --json

Step 2: Categorize

For each PR, determine its state:

State	Action
CI passing, mergeable, no pending review, no needs-human-review label	Merge
CI passing, mergeable, needs-human-review label, not approved	Skip, report "awaiting human review"
CI passing, mergeable, review requested but not approved	Skip, report
CI passing, mergeable, review approved	Merge
CI pending	Skip, report status
CI failing	File issue, report
Not mergeable (behind main)	Attempt rebase

Step 3: Decide Merge Order

When multiple PRs are ready, use judgment to balance:

• Impact: prefer merging high-impact features first
• Merge conflict risk: larger changes sitting unmerged cause more conflicts for other PRs
• Goal: keep changes flowing. Don't always defer large changes — that makes the conflict problem worse

Step 4: Choose Merge Strategy

Before merging each PR, inspect its commits to decide how to merge:

gh pr view <number> --json commits --jq '.commits[] | "\(.oid[:8]) \(.messageHeadline)"'

Pick one of three strategies:

Strategy	When to use	Command
Squash	All commits serve a single logical change, OR commits are messy/WIP (fixups, "wip", "try again", etc.)	gh pr merge <number> --squash
Merge	Commits represent distinct, well-structured concerns (e.g. "add handler" + "add tests" + "update docs") that are valuable to preserve individually	gh pr merge <number> --merge
Rebase cleanup	Commits mix good structure with noise — some are worth preserving but others should be squashed together. Use sparingly — only when clearly beneficial.	Rebase in worktree, force-push, wait for CI, then gh pr merge <number> --merge

Decision guide:

1. Single commit? Always squash (no difference, but squash keeps PR link in message).
2. Multiple commits, single feature? Squash. Example: "implement login" + "fix lint" + "address review" → squash.
3. Multiple commits, distinct concerns, clean messages? Merge. Example: "add practice mode handler" + "add rate limiting middleware" + "enable practice UI in student page" → merge.
4. Mixed quality? If 1-2 WIP commits pollute an otherwise clean history, rebase to clean up, then merge. If it's mostly noise, just squash.

When in doubt, squash. A clean single commit is always better than a messy multi-commit history.

Step 5: Merge

For each mergeable PR (in priority order), using the chosen strategy:

gh pr merge <number> --squash|--merge  # per Step 4

After each merge:

1. Parse beads issue IDs from PR body (look for Beads: id1, id2 line)
2. Close each:

   bd close <id> --reason "Merged in PR #<number>" --json
   

3. Note any Closes #<number> lines — GitHub auto-closes those issues on merge. Include them in the summary.
4. Remove worktree if it exists:

   git worktree remove ../<project>-<branch-name> 2>/dev/null
   

5. Delete feature branch:

   git branch -d feature/<branch-name> 2>/dev/null
   

6. Pull main:

   git pull origin main
   

Important: after each merge, re-check remaining PRs — merging one PR may make others unmergeable (need rebase) or may resolve conflicts.

Step 6: Handle Rebases

When a PR is not mergeable (behind main):

1. Locate or create a worktree for the PR branch:

   # Use existing worktree if present, otherwise create one
   git worktree add ../<project>-rebase-<number> <branch>
   

2. Try fast-path rebase first (inline bash — no subagent):

   cd ../<project>-rebase-<number>
   git fetch origin main
   git rebase origin/main && echo "REBASE: OK"
   

3. If fast-path succeeds: force-push and proceed to CI polling.

   git push --force-with-lease
   

4. If fast-path fails (conflict): abort and spawn the rebase subagent:

   git rebase --abort
   

   Then spawn with context:

   ROLE: Rebase Agent (Conflict Resolution)
   SKILL: Read and follow .claude/skills/rebase/SKILL.md
   
   SOURCE: <branch>
   TARGET: origin/main
   WORKTREE: ../<project>-rebase-<number>
   CLEANUP: false
   PR_NUMBER: <number>
   

5. On RESULT: PASS: force-push the rebased branch, then wait for CI to finish and merge (see below).

   cd ../<project>-rebase-<number>
   git push --force-with-lease
   

6. On RESULT: FAIL: file a beads issue describing the conflict using details from the sub-agent output, and report to the user.

   bd create "Rebase conflict on PR #<number>: <summary>" -t bug -p 1 --json
   

   Include in the issue body: which files conflicted, why the conflict is ambiguous, and the PR reference.

After a clean rebase, poll CI and merge when it passes. Don't just report "rebased, CI re-running" and stop — unmerged PRs accumulate conflicts. Poll every 60 seconds until CI completes:

# Poll until all checks finish
gh pr checks <number> --watch
# Then merge (using strategy from Step 4)
gh pr merge <number> --squash|--merge

If CI fails after the rebase, follow Step 7 (file an issue). But if it passes, merge immediately — don't wait for the user to re-run /merge.

Step 7: Handle CI Failures

Test failures are real. Never rerun. Never ignore.

When CI fails on a PR:

1. Fetch failure logs:

   gh pr checks <number>
   gh run view <run-id> --log-failed
   

2. File a beads issue with:
   • The failure details (which test, error message)
   • PR reference
   • Priority based on severity

   bd create "CI failure on PR #<number>: <summary>" -t bug -p 1 --json
   

3. Report to user with the beads issue ID

Step 8: Report Summary

After processing all PRs, output a summary:

Merge Queue Summary:
- PR #12: Merged (closed bd-abc, bd-def, GitHub #45)
- PR #15: CI passing, awaiting your review
- PR #18: Rebased, CI re-running
- PR #20: CI failing — filed bd-xyz
- PR #22: CI pending (2/3 checks done)

Action needed:
- bd-xyz: Test failure on PR #20, needs /work bd-xyz
- PR #15: Awaiting your review on GitHub

Always include beads issue IDs so the user can dispatch /work for fixes.

If there are no open PRs, report "No open PRs."

What This Agent Does NOT Do

• Write code or fix test failures (file issues for /work instead)
• Resolve merge conflicts (file issues instead)
• Rerun failed CI (test failures are real)
• Close beads issues without a successful merge
• Merge PRs with pending review requests