branch-verification

name	branch-verification
description	Systematic pre-merge verification workflow for Rust monorepo branches. Check compilation, tests, clippy, grep leftovers, then fix → commit → push → PR. Use when user says "check work done in this branch" or before merging any PR.
source	auto-skill
extracted_at	2026-07-25T11:31:54.176Z

Branch Verification Workflow

Systematic pre-merge QA checklist for Rust workspace branches. Run before merging any feature/fix branch into main.

Steps

1. Understand the branch context

git log --oneline -10              # what commits exist
git diff HEAD --stat                # what's still unstaged (expected vs leftover)
git status                          # overall state

Read the commit messages to understand the branch's intent before inspecting diffs.

2. Inspect actual changes

git diff <base>..HEAD --stat        # full scope of changes on this branch
git diff <base>..HEAD -- <file>     # deep-dive specific files of interest

If there are multiple commits, inspect each one separately to understand the incremental changes.

3. Verify compilation

cargo check --workspace            # fast: type-check only

If compilation fails, read the first error, fix it, then re-run.

4. Run tests

cargo test --workspace             # all unit + integration tests

Count the test results: note X passed; 0 failed — do not accept failures.

5. Run clippy with deny warnings

cargo clippy -- -D warnings        # zero warnings policy

Zero warnings enforced by clippy.toml policy. If clippy passes without warnings output — confirm clean.

6. Check for leftover references

Grep for the removed/refactored concept across the entire codebase:

grep -r '<concept>' --include='*.rs' --include='*.toml' --include='*.yaml' --include='*.yml' .

Check: .rs, .toml, .yaml, .yml, .sh, .md — any file type that could reference the removed dependency or renamed symbol.

7. If bugs found → fix → re-verify

1. Identify root cause (diff of the broken commit)
2. Apply surgical fix
3. Re-run: cargo check → cargo test → cargo clippy
4. Commit with descriptive message explaining what was wrong and why

8. Commit → Push → PR

git add <fixed_file>
git commit                        # must match [MARKER] format from project hook
git push
gh pr create                      # title + body with summary of changes + verification results

Rules

• Never assume: compile error could be anywhere — read first error message, don't guess
• Never skip clippy: cargo clippy -- -D warnings is project policy
• Verify all three before declaring done: check + test + clippy
• Grep leftover references: removing a dependency doesn't count if code still mentions it in comments or docs
• Commit hook enforces format: [MARKER] Description — markers: FEAT|FIX|DOC|CHORE|SANDBOX|CI|SEC|PERF|TEST|REFACTOR|DESIGN|PLAN|SPEC|CORE|CLI|SERVER