autoresearch-finalize

name	autoresearch-finalize
description	Finalize an autoresearch session into clean, reviewable branches. Use when asked to "finalize autoresearch", "clean up experiments", or "prepare autoresearch for review". Use when this capability is needed.
metadata	{"author":"davebcn87"}

Finalize Autoresearch

Turn a noisy autoresearch branch into clean, independent branches — one per logical change, each starting from the merge-base.

Step 1 — Analyze and Propose Groups

1. Read .auto/log.jsonl (legacy: autoresearch.jsonl). Filter to kept experiments only.
2. Read .auto/prompt.md (legacy: autoresearch.md) for context.
3. Expand all short commit hashes to full hashes: git rev-parse <short_hash>
4. Get the merge-base: git merge-base HEAD main
5. For each kept commit, get the diff stat (use $BASE..<commit> for the first, <prev_kept>..<commit> for subsequent).
6. Group kept commits into logical changesets:
   • Preserve application order. Group N comes before Group N+1.
   • No two groups may touch the same file. Each branch is applied to merge-base independently — overlapping files would conflict. If two groups touch the same file, merge them into one group.
   • Watch for cross-file dependencies. Each branch is independent, so if group 1 adds an API in api.js and group 2 calls it in parser.js, group 2's branch won't work in isolation. When proposing groups, flag dependencies: "group 2 depends on group 1 — review together." If the dependency is tight, merge the groups.
   • Keep each group small and focused. One idea, one theme per group.
   • Don't hardcode a count. Could be 2, could be 15.

Present the proposed grouping to the user:

Proposed branches (each from merge-base, independent):

1. **Switch test runner to forks pool** (commits abc1234, def5678)
   Files: vitest.config.ts, package.json
   Metric: 42.3s → 38.1s (-9.9%)

2. **Tune worker count and timeouts** (commits ghi9012, jkl3456)
   Files: test/setup.ts
   Metric: 38.1s → 31.7s (-16.8%)

Wait for approval before proceeding.

Step 2 — Write groups.json and Run

Write groups.json:

{
  "base": "<full merge-base hash>",
  "trunk": "main",
  "final_tree": "<full hash of current HEAD>",
  "goal": "short-slug",
  "groups": [
    {
      "title": "Switch to forks pool",
      "body": "Why + what changed.\n\nExperiments: #3, #5\nMetric: total_time 42.3s → 38.1s (-9.9%)",
      "last_commit": "<full hash of last kept commit in this group>",
      "slug": "forks-pool"
    }
  ]
}

Key rules:

• last_commit must be a full hash. Expand from jsonl short hashes with git rev-parse.
• No two groups may share a file. The script validates this and fails if violated.

Then run:

bash <SKILL_DIR>/finalize.sh /tmp/groups.json

The script creates one branch per group from the merge-base, verifies the union matches the original branch, and prints a summary with all branches, cleanup commands, and any ideas from .auto/ideas.md (legacy: autoresearch.ideas.md).

On creation failure: rolls back (deletes branches, restores original branch, pops stash). On verification failure: exits non-zero but leaves branches intact for inspection.

Step 3 — Report

After the script finishes, report to the user:

• Branches created and what each contains
• Overall metric improvement (baseline → best)
• Show the cleanup commands from the script's summary output

Edge Cases

• Only 1 kept experiment: One branch is fine — don't force splits.
• Overlapping files between groups: The script fails with an error naming the file. Merge the overlapping groups and retry.
• Non-experiment commits on the branch: Skip them — only process kept experiments from the jsonl.

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Source: davebcn87/pi-autoresearch — distributed by TomeVault.