stack-create

name	stack-create
description	Initializes a stacked branch set from an ordered plan, one branch per slice with parent-child links. Use when a plan has 2+ sequentially dependent changes.
alwaysApply	false
category	workflow-automation
tags	["git","stacked-diffs","pr","branches","planning"]
tools	[]
complexity	medium
model_hint	standard
estimated_tokens	800
dependencies	["sanctum:git-workspace-review","sanctum:do-issue"]

Stack Create

Initialize a stacked branch set from a multi-step plan. Each logical slice of the plan becomes one branch targeting the previous slice's branch as its base.

When To Use

Use stack-create when a plan produces 2 or more ordered changes where each change depends on the previous one completing (and merging) before it can land. For independent changes, use parallel worktrees instead (see egregore).

When NOT To Use

• A single independent change, which should branch normally instead
• The stack exists and needs publishing (use sanctum:stack-push)

Prerequisites

• Git 2.38+ (git version | awk '{print $3}' to check)
• gh CLI authenticated
• A written plan with ordered slices (from do-issue or attune:blueprint)
• Clean working tree on the base branch (git status)

Required Progress Tracking

Create TodoWrite items before starting:

1. stack-create:git-version-checked
2. stack-create:slices-identified
3. stack-create:branches-created
4. stack-create:stack-verified

Step 1: Verify Git Version (git-version-checked)

git version

Confirm the output is 2.38.0 or higher. If not, the --update-refs flag is unavailable. Warn the user and fall back to manual branch tracking.

Check for optional jj accelerator:

if command -v jj &>/dev/null && jj root &>/dev/null 2>&1; then
  echo "jj available"
else
  echo "using git --update-refs"
fi

Step 2: Identify Slices (slices-identified)

Read the plan and extract ordered slices. Each slice must satisfy:

• A single logical concern (one PR worth of change)
• A clear dependency on the slice before it (if any)