git-workflow

name	git-workflow
description	Git workflow for the Ollama Agent Harness — atomic commits, small changes, safe history
domain	git
confidence	medium
source	authored for harness gap-fill
triggers	["commit this","write a commit message","git workflow","stage my changes"]

Context

Git workflow skill for the Ollama Agent Harness. Changes should land as small, self-contained commits that each leave the test suite green. The harness has destructive-action guardrails; this skill keeps history clean without bypassing them.

Patterns

Atomic Commits

One logical change per commit. A subsystem fix, its regression test, and any directly-orphaned cleanup belong together; unrelated edits do not. Keep diffs reviewable — roughly one concern, not a grab bag.

Commit Message Shape

• Imperative subject under ~72 chars: fix permission deny ordering.
• Body explains the why, not a restatement of the diff.
• Reference the subsystem when it aids scanning: context: cap oversized tool results.

Green Before Commit

Run npm test (or the affected subset) before committing. Do not commit on a red bar. Stop-the-line: a broken build is fixed before new work stacks on it.

Stage Deliberately

Review the diff before staging. Stage only files that belong to the current logical change. Never blanket-add build output, secrets, or unrelated edits.

Safe History

Local rebasing and amending of unpushed commits is fine. Do not force-push shared branches, hard-reset away unfamiliar work, or amend published commits without explicit confirmation — these are hard to reverse.

Examples

Focused commit

git add src/permissions/evaluate.ts src/permissions/evaluate.test.ts
git commit -m "fix: deny rule must override more specific allow"

Inspect before staging

git status --short
git diff src/context/

Anti-Patterns

• One commit mixing an unrelated refactor with a bug fix.
• Committing with failing or unrun tests.
• git add -A that sweeps in build artifacts or stray edits.
• Force-pushing a shared branch or hard-resetting unfamiliar changes.
• Commit messages that restate the diff instead of the reason.