git-stinger

name

git-stinger

description

Git mastery specialist - interactive rebase (squash, fixup, reword, drop), conflict resolution, history rewriting (git filter-repo, BFG), reset/reflog recovery, worktrees for parallel branches, hooks (Husky, lefthook), submodules vs subtrees, Git LFS, partial clone, and sparse checkout. Use when the user says "squash my commits", "I pushed a secret", "my repo is huge", "undo that rebase", "work on two branches at once", "set up Git hooks", "submodules vs subtrees", or needs any Git recovery operation. Do NOT use for CI/CD pipeline configuration (ci-release-worker-bee) or credential rotation after a secrets incident (security-worker-bee).

git Stinger

The procedural arsenal for git-worker-bee. This stinger encodes the opinionated playbooks for every Git mastery surface: interactive rebase, conflict resolution, history rewriting, reflog recovery, worktrees, hooks, large-file storage, and submodule/subtree architecture.

When invoked, read SKILL.md first, then the relevant guide(s) for the task at hand. Research files confirm every factual claim; cite them when answering questions.

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Scope and non-scope

In scope:

• Branching strategy advisory (trunk-based, Git Flow, GitHub Flow)
• Interactive rebase: squash, fixup, reword, drop, reorder, exec, autosquash
• Conflict resolution: merge conflicts, rebase conflicts, rerere, mergetool config
• History rewriting: git filter-repo, BFG Repo Cleaner, removing secrets/large files
• Reset/reflog recovery: all three reset types, recovering deleted branches and commits
• Git worktrees: parallel branch work without stashing
• Hooks: client-side (pre-commit, commit-msg, pre-push) and server-side hand-off
• Submodules vs subtrees decision matrix and lifecycle
• Git LFS: setup, .gitattributes, selective fetch, CI patterns
• Partial clone (--filter=blob:none) and sparse checkout v2 (--cone mode)
• Commit signing: GPG and SSH signature verification

Not in scope:

• CI/CD pipeline configuration using Git events -> ci-release-worker-bee
• Server-side hook configuration in CI/CD runners -> ci-release-worker-bee
• Credential rotation after a secrets-in-history incident -> security-worker-bee
• Secret scanning policies and repository security tooling -> security-worker-bee
• GitHub/GitLab REST API usage beyond the Git protocol itself

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Eight-action playbook

The Bee performs eight distinct actions. Each maps to a guide:

Action	Guide
Interactive rebase (squash, fixup, autosquash)	guides/01-interactive-rebase.md
History rewriting (filter-repo, BFG, secrets removal)	guides/02-history-rewriting.md
Conflict resolution (merge, rebase, rerere)	guides/03-conflict-resolution.md
Reset/reflog recovery	guides/04-reflog-recovery.md
Worktrees for parallel branches	guides/05-worktrees.md
Hooks (pre-commit, commit-msg, pre-push)	guides/06-hooks.md
Large files (Git LFS, partial clone, sparse checkout)	guides/07-lfs-and-large-files.md
Submodules vs subtrees decision	guides/08-submodules-vs-subtrees.md

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Critical directives (from Command Brief)

These are non-negotiables. Full justifications in guides/00-principles.md.

1. Always offer the escape hatch before a destructive operation. Before git reset --hard, show git reflog. Before filter-repo, show git bundle create backup.bundle --all. Before any force-push, show the rollback command. The escape hatch must precede the operation.

2. Prefer --force-with-lease over --force. --force overwrites without checking whether a teammate pushed since your last fetch. --force-with-lease aborts if the remote was updated, preventing silent overwrites. Use --force-with-lease=<refname> for the strictest variant.

3. Never recommend git filter-branch. It is officially deprecated (Git 2.36+) in favor of git filter-repo. It is an order of magnitude slower, has known correctness bugs, and the manpage now opens with a deprecation warning. Always use filter-repo or BFG.

4. Confirm the Git version before recommending advanced features. Worktrees stabilized in Git 2.15. Sparse checkout v2 (cone mode) arrived in 2.25. Partial clone landed in 2.22. --rebase-merges in 2.22. --autosquash has been available since 1.7.4 but fixup! with a comment requires 2.32.

5. Escalate to security-worker-bee for secrets-in-history scenarios. Removing a secret from history requires force-push coordination AND credential rotation - the secret must be treated as compromised even after removal. That coordination (rotating keys, auditing access logs, notifying stakeholders) is security-worker-bee's domain.

6. Escalate to ci-release-worker-bee for server-side hooks and CI Git configuration. Server-side hooks (pre-receive, update, post-receive) run in CI contexts with different Git versions, file system constraints, and network policies.

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Git version requirements matrix

Feature	Minimum Git version
git worktree (stable)	2.15
Partial clone (--filter)	2.22
--rebase-merges	2.22
Sparse checkout v2 (--cone)	2.25
git switch / git restore	2.23
filter-branch deprecated warning	2.36
git bundle --filter	2.41

Check with git --version before using any of the above.

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Quick reference: recovery operations

Scenario	Command
Undo last commit (keep changes staged)	git reset --soft HEAD~1
Undo last commit (keep changes unstaged)	git reset HEAD~1
Undo last commit (discard changes)	git reset --hard HEAD~1 + verify with reflog first
Recover deleted branch	git checkout -b <branch> <sha> (sha from git reflog)
Recover dropped stash	git stash apply <sha> (sha from git fsck --lost-found)
Undo a merge	git reset --hard ORIG_HEAD
Undo a rebase	git reset --hard ORIG_HEAD or find pre-rebase sha in reflog
Recover file deleted in past commit	git checkout <sha>^ -- <path>

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Quick reference: interactive rebase commands

Command	Effect
pick	Keep commit as-is
reword	Keep commit, edit message
edit	Keep commit, pause to amend
squash	Meld into previous commit, combine messages
fixup	Meld into previous commit, discard message
drop	Delete commit entirely
exec	Run shell command between commits
break	Pause rebase at this point

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Folder layout

git-stinger/
├── SKILL.md                         (this file - master index)
├── README.md                        (human overview)
├── guides/
│   ├── 00-principles.md             (escape-hatch-first, force-with-lease, filter-branch deprecation, version matrix, public-branch rule)
│   ├── 01-interactive-rebase.md     (squash, fixup, autosquash, rebase -i conflict resolution)
│   ├── 02-history-rewriting.md      (filter-repo, BFG, backup procedure, force-push protocol)
│   ├── 03-conflict-resolution.md    (merge conflicts, rerere, mergetool, cherry-pick conflicts)
│   ├── 04-reflog-recovery.md        (reset types, recovering deleted branches/commits, ORIG_HEAD)
│   ├── 05-worktrees.md              (worktree commands, bare clone pattern, AI agent use cases)
│   ├── 06-hooks.md                  (pre-commit, commit-msg, pre-push; Husky/lefthook setup)
│   ├── 07-lfs-and-large-files.md    (LFS setup, .gitattributes, partial clone, sparse checkout)
│   └── 08-submodules-vs-subtrees.md (decision matrix, lifecycle commands, alternatives)
├── examples/
│   ├── secrets-removal.md           (end-to-end: discovered secret → backup → filter-repo → force-push → escalate)
│   └── worktree-parallel-features.md (two features in progress without stash context-switch)
├── templates/
│   ├── gitattributes-starter.md     (.gitattributes with LFS patterns + line-ending normalization)
│   ├── hooks-collection.md          (pre-commit, commit-msg, pre-push hook scripts)
│   └── rebase-cheatsheet.md         (quick-reference card for rebase -i commands)
├── reports/
│   └── README.md                    (past run summaries accumulate here)
└── research/                        (authored by scripture-historian - DO NOT MODIFY)
    ├── research-plan.md
    ├── research-summary.md
    ├── index.md
    ├── internal/
    └── external/

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Part of the Cursor IDE Army curated by Mario Aldayuz a.k.a @thenotoriousllama.