update-branch

name	update-branch
description	Rebases or merges the current PR branch onto main to resolve conflicts or catch up with upstream changes. Local replacement for the agent-update-branch GitHub workflow. Use when user says "update branch", "rebase", "sync with main", "/update-branch", or when a PR is out of date with main.

Update Branch

Rebases current PR branch onto latest main.

Invoke

/update-branch      # updates current branch
/update-branch 42   # checks out PR #42 branch and updates it

Flow

1. Identify branch

If PR number given:

gh pr view <PR> --json headRefName,state
git fetch origin
git checkout <branch>

Refuse if PR is closed or merged.

2. Fetch latest main

git fetch origin main

Check if update needed:

git merge-base --is-ancestor origin/main HEAD && echo "up to date" || echo "behind"

If already up to date: report and stop.

3. Rebase

git rebase origin/main

On conflict:

1. Read both sides of each conflict carefully
2. Resolve using the intent of both changes — do not blindly pick one side
3. If conflict is ambiguous: stop, show the conflict to user, ask which to keep
4. After resolving all: git rebase --continue

4. Run checks

pnpm typecheck
pnpm test

If checks fail after rebase: diagnose, fix, amend affected commits.

5. Push

git push --force-with-lease origin <branch>

Force-with-lease is safe: fails if remote was updated by someone else since last fetch.

6. Report

Post summary to PR:

gh pr comment <PR> --body "Branch rebased onto main (<sha>). <N> commits ahead, checks passing."

Rules

• Always rebase (not merge) to keep linear history
• Never force-push without --force-with-lease
• Stop on ambiguous conflicts — do not guess intent
• Run checks after rebase before pushing