update-branch

name	update-branch
description	Pull the latest changes from main and merge them into the current working branch. Use when the user mentions updating their branch, syncing with main, pulling latest, refreshing from main, or merging main into their branch.

Update Branch

Checkout main, pull latest, then merge main into the current working branch.

Pre-flight Checks

Before doing anything, run these checks and abort if either fails.

1. Not on main

BRANCH=$(git branch --show-current)

If BRANCH is main, stop and tell the user: "You're already on main -- nothing to update."

2. Clean worktree

git status --porcelain

If output is non-empty, stop and tell the user: "You have uncommitted changes. Please commit or stash them first."

Workflow

Step 1: Checkout main and pull

git checkout main && git pull

If git pull fails (e.g., network error), checkout back to the original branch and report the error:

git checkout $BRANCH

Step 2: Return to branch and merge

git checkout $BRANCH && git merge main

Step 3: Report result

Clean merge: Report success with the short SHA of the merge base:

Merged main (<short-sha>) into <branch> -- clean merge.

Conflicts: List the conflicting files and stop so the user can resolve them:

git diff --name-only --diff-filter=U

Report:

Merge conflicts in <N> file(s):
- path/to/file1
- path/to/file2

Resolve the conflicts and run `git merge --continue` when ready.

Anti-Patterns

• Do NOT force-push or reset anything
• Do NOT auto-resolve merge conflicts
• Do NOT stash on the user's behalf -- let them decide