git-hex-branch-cleanup

name

git-hex-branch-cleanup

description

Rewrite git branch history. Invoke for any commit manipulation: squash, reword, reorder, drop, split, fold fixups, amend, or rebase onto main. Handles "clean up my commits", "squash before PR", "fix commit message typo", "make branch reviewable", "fold in fixup commits", "drop a commit", "rebase my branch". Operates on existing commits using git-hex MCP tools — no interactive rebase needed. NOT for: merge conflicts, cherry-picks across branches, conflict checking, git concepts, or hooks setup.

Git-hex Branch Cleanup

Use this skill when the user wants to reshape a feature branch's commit history using git-hex tools instead of manual interactive rebase.

Workflow

1. Assess the situation

• Call git-hex-getRebasePlan to see the commit range.
  • Use count to control how far back (default 10, max 200).
  • Commits come back oldest-first — the natural order for a rebase plan.
  • If onto is omitted it defaults to @{upstream} or HEAD~count.
• Optionally call git-hex-checkRebaseConflicts to predict conflicts before starting. This requires git 2.38+ — if the user's git is older, skip it and note the limitation.

2. Choose the right tool for the job

Goal	Tool	Notes
Edit the last commit (message or content)	amendLastCommit	Use addAll: true to stage tracked changes automatically. Needs at least staged changes OR a new message.
Fix an older commit	createFixup → rebaseWithPlan	User must stage changes first. Then createFixup targets the commit; follow with rebaseWithPlan using autosquash: true to fold it in.
Reorder, drop, squash, or reword	rebaseWithPlan	Pass a plan array. For reordering, set requireComplete: true.
Break a commit into focused pieces	splitCommit	Requires splits array with ≥2 entries. Every file in the original commit must appear in exactly one split.
Cherry-pick a single commit	cherryPickSingle	Rejects merge commits. Use abortOnConflict: false to pause on conflicts instead of aborting.

3. Execute safely

• Prefer autoStash: true when the working tree is dirty.
  • rebaseWithPlan uses git's native --autostash.
  • amendLastCommit uses --keep-index mode (preserves staged changes).
  • splitCommit and cherryPickSingle use git-hex's own stash helper.
• Never rewrite shared or protected branches — only feature branches the user controls.
• All write operations create backup refs automatically.

4. Handle stash restore failures

Tools that manage their own stash (amendLastCommit, splitCommit, cherryPickSingle) return stashNotRestored: true if the stash pop fails after the operation succeeds. When you see this:

1. Tell the user their operation succeeded but their stashed changes couldn't be reapplied cleanly.
2. Suggest running git stash list to find the stash entry, then git stash pop manually to resolve any conflicts.

rebaseWithPlan uses git's native --autostash and does not emit this flag — git handles it internally.

5. Recover from mistakes

• Call git-hex-undoLast to restore the state before the last git-hex operation.
• It requires a clean working tree. Use force: true only if commits were added after the backup or untracked files would be overwritten.
• If a rebase pauses with conflicts, hand off to the git-hex-conflict-resolution skill.

Gotchas

• reword requires message — without it, git opens an editor and hangs.
• Messages must be single-line — no TAB or newline characters in message fields for reword, splitCommit, or createFixup.
• createFixup needs staged changes — it doesn't stage anything itself. Remind the user to git add first.
• requireComplete: true — when reordering, every commit in the range must appear in the plan. Without this, unmentioned commits default to pick.
• Prefer fixup over squash unless the user wants to combine commit messages (squash opens an editor-like message merge; fixup silently discards).
• Root commits can't be split — splitCommit rejects them.
• Merge commits can't be split or cherry-picked — both tools reject them.
• Detached HEAD — getRebasePlan and rebaseWithPlan warn about this in their summary. Flag it to the user if unexpected.