Finishing A Development Branch

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name: finishing-a-development-branch description: Use when implementation is complete, all tests pass, and you need to decide how to integrate the work - guides completion of development work by presenting structured options for merge, PR, or cleanup

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Finishing a Development Branch

Overview

Guide completion of development work by presenting clear options and handling chosen workflow.

Core principle: Verify tests → Present options → Execute choice → Clean up.

Announce at start: "I'm using the finishing-a-development-branch skill to complete this work."

The Process

Step 1: Verify Tests

Before presenting options, verify tests pass:

# Run project's test suite
npm test / cargo test / pytest / go test ./...

If tests fail:

Tests failing ( failures). Must fix before completing:
[Show failures]
Cannot proceed with merge/PR until tests pass.

Stop. Don't proceed to Step 2.

If tests pass: Continue to Step 2.

Step 2: Determine Base Branch

# Try common base branches
git merge-base HEAD main 2>/dev/null || git merge-base HEAD master 2>/dev/null

Or ask: "This branch split from main - is that correct?"

Step 3: Present Options

Present exactly these 4 options:

Implementation complete. What would you like to do?
1. Merge back to  locally
2. Push and create a Pull Request
3. Keep the branch as-is (I'll handle it later)
4. Discard this work
Which option?

Don't add explanation - keep options concise.

Step 4: Execute Choice

#### Option 1: Merge Locally

# Switch to base branch
git checkout 
Pull latest
git pull
Merge feature branch
git merge 
Verify tests on merged result
If tests pass
git branch -d 

Then: Cleanup worktree (Step 5)

#### Option 2: Push and Create PR

# Push branch
git push -u origin 
Create PR
gh pr create --title "