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name: graphite description: Navigation and restacking with Graphite (gt)

Graphite (gt) Skill

This skill provides instructions for navigating branches and restacking stacks using Graphite (gt).

Core Principles

1. Strictly Prohibited: NEVER run gt ss, gt submit, or gt squash. These commands are forbidden.
2. Navigation: Use gt commands to move between branches in a stack.
3. Maintenance: Use gt restack for local stack maintenance and gt get or gt sync for syncing from remote.

Branch Navigation

Use these commands to navigate through a stack of branches:

Stack Management

Maintain your stack with these commands:

Branch Management

Use these commands to manage branches within your stack.

Commit Management

Use gt modify to manage commits within your stack. It automatically restacks descendants.

Dealing with Interactivity

Many Graphite commands (gt modify, gt move, gt split, gt restack) are interactive by default, opening selectors, editors, or specialized menus.

• For the Agent: Avoid using these commands in an interactive way. If a command requires user input that cannot be provided via flags (e.g., resolving complex rebase conflicts), stop and notify the user.
• Rebase Conflicts: If gt restack or gt move hits a conflict, Graphite will pause. Follow these steps to resolve:
  1. Locate Conflicts: Use git status or look at the error output to identify files with merge conflicts.
  2. Edit Files: Open the conflicting files and resolve the merge markers (<<<<<<<, =======, >>>>>>>). Ensure the code is functionally correct and includes necessary changes from both sides.
  3. Stage Changes: Run gt add -A (or git add <file>) to mark the conflicts as resolved.
  4. Continue: Run gt continue to resume the restack process. IMPORTANT: NEVER use git rebase --continue as Graphite tracks its own state.
  5. Verify: Once the restack completes, run tests to ensure the merged state is stable.
• Interactive Selectors: Prefer providing explicit branch names or flags (like --onto for gt move) to avoid interactive selectors.

Common Fixes & Lessons

Using Graphite over Git

The Problem: Using standard git commit or git commit --amend fails to update Graphite's internal stack metadata and does not trigger automatic restacking of descendants. This can lead to a desynchronized stack where Graphite is unaware of the new commits or changes.

The Solution: Always prefer gt commands over their standard git counterparts for commit and branch management.

• Creating a new branch: Use gt create <branch-name> instead of git checkout -b <branch-name>.
• Creating a new commit: Use gt modify -c -m "message" instead of git commit -m "message".
• Amending a commit: Use gt modify --amend instead of git commit --amend.
• Staging and committing everything: Use gt modify -cam "message" instead of git commit -am "message".

Benefits:

1. Metadata Integrity: Graphite keeps its internal view of the stack consistent.
2. Automatic Restacking: Descendant branches are automatically updated if you change a parent branch.
3. Visual Clarity: Graphite's CLI output stays accurate and helpful.

Pager Interference

The Problem: Commands like git diff, git status, or gt ls may produce empty output or stall if the PAGER environment variable is set to an interactive tool like less or more.

The Solution: Always ensure the environment variable PAGER is set to cat or empty, OR use the tool-specific flag to disable the pager.

Best Practices:

1. Per-command: Prefix commands with PAGER=cat:

   PAGER=cat git status
   PAGER=cat gt ls
   

2. Git Specific: Use --no-pager before the sub-command:

   git --no-pager diff
   

3. Scripting: If writing or modifying helper scripts, include export PAGER="" at the top of the script to protect future runs.

Misplaced Commits

If you accidentally commit a change to the wrong branch in a stack:

1. Stash uncommitted changes: If you have uncommitted work, git stash to keep it safe.
2. Move the change to a new branch (if the commit belongs in its own new branch):
   1. gt create <new-branch> to safely move the head.
   2. gt down to move back to the parent.
   3. git reset --hard HEAD~1 (Safe now because the commit is preserved in the new branch).
3. Move to an existing branch:
   1. git reset HEAD~1 (Soft reset to keep changes in the working tree).
   2. gt down/gt up to the target branch.
   3. gt modify -c or gt modify --amend to incorporate the changes.
4. Restore stashed changes: git stash pop to resume your work.
5. Repair the stack: Move back to the tip and run gt restack to ensure all descendant branches are updated with the parent's new state.

Prohibited Commands

These commands are strictly forbidden to ensure that PR submission, updates, and branch squashing are handled manually or through specified workflows.