Using Git Worktrees (Simplified: Branch-Only Mode)

Overview

Branch Creation Process

1. Generate Branch Name

# Format: feature/<task-name> or fix/<issue-name>
branch_name="feature/$(echo "$TASK" | tr ' ' '-' | tr '[:upper:]' '[:lower:]' | sed 's/[^a-z0-9-]//g' | cut -c1-50)"

2. Verify Clean Working Directory

# Check for uncommitted changes
git status --porcelain

• Ask user to stash or commit first
• OR create branch anyway and warn about carrying over changes

3. Create and Switch to Branch

# Create new branch from current HEAD
git checkout -b "$branch_name"

4. Verify Branch Created

# Confirm current branch
git branch --show-current

5. Report Ready

Temporary branch created: $branch_name
Ready to implement: $TASK

Quick Reference

Common Mistakes

Skipping clean directory check

• Problem: Carries over unrelated changes to new branch
• Fix: Always check

  git status --porcelain

  first

Not verifying branch creation

• Problem: May still be on wrong branch
• Fix: Always confirm with

  git branch --show-current

Example Workflow

You: I'm using the using-git-worktrees skill to create a temporary branch.

[Check git status - clean]
[Create branch: git checkout -b feature/subscription-user-id-uuid]
[Verify: git branch --show-current outputs "feature/subscription-user-id-uuid"]

Temporary branch created: feature/subscription-user-id-uuid
Ready to implement: Fix SubscriptionPlan user_id from int to UUID

Red Flags

• Skip working directory check
• Proceed without verifying branch was created
• Create branch with uncommitted changes without warning

• Verify clean working directory first
• Confirm branch creation
• Use descriptive branch names

Integration

• brainstorming (Phase 4) - REQUIRED when design is approved and implementation follows
• subagent-driven-development - REQUIRED before executing any tasks
• executing-plans - REQUIRED before executing any tasks
• Any skill needing isolated workspace

• finishing-a-development-branch - REQUIRED for cleanup after work complete