BubbleBuffer/finishing-a-workspace

Finishing a Workspace

Overview

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

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

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

The Process

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 workspace split from main - is that correct?"

Present Options

Present exactly these 4 options, each with one line of guidance:

Implementation complete and verified. What would you like to do?

1. Merge back to <base-branch> locally — solo or local workflows; the workspace plugin handles the merge
2. Push and create a Pull Request — default for shared repos or when review/CI is required
3. Keep the workspace as-is — pause work; resume later without merging or discarding
4. Discard this work — only if the user has explicitly abandoned the workspace

Which option?

One line per option is allowed. Do not add longer explanations or recommendations — the user decides.

Execute Choice

Option 1: Merge Locally

Call workspace_remove with merge=true:

workspace_remove(id="<workspace-id>", merge=true)

The plugin switches to the base branch, merges the feature branch, and removes the worktree.

Option 2: Push and Create PR

# Push branch
git push -u origin <feature-branch>

# Create PR
gh pr create --title "<title>" --body "$(cat <<'EOF'
## Summary
<2-3 bullets of what changed>

## Test Plan
- [ ] <verification steps>
EOF
)"

Option 3: Keep As-Is

Report: "Keeping workspace <name>."

Option 4: Discard

Confirm first:

This will permanently delete:
- Workspace <name>
- All commits: <commit-list>

Type 'discard' to confirm.

Wait for exact confirmation.

If confirmed:

workspace_remove(id="<workspace-id>")

Quick Reference

| Option | Merge | Push | Keep Workspace | Cleanup Workspace | |--------|-------|------|----------------|-------------------| | 1. Merge locally | ✓ | - | - | ✓ | | 2. Create PR | - | ✓ | ✓ | - | | 3. Keep as-is | - | - | ✓ | - | | 4. Discard | - | - | - | ✓ (no merge) |

Common Mistakes

Open-ended questions

• Problem: "What should I do next?" → ambiguous
• Fix: Present exactly 4 structured options

No confirmation for discard

• Problem: Accidentally delete work
• Fix: Require typed "discard" confirmation

Stale workspace recovery

• Problem: Workspace operations fail due to leftover state from interrupted sessions
• Fix: Use workspace_clean to remove stale workspaces before retrying

Red Flags

Never:

• Merge without verifying tests on result
• Delete work without confirmation
• Force-push without explicit request

Always:

• Present exactly 4 options
• Get typed confirmation for Option 4

Integration

Use after:

• subagent-driven-development — all tasks complete, final reviewer and verifier have passed.
• verification-before-completion — completion claims must be backed by fresh verification evidence before this skill runs.

Pairs with:

• using-workspaces — created the workspace this skill completes.