Git Workflow Skill

Git best practices and workflow standards for team collaboration.

When This Activates

Git operations (commit, branch, merge)
Pull request creation/review
Release management
CI/CD integration
Keywords: "git", "commit", "branch", "pr", "merge", "github"

Commit Messages

Format

Pattern: <type>: <description>

Types:

feat: New feature
fix: Bug fix
docs: Documentation only
refactor: Code restructuring (no behavior change)
test: Adding/updating tests
chore: Tooling, dependencies, config

Examples

# ❌ BAD
git commit -m "updates"
git commit -m "fixed stuff"
git commit -m "wip"

# ✅ GOOD
git commit -m "feat: add PDF/EPUB content extraction"
git commit -m "fix: correct nested layer access in transformer models"
git commit -m "docs: update QUICKSTART with new training methods"
git commit -m "refactor: extract validation logic to separate module"
git commit -m "test: add integration tests for data curator"

Multi-line Commits

For complex changes, use commit body:

git commit -m "feat: implement DPO training method

- Add DPOStrategy class with preference pair handling
- Integrate with existing Trainer interface
- Update docs with DPO examples

Closes #15"

Template:

<type>: <short summary>

<body - explain WHY, not WHAT>

<footer - issue references, breaking changes>

Branch Naming

Format

Pattern: <type>/<short-description>

Examples

# ❌ BAD
git checkout -b new-feature
git checkout -b fix
git checkout -b john-branch

# ✅ GOOD
git checkout -b feat/pdf-epub-support
git checkout -b fix/transformer-layer-access
git checkout -b refactor/data-curator-validation
git checkout -b docs/update-training-guide

Types

feat/ - New feature development
fix/ - Bug fixes
refactor/ - Code restructuring
docs/ - Documentation updates
test/ - Test additions/updates
chore/ - Tooling, config, dependencies

Branching Strategies

Feature Branch Workflow (Recommended)

# 1. Create feature branch from main
git checkout main
git pull origin main
git checkout -b feat/new-feature

# 2. Work on feature
# ... make changes ...
git add .
git commit -m "feat: implement new feature"

# 3. Keep up to date with main
git checkout main
git pull origin main
git checkout feat/new-feature
git rebase main  # or merge main

# 4. Push and create PR
git push -u origin feat/new-feature
# Create PR via GitHub

Protected Main Branch

Rules:

No direct commits to main
All changes via pull requests
Require review before merge
Require CI checks to pass
Delete branch after merge

Pull Request Guidelines

PR Title

Same as commit message format:

feat: add PDF extraction support
fix: resolve memory leak in data loader
docs: update installation instructions

PR Description Template

## Summary

Brief description of changes (1-3 sentences)

## Changes

- Add PDF extraction using PyPDF2
- Update DataCurator class with extract_from_pdf method
- Add tests for PDF extraction

## Testing

- [x] Unit tests added/updated
- [x] Integration tests pass
- [x] Manual testing completed

## Checklist

- [x] Code follows style guide
- [x] Documentation updated
- [x] Tests pass locally
- [x] No new warnings

Closes #42

PR Size Guidelines

Keep PRs Small:

✅ Small: < 300 lines changed (ideal)
⚠️ Medium: 300-500 lines (acceptable)
❌ Large: > 500 lines (split if possible)

Why: Smaller PRs are:

Easier to review
Faster to merge
Less likely to have conflicts
Easier to revert if needed

When to Split PRs

# ❌ BAD: One massive PR

feat: complete rewrite of training system

- Refactor trainer (500 lines)
- Add new methods (300 lines)
- Update docs (100 lines)
- Add tests (200 lines)
  Total: 1100 lines!

# ✅ GOOD: Multiple focused PRs

PR #1: refactor: extract strategy pattern for training methods (200 lines)
PR #2: feat: add DPO training strategy (150 lines)
PR #3: feat: add full fine-tuning strategy (150 lines)
PR #4: docs: update training guide with new methods (100 lines)
PR #5: test: add integration tests for training strategies (200 lines)

Code Review Process

Creating a PR

Ensure tests pass locally:

pytest tests/
black . && isort .
mypy src/

Write clear PR description (use template above)
Request reviewers: Tag appropriate team members
Link issues: Use "Closes #N" or "Fixes #N"

Responding to Review Feedback

Process:

Read all comments before responding
Ask clarifying questions if needed
Make requested changes
Reply to comments when done
Request re-review

Response Types:

# ✅ Agree and implemented

Done! Changed to use a set for O(1) lookup.

# ❓ Clarifying question

Good point - should this handle empty lists as well, or can we assume non-empty?

# 💭 Alternative approach

I see your concern. What if we use a generator instead? That avoids loading everything into memory.

# ✅ Agree but out of scope

You're right, but I'd prefer to address that in a separate PR since it's unrelated. Created #54 to track it.

Merging

Options:

Squash and merge: Combines all commits into one (recommended for feature branches)
Rebase and merge: Replays commits on top of main (for clean history)
Merge commit: Preserves all commits (for long-running branches)

Recommended: Squash and merge for most PRs

After Merge:

# Delete remote branch
git push origin --delete feat/my-feature

# Delete local branch
git checkout main
git branch -d feat/my-feature

# Pull latest main
git pull origin main

Git Best Practices

Commit Often, Perfect Later

# While working
git commit -m "wip: add validation logic"
git commit -m "wip: handle edge cases"
git commit -m "wip: add tests"

# Before pushing, squash/rebase to clean history
git rebase -i HEAD~3
# Squash commits into one clean commit

Write Atomic Commits

One commit = One logical change:

# ❌ BAD: Multiple unrelated changes
git commit -m "fix: add validation, update docs, refactor tests"

# ✅ GOOD: Separate commits
git commit -m "fix: add input validation for user data"
git commit -m "docs: update validation examples in README"
git commit -m "refactor: extract validation tests to separate file"

Use `.gitignore` Properly

Common patterns:

# Python
__pycache__/
*.py[cod]
*.so
.Python
env/
venv/
*.egg-info/

# IDE
.vscode/
.idea/
*.swp

# OS
.DS_Store
Thumbs.db

# Project-specific
.env
*.log
data/
*.db

Never Commit Secrets

# ❌ BAD
DATABASE_URL=postgres://user:password@host/db

# ✅ GOOD: Use .env file (gitignored)
# .env
DATABASE_URL=postgres://user:password@host/db

# Load in code
from dotenv import load_dotenv
load_dotenv()

If you accidentally commit secrets:

Rotate the secret immediately
Use git filter-branch or BFG Repo-Cleaner to remove from history
Force push (WARNING: Only on personal branches!)

CI/CD Integration

GitHub Actions Workflow

Minimum CI checks:

name: CI

on: [push, pull_request]

jobs:
  test:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v3

      - name: Set up Python
        uses: actions/setup-python@v4
        with:
          python-version: "3.11"

      - name: Install dependencies
        run: |
          pip install -e ".[dev]"

      - name: Run formatters (check)
        run: |
          black --check .
          isort --check .

      - name: Run linter
        run: ruff check .

      - name: Run type checker
        run: mypy src/

      - name: Run tests
        run: pytest tests/ --cov=src/ --cov-report=term-missing

      - name: Check coverage
        run: |
          coverage report --fail-under=80

Pre-commit Hooks

Install locally for automatic checks:

# .pre-commit-config.yaml
repos:
  - repo: https://github.com/psf/black
    rev: 23.11.0
    hooks:
      - id: black

  - repo: https://github.com/pycqa/isort
    rev: 5.12.0
    hooks:
      - id: isort

  - repo: local
    hooks:
      - id: tests
        name: run tests
        entry: pytest tests/
        language: system
        pass_filenames: false
        always_run: true

Release Management

Semantic Versioning

Format: MAJOR.MINOR.PATCH

MAJOR: Breaking changes
MINOR: New features (backwards compatible)
PATCH: Bug fixes (backwards compatible)

Examples:

1.0.0 → 1.0.1: Bug fix
1.0.1 → 1.1.0: New feature added
1.1.0 → 2.0.0: Breaking change

Creating a Release

# 1. Update version in code
# (setup.py, __version__, etc.)

# 2. Update CHANGELOG.md
## [1.2.0] - 2025-10-25
### Added
- PDF extraction support
- New training strategies

### Fixed
- Memory leak in data loader

### Changed
- Improved error messages

# 3. Commit version bump
git commit -m "chore: bump version to 1.2.0"

# 4. Tag release
git tag -a v1.2.0 -m "Release v1.2.0"

# 5. Push with tags
git push origin main --tags

# 6. Create GitHub Release
# (via GitHub UI or gh CLI)
gh release create v1.2.0 --title "v1.2.0" --notes "See CHANGELOG.md"

Troubleshooting

Undoing Changes

# Undo last commit (keep changes)
git reset --soft HEAD~1

# Undo last commit (discard changes)
git reset --hard HEAD~1

# Undo changes to specific file
git checkout -- file.py

# Revert a merged PR
git revert -m 1 <merge-commit-hash>

Fixing Commit Messages

# Fix last commit message
git commit --amend -m "fix: correct commit message"

# Fix older commits
git rebase -i HEAD~3
# Change "pick" to "reword" for commits to fix

Resolving Merge Conflicts

# 1. Update main
git checkout main
git pull origin main

# 2. Merge main into feature branch
git checkout feat/my-feature
git merge main

# 3. Resolve conflicts
# (edit files, remove conflict markers)

# 4. Mark as resolved
git add .
git commit -m "chore: resolve merge conflicts with main"

# 5. Push
git push origin feat/my-feature

Integration with [PROJECT_NAME]

[PROJECT_NAME] uses the following git workflow:

Branch naming: <type>/<description> (e.g., feat/pdf-support)
Commit messages: Conventional commits (feat:, fix:, etc.)
PR reviews: Required for all changes to main
CI checks: Tests, formatters, linters must pass
Release: Semantic versioning with GitHub Releases

Version: 1.0.0 Type: Knowledge skill (no scripts) See Also: engineering-standards, documentation-guide, code-review

Git Workflow Skill

Git best practices and workflow standards for team collaboration.

When This Activates

Git operations (commit, branch, merge)
Pull request creation/review
Release management
CI/CD integration
Keywords: "git", "commit", "branch", "pr", "merge", "github"

Commit Messages

Format

Pattern: <type>: <description>

Types:

feat: New feature
fix: Bug fix
docs: Documentation only
refactor: Code restructuring (no behavior change)
test: Adding/updating tests
chore: Tooling, dependencies, config

Examples

# ❌ BAD
git commit -m "updates"
git commit -m "fixed stuff"
git commit -m "wip"

# ✅ GOOD
git commit -m "feat: add PDF/EPUB content extraction"
git commit -m "fix: correct nested layer access in transformer models"
git commit -m "docs: update QUICKSTART with new training methods"
git commit -m "refactor: extract validation logic to separate module"
git commit -m "test: add integration tests for data curator"

Multi-line Commits

For complex changes, use commit body:

git commit -m "feat: implement DPO training method

- Add DPOStrategy class with preference pair handling
- Integrate with existing Trainer interface
- Update docs with DPO examples

Closes #15"

Template:

<type>: <short summary>

<body - explain WHY, not WHAT>

<footer - issue references, breaking changes>

Branch Naming

Format

Pattern: <type>/<short-description>

Examples

# ❌ BAD
git checkout -b new-feature
git checkout -b fix
git checkout -b john-branch

# ✅ GOOD
git checkout -b feat/pdf-epub-support
git checkout -b fix/transformer-layer-access
git checkout -b refactor/data-curator-validation
git checkout -b docs/update-training-guide

Types

feat/ - New feature development
fix/ - Bug fixes
refactor/ - Code restructuring
docs/ - Documentation updates
test/ - Test additions/updates
chore/ - Tooling, config, dependencies

Branching Strategies

Feature Branch Workflow (Recommended)

# 1. Create feature branch from main
git checkout main
git pull origin main
git checkout -b feat/new-feature

# 2. Work on feature
# ... make changes ...
git add .
git commit -m "feat: implement new feature"

# 3. Keep up to date with main
git checkout main
git pull origin main
git checkout feat/new-feature
git rebase main  # or merge main

# 4. Push and create PR
git push -u origin feat/new-feature
# Create PR via GitHub

Protected Main Branch

Rules:

No direct commits to main
All changes via pull requests
Require review before merge
Require CI checks to pass
Delete branch after merge

Pull Request Guidelines

PR Title

Same as commit message format:

feat: add PDF extraction support
fix: resolve memory leak in data loader
docs: update installation instructions

PR Description Template

## Summary

Brief description of changes (1-3 sentences)

## Changes

- Add PDF extraction using PyPDF2
- Update DataCurator class with extract_from_pdf method
- Add tests for PDF extraction

## Testing

- [x] Unit tests added/updated
- [x] Integration tests pass
- [x] Manual testing completed

## Checklist

- [x] Code follows style guide
- [x] Documentation updated
- [x] Tests pass locally
- [x] No new warnings

Closes #42

PR Size Guidelines

Keep PRs Small:

✅ Small: < 300 lines changed (ideal)
⚠️ Medium: 300-500 lines (acceptable)
❌ Large: > 500 lines (split if possible)

Why: Smaller PRs are:

Easier to review
Faster to merge
Less likely to have conflicts
Easier to revert if needed

When to Split PRs

# ❌ BAD: One massive PR

feat: complete rewrite of training system

- Refactor trainer (500 lines)
- Add new methods (300 lines)
- Update docs (100 lines)
- Add tests (200 lines)
  Total: 1100 lines!

# ✅ GOOD: Multiple focused PRs

PR #1: refactor: extract strategy pattern for training methods (200 lines)
PR #2: feat: add DPO training strategy (150 lines)
PR #3: feat: add full fine-tuning strategy (150 lines)
PR #4: docs: update training guide with new methods (100 lines)
PR #5: test: add integration tests for training strategies (200 lines)

Code Review Process

Creating a PR

Ensure tests pass locally:

pytest tests/
black . && isort .
mypy src/

Write clear PR description (use template above)
Request reviewers: Tag appropriate team members
Link issues: Use "Closes #N" or "Fixes #N"

Responding to Review Feedback

Process:

Read all comments before responding
Ask clarifying questions if needed
Make requested changes
Reply to comments when done
Request re-review

Response Types:

# ✅ Agree and implemented

Done! Changed to use a set for O(1) lookup.

# ❓ Clarifying question

Good point - should this handle empty lists as well, or can we assume non-empty?

# 💭 Alternative approach

I see your concern. What if we use a generator instead? That avoids loading everything into memory.

# ✅ Agree but out of scope

You're right, but I'd prefer to address that in a separate PR since it's unrelated. Created #54 to track it.

Merging

Options:

Squash and merge: Combines all commits into one (recommended for feature branches)
Rebase and merge: Replays commits on top of main (for clean history)
Merge commit: Preserves all commits (for long-running branches)

Recommended: Squash and merge for most PRs

After Merge:

# Delete remote branch
git push origin --delete feat/my-feature

# Delete local branch
git checkout main
git branch -d feat/my-feature

# Pull latest main
git pull origin main

Git Best Practices

Commit Often, Perfect Later

# While working
git commit -m "wip: add validation logic"
git commit -m "wip: handle edge cases"
git commit -m "wip: add tests"

# Before pushing, squash/rebase to clean history
git rebase -i HEAD~3
# Squash commits into one clean commit

Write Atomic Commits

One commit = One logical change:

# ❌ BAD: Multiple unrelated changes
git commit -m "fix: add validation, update docs, refactor tests"

# ✅ GOOD: Separate commits
git commit -m "fix: add input validation for user data"
git commit -m "docs: update validation examples in README"
git commit -m "refactor: extract validation tests to separate file"

Use `.gitignore` Properly

Common patterns:

# Python
__pycache__/
*.py[cod]
*.so
.Python
env/
venv/
*.egg-info/

# IDE
.vscode/
.idea/
*.swp

# OS
.DS_Store
Thumbs.db

# Project-specific
.env
*.log
data/
*.db

Never Commit Secrets

# ❌ BAD
DATABASE_URL=postgres://user:password@host/db

# ✅ GOOD: Use .env file (gitignored)
# .env
DATABASE_URL=postgres://user:password@host/db

# Load in code
from dotenv import load_dotenv
load_dotenv()

If you accidentally commit secrets:

Rotate the secret immediately
Use git filter-branch or BFG Repo-Cleaner to remove from history
Force push (WARNING: Only on personal branches!)

CI/CD Integration

GitHub Actions Workflow

Minimum CI checks:

name: CI

on: [push, pull_request]

jobs:
  test:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v3

      - name: Set up Python
        uses: actions/setup-python@v4
        with:
          python-version: "3.11"

      - name: Install dependencies
        run: |
          pip install -e ".[dev]"

      - name: Run formatters (check)
        run: |
          black --check .
          isort --check .

      - name: Run linter
        run: ruff check .

      - name: Run type checker
        run: mypy src/

      - name: Run tests
        run: pytest tests/ --cov=src/ --cov-report=term-missing

      - name: Check coverage
        run: |
          coverage report --fail-under=80

Pre-commit Hooks

Install locally for automatic checks:

# .pre-commit-config.yaml
repos:
  - repo: https://github.com/psf/black
    rev: 23.11.0
    hooks:
      - id: black

  - repo: https://github.com/pycqa/isort
    rev: 5.12.0
    hooks:
      - id: isort

  - repo: local
    hooks:
      - id: tests
        name: run tests
        entry: pytest tests/
        language: system
        pass_filenames: false
        always_run: true

Release Management

Semantic Versioning

Format: MAJOR.MINOR.PATCH

MAJOR: Breaking changes
MINOR: New features (backwards compatible)
PATCH: Bug fixes (backwards compatible)

Examples:

1.0.0 → 1.0.1: Bug fix
1.0.1 → 1.1.0: New feature added
1.1.0 → 2.0.0: Breaking change

Creating a Release

# 1. Update version in code
# (setup.py, __version__, etc.)

# 2. Update CHANGELOG.md
## [1.2.0] - 2025-10-25
### Added
- PDF extraction support
- New training strategies

### Fixed
- Memory leak in data loader

### Changed
- Improved error messages

# 3. Commit version bump
git commit -m "chore: bump version to 1.2.0"

# 4. Tag release
git tag -a v1.2.0 -m "Release v1.2.0"

# 5. Push with tags
git push origin main --tags

# 6. Create GitHub Release
# (via GitHub UI or gh CLI)
gh release create v1.2.0 --title "v1.2.0" --notes "See CHANGELOG.md"

Troubleshooting

Undoing Changes

# Undo last commit (keep changes)
git reset --soft HEAD~1

# Undo last commit (discard changes)
git reset --hard HEAD~1

# Undo changes to specific file
git checkout -- file.py

# Revert a merged PR
git revert -m 1 <merge-commit-hash>

Fixing Commit Messages

# Fix last commit message
git commit --amend -m "fix: correct commit message"

# Fix older commits
git rebase -i HEAD~3
# Change "pick" to "reword" for commits to fix

Resolving Merge Conflicts

# 1. Update main
git checkout main
git pull origin main

# 2. Merge main into feature branch
git checkout feat/my-feature
git merge main

# 3. Resolve conflicts
# (edit files, remove conflict markers)

# 4. Mark as resolved
git add .
git commit -m "chore: resolve merge conflicts with main"

# 5. Push
git push origin feat/my-feature

Integration with [PROJECT_NAME]

[PROJECT_NAME] uses the following git workflow:

Branch naming: <type>/<description> (e.g., feat/pdf-support)
Commit messages: Conventional commits (feat:, fix:, etc.)
PR reviews: Required for all changes to main
CI checks: Tests, formatters, linters must pass
Release: Semantic versioning with GitHub Releases

Version: 1.0.0 Type: Knowledge skill (no scripts) See Also: engineering-standards, documentation-guide, code-review

Adoption

akaszubski/git-workflow

$ install --global

Security Scan Results

SKILL.md

Git Workflow Skill

When This Activates

Commit Messages

Format

Examples

Multi-line Commits

Branch Naming

Format

Examples

Types

Branching Strategies

Feature Branch Workflow (Recommended)

Protected Main Branch

Pull Request Guidelines

PR Title

PR Description Template

PR Size Guidelines

When to Split PRs

Code Review Process

Creating a PR

Responding to Review Feedback

Merging

Git Best Practices

Commit Often, Perfect Later

Write Atomic Commits

Use .gitignore Properly

Never Commit Secrets

CI/CD Integration

GitHub Actions Workflow

Pre-commit Hooks

Release Management

Semantic Versioning

Creating a Release

Troubleshooting

Undoing Changes

Fixing Commit Messages

Resolving Merge Conflicts

Integration with [PROJECT_NAME]

Related Skills

akaszubski/testing-guide

akaszubski/semantic-validation

akaszubski/security-patterns

akaszubski/research-patterns

akaszubski/git-workflow

$ install --global

Security Scan Results

SKILL.md

Git Workflow Skill

When This Activates

Commit Messages

Format

Examples

Multi-line Commits

Branch Naming

Format

Examples

Types

Branching Strategies

Feature Branch Workflow (Recommended)

Protected Main Branch

Pull Request Guidelines

PR Title

PR Description Template

PR Size Guidelines

When to Split PRs

Code Review Process

Creating a PR

Responding to Review Feedback

Merging

Git Best Practices

Commit Often, Perfect Later

Write Atomic Commits

Use .gitignore Properly

Never Commit Secrets

CI/CD Integration

Use `.gitignore` Properly

Use `.gitignore` Properly