version: "1.0.0" name: finishing-a-development-branch description: Verify a completed branch, pin required review receipts, push it, and open a pull request. Creates a PR only: never merges, force-pushes, discards work, or amends commits. allowed-tools: Read, Write, Grep, Glob, Bash

Finishing a Development Branch

Announce this flow. Resolve context once and use its JSON throughout:

python3 scripts/resolve_finish_context.py

The helper reports branch, base, merge base, plan directory, lane, ambiguity, changed files, receipt path, and whether a context-delivery audit is required. If it reports ambiguity, ask the user; if no plan exists, use the tiny/no-plan path instead of guessing.

Verify and gate

1. Run the repository’s targeted suite, or the full suite if no safe subset is known. The exact

command comes from agents/PROJECT.md → Test execution; never assume a stack or a script name. Fix failures and retry at most twice; never push a failing change.

1. For non-tiny work with a resolved plan, pin reviews at the resolved base:

``bash python3 scripts/check_review_receipt.py <plan_dir> --require correctness,intent --require-audit-if <base> ``

A missing, stale, failing, or blocking receipt stops the flow. Re-run the affected review; never edit the receipt to pass. Re-run this gate immediately before push. Tiny/no-plan work skips it.

1. Mark the resolved plan status: shipped, append a dated status-log entry, run

python3 skills/visual-planner/render_plan.py specs/<slug>/PLAN.md --summarize so the tracked At-a-glance block matches the shipped Status Log, then stage the spec record by name and commit it:

``bash git add specs/<slug>/PLAN.md specs/<slug>/SUMMARY.md specs/<slug>/RUN.json specs/<slug>/events.jsonl ``

(omit a path only if the file does not exist). RUN.json and events.jsonl are tracked artifacts — .gitignore excludes only the .lock — and a fresh RUN.json stays untracked unless named, which the commit gate (Check 1.7) blocks. The helper-selected plan—not a branch-name guess—is authoritative. Do not manually change version/changelog/trust ledger when post-merge automation exists.

Push and PR

Push without force. Create or update one PR against the resolved base, using a concise body with behavioral summary, tasks, and only a useful flow diagram. After creation, best-effort transition the run to ready_to_merge — run python3 runtime/run_state.py transition --slug <slug> --to ready_to_merge --event pr.opened || true (non-fatal). This is the hop the post-merge shipped transition depends on: shipped is legal only from ready_to_merge, so a run left at verifying never terminalizes. The transition rewrites RUN.json and appends to events.jsonl after the last commit, so stage exactly those two paths, commit (chore(specs): record PR #<n> for <slug>), and push once more — the open PR picks the commit up. Without this commit, git keeps the run at its last committed pre-ready_to_merge state and it never terminalizes. Return the URL and stop. A human reviews and merges.

Safety boundary

Never merge, force-push, git add -A, git clean, discard work, or amend a commit. Stage named files only. An external reviewer is recommended for workflow-engine changes but is not a local push gate; the receipt and deterministic checks remain mandatory.

References

• references/pr-body.md — PR body shape
• references/workflow-engine-review.md — independent-review guidance
• scripts/resolve_finish_context.py — context authority