spywhere/dotfiles/recreate-branch

Recreate Branch

Use this skill when a branch's final result is wanted but its commit history is not. Recreate only the approved net changes; do not rewrite the source branch.

1. Inspect before planning

Before making any change, inspect and report:

• the source branch, source commit, and working-tree status;
• staged and unstaged diffs, including untracked files;
• relevant history, merge bases, and reverted or superseded work; and
• repository conventions for commit messages, authorship, and checks.

Define and get confirmation for all of the following:

• source — the read-only branch, worktree, and commit to inspect;
• authoritative final state — the exact final files/content/modes to keep;
• base ref — an explicit destination starting point, often the merge-base

with the target branch; never silently use source HEAD as the base;

• destination branch and isolated destination worktree path; and
• scope — included paths and explicit exclusions.

Exclude ignored files by default. Include untracked, generated, binary, submodule, symlink, or file-mode changes only with explicit opt-in. Do not make unrelated changes.

2. Create the destination safely

Only after the definition above is confirmed, create an isolated worktree for the destination branch at the confirmed base ref. Leave the source read-only: do not modify it, stage there, or create commits there.

Record the source status and commit before work. Recheck them before each material step; abort if the source branch, commit, or working tree changes.

3. Reconstruct the final state

Compare the authoritative final state with the explicit base and apply only the net intended changes in the destination worktree. Do not replay, cherry-pick, or preserve source commits merely because they exist.

Explicitly exclude bad, reverted, experimental, superseded, and intermediate decisions. Preserve approved final file contents and modes. Recreate sensible commit messages and authorship under repository conventions, but do not carry over historical metadata such as commit IDs, timestamps, parents, signatures, or notes.

4. Plan and create commits

Derive small, cohesive commits from the reconstructed final diff. Show the commit plan — each commit's purpose and included paths — and get confirmation before staging or committing.

After confirmation, stage only the planned paths and create the approved commits. Recheck that the source remains unchanged throughout; abort on any source change.

5. Validate and report

Validate the destination against the authoritative final state, including:

• file contents and scoped diff;
• executable bits and other approved file modes;
• relevant metadata (for example symlink targets, submodule revisions, and

binary identity) when explicitly included; and

• all available relevant project checks.

Report the destination branch/worktree, created commits, files changed, validation performed and results, explicit exclusions, and any unresolved destination diffs. Do not claim completion if validation or source-stability checks cannot be completed.