branch

/orc:branch — Branch Setup

Input

$ARGUMENTS

Definitions

Protected branches: main, master, develop. These are the only branches treated as protected by this skill.

Process

The orchestrator runs this directly via Bash tool — no agent delegation.

Step 1: Detect current branch

Run git branch --show-current.

• If the current branch is NOT a protected branch → report "On branch: <name>" and STOP. This is a no-op.
• If on a protected branch → proceed to Step 2.

Step 2: Determine branch name

2a: Check project conventions

Read the project's CLAUDE.md and look for a "Branch" or "Branch Naming" section. If found, follow that convention exactly and skip 2b.

2b: Default convention

If no project convention exists, derive the branch name from $ARGUMENTS:

Ticket: Parse $ARGUMENTS for a ticket reference matching [A-Z]+-\d+, OR look for --ticket <ID>. Extract if found.

Type: Infer from keywords in arguments:

Keyword(s)	Type
fix, bug	fix
feat, feature, add	feat
refactor	refactor
chore	chore
docs, documentation	docs
test	test

Default if no keyword matches: feat

Slug: Remaining words (after removing the ticket reference and the matched keyword that triggered the type — e.g., remove bug not fix when bug was the input), kebab-case, max 5 words.

Format:

• With ticket: <type>/<ticket>-<slug>
• Without ticket: <type>/<slug>

Step 3: Create branch

1. Check if the branch name already exists: git branch --list <name>
   • If it exists → STOP and ask the user what to do
2. Run git checkout -b <branch-name>
3. Report: "Created branch: <name>"

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Edge Cases

• No $ARGUMENTS and no description available → prompt the user for a branch description. Do NOT guess.
• Branch already exists → STOP, ask the user whether to check it out, rename, or abort.
• Already on a non-protected branch → report and STOP. No branch creation.

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Examples

Input	Result
/orc:branch --ticket PROJ-123 Add dark mode	feat/PROJ-123-add-dark-mode
/orc:branch fix login session expiry AUTH-45	fix/AUTH-45-login-session-expiry
/orc:branch Add user search	feat/add-user-search
/orc:branch refactor database connection pool	refactor/database-connection-pool
/orc:branch docs update API reference	docs/update-api-reference

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Rules

• NEVER create a branch if already on a non-protected branch — report and STOP
• NEVER force-create a branch that already exists
• ALWAYS check project CLAUDE.md for branch naming conventions before using defaults
• ALWAYS read $ARGUMENTS — if empty and no context available, prompt the user. Do NOT invent a branch name.
• NEVER delegate this to an agent — the orchestrator runs it directly via Bash tool