move-changes-to-branch

Move Changes to a New Feature Branch

Move uncommitted work (staged, unstaged, and untracked files) from the current branch onto a new feature branch created from the latest default branch.

Step 1: Verify Changes Exist

git status

If the working tree is clean with no untracked files, stop and tell the user there's nothing to move.

Step 2: Show What Will Be Moved

Summarize staged changes, unstaged changes, and untracked files.

If $ARGUMENTS is empty, ask the user for the new branch name. Use conventional prefixes: feat/, fix/, chore/, refactor/, docs/.

Step 3: Detect the Default Branch

DEFAULT_BRANCH=$(git remote show origin | grep 'HEAD branch' | awk '{print $NF}')

If git remote show origin fails (no remote configured), ask the user which branch to base off of.

Step 4: Stash Everything

git stash push --include-untracked -m "move-changes-to-branch: temp stash"

Step 5: Sync the Default Branch

git checkout $DEFAULT_BRANCH
git pull origin $DEFAULT_BRANCH

Step 6: Create and Switch to the New Branch

git checkout -b <new-branch-name>

Step 7: Restore Stashed Changes

git stash pop

If merge conflicts occur: Do NOT auto-resolve. List the conflicted files and ask the user how to proceed.

Step 8: Stage and Commit

# Stage all changes including untracked files
git add <files>

# Commit with a descriptive message
git commit -m "$(cat <<'EOF'
[type]: [concise description]

[Optional body explaining why, not what]

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.6 <[email protected]>
EOF
)"

• Match the repo's existing commit message style (check git log)
• Use conventional commits if the project follows that convention

Step 9: Report

Show:

• Previous branch
• New branch name
• Commit hash
• Files changed