finishing-branch

Finishing a Development Branch

After serial-review passes, present a summary to the user, get their confirmation, then integrate the work.

Why: "Done implementing" is not the same as "done." The user needs to see what was built, confirm it matches expectations, and decide how to integrate it — before any merge or PR happens.

Process

1. Verify tests pass

Run the full test suite. If anything fails, stop and fix before proceeding.

2. Present summary to user

Before taking any action, give the user a clear summary:

• What was built — brief description of the changes
• Files changed — list of created/modified/deleted files
• Tests — what tests were added or modified, current test status
• Workarounds — any non-ideal solutions used (from serial-review's workaround summary)
• Known issues — anything worth noting

Wait for the user to review and confirm. The user may have questions, want adjustments, or want to inspect specific files before proceeding — rushing past this step means the user loses their chance to catch issues before integration.

3. Present integration options

After user confirms the summary, offer these choices:

• Merge locally — merge into the base branch on this machine
• Push and create a Pull Request — push the branch and open a PR for team review
• Keep the branch as-is — leave it for now, come back later
• Discard this work — delete the branch and changes

Wait for the user to choose — assuming an integration path can lead to unwanted merges or PRs that are hard to undo.

4. Execute the choice

For merge locally: determine the base branch, merge (default to merge commit unless the user prefers rebase or squash), verify tests pass after merge.

For PR: push the branch, create a PR with a summary of what was built, the workaround list (if any), and links to spec/plan documents. When the PR receives review feedback, use the receiving-review skill to process it.

For keep as-is: do nothing. Remind the user of the branch name for later.

For discard: confirm with the user once more, then delete the branch and clean up.

5. Clean up

After merging or discarding, clean up the working area (delete the branch if merged, remove worktree if applicable). If the user chose to keep the branch, leave it untouched — cleaning up a branch the user wanted to keep means lost work.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

• Merging without running the full test suite first
• Merging to the wrong base branch (always confirm)
• Forgetting to push before creating a PR
• Not including the workaround summary in the PR description
• Cleaning up a branch the user wanted to keep
• Skipping the user summary and jumping straight to "merge or PR?"
• Creating a PR without mentioning the receiving-review skill for handling feedback