/finish

Git Flow Finish Branch

Complete current Git Flow branch: $ARGUMENTS

Current Repository State

• Current branch: !git branch --show-current
• Branch type: !git branch --show-current | grep -oE '^(feature|release|hotfix)' || echo "Not a Git Flow branch"
• Git status: !git status --porcelain
• Unpushed commits: !git log @{u}.. --oneline 2>/dev/null | wc -l | tr -d ' '
• Latest tag: !git describe --tags --abbrev=0 2>/dev/null || echo "No tags"

Task

Complete the current Git Flow branch by merging it to appropriate target branch(es).

1. Branch Type Detection

CURRENT_BRANCH=$(git branch --show-current)

if [[ $CURRENT_BRANCH == feature/* ]]; then
  BRANCH_TYPE="feature"
  MERGE_TO="develop"
  CREATE_TAG="no"
elif [[ $CURRENT_BRANCH == release/* ]]; then
  BRANCH_TYPE="release"
  MERGE_TO="main develop"
  CREATE_TAG="yes"
  TAG_NAME="${CURRENT_BRANCH#release/}"
elif [[ $CURRENT_BRANCH == hotfix/* ]]; then
  BRANCH_TYPE="hotfix"
  MERGE_TO="main develop"
  CREATE_TAG="yes"
  TAG_NAME="${CURRENT_BRANCH#hotfix/}"
else
  echo "Not on a Git Flow branch (feature/release/hotfix)"
  exit 1
fi

2. Pre-Merge Validation

• All changes committed (clean working directory)
• All commits pushed to remote
• No merge conflicts with target branch(es)

3. Feature Branch Finish

Via PR (preferred — always squash merge)

# Find the open PR for this branch
PR_NUMBER=$(gh pr list --head "$CURRENT_BRANCH" --json number --jq '.[0].number')

# Squash merge — combines all commits into a single commit on develop
gh pr merge $PR_NUMBER --squash --delete-branch
git checkout develop && git pull origin develop

Local fallback (when no PR exists)

git push
git checkout develop
git pull origin develop
git merge --no-ff feature/$NAME -m "Merge feature/$NAME into develop

$(git log develop..feature/$NAME --oneline)

Co-Authored-By: Claude <noreply@anthropic.com>"
git push origin develop

# Use -D (force) because squash merge creates different SHA
git branch -D feature/$NAME 2>/dev/null || true
git push origin --delete feature/$NAME 2>/dev/null || true

4. Release Branch Finish

VERSION="${CURRENT_BRANCH#release/}"
git push

# Merge to main
git checkout main
git pull origin main
git merge --no-ff release/$VERSION -m "Merge release/$VERSION into main

Co-Authored-By: Claude <noreply@anthropic.com>"

# Tag (unless --no-tag)
git tag -a $VERSION -m "Release $VERSION"
git push origin main --tags

# Merge back to develop
git checkout develop
git pull origin develop
git merge --no-ff release/$VERSION -m "Merge release/$VERSION back into develop

Co-Authored-By: Claude <noreply@anthropic.com>"
git push origin develop

# Cleanup (unless --no-delete)
git branch -d release/$VERSION
git push origin --delete release/$VERSION

4a. Create GitHub Release (release and hotfix only)

After tagging and pushing, always create a GitHub release with user-friendly notes.

1. Check previous release format to match conventions:

   gh release view $(git tag --sort=-v:refname | sed -n '2p') --json body --jq '.body' | head -20
   

2. Generate user-friendly release notes from the CHANGELOG. Read the [VERSION] section from CHANGELOG.md, then rewrite each entry to be product/user-facing:

   • Remove internal implementation details (file paths, function names, config keys)
   • Describe what changed from the user's perspective, not what code was modified
   • Keep the same section headers (### Fixed, ### Added, ### Changed, etc.)

3. Create the release matching the format of previous releases:

   gh release create $VERSION --title "$VERSION" --notes "<user-friendly notes>"
   

4b. Post-release develop version bump (release and hotfix only)

After merging back to develop, bump the version to the next patch and ensure [Unreleased] is ready for new entries:

1. Bump version — run ./scripts/bump-version.sh patch if the script exists, otherwise manually increment the patch version in the project's version file (package.json, plugin.json, etc.)

2. Ensure [Unreleased] header exists — check if CHANGELOG.md has an empty ## [Unreleased] section at the top (above the just-released version). If not, add one:

   ## [Unreleased]
   
   ## [x.y.z] - date
   ...
   

3. Commit on develop:

   git add -A
   git commit -m "chore(develop): bump version for next development cycle
   
   Previous release: $VERSION
   
   Co-Authored-By: Claude <noreply@anthropic.com>"
   git push origin develop
   

5. Hotfix Branch Finish

Same as release finish but uses hotfix branch name. The tag is the hotfix version (already set on the branch). Also creates a GitHub release (step 4a) and bumps develop version (step 4b).

6. Error Handling

Not on Git Flow Branch: Guide user to correct branch. Uncommitted Changes: Ask to commit/stash. Unpushed Commits: Offer to push. Merge Conflicts: Show conflicting files and resolution steps.

7. Arguments

• --no-delete — Keep branch after merging
• --no-tag — Skip tag creation (release/hotfix only)

Related Commands

• /feature <name> — Start new feature branch
• /release <version> — Start new release branch
• /hotfix — Start new hotfix branch from main
• /flow-status — Check Git Flow status
• git-flow skill — Branching model reference, merge targets, and diagnostic script