branch-recall

Branch Recall

Recover context of the current git branch — understand what was done before and continue working with full awareness.

Workflow

Step 1: Identify the branch and base

# Current branch name
git branch --show-current

# Find the merge base with main (or master)
git merge-base HEAD main 2>/dev/null || git merge-base HEAD master 2>/dev/null

If on main/master, inform the user that there's no feature branch to recall and stop.

Step 2: Commit history

Show all commits on this branch since it diverged from the base branch:

git log --oneline --reverse main..HEAD 2>/dev/null || git log --oneline --reverse master..HEAD 2>/dev/null

Step 3: Changed files overview

# File stats — what was added, modified, deleted
git diff --stat main...HEAD 2>/dev/null || git diff --stat master...HEAD 2>/dev/null

# List of changed files with status (A/M/D/R)
git diff --name-status main...HEAD 2>/dev/null || git diff --name-status master...HEAD 2>/dev/null

Step 4: Key diffs

Show the actual diff to understand what changed:

git diff main...HEAD 2>/dev/null || git diff master...HEAD 2>/dev/null

If the diff is very large (>500 lines), summarize by file instead of showing the full diff. Use --stat and then read only the most important changed files.

Step 5 (--deep mode only): Read key files

If the user invoked with --deep argument:

1. Identify the top 5-7 most significant changed files (by diff size or importance)
2. Read each file in full using the Read tool
3. Build a deeper understanding of the current state of the code

Skip this step in default mode to preserve context window.

Step 6: Synthesize context

Present a structured summary:

## Branch: <branch-name>
## Base: <base-branch> (diverged <N> commits ago)

### What was done
- <High-level summary of changes based on commits and diffs>

### Changed files (<N> files)
- **Added:** <list>
- **Modified:** <list>
- **Deleted:** <list>

### Current state
- <What appears to be in progress or incomplete>
- <Any TODO/FIXME markers found in the diff>

### Suggested next steps
- <Based on the changes, what likely needs to be done next>

Important

• Always use three-dot diff (main...HEAD) to see changes relative to the merge base, not two-dot
• If there are uncommitted changes, mention them separately using git status and git diff (unstaged)
• Look for TODO, FIXME, HACK, XXX markers in the diff to identify incomplete work
• Check for failing tests if test files were modified
• Preserve the summary as working context for the rest of the conversation