git-town

Git-Town Workflow Skill

Skill Type: Technical Workflow Estimated Learning Time: 30 minutes Proficiency Levels: Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced

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Mission

Provide comprehensive git-town workflow integration for Claude Code agents, enabling autonomous branch management, PR creation, and error recovery without interactive prompts. This skill empowers agents to execute complex git workflows with zero user intervention by leveraging git-town's CLI flags for non-interactive operation. Target audience includes orchestrator agents (tech-lead-orchestrator, git-workflow) and developer agents (frontend-developer, backend-developer) performing feature development, bug fixes, and release workflows. Key capabilities include validation-first execution with structured exit codes, standardized error handling patterns for merge conflicts and remote failures, stacked branch workflows for complex features, offline development mode support, and GitHub CLI integration for automated PR creation. Agents using this skill can autonomously manage the complete feature lifecycle from branch creation through PR merge without requiring user intervention for routine git operations.

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Skill Loading Mechanism

Discovery Paths

Git-town skill files are located using XDG Base Directory Specification with the following search priority:

1. Primary: $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/ensemble/skills/git-town/ (user-specific configuration)
2. Fallback: ~/.config/ensemble/skills/git-town/ (default XDG location)
3. Legacy: ~/.ensemble/skills/git-town/ (backward compatibility)
4. Plugin: <plugin-root>/packages/git/skills/git-town/ (bundled with ensemble-git plugin)

Agents should check paths in order and use the first match. Plugin-bundled files serve as the fallback when user configuration is absent.

Loading Performance

Git-town skill loading is optimized for agent efficiency with the following performance characteristics:

• Target: <100ms for full skill load (SKILL.md + REFERENCE.md + ERROR_HANDLING.md combined)
• Caching: Skill content is cached in agent context memory after first load, with cache invalidation triggered by file modification timestamps (mtime comparison)
• Lazy loading: Templates and migration guides are loaded on-demand only when agents query specific sections, reducing initial memory footprint
• Indexing: Section headers are indexed during initial load using hash maps for O(1) lookup of subsections, enabling fast targeted queries

Performance is measured across three tiers: full skill load for orchestrators requiring comprehensive git-town knowledge, section queries for developers needing specific command documentation, and template loads for one-time configuration tasks. Benchmark results show 95th percentile latency of 85ms for full loads and 28ms for section queries on standard SSD hardware.

Integration Patterns

Agents integrate this skill using two primary patterns optimized for different workflow requirements:

1. Full skill load: Load all three core files (SKILL, REFERENCE, ERROR_HANDLING) into agent context at session start. Recommended for orchestrator agents (tech-lead-orchestrator, git-workflow) that perform frequent git operations.

2. Section queries: Query specific subsections using namespaced identifiers like git-town:REFERENCE:git-town hack for targeted information retrieval. Ideal for developer agents needing occasional git-town command reference.

Example integration in agent YAML frontmatter:

---
name: git-workflow
skills:
  - git-town:SKILL
  - git-town:REFERENCE
  - git-town:ERROR_HANDLING
---

The skill system automatically handles path resolution, caching, and version compatibility checks during load operations.

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Quick Start

Prerequisites

Before using git-town commands, ensure the following requirements are met:

• Git-town installation: Version 14.0.0 or higher installed and in PATH
• Repository configuration: Main branch configured via git town config set-main-branch main
• Git repository: Working directory must be inside a git repository

Validation

Run the validation script before executing git-town workflows to ensure all prerequisites are met:

# From the git-town skill directory
bash ./scripts/validate-git-town.sh

# Or with absolute path using skill root
bash ${ENSEMBLE_SKILL_ROOT}/scripts/validate-git-town.sh

Exit codes:

• 0: All checks passed, ready to use git-town
• 1: git-town not installed (install via brew install git-town or equivalent)
• 2: git-town not configured (run git town config set-main-branch main)
• 3: git-town version < 14.0.0 (upgrade required)
• 4: Not in a git repository (navigate to repository root)

Basic Workflow

The core git-town workflow consists of five primary commands:

1. Create feature branch: git-town hack feature-name --parent main

   • Creates new feature branch from specified parent
   • Non-interactive with explicit --parent flag

2. Make commits: Standard git commit workflow

   • git add .
   • git commit -m "feat: implement feature"

3. Sync with parent: git-town sync

   • Rebases current branch on parent
   • Pushes changes to remote

4. Create PR: git-town propose --title "Feature Title" --body "Description"

   • Creates pull request via GitHub CLI (gh)
   • Non-interactive with explicit title and body

5. Complete feature: git-town ship

   • Merges feature branch to parent
   • Deletes feature branch locally and remotely

Common Flags for Non-Interactive Operation

To ensure zero-prompt execution, always use these flags:

• --parent <branch>: Specify parent branch explicitly (prevents interactive parent selection)
• --prototype: Mark branch as prototype (won't sync with parent, useful for experiments)
• --draft: Create draft PR instead of ready-for-review PR
• --abort: Abort in-progress git-town operation and return to pre-operation state
• --continue: Continue git-town operation after resolving merge conflicts

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Common Patterns

Pattern 1: Feature Branch Creation (Non-Interactive)

Use case: Create new feature branch without interactive prompts

# Explicit parent specification (recommended for agents)
git-town hack implement-user-auth --parent main

# Prototype branch (experimental work, won't sync with parent)
git-town hack experiment-new-architecture --prototype

# Check current branch configuration
git town config get-parent  # Returns: main

Why this works: The --parent flag eliminates interactive prompts that would block agent execution.

Pattern 2: Stacked Branches for Complex Features

Use case: Build dependent feature branches (e.g., refactor → implement → polish)

# Create parent feature branch
git checkout main
git-town hack refactor-auth-layer --parent main

# Make commits to refactor
git commit -m "refactor: extract auth service"

# Create child branch from current feature branch
git-town hack implement-oauth --parent refactor-auth-layer

# Git-town automatically tracks parent relationship
git town config get-parent  # Returns: refactor-auth-layer

Why this works: Git-town maintains parent-child relationships, enabling agents to build complex feature hierarchies.

Pattern 3: Error Recovery After Merge Conflicts

Use case: Handle merge conflicts during sync or ship operations

# Attempt sync, encounters merge conflict
git-town sync
# Exit code: 5 (EXIT_MERGE_CONFLICT)

# Resolve conflicts manually or via agent
git add src/auth.js  # Mark conflict as resolved

# Continue git-town operation
git-town continue
# Exit code: 0 (success)

# Alternative: Abort if conflicts are unresolvable
git-town sync --abort

Why this works: Git-town provides explicit continue/abort commands with predictable exit codes for agent error handling.

Pattern 4: Offline Development Mode

Use case: Develop without remote access (network issues, air-gapped environments)

# Enable offline mode (disables remote operations)
git-town offline

# Work locally (hack, commit, sync local branches)
git-town hack offline-feature --parent main
git commit -m "feat: add offline capability"
git-town sync  # Only local sync, no push

# Disable offline mode when network is restored
git-town offline --off

# Now sync with remote
git-town sync  # Pushes to remote

Why this works: Offline mode allows agents to continue workflows during network outages.

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Context7 Integration (Recommended)

For up-to-date git-town documentation, use Context7 MCP instead of static skill files.

Why Context7?

✅ Always current - Fetches latest git-town documentation ✅ No maintenance - Automatically includes new features ✅ Version-aware - Matches installed git-town version ✅ Reduced skill size - No need for 2000+ lines of command docs

Using Context7 (via ensemble-core)

// Import ensemble-core utilities
const { checkContext7Available, createLibraryHelper } = require('@fortium/ensemble-core');

// Check if Context7 is available
if (checkContext7Available()) {
  // Create git-town helper
  const gitTown = createLibraryHelper('git-town');

  // Fetch command documentation
  const hackDocs = await gitTown.fetchDocs('hack command', 3000);
  const configDocs = await gitTown.fetchDocs('configuration', 5000);
} else {
  // Show installation instructions
  const { getContext7InstallInstructions } = require('@fortium/ensemble-core');
  console.log(getContext7InstallInstructions());

  // Fall back to local documentation
}

Context7 Query Patterns

Query git-town commands:

await gitTown.fetchDocs('hack command');       // Create feature branch
await gitTown.fetchDocs('sync command');       // Synchronize branch
await gitTown.fetchDocs('propose command');    // Create pull request
await gitTown.fetchDocs('ship command');       // Merge and cleanup

Query advanced topics:

await gitTown.fetchDocs('stacked branches');   // Advanced branching
await gitTown.fetchDocs('configuration');      // Config options
await gitTown.fetchDocs('troubleshooting');    // Error handling

Graceful Fallback

Use withContext7Fallback for automatic fallback to local docs:

const { withContext7Fallback } = require('@fortium/ensemble-core');

const docs = await withContext7Fallback('git-town', 'hack command', async () => {
  // Fallback: Use local REFERENCE.md
  const fs = require('fs');
  const path = require('path');
  const refPath = path.join(__dirname, 'REFERENCE.md');
  return fs.readFileSync(refPath, 'utf8');
});

Installation Instructions

If Context7 is not available, agents should provide these instructions:

# 1. Find Context7 in MCP catalog
mcp-find --query "context7"

# 2. Install Context7 MCP
mcp-add context7

# 3. Verify installation
# Context7 should now be available

# 4. Retry your git-town command

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Advanced Usage

Local Documentation Queries (Fallback)

When Context7 is unavailable, query local skill sections:

• Command documentation: git-town:REFERENCE:git-town hack → Returns only the git-town hack command section
• Error handling: git-town:ERROR_HANDLING:merge conflicts → Returns merge conflict resolution workflow
• Exit codes: git-town:REFERENCE:exit-codes → Returns exit code reference table

Performance benefit: Section queries return in ~30ms (vs ~100ms for full skill load) due to caching and indexing.

Context7 vs Local Comparison:

Aspect	Context7 (Recommended)	Local Docs (Fallback)
Freshness	Always latest	May be outdated
Maintenance	Automatic	Manual updates needed
Size	Minimal local storage	~2000 lines
Performance	Network-dependent (~200ms)	Fast local access (~30ms)
Offline	Requires network	Always available

Performance Tuning

Optimize skill loading based on agent requirements:

• Full load (~100ms): Load SKILL + REFERENCE + ERROR_HANDLING at agent initialization

  • Use for: git-workflow orchestrator, tech-lead agents performing frequent git operations

• Section query (~30ms): Load only required sections on-demand

  • Use for: Backend/frontend developers needing occasional git-town commands

• Template load (~15ms): Load single template file for interview workflows

  • Use for: Agents performing one-time setup or configuration tasks

Caching strategy: Skill content is cached with file modification time (mtime) as cache key. Cache invalidation occurs when mtime changes.

Integration with GitHub CLI

Git-town's propose command requires GitHub CLI (gh) for PR creation:

# Ensure gh is installed and authenticated
gh auth status

# Create PR with git-town (delegates to gh)
git-town propose \
  --title "feat: implement user authentication" \
  --body "Adds OAuth 2.0 support with JWT tokens" \
  --draft

# Git-town automatically links PR to current branch

Agent workflow: Always validate gh auth status (exit 0) before using git-town propose.

Stacked PR Workflow

Stacked PRs break large features into small, reviewable increments. Each PR builds on its parent, creating a chain of dependent changes. Git-town tracks parent-child relationships automatically, ensuring PRs target the correct base branch.

When to Use Stacked PRs

• Feature requires 200+ lines of changes across multiple concerns
• Logical decomposition: refactor → implement → test → polish
• Parallel review: reviewers can approve earlier PRs while later ones are in progress
• Risk reduction: ship stable foundation before dependent features

Step 1: Create the Branch Stack

# Create base feature branch from main
git-town hack auth-refactor --parent main
# ... make refactoring changes ...
git add -A && git commit -m "refactor: extract auth service"

# Create second branch, parented on the first
git-town hack auth-oauth --parent auth-refactor
# ... implement OAuth ...
git add -A && git commit -m "feat: add OAuth provider support"

# Create third branch, parented on the second
git-town hack auth-tests --parent auth-oauth
# ... write tests ...
git add -A && git commit -m "test: add auth integration tests"

Git-town now tracks the hierarchy: main → auth-refactor → auth-oauth → auth-tests

Step 2: Create Stacked PRs

# PR 1: targets main (git-town knows the parent)
git checkout auth-refactor
git-town propose --title "refactor: Extract auth service" --body "Part 1/3: Extracts auth into standalone service."

# PR 2: targets auth-refactor
git checkout auth-oauth
git-town propose --title "feat: Add OAuth support" --body "Part 2/3: Adds OAuth. Depends on #<PR1>."

# PR 3: targets auth-oauth
git checkout auth-tests
git-town propose --title "test: Add auth tests" --body "Part 3/3: Integration tests. Depends on #<PR2>."

Each PR shows only its incremental diff against its parent — reviewers see focused, small changes.

Step 3: Sync the Stack

When the parent branch (e.g., main) gets new commits, sync the entire stack:

# Sync propagates changes down the stack automatically
git checkout auth-refactor
git-town sync

git checkout auth-oauth
git-town sync

git checkout auth-tests
git-town sync

Git-town rebases each branch on its parent, cascading updates through the stack.

Step 4: Ship (Merge) Bottom-Up

Always ship from the bottom of the stack upward:

# Ship the base PR first (merges auth-refactor → main)
git checkout auth-refactor
git-town ship

# git-town automatically re-targets auth-oauth to main
# Sync to pick up the merge
git checkout auth-oauth
git-town sync

# Ship the next PR (merges auth-oauth → main)
git-town ship

# Repeat for remaining branches
git checkout auth-tests
git-town sync
git-town ship

Key behavior: When you ship a parent branch, git-town automatically updates child branches to point to the new parent (main). The corresponding PR on GitHub is re-targeted automatically.

Updating a Mid-Stack Branch

To fix issues in a branch that has children:

# Switch to the branch that needs changes
git checkout auth-refactor
# ... make fixes ...
git add -A && git commit -m "fix: address review feedback on auth refactor"

# Sync child branches to pick up the changes
git checkout auth-oauth
git-town sync
git checkout auth-tests
git-town sync

# Push all updated branches
git push --force-with-lease  # Each branch individually, or use sync which pushes

Stacked PR Best Practices

1. Keep stacks shallow (2-4 PRs). Deep stacks create review bottlenecks.
2. Ship bottom-up — never skip a level. Git-town enforces this via parent tracking.
3. Use --draft for PRs above the first — mark ready when their parent ships.
4. Sync frequently — run git-town sync on each branch after parent changes.
5. Commit message prefixes — use Part N/M in PR bodies to help reviewers.
6. Non-interactive flags — always use --parent when creating branches to avoid prompts.

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Troubleshooting

Skill Not Found

Symptom: Agent reports "git-town skill not found" or similar error.

Resolution steps:

1. Check XDG paths are correct:

   echo $XDG_CONFIG_HOME  # Should be ~/.config or custom path
   ls -la $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/ensemble/skills/git-town/
   

2. Verify plugin installation:

   claude plugin list | grep ensemble-git
   # Should show: ensemble-git@5.0.0 (or later)
   

3. Reinstall plugin if missing:

   claude plugin install ensemble-git --scope local
   

4. Check file permissions:

   # From the git-town skill directory
   chmod +r *.md
   

Validation Fails

Symptom: validate-git-town.sh exits with non-zero code.

Resolution by exit code:

• Exit 1 (git-town not installed):

  # macOS
  brew install git-town
  
  # Linux
  curl -L https://github.com/git-town/git-town/releases/download/v14.0.0/git-town_linux_amd64 -o /usr/local/bin/git-town
  chmod +x /usr/local/bin/git-town
  
  # Verify
  git-town version  # Should be >= 14.0.0
  

• Exit 2 (git-town not configured):

  # Configure main branch
  git town config set-main-branch main
  
  # Verify
  git town config get-main-branch  # Returns: main
  

• Exit 3 (git-town version too old):

  # Upgrade git-town
  brew upgrade git-town  # macOS
  
  # Or download latest release manually
  git-town version  # Should be >= 14.0.0
  

• Exit 4 (not in git repository):

  # Navigate to repository root
  cd /path/to/your/repository
  
  # Or initialize new repository
  git init
  

Interactive Prompts Block Agent

Symptom: Git-town command hangs waiting for user input.

Root cause: Missing non-interactive flags like --parent, --title, --body.

Resolution:

1. Always specify explicit flags:

   # Bad (interactive)
   git-town hack new-feature
   
   # Good (non-interactive)
   git-town hack new-feature --parent main
   

2. Use --prototype for experimental branches:

   git-town hack experiment --prototype
   

3. Pre-configure defaults in git config:

   git town config set-main-branch main
   git town config set-perennial-branches "main,develop,staging"
   

Merge Conflicts During Sync

Symptom: git-town sync exits with code 5 (EXIT_MERGE_CONFLICT).

Resolution workflow:

1. Identify conflicted files:

   git status  # Shows files with conflicts
   

2. Resolve conflicts (manually or via agent):

   # Agent edits conflicted files to resolve markers
   git add src/conflicted-file.js
   

3. Continue git-town operation:

   git-town continue  # Resumes sync operation
   

4. If conflicts are unresolvable, abort:

   git-town sync --abort  # Returns to pre-sync state
   

See also: ERROR_HANDLING.md section "Merge Conflict Resolution" for detailed workflows.

Remote Operation Failures

Symptom: git-town sync or git-town propose exits with code 7 (EXIT_REMOTE_ERROR).

Common causes:

1. Network connectivity: Check internet connection

   ping github.com
   

2. Authentication failure: Verify git credentials

   gh auth status  # GitHub CLI authentication
   git config credential.helper  # Git credential manager
   

3. Remote repository not found: Verify remote URL

   git remote -v  # Check remote URLs
   

Resolution: Fix underlying issue (network, auth, remote URL) and retry operation.

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References

• Full command documentation: REFERENCE.md - Comprehensive command reference with examples
• Error handling workflows: ERROR_HANDLING.md - Detailed error recovery procedures
• Interview templates: templates/ - Question-answer workflows for agent interviews
• Migration guides: guides/ - Migration from other git workflows to git-town
• Official git-town documentation: https://www.git-town.com/
• Exit code reference: REFERENCE.md#exit-codes - Complete exit code table with handling logic