create-branch

Create Branch

Create a git branch with the correct type prefix and a descriptive name following Sentry conventions.

When to Use

• You need to create a new git branch that follows the repository's naming convention.
• You are starting a new piece of work from the default branch and need help classifying it as feat, fix, docs, or another branch type.
• You want the branch name proposed from either the task description or the current local diff.

Step 1: Get the Username Prefix

Run gh api user --jq .login to get the GitHub username.

If the command fails (e.g. not authenticated), ask the user for their preferred prefix.

Step 2: Determine the Branch Description

If $ARGUMENTS is provided, use it as the description of the work.

If no arguments, check for local changes:

git diff
git diff --cached
git status --short

• Changes exist: read the diff content to understand what the work is about and generate a description.
• No changes: ask the user what they are about to work on.

Step 3: Classify the Type

Pick the type from this table based on the description:

Type	Use when
feat	New user-facing functionality
fix	Broken behavior now works
ref	Same behavior, different structure
chore	Deps, config, version bumps, updating existing tooling — no new logic
perf	Same behavior, faster
style	CSS, formatting, visual-only
docs	Documentation only
test	Tests only
ci	CI/CD config
build	Build system
meta	Repo metadata changes
license	License changes

When unsure: feat for new things (including new scripts, skills, or tools), ref for restructuring existing things, chore only when updating/maintaining something that already exists.

Step 4: Generate and Propose

Build the branch name as <username>/<type>/<short-description>.

Rules for <short-description>:

• Kebab-case, lowercase
• 3 to 6 words, concise but clear
• Describe the change, not file names
• Only use ASCII letters, digits, and hyphens — no spaces, dots, colons, tildes, or other git-forbidden characters

Present it to the user and ask if they want to use it, modify it, or change the type.

Examples

Work description	Branch name
Dropdown menu not closing on outside click	priscila/fix/dropdown-not-closing-on-blur
Adding search to conversations page	priscila/feat/add-search-to-conversations
Restructuring drawer components	priscila/ref/simplify-drawer-components
Updating test fixtures	priscila/chore/update-test-fixtures
Bumping @sentry/react to latest version	priscila/chore/bump-sentry-react
Adding a new agent skill	priscila/feat/add-create-branch-skill

Step 5: Create the Branch

Once confirmed, detect the current and default branch:

git branch --show-current
git remote | grep -qx origin && echo origin || git remote | head -1
git symbolic-ref refs/remotes/<remote>/HEAD 2>/dev/null | sed 's|refs/remotes/<remote>/||' | tr -d '[:space:]'

If symbolic-ref fails, fall back to git branch --list main master: use the one that exists; if both or neither exist, ask the user.

If git branch --show-current is empty (detached HEAD), show the current commit (git rev-parse --short HEAD) and ask whether to branch from it or switch to the default branch first.

Otherwise, if the current branch is not the default branch, warn the user and ask whether to branch from the current branch or switch to the default branch first.

If the user wants to switch to the default branch, handle any uncommitted changes appropriately (offer to stash them if present), then run git checkout <default-branch>. On any failure, restore stashed changes if applicable and stop.

Before creating the branch, check that the name doesn't already exist locally or on the remote (git show-ref). If it does, ask the user to choose a different name.

Create the branch:

git checkout -b <branch-name>

Restore any stashed changes after the branch is created.

References

• Sentry Branch Naming

Limitations

• Use this skill only when the task clearly matches the scope described above.
• Do not treat the output as a substitute for environment-specific validation, testing, or expert review.
• Stop and ask for clarification if required inputs, permissions, safety boundaries, or success criteria are missing.