Creating a Pull Request

Workflow

Step 1: Verify branch state

CURRENT=$(git branch --show-current)
DEFAULT=$(gh repo view --json defaultBranchRef --jq '.defaultBranchRef.name')

• If $CURRENT equals $DEFAULT or is develop/release/*/hotfix/*: inform user they are on a protected branch, cannot create PR from here
• If uncommitted changes exist: commit first (use git-commit skill)
• If branch not pushed: git push -u origin $CURRENT

Step 2: Analyze changes

DEFAULT=$(gh repo view --json defaultBranchRef --jq '.defaultBranchRef.name')
git log --format="%s%n%b" "$DEFAULT..HEAD"
git diff --name-only "$DEFAULT..HEAD"
git diff --stat "$DEFAULT..HEAD"

From the diff and commits, identify:

• Type: primary change type (feat, fix, refactor, chore, perf)
• Intent: business/technical goal (1-2 sentences)
• Entry point: most critical changed file for reviewer
• Sensitive areas: files needing extra scrutiny (auth, payments, data)
• Breaking changes: ! in commits or BREAKING CHANGE footer
• Migrations: database or schema changes

Step 3: Generate title

Conventional Commits format: <type>[scope]: <description>

• Imperative mood, under 72 chars, no period, English only
• Match the project's commit style (check git log --format="%s" -20)

NEVER add task ID, issue number, or other metadata to the title:

❌ Wrong:

feat(messages): add server-only synthetic mailbox archive parser (BP-1234)

✅ Correct:

feat(messages): add server-only synthetic mailbox archive parser

Step 4: Generate description

Use the template from assets/pull_request_template.md. Three sections:

1. Scope & Context - Type, Intent, Related Issues
2. Reviewer Guide - Complexity (Low/Medium/High), Entry Point, Sensitive Areas
3. Risk Assessment - Breaking Changes, Migrations/State

Formatting rules:

• No fluff intros ("This PR updates...")
• Filenames in backticks: \path/to/file.ts\
• Use " - " (hyphen), not "-" (em-dash)
• No hard-wrap in body prose: GitHub renders soft line breaks as <br> in PR descriptions, so wrapping at ~80 chars creates visible artificial breaks. Let paragraphs flow; break only for new paragraphs, list items, or code blocks
• All sections required, sub-sections only when relevant data exists

Do NOT reference specifications (./specs/*.md), plans (./plans/*.md), its section numbers, or TODO.md in pull request descriptions. These are internal artifacts for agent coordination and should not be exposed to human reviewers. If you need to explain a design decision, implementation detail, or rationale, do so in the description without citing internal documents. The description should be self-contained and understandable on its own.

Complexity guide:

Step 5: Create PR

DEFAULT=$(gh repo view --json defaultBranchRef --jq '.defaultBranchRef.name')
gh pr create \
  --title '<title>' \
  --body '<description>' \
  --base "$DEFAULT"

For drafts, add --draft.

MANDATORY: Use single quotes for --body to avoid shell interpolation. NEVER use double quotes, which can cause variables or special characters in the description to be misinterpreted by the shell.

Step 6: Verify

gh pr view --web

Report: PR number, URL, title, base/head branches.

Error Recovery