Finish Feature

Overview

Completes the feature development workflow by merging the feature branch back into the main branch. Ensures working directory is clean, updates main branch, performs merge, and pushes changes to remote.

Process

1. Verify Current Branch

Check the current branch to confirm it's a feature branch:

git branch --show-current

If on main/master: Ask user which feature branch to merge.

If on feature branch: Confirm this is the branch to finish.

2. Check Working Directory Status

Verify there are no uncommitted changes:

git status

If uncommitted changes exist:

• Option A: Ask user if they want to commit changes first
• Option B: Stash changes: git stash
• User decides which approach

3. Get Feature Branch Name

Store the current feature branch name for later merge:

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

4. Switch to Main Branch

Determine main branch name (usually main or master):

git branch --list main master

Switch to main branch:

git checkout main  # or master

5. Pull Latest Changes

Update main branch with latest remote changes:

git pull origin main  # or master

If pull fails: User needs to resolve upstream issues before proceeding.

6. Merge Feature Branch

Merge the feature branch into main:

git merge $FEATURE_BRANCH

Uses fast-forward merge when possible for cleaner history.

If merge conflicts occur:

• Notify user of conflicts
• List conflicting files: git status
• User must resolve conflicts manually
• After resolution: git add . and git commit

7. Push to Remote

Push merged changes to remote:

git push origin main  # or master

8. Optional: Delete Feature Branch

Ask user if they want to delete the feature branch:

Local delete:

git branch -d $FEATURE_BRANCH

Remote delete:

git push origin --delete $FEATURE_BRANCH

9. Confirm Completion

Output summary:

• Feature branch merged: <feature-branch-name>
• Main branch updated and pushed
• Branch deletion status (if applicable)

Constraints

• Never merge directly without pulling latest main first
• Always verify working directory is clean before switching branches
• Never force push to main branch
• If conflicts arise, always let user resolve them
• Always confirm branch deletion with user before proceeding

Example Usage

User request: "Finish the user-auth feature"

Process:

1. Verify: currently on feature/user-auth
2. Check: git status → clean
3. Switch: git checkout main
4. Pull: git pull origin main
5. Merge: git merge feature/user-auth --no-ff
6. Push: git push origin main
7. Ask: "Delete feature/user-auth branch? (y/n)"
8. Confirm: "Feature 'user-auth' merged to main and pushed. Feature branch deleted."

Error Handling

Uncommitted changes:

• Offer to commit or stash
• Never proceed without resolving

Pull conflicts:

• User must resolve remote conflicts first
• May need to fetch and rebase

Merge conflicts:

• List conflicting files
• Wait for user to resolve
• Guide through git add + git commit after resolution

Push failures:

• Check remote permissions
• Verify branch protection rules
• May need pull request instead of direct merge