Finishing a Development Branch

Overview

Integration choice and checkout lifetime are separate. Verify first, mutate only task-owned resources, then prove what was removed or retained.

Core principle: fresh evidence -> authorized integration -> ownership-aware cleanup -> Git/path readback.

Announce at start: explain which branch/worktree lifecycle is being closed.

Step 1: Environment and Ownership Detection

Read the task's TaskStartSnapshot and current repository state. Record:

• root, HEAD, branch/detached state, upstream divergence, and active Git ops;
• staged/unstaged/untracked paths and the task-owned delta;
• git worktree list --porcelain;
• branch/worktree creator, task ownership, base branch, and cleanup trigger.

Stop on conflicts, unexplained detached state, failed verification, dirty/untracked state in a cleanup target, or unknown ownership. Do not infer the base from the names main or master; use task records, repository authority, or explicit user direction. Never auto-stash, reset, clean, pull, rebase, amend, force-push, or bypass hooks.

For a trusted host-managed detached checkout, follow the repository's approved managed-workspace contract: verify host binding, default cwd, root, and HEAD; then use its scoped local-commit and native handoff path. Report detached HEAD in the receipt. This exception does not authorize automatic deletion of the detached checkout or bypass unknown ownership/binding.

If no task-created branch/worktree exists and integration was not requested, skip this workflow: report the local task commit plus Task clean and Repository clean; do not invent merge/PR ceremony.

Step 2: Fresh Verification

Run the smallest current-authority test set that proves the completed task. If it fails, preserve all work and return to diagnosis. Do not present the branch as ready.

Step 3: Choose the Authorized Outcome

When a task branch actually needs disposition, present only applicable choices: