pull

/pull — Branch Sync Workflow

Trigger

Use this skill to bring the current branch up to date with its base branch:

• Before creating a PR.
• Before starting a new work session on an existing branch.
• When the /land skill's pre-flight check 3 (branch up-to-date with PR base) fails.

Flow

1. Determine the base branch:

   # If a PR exists for the current branch:
   pr_number=$(gh pr view --json number --jq .number 2>/dev/null)
   if [ -n "$pr_number" ]; then
     base=$(gh pr view --json baseRefName --jq .baseRefName)
   else
     base="main"
   fi
   

2. Fetch latest:

   git fetch origin "$base"
   

3. Rebase the current branch onto the base:

   git rebase "origin/$base"
   

   • rebase (not merge) keeps the branch history linear and avoids creating merge commits — required for the squash-merge policy used by /land.

4. If conflicts arise:

   • Resolve each conflict file.
   • git rebase --continue after staging the resolution.
   • Re-run tests to confirm the integrated state is clean.

5. After a successful rebase, the local branch has new commit SHAs. If the branch was already pushed (e.g. a Draft PR exists), force-push with lease:

   git push --force-with-lease origin <branch-name>
   

   --force-with-lease is safer than --force: it refuses to overwrite if the remote moved since your last fetch.

6. Record the pull skill evidence in the workpad ### Validation section:

   • base branch (e.g. origin/feature/epic-x or origin/main)
   • result: clean or conflicts resolved
   • resulting HEAD short SHA: git rev-parse --short HEAD

Rules

• Always use the PR's actual base branch (not hardcoded origin/main) when a PR exists. An Epic working branch must rebase against the Epic base, not main.
• Use git rebase (not git merge) to keep history linear for the squash-merge policy.
• After rebase + force-push, treat the branch as having new commit SHAs — any prior approval on the PR is invalidated; re-run pre-flight checks.
• Record the rebase evidence in the workpad before proceeding to PR creation or merge.