Ship Code Using Graphite

Guidance for shipping code using the Graphite CLI (gt). This skill teaches the agent how to create commits, branches, and PRs using Graphite’s single-commit-per-branch model.

Key Rules

• NEVER commit, push, create branches, or create PRs without explicit user approval.
• Before any git operation that creates or modifies a commit, present a review block containing: changeset content (if applicable), commit title, and commit/PR description. ALWAYS wait for approval.
• Present changeset file contents for review before writing them.
• Use gt create -am "Title" -m "Description body" for new PRs. The first -m sets the commit title; the second sets the PR description.
• Use gt modify -a to amend the current branch with follow-up changes (NEVER create additional commits on the same branch).
• ALWAYS escape backticks in commit messages with backslashes for shell compatibility (e.g. "Update \my-package` config”`).

Guidelines

Creating a New PR

Use gt create to create a new branch with a single commit:

gt create -am "Commit title" -m "Description body explaining what changed and why."

• The first -m flag sets the commit title (first line of the commit message).
• The second -m flag sets the commit body, which Graphite uses as the PR description when the stack is submitted.
• Write the body as a concise flowing summary. Avoid excessive blank lines.
• If a .github/PULL_REQUEST_TEMPLATE.md exists, use it as a guide for structuring the PR description. Fill in sections that are relevant and omit sections that don’t apply (e.g. don’t add “Fixes #” if there’s no related issue).

Amending an Existing PR

When making follow-up changes to the current branch, ALWAYS amend rather than creating new commits:

gt modify -a

This amends the single commit on the current branch. Since Graphite uses a one-commit-per-branch model, ALWAYS use gt modify -a for follow-up changes on the same PR.

Submitting PRs

After creating or modifying branches, submit the stack:

gt submit

This creates or updates PRs for all branches in the current stack.

Shell Escaping

When commit titles or descriptions contain backticks (e.g. for package names or code references), escape them with a backslash so the shell passes them through literally:

gt create -am "Align \`kit-plugins\` infrastructure" -m "This PR updates the shared config."

Review Block Format

Before any git operation, present this review block and wait for approval:

1. Changeset content (if applicable) — the full changeset file contents.
2. Commit title — a concise title for the commit.
3. Commit/PR description — a short description that explains what changed and why.