Graphite Skill Work with Graphite ( gt ) for creating, navigating, and managing stacked pull requests. Quick Reference I want to... Command Create a new branch/PR gt create branch-name -m "message" Amend current branch gt modify -m "message" Navigate up the stack gt up Navigate down the stack gt down Jump to top of stack gt top Jump to bottom of stack gt bottom View stack structure gt ls Submit stack for review gt submit --no-interactive Rebase stack on trunk gt restack Change branch parent gt track --parent Rename current branch gt rename Move branch in stack gt move What Makes a Good PR? In roughly descending order of importance: Atomic/hermetic - independent of other changes; will pass CI and be safe to deploy on its own Narrow semantic scope - changes only to module X, or the same change across modules X, Y, Z Small diff - (heuristic) small total diff line count Do NOT worry about creating TOO MANY pull requests. It is always preferable to create more pull requests than fewer. NO CHANGE IS TOO SMALL: tiny PRs allow for the medium/larger-sized PRs to have more clarity. Always argue in favor of creating more PRs, as long as they independently pass build. Branch Naming Conventions When naming PRs in a stack, follow this syntax: terse-stack-feature-name/terse-description-of-change For example, a 4 PR stack: auth-bugfix/reorder-args auth-bugfix/improve-logging auth-bugfix/improve-documentation auth-bugfix/handle-401-status-codes Creating a Stack Basic Workflow Make changes to files Stage changes: git add Create branch: gt create branch-name -m "commit message" Repeat for each PR in the stack Submit: gt submit --no-interactive Handle Untracked Branches (common with worktrees) Before creating branches, check if the current branch is tracked: gt branch info If you see "ERROR: Cannot perform this operation on untracked branch": Option A (Recommended): Track temporarily, then re-parent Track current branch: gt track -p main Create your stack normally with gt create After creating ALL branches, re-parent your first new branch onto main: gt checkout < first-branch-of-your-stack

gt track -p main gt restack Option B: Stash changes and start from main git stash git checkout main && git pull Create new branch and unstash: git checkout -b temp-working && git stash pop Proceed with gt track -p main and gt create Navigating a Stack

Move up one branch (toward top of stack)

gt up

Move down one branch (toward trunk)

gt down

Jump to top of stack

gt top

Jump to bottom of stack (first branch above trunk)

gt bottom

View the full stack structure

gt ls Modifying a Stack Amend Current Branch git add < files

gt modify -m "updated commit message" Reorder Branches Use gt move to reorder branches in the stack. This is simpler than trying to use gt create --insert . Re-parent a Stack If you created a stack on top of a feature branch but want it based on main:

Go to first branch of your stack

gt checkout < first-branch

Change its parent to main

gt track --parent main

Rebase the entire stack

gt restack Rename a Branch gt rename new-branch-name Resetting Commits to Unstaged Changes If changes are already committed but you want to re-stack them differently:

Reset the last commit, keeping changes unstaged

git reset HEAD^

Reset multiple commits (e.g., last 2 commits)

git reset HEAD~2

View the diff to understand what you're working with

git

diff

HEAD

Before Submitting

Verify Stack is Rooted on Main

Before running

gt submit

, verify the first PR is parented on

main

:

gt

ls

If the first branch has a parent other than

main

:

gt checkout

<

first-branch

>

gt track

-p

main

gt restack

Run Validation

After creating each PR, run appropriate linting, building, and testing:

Refer to the project's CLAUDE.md for specific commands

If validation fails, fix the issue, stage changes, and use

gt modify

Submitting and Updating PRs

Submit the Stack

gt submit --no-interactive

Update PR Descriptions

After submitting, use

gh pr edit

to set proper titles and descriptions.

IMPORTANT:

Never use Bash heredocs for PR descriptions - shell escaping breaks markdown tables, code blocks, etc. Instead:

Use the

Write

tool to create

/tmp/pr-body.md

with the full markdown content

Use

gh pr edit

with

--body-file

:

gh

pr

edit

<

PR_NUMBER

>

--title

"stack-name: description"

--body-file /tmp/pr-body.md

PR descriptions must include:

Stack Context

What is the bigger goal of this stack?

What?

(optional for small changes): Super terse, focus on what not why

Why?

What prompted the change? Why this solution? How does it fit into the stack? Example (for a PR in a 3-PR stack adding a warning feature):

Stack Context This stack adds a warning on the merge button when users are bypassing GitHub rulesets.

Why? Users who can bypass rulesets (via org admin or team membership) currently see no indication they're circumventing branch protection. This PR threads the bypass data from the server to enable the frontend warning (PR 2) to display it. Troubleshooting Problem Solution "Cannot perform this operation on untracked branch" Run gt track -p main first Stack parented on wrong branch Use gt track -p main then gt restack Need to reorder PRs Use gt move Conflicts during restack Resolve conflicts, then git rebase --continue Want to split a PR Reset commits ( git reset HEAD^ ), re-stage selectively, create new branches Need to delete a branch (non-interactive) gt delete -f -q gt restack hitting unrelated conflicts Use targeted git rebase instead (see below) Rebase interrupted mid-conflict Check if files are resolved but unstaged, then git add + git rebase --continue Advanced: Surgical Rebasing in Complex Stacks In deeply nested stacks with many sibling branches, gt restack can be problematic: It restacks ALL branches that need it, not just your stack Can hit conflicts in completely unrelated branches Is all-or-nothing - hard to be surgical When to Use git rebase Instead of gt restack Use direct git rebase when: You only want to update specific branches in your stack gt restack is hitting conflicts in unrelated branches You need to skip obsolete commits during the rebase Targeted Rebase Workflow

1. Checkout the branch you want to rebase

git checkout my-feature-branch

2. Rebase onto the target (e.g., updated parent branch)

git rebase target-branch

3. If you hit conflicts:

- Resolve the conflict in the file

- Stage it: git add

- Continue: git rebase --continue

4. If a commit is obsolete and should be skipped:

git rebase --skip

5. After rebase, use gt modify to sync graphite's tracking

gt modify --no-edit Recovering from Interrupted Rebase (Context Reset) If a rebase was interrupted (e.g., Claude session ran out of context): Check status: git status

Look for "interactive rebase in progress" and "Unmerged paths"

Read the "unmerged" files - they may already be resolved (no conflict markers) If already resolved, just stage and continue: git add < resolved-files

git rebase --continue If still has conflict markers , resolve them first, then stage and continue Deleting Branches from a Stack

Delete a branch (non-interactive, even if not merged)

gt delete branch-to-delete -f -q

Also delete all children (upstack)

gt delete branch-to-delete -f -q --upstack

Also delete all ancestors (downstack)

gt delete branch-to-delete

-f

-q

--downstack

Flags:

-f

/

--force

Delete even if not merged or closed

-q

/

--quiet

Implies --no-interactive , minimizes output After deleting intermediate branches , children are automatically restacked onto the parent. If you need to manually update tracking: gt checkout child-branch gt track --parent new-parent-branch