Stacked PR Workflow

This skill enables Claude to create stacked pull requests using git-town automation scripts. Each phase becomes an atomic PR that builds on previous phases.

When to Use This Skill

Invoke this skill after completing a phase from /implement_plan when:

1. •All automated verification has passed (just check-test)
2. •User has confirmed manual verification is complete
3. •There are uncommitted changes ready to be stacked

DO NOT use this skill:

• •Before verification is complete
• •When there are no changes to commit
• •For non-plan-based work (use standard git workflow instead)

Pre-Flight Checks

Before creating the stack, verify:

1. •Current git status shows modified/new files
2. •All tests and checks have passed
3. •You know the phase number and plan context

Workflow Instructions

Step 1: Determine Phase Type

Check the current branch to determine if this is Phase 1 or Phase N:

git branch --show-current

Decision Logic:

• •If on main: This is Phase 1 → Use just new-stack
• •If on phase-X-*: This is Phase N (where N = X + 1) → Use just append-stack

Step 2: Prepare Arguments

Both scripts require the same arguments (in order):

1. •phase-num: The phase number (e.g., 1, 2, 3)
2. •branch-name: Short descriptive name (e.g., websocket-foundation, message-parser)
3. •commit-msg: Full commit message (multiline string)
4. •pr-title: PR title (e.g., Phase 1: WebSocket Connection Foundation)
5. •pr-body: PR body/description (multiline string)

Branch Naming Convention

• •Format: phase-N-<short-description>
• •Examples:
  • •phase-1-websocket-foundation
  • •phase-2-message-parser
  • •phase-3-orderbook-state

Commit Message Format

<type>: <phase-summary>

Phase N: <detailed-description>

Changes:
- <key change 1>
- <key change 2>
- <key change 3>

<any relevant context or notes>

Types: feat, fix, refactor, test, chore, docs

PR Body Format

## Phase N: <Title>

### Summary
<1-2 sentence overview of what this phase accomplishes>

### Changes
- <key change 1>
- <key change 2>
- <key change 3>

### Stack
<!-- branch-stack -->

### Verification
- [x] All automated tests passed (\`just check-test\`)
- [x] Manual verification completed
- [x] Code follows project patterns

### Related
Part of implementation plan: [link to plan if available]

---
🤖 Generated with [Claude Code](https://claude.com/claude-code)

Step 3: Execute the Appropriate Script

For Phase 1 (on main branch):

just new-stack \
  "<phase-num>" \
  "<branch-name>" \
  "<commit-msg>" \
  "<pr-title>" \
  "<pr-body>"

For Phase N > 1 (on phase-X-* branch):

just append-stack \
  "<phase-num>" \
  "<branch-name>" \
  "<commit-msg>" \
  "<pr-title>" \
  "<pr-body>"

Example Workflows

Example 1: Phase 1 (Starting New Stack)

# Current state check
$ git branch --show-current
main

$ git status
# Shows: modified files in src/connection/ (uncommitted)

# Execute new-stack
just new-stack \
  "1" \
  "websocket-foundation" \
  "feat: Add WebSocket connection foundation

Phase 1: Implement core WebSocket connection logic

Changes:
- Add WebsocketConnection class with lifecycle management
- Implement exponential backoff reconnection strategy
- Add connection health monitoring
- Create connection stats tracking

Establishes the foundation for real-time market data streaming." \
  "Phase 1: WebSocket Connection Foundation" \
  "## Phase 1: WebSocket Connection Foundation

### Summary
Implements the core WebSocket connection class with automatic reconnection, health monitoring, and stats tracking.

### Changes
- Add WebsocketConnection class with lifecycle management
- Implement exponential backoff reconnection strategy (1s → 30s)
- Add connection health monitoring (60s silence detection)
- Create connection stats tracking

### Stack
<!-- branch-stack -->

### Verification
- [x] All automated tests passed (\`just check-test\`)
- [x] Manual verification: Connected to Polymarket API successfully
- [x] Code follows project patterns

---
🤖 Generated with [Claude Code](https://claude.com/claude-code)"

What the script does:

1. •✓ Verifies you're on main branch
2. •✓ Checks for uncommitted changes
3. •✓ Creates branch phase-1-websocket-foundation via git town hack
4. •✓ Commits changes (excluding thoughts/ directory)
5. •✓ Creates PR with --base main
6. •✓ Syncs the stack

Example 2: Phase 2 (Extending Stack)

# Current state check
$ git branch --show-current
phase-1-websocket-foundation

$ git status
# Shows: modified files (uncommitted)

# Execute append-stack
just append-stack \
  "2" \
  "message-parser" \
  "feat: Add message parsing with msgspec

Phase 2: Implement zero-copy message parser

Changes:
- Add msgspec-based message parser
- Define protocol structures for BookSnapshot, PriceChange, LastTradePrice
- Implement generator-based parsing for streaming
- Handle integer scaling for prices/sizes

Enables efficient parsing of WebSocket messages with zero-copy optimization." \
  "Phase 2: Message Parser with msgspec" \
  "## Phase 2: Message Parser with msgspec

### Summary
Implements zero-copy message parsing using msgspec, enabling efficient processing of WebSocket events.

### Changes
- Add msgspec-based MessageParser class
- Define protocol structures (BookSnapshot, PriceChange, LastTradePrice)
- Implement generator-based parsing for streaming
- Handle integer scaling (PRICE_SCALE=1000, SIZE_SCALE=100)

### Stack
<!-- branch-stack -->

Merge order: This PR should be merged after Phase 1.

### Verification
- [x] All automated tests passed (\`just check-test\`)
- [x] Manual verification: Parsed live messages successfully
- [x] Code follows project patterns

---
🤖 Generated with [Claude Code](https://claude.com/claude-code)"

What the script does:

1. •✓ Verifies you're NOT on main (you must be on previous phase branch)
2. •✓ Auto-detects previous phase branch (phase-1-websocket-foundation)
3. •✓ Checks for uncommitted changes
4. •✓ Creates branch phase-2-message-parser via git town append
5. •✓ Commits changes (excluding thoughts/ directory)
6. •✓ Creates PR with --base phase-1-websocket-foundation
7. •✓ Syncs the stack

Script Features

Both scripts automatically:

• •Validate pre-conditions (branch state, uncommitted changes)
• •Create properly named branches with git-town
• •Stage changes (excluding thoughts/ directory)
• •Commit with your provided message
• •Create GitHub PR with proper base branch
• •Sync the stack after PR creation
• •Provide clear output with emoji indicators

Common Issues and Solutions

Issue: "No uncommitted changes detected"

The script checks git status --porcelain. Ensure:

• •You have modified, added, or deleted files
• •Changes are not in the thoughts/ directory (which is excluded)

Issue: "Previous phase branch does not exist"

For append-stack, ensure:

• •You're on the correct previous phase branch before running
• •The branch name follows the phase-N-* pattern

Issue: Wrong base branch in PR

Use GitHub CLI to fix:

gh pr edit <pr-number> --base <correct-base-branch>

Issue: Need to update an earlier phase

# Checkout the phase that needs changes
git checkout phase-N-<name>

# Make changes and commit
# ...

# Sync stack to propagate changes forward
git town sync --stack

Key Principles

1. •One phase = One PR: Each phase should be atomic with passing CI
2. •Sequential dependencies: Phase N+1 builds on Phase N
3. •Clear commit messages: Reference phase number and provide context
4. •Automatic base branches: Scripts handle this (Phase 1 → main, Phase N → Phase N-1)
5. •Always sync: Scripts automatically sync the stack after PR creation
6. •Thoughts excluded: Both scripts exclude the thoughts/ directory from commits

Integration with /implement_plan

This skill integrates with the /implement_plan workflow:

1. •/implement_plan implements a phase
2. •Automated verification runs (just check-test)
3. •Claude pauses for manual verification
4. •User confirms: "Manual verification complete"
5. •Claude invokes stacked-pr skill
6. •Skill executes appropriate script (new-stack or append-stack)
7. •PR created and stack synced
8. •Ready for next phase

Notes

• •Uses git-town for stack management
• •PRs created using GitHub CLI (gh)
• •Main branch is main (configured in git-town)
• •Stack branches should be merged in order (Phase 1, then 2, then 3, etc.)
• •After all phases are merged, the stack is automatically cleaned up by git-town
• •The thoughts/ directory is automatically excluded from all commits