Git Practices

Before Starting Work

bash

# Check current branch and status
git status
git branch

# Pull latest changes if on a shared branch
git pull

Committing Changes

•
Commit frequently — after completing each logical unit of work
•
Write descriptive commit messages — explain the "what" and "why"
•
Include the co-author line at the end of commit messages:
code
```
Co-Authored-By: Claude <noreply@anthropic.com>
```
•
Check what will be committed before committing:
bash
```
git status
git diff --staged
```

Don't Commit

•Large output files (check .gitignore)
•Credentials or secrets (.env, credentials.json, etc.)
•IDE-specific files unless project convention says otherwise
•Claude Code worktrees (.claude/worktrees/)
•Rendered HTML from Quarto/Rmarkdown scripts — these are large, regenerable artifacts

When to Prompt User About Commits

•After completing a significant task
•Before switching to a different area of the codebase
•At the end of a working session (use /done skill)
•After updating documentation

Troubleshooting

"Command not found" for git tools → Git should be available system-wide; check PATH if issues arise

Merge conflicts → Alert the user and explain the conflict before attempting resolution

Git push fails with SSH permission denied → SSH keys aren't available in Claude Code's terminal environment → Switch remote to HTTPS: git remote set-url origin https://github.com/OWNER/REPO.git → The gh CLI provides HTTPS authentication automatically