Gentle AI — Branch & PR Skill
When to Use
Load this skill whenever you need to:
- Create a branch for a new fix or feature
- Open a pull request on Gentleman-Programming/gentle-ai
- Prepare changes for review
Critical Rules
- Every PR MUST link an approved issue —
Closes/Fixes/Resolves #<N>in the PR body, and that issue MUST havestatus:approved. PRs without this are automatically rejected by CI. - Ordinary
type:*categorization — CI rejects zero or multiple type labels. Route it through the canonical issue-creation workflow contract: a current direct human instruction binds the exact target/action, target-host capability is verified, and it uses one bounded mutation and target-host readback; otherwise wait without mutation. - Protected policy labels — Adding or removing
status:approvedorsize:exceptionrequires verified policy authority from a target-host repository maintainer or repository-authorized approver for the exact target/action, plus authenticated actor target-hostviewerPermissionMAINTAINorADMIN.size:exceptionadditionally requires documented over-budget rationale. - 400-line review budget — keep PRs within 400 changed lines (
additions + deletions) or document the rationale required for asize:exceptionlabel. - Automated checks must pass — see the Automated Checks table below.
- No
Co-Authored-Bytrailers — never add AI attribution to commits. - No force-push to main/master — protected branch.
Workflow
1. Confirm the issue has status:approved
gh issue view <N> --repo Gentleman-Programming/gentle-ai
2. Create a branch from main using the naming convention below
3. Implement changes following specs and design
4. Run checks locally (format + unit + E2E)
5. Commit using Conventional Commits format
6. Open a PR referencing the issue
→ Declare exactly ONE type:* result in the PR body
→ Use the canonical issue-creation workflow contract before any PR-label mutation
→ Fill in the PR body using the template
7. All automated checks must pass before merge
Branch Naming
Branch names must match this pattern:
^(feat|fix|chore|docs|style|refactor|perf|test|build|ci|revert)\/[a-z0-9._-]+$
| Type | Example |
|---|---|
feat/ | feat/user-login |
fix/ | fix/duplicate-observation-insert |
docs/ | docs/api-reference-update |
refactor/ | refactor/extract-query-sanitizer |
chore/ | chore/bump-bubbletea-v0.26 |
style/ | style/fix-linter-warnings |
perf/ | perf/optimize-catalog-loading |
test/ | test/add-pipeline-coverage |
build/ | build/update-goreleaser-config |
ci/ | ci/add-e2e-docker-job |
revert/ | revert/undo-model-picker-change |
Rules:
- All lowercase
- Use hyphens, dots, or underscores as separators (no spaces, no uppercase)
- Description must be short and descriptive
PR Body Format
The PR body must follow the template at .github/PULL_REQUEST_TEMPLATE.md. All sections are required unless marked optional.
## 🔗 Linked Issue
Closes #<N>
## 🏷️ PR Type
- [ ] `type:bug` — Bug fix (non-breaking change that fixes an issue)
- [ ] `type:feature` — New feature (non-breaking change that adds functionality)
- [ ] `type:docs` — Documentation only
- [ ] `type:refactor` — Code refactoring (no functional changes)
- [ ] `type:chore` — Build, CI, or tooling changes
- [ ] `type:breaking-change` — Breaking change
## 📝 Summary
<!-- Clear description of what this PR does and why. -->
## 📂 Changes
| File / Area | What Changed |
|-------------|-------------|
| `path/to/file` | Brief description |
## 🧪 Test Plan
**Unit Tests**
\`\`\`bash
go test ./...
\`\`\`
**Go Format**
\`\`\`bash
go run ./internal/gofmtcheck
\`\`\`
**E2E Tests** (Docker required)
\`\`\`bash
cd e2e && ./docker-test.sh
\`\`\`
- [ ] Unit tests pass (`go test ./...`)
- [ ] Go format passes (`go run ./internal/gofmtcheck`)
- [ ] E2E tests pass (`cd e2e && ./docker-test.sh`)
- [ ] Manually tested locally
## ✅ Contributor Checklist
- [ ] PR is linked to an issue with `status:approved`
- [ ] PR stays within 400 changed lines, or the `size:exception` rationale and verified policy authority are documented
- [ ] API read-back confirms exactly one appropriate `type:*` label on this PR
- [ ] Unit tests pass (`go test ./...`)
- [ ] E2E tests pass (`cd e2e && ./docker-test.sh`)
- [ ] I have updated documentation if necessary
- [ ] My commits follow Conventional Commits format
- [ ] My commits do not include `Co-Authored-By` trailers
Automated Checks
These checks run on every PR and all must pass before merge:
| Check | What It Verifies | How to Fix |
|---|---|---|
| Check PR Cognitive Load | PR stays within 400 changed lines (additions + deletions) or has size:exception | Split the PR, or document the size:exception rationale and verify policy authority before its canonical workflow action |
| Check Issue Reference | PR body contains Closes/Fixes/Resolves #N | Add Closes #<N> to the PR body |
Check Issue Has status:approved | Linked issue has the required label | Use the canonical issue-creation workflow contract only when a current direct instruction and target-host capability grant authorize the exact action; otherwise wait |
Check PR Has type:* Label | Exactly one type:* label is applied to the PR | Use the canonical issue-creation workflow contract only when a current direct instruction and target-host capability authorize the exact action; otherwise wait |
| Unit Tests | go test ./... passes | Fix failing tests before pushing |
| Go Format | go run ./internal/gofmtcheck passes | Format malformed Go files before pushing |
| E2E Tests | cd e2e && ./docker-test.sh passes | Fix failing E2E scenarios before pushing |
Conventional Commits
Commit messages must match this pattern:
^(build|chore|ci|docs|feat|fix|perf|refactor|revert|style|test)(\([a-z0-9\._-]+\))?!?: .+
Format
<type>(<optional-scope>)!: <description>
[optional body]
[optional footer]
Allowed Types
| Type | Purpose | PR Label |
|---|---|---|
feat | New feature | type:feature |
fix | Bug fix | type:bug |
docs | Documentation only | type:docs |
refactor | Code change (no behavior change) | type:refactor |
chore | Maintenance, dependencies, tooling | type:chore |
style | Formatting, linting (no logic change) | type:chore |
perf | Performance improvement | type:feature |
test | Adding or updating tests | type:chore |
build | Build system or external deps | type:chore |
ci | CI configuration | type:chore |
revert | Reverts a previous commit | matches reverted type |
Breaking Changes
Add ! after the type/scope:
feat(cli)!: rename --config flag to --config-file
BREAKING CHANGE: the --config flag has been renamed to --config-file.
Breaking changes map to type:breaking-change label.
Examples
feat(tui): add progress bar to installation steps
fix(agent): correct Claude Code detection on macOS
docs: update contributing guide
chore(deps): bump bubbletea to v0.26
refactor(pipeline): extract step executor
style: fix linter warnings in catalog package
perf(system): cache OS detection result
test(installer): add coverage for catalog step execution
build: update goreleaser config for arm64
ci: split unit and e2e test jobs
revert: undo model picker redesign
feat(cli)!: change default config path
Commands
Setup
# Confirm issue is approved before starting
gh issue view <N> --repo Gentleman-Programming/gentle-ai
# Create branch
git checkout main && git pull
git checkout -b fix/<short-description>
Testing Locally
# Unit tests
go test ./...
# Go format
go run ./internal/gofmtcheck
# Unit tests — specific package
go test ./internal/tui/...
# Unit tests — verbose
go test -v ./...
# E2E tests (Docker must be running)
cd e2e && ./docker-test.sh
Open a PR
gh pr create \
--repo Gentleman-Programming/gentle-ai \
--title "fix(agent): correct Claude Code detection on Linux" \
--body "$(cat <<'EOF'
## 🔗 Linked Issue
Closes #42
## 🏷️ PR Type
- [x] \`type:bug\` — Bug fix (non-breaking change that fixes an issue)
## 📝 Summary
Fixes Claude Code binary detection failing on Linux when HOME is not set.
## 📂 Changes
| File / Area | What Changed |
|-------------|-------------|
| \`internal/agents/claude.go\` | Added HOME env var fallback |
## 🧪 Test Plan
- [x] Unit tests pass (\`go test ./...\`)
- [x] E2E tests pass (\`cd e2e && ./docker-test.sh\`)
- [x] Manually tested locally
## ✅ Contributor Checklist
- [x] PR is linked to an issue with \`status:approved\`
- [x] PR stays within 400 changed lines, or the \`size:exception\` rationale and verified policy authority are documented
- [x] API read-back confirms exactly one appropriate \`type:*\` label on this PR
- [x] Unit tests pass (\`go test ./...\`)
- [x] E2E tests pass (\`cd e2e && ./docker-test.sh\`)
- [x] I have updated documentation if necessary
- [x] My commits follow Conventional Commits format
- [x] My commits do not include \`Co-Authored-By\` trailers
EOF
)"
Check PR Status
gh pr checks --repo Gentleman-Programming/gentle-ai <PR-number>
gh pr view --repo Gentleman-Programming/gentle-ai <PR-number>