captain-sync-all

captain-sync-all

Captain's daily master-sync rhythm command. Reconciles master with origin, merges any unique worktree work into master (with confirmation), and syncs every worktree to the updated master. Never pushes. Push is a separate concern (merged PRs land on master server-side).

Name pattern: captain- actor prefix (captain-only) + sync-all (compound noun-verb, the action). Grouped with captain-release, captain-log, captain-review in the captain family.

When to invoke — the trigger list

Captain runs /captain-sync-all after any of these events:

Trigger	Emitted by	Scope
PR merge	GitHub	Automatic — /pr-captain-post-merge invokes this as its Step 5
/iteration-complete	worktree agent	Integrate committed iteration work
/phase-complete	worktree agent	Integrate principal-approved phase commit
/plan-complete	worktree agent	Integrate plan-level milestone
/seed completion	worktree agent	Share seed artifact with fleet
/define completion	worktree agent	Share PVR with fleet
/design completion	worktree agent	Share A&D with fleet
/plan completion	worktree agent	Share plan with fleet
Session start	captain	Catch overnight drift before other work

Two critical distinctions, mirrored in CLAUDE-CAPTAIN.md "Standing Duty":

1. Dirty files ≠ no committed work. A worktree can be dirty (WIP) AND have commits ahead of master. The WIP stays; the commits integrate. Do not skip a worktree just because it's dirty.
2. Parked worktrees are intentional. Worktrees with tracked structural debt (e.g., Great-Rename path debt on 5 branches under Bucket G #402) MUST NOT be merged — conflicts are known and handled by the dedicated workstream's tooling, not by this skill.

Why this exists

Captain is the single coordination point for master state across the fleet. After a PR lands on GitHub or after captain-side coord commits, the local master + every worktree's local view of master must be reconciled. Without this skill, each worktree drifts independently and sync-pain accumulates.

Never pushes. Pushing from master is structurally banned by the framework. PR-merged commits reach origin/master via GitHub's merge; local sync pulls those down.

Never rebases, never resets to origin. Per REFERENCE-GIT-MERGE-NOT-REBASE.md, all sync uses true merge commits.

Required reading

Before proceeding, Read the files listed in required_reading: frontmatter.

Usage

/captain-sync-all

No arguments. Skill is fully automatic; prompts for confirmation before merging worktree work into master.

Preconditions

• Captain on master (or main) in main checkout. NOT a worktree.
• Working tree clean. No uncommitted changes on master.

Flow / Steps

Step 1: Safety checks

1. Confirm on master in main checkout.
2. Confirm clean working tree.

Step 2: Fetch origin

./agency/tools/git-captain fetch

Step 3: Divergence detection + reconcile

Check divergence:

git log --oneline origin/master..master    # local-only commits
git log --oneline master..origin/master    # remote-only commits

If diverged (both sides > 0 — typical after PR merge + local coord commits):

1. Verify merge-base exists: git merge-base origin/master HEAD. If fails, ABORT with recovery hint.
2. Tag for recovery: git tag sync/pre-merge-$(date +%Y%m%d-%H%M%S).
3. Merge: ./agency/tools/git-captain merge-from-origin (produces merge commit).
4. If conflicts: halt, show files, ask principal to resolve.

If behind only: ./agency/tools/git-captain merge-from-origin fast-forwards.

Never git reset --hard origin/master. Never git rebase origin/master.

Step 4: Enumerate worktrees

For each worktree, determine: branch name, clean/dirty status, commits ahead of master.

Step 5: Merge worktree work (with confirmation)

For each worktree with commits ahead of master:

• Show the commits.
• Ask principal for confirmation.
• If yes: git merge <branch> --no-ff.

Step 5b: Dispatch master-updated

If any worktree work merged into master in Step 5, dispatch master-updated to all agents with worktrees:

./agency/tools/dispatch create --type master-updated --to <repo>/<principal>/<agent> --subject "Master updated — new work merged"

Note: master-updated is the canonical dispatch type. Legacy docs may say main-updated; the dispatch tool aliases that to master-updated for backward compatibility.

Agents see this on their next iscp-check / /session-resume.

Step 6: Sync worktrees to master

For each worktree: git -C <worktree-path> merge master. Picks up new master content.

Step 7: Report

Present status table:

Sync complete:

Worktree          Branch              Status    Merged    Synced
-----------------------------------------------------------------
fix-auth          fix-auth            clean     3 commits yes
proto-tooling     proto/tooling       dirty     skipped   yes

Step 8: Update handoff

Light update to captain handoff: "what synced, what was merged into master, any worktrees skipped."

Failure modes

• Not on master: abort with clear error.
• Dirty working tree: abort; asks principal to commit or stash.
• Merge-base missing: abort (usually force-push or filter-repo incident); principal decides recovery.
• Step 3 merge conflict: halt; principal resolves, captain re-runs skill.
• Worktree merge conflict in Step 5: report, skip that worktree, continue with others. Principal resolves later.
• Worktree sync conflict in Step 6: report that worktree as NOT synced. Agent will resolve on their next /session-resume.

What this does NOT do

• Does not push. Push happens via PR merges server-side.
• Does not rebase. All sync uses merge commits.
• Does not reset to origin. Preserves local history.
• Does not force-sync: conflicts halt the process; no forced resolution.
• Does not write commits on worktree branches (other than merge-master commits).

Captain-only — three-layer defense

1. paths: [] — no file-path auto-activation; universally discoverable for the captain but scoped out of agent worktree contexts.
2. Name contains captain- — scope visible at a glance in skill listings.
3. Step 1 precondition — must be on master in main checkout; refuses otherwise.

(Historically disable-model-invocation: true was a fourth layer. That flag was removed 2026-04-20 because the captain session IS the principal's session — DMI was blocking the captain from invoking captain-* skills. See REFERENCE-SKILL-CONVENTIONS.md §1.)

Status

active (v2, refactored from legacy sync-all 2026-04-19).

Related

• /pr-captain-post-merge — invokes this as Step 5 after a merge
• /sync — agent-side push skill (different scope entirely)
• /worktree-sync — single-worktree sync (agent-side; this skill calls it across all worktrees)
• agency/tools/git-captain — safe captain-side git operations
• agency/REFERENCE/REFERENCE-GIT-MERGE-NOT-REBASE.md — the merge discipline
• agency/REFERENCE/REFERENCE-WORKTREE-DISCIPLINE.md — worktree model

OFFENDERS WILL BE FED TO THE — CUTE — ATTACK KITTENS!