Claude Code Git Integration

Complete guide to Git workflows and version control within Claude Code.

Git Awareness

Claude Code automatically detects Git repositories and understands:

• Current branch and status
• Uncommitted changes (staged and unstaged)
• Recent commit history
• Remote tracking branches
• Merge conflicts

Commit Workflow

Claude's Commit Protocol

When asked to commit, Claude follows this exact workflow:

1. Inspect state (parallel):

   • git status — see untracked/modified files
   • git diff — see staged and unstaged changes
   • git log --oneline -5 — recent commit style

2. Draft commit message:

   • Summarize the nature of changes
   • Use imperative mood: "Add feature" not "Added feature"
   • Follow project conventions

3. Stage and commit (parallel):

   • git add <specific files> — never git add -A or git add .
   • git commit -m "message" using heredoc for formatting
   • git status to verify

Commit Message Format

type(scope): description

Optional body with more details.

https://claude.ai/code/session_xxx

Types: feat, fix, refactor, test, docs, chore, style, perf, ci

What Claude Won't Do (Without Explicit Ask)

• Push to remote
• Amend published commits
• Force push
• Skip hooks (--no-verify)
• Create empty commits
• Commit .env or credential files

Pull Request Workflow

Creating PRs

When asked to create a PR, Claude:

1. Analyzes all commits on the branch (not just latest)
2. Generates title (< 70 chars)
3. Generates body with:
   • Summary (1-3 bullet points)
   • Test plan
   • Session link

gh pr create --title "feat: add user authentication" --body "$(cat <<'EOF'
## Summary
- Add JWT-based authentication middleware
- Create login/register API endpoints
- Add auth guards to protected routes

## Test plan
- [ ] Unit tests for auth middleware
- [ ] Integration tests for login/register
- [ ] E2E test for protected routes

https://claude.ai/code/session_xxx
EOF
)"

PR Operations

# View PR
gh pr view 123

# View PR comments
gh api repos/owner/repo/pulls/123/comments

# View PR checks
gh pr checks 123

# Merge PR
gh pr merge 123

# Close PR
gh pr close 123

Branch Management

# Create and checkout branch
git checkout -b feature/my-feature

# Push with upstream tracking
git push -u origin feature/my-feature

# Delete branch (local)
git branch -d feature/my-feature

# Delete branch (remote)
git push origin --delete feature/my-feature

Conflict Resolution

Claude can help resolve merge conflicts:

# Start merge/rebase
git merge main
# or
git rebase main

# Claude reads conflict markers
# Claude resolves conflicts using Edit tool
# Claude stages resolved files
git add <resolved-file>
git merge --continue
# or
git rebase --continue

Claude's Conflict Approach

• Investigate both sides of the conflict
• Understand intent of both changes
• Merge logically (not just pick one side)
• Test after resolution

Git Safety Rules

Claude follows strict git safety:

1. Never force push to main/master
2. Never use --no-verify (investigate hook failures instead)
3. Never amend published commits without explicit request
4. Never use -i flag (interactive mode not supported)
5. Never discard uncommitted changes without confirmation
6. Always create new commits instead of amending
7. Always stage specific files (not git add .)
8. Always check for .env files before committing

Stash Operations

# Stash changes
git stash

# Stash with message
git stash push -m "work in progress on auth"

# Apply and remove
git stash pop

# Apply but keep in stash
git stash apply

# List stashes
git stash list

Log and History

# Recent commits
git log --oneline -10

# Commits by author
git log --author="name"

# Changes between branches
git log main..feature-branch

# Diff between branches
git diff main...HEAD

# File history
git log --follow -p -- path/to/file

Common Git Patterns in Claude Code

Pre-commit Workflow

1. Make changes
2. Run tests: npm test
3. Run linter: npm run lint
4. Stage files: git add specific-files
5. Commit with message

Rebase Workflow

# Update feature branch with main
git fetch origin main
git rebase origin/main

# If conflicts:
# Resolve → git add → git rebase --continue

Cherry Pick

git cherry-pick <commit-sha>

Reset (with caution)

# Soft reset (keep changes staged)
git reset --soft HEAD~1

# Mixed reset (keep changes unstaged)
git reset HEAD~1

# Hard reset (DESTRUCTIVE - Claude confirms first)
git reset --hard HEAD~1