Git Cl

Git Command Usage

• Avoid Interactive Pagers: Always use git --no-pager or ensure PAGER=cat is set when running git commands that might produce long output (e.g., git branch, git log), to avoid getting stuck in a pager waiting for user input.
• Avoid Pagers in git cl: Some git cl commands (like desc) might also use a pager. Use git --no-pager cl ... to avoid getting stuck.
• Always Format: Always run git cl format before creating a commit or uploading a CL to ensure your code adheres to the style guide.
• Avoid Interactive Editors: When committing or amending, if there is a risk of an editor opening (e.g., when amending or not using -m), prefix the command with EDITOR=cat (e.g., EDITOR=cat git commit --amend) to force non-interactive behavior.
• Timeout for Stuck Commands: If a git command (like checkout, commit, upload) does not show progress within a reasonable time (e.g., 1 minute), kill the task immediately and retry with a better setup or report to the user. Do not let it run indefinitely.
• Check Status & Alerts: Always run git cl status after uploading or when checking the state of a CL to identify failing checks or try jobs. Suggest addressing these alerts to the user.
• Branching for Unrelated Changes: If you have changes that are unrelated to the current branch's purpose or active CL, NEVER upload them to the same CL or commit them to the same branch. You MUST create a new branch for these changes. Preferably, inform the user about the unrelated changes and ask how they want to proceed (e.g., create new branch, discard, or hold) before uploading.
• Base New Branches on Clean Upstream: When creating a new branch for a clean set of changes or to fix a CL, always base it on a clean upstream (e.g., origin/main). Do not simply run git checkout -b new-branch from your current branch unless you are sure it is clean.
• Verify Process CLs: For CLs intended to contain ONLY process/documentation changes (like skill updates), always verify that no code files (e.g., .cc, .h, .js, .py) are modified before uploading. Use git diff --name-only origin/main to check.
• Non-Interactive git cl upload: When uploading a CL, do NOT use the -m flag as it is deprecated and can trigger interactive editors. Instead, use -t to set the patchset title (e.g., git cl upload -t "Title") and use --commit-description=+ or --commit-description=- to manage the description, in addition to using EDITOR=cat.
• Fetching Latest Patchset of a CL: Use git cl patch <CL_NUMBER> to fetch and checkout the latest patchset of a CL.