autoresearch-finalize

To split a messy git branch into independent reviewable branches, you group experiments from the merge-base into a groups.json file and run finalize.sh. This creates one branch per logical changeset, enabling focused code review and clean history.

A merge-base is the common ancestor commit used to group git commits into independent branches. Starting groups from the merge-base ensures each branch represents one isolated idea, allowing them to be landed in any order without cross-branch file conflicts.

Yes, you need both node and git installed to run the finalize.sh script. These dependencies are required to expand short hashes, process the groups.json input, and generate the independent reviewable branches from your commit history.

To verify that generated branches match the original autoresearch work, the finalize.sh script includes built-in guardrails. It runs preflight checks and verifies that the union of created branches exactly matches the original autoresearch commit history.

If your git experiments have overlapping file changes, the script's preflight guardrails will detect the overlap during execution. This prevents the creation of branches that would cause cross-branch file conflicts during code review or merging.

The best way to prepare a noisy commit history for code review is to isolate each logical experiment into its own branch. By expanding short hashes and grouping from the merge-base, you ensure each branch can be reviewed or discarded individually.