harness:finishing-a-development-branch

To safely finish a git development branch, you must first verify that the project's test suite passes. After test verification succeeds, the workflow presents environment-appropriate integration choices like merge, pull request, keep, or discard to ensure safe completion.

Handling a git branch completion in a detached HEAD state requires an environment-aware integration menu. The workflow detects the detached HEAD scenario and presents exactly the allowed merge, pull request, keep, or discard options valid for that specific worktree state.

Finishing a feature branch updates project tracking by setting the status to done in features.json. It mirrors these completion outcomes into claude-progress.json and requires invoking the archive process before reporting the feature as fully complete.

You do not automatically run a canary deployment when a feature branch modifies CI/CD surfaces. The completion workflow prompts you about the canary deployment option, allowing you to decide whether to invoke it without forcing the action.

You can use this branch completion workflow for both standard worktrees and detached HEAD scenarios. It detects the current repository state and adjusts the available merge, pull request, keep, or discard options to match the specific Git environment.

Finishing a development branch requires invoking an archive step to ensure proper documentation and workspace cleanup. This operational integration guarantees that feature status syncing and archiving happen before the workflow reports the branch completion as finished.