finishing-a-development-branch

# Finishing a Development Branch

## Overview

Guide completion of development work through validation, documentation, and PR creation.

**Core principle:** Verify branch → Run tests → Manual validation → Update docs → Final commit → Create PR.

**Announce at start:** "I'm using the finishing-a-development-branch skill to complete this work."

## The Process

### Step 1: Verify Feature Branch

```bash
git branch --show-current
```

**If on main/master:** Stop. "You're on `<branch>`. This skill is for finishing feature branches. Create a feature branch first."

**If on feature branch:** Continue.

### Step 2: Run Tests

```bash
# Run project's test suite
npm test / cargo test / pytest / go test ./...
```

**If tests fail:** Stop. Fix failures before proceeding.

**If tests pass:** Continue.

### Step 3: Manual Validation

Ask the user to validate:

```
Tests pass. Please verify the feature works as expected:

1. [Specific thing to check based on implementation]
2. [Another specific thing to check]
3. [Edge case or integration point to verify]

Try these out and let me know if everything looks good, or if you find any issues.
```

**If issues found:** Fix them, re-run tests, ask again.

**If validated:** Continue.

### Step 4: Update Documentation

Review and update relevant docs based on what changed:

**CLAUDE.md** - Add any new patterns, conventions, or learnings discovered during implementation.

**PRD.md / GDD.md** - Update feature status in milestone tables. Capture any out-of-scope ideas discovered in "Future Ideas" section.

**README.md** - Update if the feature affects usage, setup, or public API.

Only update docs that are relevant to the changes. Skip if nothing meaningful to add.

### Step 5: Final Commit

If docs were updated:

```bash
git add -A
git commit -m "docs: update documentation for <feature>"
```

### Step 6: Present Options

```
Ready to create PR. Which workflow?

1. Create PR for review (push, create PR, wait for review)
2. Create PR and merg