Git Workflow and Versioning skill for Claude Code: small commits and tagged releases

Makes your agent commit in small, well-described steps, use short branches and tag releases with a changelog.

Installs: 64K; on skills.sh
Stars: 112.6K; on GitHub
Updated: Nov 2026; last repo commit

git-workflow-and-versioning makes the agent treat commits as save points. It loads for any code change, and for committing, branching, resolving conflicts, splitting a messy working tree into atomic commits, opening a PR, pushing, cutting a release or writing a changelog.

It recommends trunk-based development, commits of about 100 lines, type-prefixed messages, short-lived branches, worktrees for parallel agents and semantic versioning with tags. It runs git and your test, lint and type-check commands. It bundles no scripts.

Good for

Developers who let an agent commit and open PRs
Anyone with a messy working tree to split into clean commits
Maintainers cutting releases and changelogs

Install git-workflow-and-versioning

Claude Code

Copy this prompt.

Install the git-workflow-and-versioning skill in Claude Code. Run this command:

npx skills add https://github.com/addyosmani/agent-skills --skill git-workflow-and-versioning

Then check that it loaded and tell me how to use it.

2
Paste it into Claude Code. It shows the change and asks before running it.

Requires Node.js.

From its listing on skills.sh. Source.

What's in the skill

When it loads

Structures git workflow practices. Use when making any code change. Use when committing, branching, resolving conflicts, splitting uncommitted work in a messy working tree into clean atomic commits, opening or reviewing a pull request (PR), pushing to a remote, or when you need to organize work across multiple parallel streams. Use when cutting a release, choosing a semantic version bump, tagging, or writing a changelog. Use when asked to write a commit message or a changelog entry for a change, or to split a change into commits, even when the diff is pasted inline and the message seems easy to write from it.

Sections in SKILL.md

Overview
When to Use
Core Principles
Trunk-Based Development (Recommended)
1. Commit Early, Commit Often
2. Atomic Commits
3. Descriptive Messages
4. Keep Concerns Separate
5. Size Your Changes
Branching Strategy
Feature Branches
Branch Naming
Working with Worktrees
The Save Point Pattern
Change Summaries
Pre-Commit Hygiene

Key facts

Author: addyosmani (repo owner)
Installs on skills.sh: 64,027 (Nov 2, 2026)
GitHub stars: 112,555 on the agent-skills repo (Nov 2, 2026)
License: MIT
Last commit: 2026-11-01
What installs: 1 file: SKILL.md
Needs: A git repository; it points to code-review-and-quality, api-and-interface-design, deprecation-and-migration and shipping-and-launch for related topics
Works in: Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, Gemini CLI, Copilot, OpenCode and more, per the README

What it includes

Keep main deployable; branches merge within 1 to 3 days
Feature flags are preferred over long-lived branches.
Trunk-based development
Each successful increment gets its own commit
Commits are save points you can revert to.
Runs code · Commit early and often
One logical thing per commit
Do not mix formatting, refactors and behavior changes.
Atomic commits
Explain the why; use feat, fix, refactor, test, docs or chore
A format and types list.
Descriptive messages
About 100 lines per commit or PR; split anything over about 1000
Points to splitting strategies in code-review-and-quality.
Size your changes
Short-lived feature branches, deleted after merge
Includes branch naming conventions.
Runs code · Branching and naming
Run several branches in parallel directories for parallel agents
git worktree add and remove.
Runs code · Git worktrees
Commit before risky work so you can reset to the last good state
Mentions git reset --hard HEAD to return to it.
Delete · Save point pattern
A structured summary of what changed and what was deliberately not touched
Shows scope discipline to reviewers.
Change summaries
Review staged diff, check for secrets, run tests, lint and type check
Optionally automated with git hooks via lint-staged and husky.
Runs code · Pre-commit hygiene
Commit lockfiles and migrations; ignore build output and .env
Recommended .gitignore entries.
Generated files and .gitignore
git bisect, log, diff, blame and log --grep
Find the commit that introduced a bug.
Runs code · Debugging with git
Semantic versioning, annotated tags and a human changelog
Example git tag -a and git push origin for a release tag.
Runs code · Release and versioning

From the official docs

Permissions

Medium risk

It runs git commands that change your repository and can discard uncommitted work. Work on a branch, commit or stash first and check where it pushes.

What it can do

Read your data
Create and change things
Delete things
Read-only mode

Watch out for

It runs git commands that change your repo
It commits, branches, creates worktrees, tags and can push. Check the remote and branch before you let it push.
git reset --hard discards uncommitted work
The save point pattern mentions it as the way to go back to the last good commit. Commit or stash anything you want to keep first.
It suggests git hooks that run your tools
The pre-commit section shows lint-staged and husky settings that run eslint and prettier on commit.

Technical details

Talks to	git remote (push)

Questions

What does git-workflow-and-versioning do?

It makes Claude commit in small atomic steps with clear messages, use short-lived branches and tag releases with a curated changelog. It treats commits as save points.

How do I install git-workflow-and-versioning?

Use the install box above. The README also lists npx skills add addyosmani/agent-skills --skill git-workflow-and-versioning for one skill, and a Claude Code plugin for the whole pack (/plugin marketplace add addyosmani/agent-skills, then /plugin install agent-skills@addy-agent-skills). A one-skill install copies only skills/git-workflow-and-versioning/ and not the repo-level references folder; the README says the skill still works.

Will it push to my remote?

Its release section includes tagging and pushing a version tag, and the description lists pushing to a remote. Tell Claude not to push if you want to do that yourself.

Can it reset or delete my work?

The save point pattern mentions git reset --hard HEAD to return to the last good commit, which discards uncommitted changes. Commit or stash first.

Does it need other skills?

No. It references code-review-and-quality, api-and-interface-design, deprecation-and-migration and shipping-and-launch for related topics. Install the whole pack if you want those too.

Is it safe to run?

It is a text file of instructions and bundles no scripts. It tells the agent to run git commands that change your repository, so back up uncommitted work first.

Does it work in Codex, Cursor or other tools?

The README documents Codex (codex plugin marketplace add addyosmani/agent-skills, then codex plugin add agent-skills@agent-skills, Codex CLI v0.122 or newer), Cursor (copy skills into .cursor/skills/), Gemini CLI, Windsurf, OpenCode, GitHub Copilot, Kiro and others. It says the skills are plain Markdown that work with any agent that accepts instruction files. It does not mention the Claude app.

Information

updated Nov 2, 2026

Repository: addyosmani/agent-skills
Folder: skills/git-workflow-and-versioning

addyosmani/agent-skills skills.sh

Sources

Docs, issue trackers and discussions this page is built from.

Show all 2

git-workflow-and-versioning SKILL.md · github.com
addyosmani/agent-skills README · github.com