Git and pull requests

This page describes how sMind by Spacing Mind handles git for each task: branches, publishing, the Create PR dialog, the PR panel and stacked sub-tasks. It is for developers reviewing and shipping agent work.

sMind by Spacing Mind, version 0.17.0. This page describes the 0.17.0 release.

Every task works on its own branch in its own git worktree. The Diff tab of a task is where you review changes, commit, publish the branch and open a pull request. Push, update, Create PR and the PR panel are in the web UI. Pull request actions need the GitHub CLI (gh) on the machine that runs the daemon, signed in. Open Settings → GitHub to check.

Base ref

The base is the branch a task is measured against. The diff, the "ahead" and "behind" counts and the pull request target all use it.

Workspace default base. smind detects it from the repository: the branch origin/HEAD points to, else develop, main or master (whichever exists), else the branch currently checked out. To pin one, open Worktree settings in the workspace's row menu and fill Default base branch. Clear the field to go back to auto-detect.

Per-task base. You choose it when you create the task, and it stays fixed:

• Web: the Start from control in the New task dialog. Workspace HEAD branches from the default base. Branch… lets you pick another branch (New branch from it or Check it out). Pull request… and Issue… start from GitHub.
• CLI: smind task new <workspaceId> <title> --base <ref> forks a new branch at <ref>. Use origin/<name> to start from the remote branch; the daemon fetches it first. --branch <name> checks out an existing branch, and --pr <number> builds from a pull request. Use only one of the three.

smind task new 1 "Add export" --base origin/develop

Publish, push and update from base

Two buttons sit in the Diff tab header (below a narrow width they move into a "…" menu, where each entry ends in "…"):

• Publish branch while the branch has never been pushed, then Push. The dialog shows the branch, the remote, how many commits are ahead and behind, and the next step. The push is a plain git push; smind never forces it. The remote is the branch's push remote, else remote.pushDefault, else origin. A task started from a pull request on a fork is read-only: it cannot be pushed.
• Update from <base> brings the base into the task branch. It fetches origin/<base> and merges it. Tick Rebase instead of merge to rebase instead. A rebased branch that is already published needs a manual git push --force-with-lease, because smind does not force-push.

If an update hits conflicts, the worktree is left in the middle of the merge or rebase and the dialog lists the conflicting files. Ask the agent to resolve sends them to the task's chat with instructions to finish the merge or rebase and run the tests. smind never aborts a half-done merge for you.

A button that cannot run is disabled, and its tooltip says why.

Create a pull request

When the task has no open pull request, the Diff tab header shows Create PR…. It opens the Create pull request dialog:

• The branch line shows the task branch and the size of the diff. Below it, the base branch field is editable and offers your branches. It starts at the task's base. For a stacked sub-task it reads "Stacked on <parent branch>".
• Title starts as the task's title and Description as a summary of the commit subjects. Edit them freely.
• Draft is on by default. The choice is remembered per workspace, in your browser.
• The summary line shows the commit count. Uncommitted files are listed as "not included": commit first.

Click Create PR. smind pushes the branch and opens the pull request on GitHub. If the task branch carries unrelated unpushed history from the workspace checkout, smind pushes a clean branch with only the task's own commits instead.

If something blocks the action (no origin remote, no commits beyond the base, gh missing or not signed in), the dialog shows the reason, with a link to the GitHub settings when that is the fix.

Once a pull request is open, the header shows Update PR, which pushes new commits to the pull request's branch, and View PR, which opens it on GitHub. A chip with the pull request number appears in the task header.

The PR panel

The Pull request tab shows the task's pull request. It opens by itself when the task gets one. It has:

• A header with the state (Open, Draft, Merged, Closed), a Refresh button and Open on GitHub.
• Checks: the status of each check, with a link to it on GitHub.
• Reviews: the review decision (Approved, Changes requested or Review required) and each review.
• Threads: review threads, marked Resolved or Outdated.

Send to chat on a failing check or a thread puts it in the task's chat, so the agent can fix it. Until the task has a pull request, the tab says "No pull request yet".

Archive and restore

When a pull request is merged, the header offers Archive…. The dialog is the same one as Archive task in the task menu: it lists what is at risk and lets you delete the branch. See Pin and archive for the rules.

Archived tasks sit in the Archived row under their workspace in the sidebar. Click Restore to bring one back. smind recreates the worktree from the branch it kept (the local branch, else origin/<branch>) and runs the workspace setup script again. If the branch is gone, Restore is disabled with "The branch no longer exists, so there is nothing to restore."

Stacked sub-tasks

A sub-task you create from a task branches from the parent's branch, so its changes build on the parent's. This works for sub-tasks you create yourself, in the web UI (New sub-task…) or with --parent on the command line:

smind task new 1 "Add the API" --parent 3

The New sub-task dialog has a Base control: Parent branch (<branch>) or Default base (<base>) to branch from the workspace default instead. The sub-task starts at the parent's last commit. Uncommitted work in the parent is not included. If the parent has no branch yet, or it no longer exists, the sub-task branches from the default base.

Sub-tasks that agents create while orchestrating start from the workspace default base, not the parent's branch.

When you open a pull request for a stacked sub-task, the Create PR dialog targets the parent's branch. If that branch has not been pushed yet, it falls back to the default base and says "Parent branch not pushed yet".

Draft a commit message with the agent

The Diff tab lists the task's changed files with a checkbox to stage each one. Under the list is the commit bar: a Commit message… box and a Commit (N staged) button.

Draft with agent asks the task's chat for a Conventional Commits message for the staged changes. The reply appears in the chat as a normal turn, in a fenced block. It does not fill the box and it does not commit; copy the message into the box yourself. The button is disabled with a tooltip when nothing is staged ("Nothing staged") or the task has no chat to ask ("No agent chat to ask").

Like any other prompt, the request is queued when the chat is busy.