Git Workflow with Claude Code

Claude Code as Your Git Partner

Claude Code has full git capabilities: status, diff, commit, branch, push, PR creation. It can handle the entire commit workflow while you focus on the feature.

Conventional Commits

Always use conventional commit format:

feat: add user avatar upload to profile page
fix: resolve race condition in session refresh
refactor: extract auth logic into dedicated hook
chore: upgrade Next.js 15 → 16

Claude will suggest commit messages in this format. Review them before accepting — commit messages are documentation.

Branch Naming Convention

For tracked work, use the project ticket format:

cc-113-learning-center
feat/user-avatars
fix/session-race-condition

The Safe Git Workflow

Ask Claude to:

1. Run git status to review all changes
2. Run git diff to inspect diffs before staging
3. Stage specific files (never git add . blindly)
4. Commit with a descriptive message
5. Push and create a PR if ready

What Claude Should Never Do

• git push --force on main/master (never)
• git reset --hard without explicit approval
• git commit --no-verify (bypasses hooks)
• Commit .env or secrets files

Configure these as PreToolUse hooks to enforce at the system level, not just as instructions.

PR Workflow

When creating PRs, Claude should:

1. Review the full commit history (not just the latest commit)
2. Run git diff main...HEAD to see all changes
3. Write a comprehensive PR summary with test plan
4. Check for PR templates in .github/

The PR title and body are the permanent record of your work — invest in them.