Merge PR

Merge PR

Overview

Merge a prepared PR via deterministic squash merge (--match-head-commit + explicit co-author trailer), then clean up the worktree after success.

Inputs

• Ask for PR number or URL.
• If missing, use .local/​prep.env from the worktree if present.
• If ambiguous, ask.

Safety

• Use gh pr merge --squash as the only path to main.
• Do not run git push at all during merge.
• Do not use gh pr merge --auto for maintainer landings.
• Do not run gateway stop commands. Do not kill processes. Do not touch port 18792.

Execution Rule

• Execute the workflow. Do not stop after printing the TODO checklist.
• If delegating, require the delegate to run commands and capture outputs.

Known Footguns

• If you see "fatal: not a git repository", you are in the wrong directory. Move to the repo root and retry.
• Read .local/​review.md, .local/​prep.md, and .local/​prep.env in the worktree. Do not skip.
• Always merge with --match-head-commit "$PREP_HEAD_SHA" to prevent racing stale or changed heads.
• Clean up .worktrees/​pr-<PR> only after confirmed MERGED.

Completion Criteria

• Ensure gh pr merge succeeds.
• Ensure PR state is MERGED, never CLOSED.
• Record the merge SHA.
• Leave a PR comment with merge SHA and prepared head SHA, and capture the comment URL.
• Run cleanup only after merge success.

First: Create a TODO Checklist

Create a checklist of all merge steps, print it, then continue and execute the commands.

Setup: Use a Worktree

Use an isolated worktree for all merge work.

repo_root=$(git rev-parse --show-toplevel)
cd "$repo_root"
gh auth status

WORKTREE_DIR=".worktrees/​pr-<PR>"
cd "$WORKTREE_DIR"

Run all commands inside the worktree directory.

Load Local Artifacts (Mandatory)

Expect these files from earlier steps:

• .local/​review.md from /​review-pr
• .local/​prep.md from /​prepare-pr
• .local/​prep.env from /​prepare-pr

ls -la .local || true

for required in .local/​review.md .local/​prep.md .local/​prep.env; do
  if [ ! -f "$required" ]; then
    echo "Missing $required. Stop and run /​review-pr then /​prepare-pr."
    exit 1
  fi
done

sed -n '1,120p' .local/​review.md
sed -n '1,120p' .local/​prep.md
source .local/​prep.env

Steps

1. Identify PR meta and verify prepared SHA still matches

pr_meta_json=$(gh pr view <PR> --json number,title,state,isDraft,author,headRefName,headRefOid,baseRefName,headRepository,body)
printf '%s\n' "$pr_meta_json" | jq '{number,title,state,isDraft,author:.author.login,head:.headRefName,headSha:.headRefOid,base:.baseRefName,headRepo:.headRepository.nameWithOwner,body}'
pr_title=$(printf '%s\n' "$pr_meta_json" | jq -r .title)
pr_number=$(printf '%s\n' "$pr_meta_json" | jq -r .number)
pr_head_sha=$(printf '%s\n' "$pr_meta_json" | jq -r .headRefOid)
contrib=$(printf '%s\n' "$pr_meta_json" | jq -r .author.login)
is_draft=$(printf '%s\n' "$pr_meta_json" | jq -r .isDraft)

if [ "$is_draft" = "true" ]; then
  echo "ERROR: PR is draft. Stop and run /​prepare-pr after draft is cleared."
  exit 1
fi

if [ "$pr_head_sha" != "$PREP_HEAD_SHA" ]; then
  echo "ERROR: PR head changed after /​prepare-pr (expected $PREP_HEAD_SHA, got $pr_head_sha). Re-run /​prepare-pr."
  exit 1
fi

1. Run sanity checks

Stop if any are true:

• PR is a draft.
• Required checks are failing.
• Branch is behind main.

If checks are pending, wait for completion before merging. Do not use --auto. If no required checks are configured, continue.

gh pr checks <PR> --required --watch --fail-fast || true
checks_json=$(gh pr checks <PR> --required --json name,bucket,state 2>/​tmp/​gh-checks.err || true)
if [ -z "$checks_json" ]; then
  checks_json='[]'
fi
required_count=$(printf '%s\n' "$checks_json" | jq 'length')
if [ "$required_count" -eq 0 ]; then
  echo "No required checks configured for this PR."
fi
printf '%s\n' "$checks_json" | jq -r '.[] | "\(.bucket)\t\(.name)\t\(.state)"'

failed_required=$(printf '%s\n' "$checks_json" | jq '[.[] | select(.bucket=="fail")] | length')
pending_required=$(printf '%s\n' "$checks_json" | jq '[.[] | select(.bucket=="pending")] | length')
if [ "$failed_required" -gt 0 ]; then
  echo "Required checks are failing, run /​prepare-pr."
  exit 1
fi
if [ "$pending_required" -gt 0 ]; then
  echo "Required checks are still pending, retry /​merge-pr when green."
  exit 1
fi

git fetch origin main
git fetch origin pull/<PR>/​head:pr-<PR> --force
git merge-base --is-ancestor origin/​main pr-<PR> || (echo "PR branch is behind main, run /​prepare-pr" && exit 1)

If anything is failing or behind, stop and say to run /​prepare-pr.

1. Merge PR with explicit attribution metadata

reviewer=$(gh api user --jq .login)
reviewer_id=$(gh api user --jq .id)
coauthor_email=${COAUTHOR_EMAIL:-"[email protected]"}
if [ -z "$coauthor_email" ] || [ "$coauthor_email" = "null" ]; then
  contrib_id=$(gh api users/​$contrib --jq .id)
  coauthor_email="${contrib_id}+${contrib}@users.noreply.github.com"
fi

gh_email=$(gh api user --jq '.email // ""' || true)
git_email=$(git config user.email || true)
mapfile -t reviewer_email_candidates < <(
  printf '%s\n' \
    "$gh_email" \
    "$git_email" \
    "${reviewer_id}+${reviewer}@users.noreply.github.com" \
    "${reviewer}@users.noreply.github.com" | awk 'NF && !seen[$0]++'
)
[ "${#reviewer_email_candidates[@]}" -gt 0 ] || { echo "ERROR: could not resolve reviewer author email"; exit 1; }
reviewer_email="${reviewer_email_candidates[0]}"

cat > .local/​merge-body.txt <<EOF
Merged via /​review-pr -> /​prepare-pr -> /​merge-pr.

Prepared head SHA: $PREP_HEAD_SHA
Co-authored-by: $contrib <$coauthor_email>
Co-authored-by: $reviewer <$reviewer_email>
Reviewed-by: @$reviewer
EOF

run_merge() {
  local email="$1"
  local stderr_file
  stderr_file=$(mktemp)
  if gh pr merge <PR> \
    --squash \
    --delete-branch \
    --match-head-commit "$PREP_HEAD_SHA" \
    --author-email "$email" \
    --subject "$pr_title (#$pr_number)" \
    --body-file .local/​merge-body.txt \
    2> >(tee "$stderr_file" >&2)
  then
    rm -f "$stderr_file"
    return 0
  fi
  merge_err=$(cat "$stderr_file")
  rm -f "$stderr_file"
  return 1
}

merge_err=""
selected_merge_author_email="$reviewer_email"
if ! run_merge "$selected_merge_author_email"; then
  if printf '%s\n' "$merge_err" | rg -qi 'author.?email|email.*associated|associated.*email|invalid.*email' && [ "${#reviewer_email_candidates[@]}" -ge 2 ]; then
    selected_merge_author_email="${reviewer_email_candidates[1]}"
    echo "Retrying once with fallback author email: $selected_merge_author_email"
    run_merge "$selected_merge_author_email" || { echo "ERROR: merge failed after fallback retry"; exit 1; }
  else
    echo "ERROR: merge failed"
    exit 1
  fi
fi

Retry is allowed exactly once when the error is clearly author-email validation.

1. Verify PR state and capture merge SHA

state=$(gh pr view <PR> --json state --jq .state)
if [ "$state" != "MERGED" ]; then
  echo "Merge not finalized yet (state=$state), waiting up to 15 minutes..."
  for _ in $(seq 1 90); do
    sleep 10
    state=$(gh pr view <PR> --json state --jq .state)
    if [ "$state" = "MERGED" ]; then
      break
    fi
  done
fi

if [ "$state" != "MERGED" ]; then
  echo "ERROR: PR state is $state after waiting. Leave worktree and retry /​merge-pr later."
  exit 1
fi

merge_sha=$(gh pr view <PR> --json mergeCommit --jq '.mergeCommit.oid')
if [ -z "$merge_sha" ] || [ "$merge_sha" = "null" ]; then
  echo "ERROR: merge commit SHA missing."
  exit 1
fi

commit_body=$(gh api repos/:owner/:repo/​commits/​$merge_sha --jq .commit.message)
contrib=${contrib:-$(gh pr view <PR> --json author --jq .author.login)}
reviewer=${reviewer:-$(gh api user --jq .login)}
printf '%s\n' "$commit_body" | rg -q "^Co-authored-by: $contrib <" || { echo "ERROR: missing PR author co-author trailer"; exit 1; }
printf '%s\n' "$commit_body" | rg -q "^Co-authored-by: $reviewer <" || { echo "ERROR: missing reviewer co-author trailer"; exit 1; }

echo "merge_sha=$merge_sha"

1. PR comment

Use a multiline heredoc with interpolation enabled.

ok=0
comment_output=""
for _ in 1 2 3; do
  if comment_output=$(gh pr comment <PR> -F - <<EOF
Merged via squash.

- Prepared head SHA: $PREP_HEAD_SHA
- Merge commit: $merge_sha

Thanks @$contrib!
EOF
); then
    ok=1
    break
  fi
  sleep 2
done

[ "$ok" -eq 1 ] || { echo "ERROR: failed to post PR comment after retries"; exit 1; }
comment_url=$(printf '%s\n' "$comment_output" | rg -o 'https://github.com/[^ ]+/​pull/[0-9]+#issuecomment-[0-9]+' -m1 || true)
[ -n "$comment_url" ] || comment_url="unresolved"
echo "comment_url=$comment_url"

1. Clean up worktree only on success

Run cleanup only if step 4 returned MERGED.

cd "$repo_root"
git worktree remove ".worktrees/​pr-<PR>" --force
git branch -D temp/​pr-<PR> 2>/​dev/​null || true
git branch -D pr-<PR> 2>/​dev/​null || true
git branch -D pr-<PR>-prep 2>/​dev/​null || true

Guardrails

• Worktree only.
• Do not close PRs.
• End in MERGED state.
• Clean up only after merge success.
• Never push to main. Use gh pr merge --squash only.
• Do not run git push at all in this command.