start-feature_skill

Overview

This skill automates creating or resuming a feature branch following your git workflow conventions. It normalizes the requested feature name, selects the correct base branch (develop or main), creates or checks out feature/<name>, and pushes the new branch to origin when needed. It integrates with the gitflow:gitflow-workflow skill for consistent naming and workflow rules.

How this skill works

The skill first loads the gitflow workflow helper to apply the project’s normalization rules and to detect the active workflow (Classic GitFlow vs GitHub Flow). It inspects the current branch, existing feature branches, and git status, then normalizes the incoming argument into a kebab-case FEATURE_NAME and strips any leading feature/ prefix. It determines the appropriate base (usually develop or main), creates or resumes feature/FEATURE_NAME from that base, and pushes the branch to origin if it was just created.

When to use it

• Starting a new feature that should follow the repository’s gitflow conventions.
• Resuming work on an existing feature branch when you stopped locally or on another machine.
• Ensuring consistent branch names across the team before opening a pull request.
• Automating branch creation in scripts, CI job templates, or developer bootstrapping.

Best practices

• Run git status and pull the chosen base branch before creating the feature to avoid merge conflicts.
• Use short, descriptive feature titles; the skill converts them to kebab-case automatically.
• Create focused, small-scoped branches to simplify reviews and merges.
• Push new branches immediately so remote CI and teammates can see and run against them.
• Resume an existing branch instead of recreating it to preserve commit history and PR links.

Example use cases

• You have a ticket 'Add user settings panel' — run the skill to get feature/add-user-settings created from develop.
• Switch machines mid-feature: detect and check out an existing feature branch and sync it with origin.
• CI job that prepares a feature branch environment for integration tests by creating and pushing the branch.
• Onboarding script that creates a local feature branch scaffold for new contributors following team rules.