Rebase Onto Main

Rebase Onto Main

Fetch and rebase the current feature branch onto the repository's base branch.

Type: Skill Trigger: /rebase-onto-main Requires: gh (falls back to git remote show origin if unavailable)

Installation

See the marketplace install instructions.

What It Does

Automatically detects the default branch, handles uncommitted changes (stash, commit, or abort), resolves conflicts per replayed commit, and pushes after a successful rebase (using --force-with-lease only when the rebase rewrote history). Suggests running install commands when lockfiles change.

Unlike a merge, a rebase rewrites history: each commit on the feature branch is replayed on top of the base branch. Conflicts are resolved per commit, and any branch that has already been pushed requires a --force-with-lease push afterward. The skill never uses plain --force.

Usage

/rebase-onto-main
/rebase-onto-main --base develop

Option	Description
--base <branch>	Override the auto-detected base branch

Recommended Permissions

This skill runs git and GitHub CLI commands that trigger permission prompts. To allow them automatically, add these rules to your .claude/settings.json (project-wide) or ~/.claude/settings.json (global):

{
  "permissions": {
    "allow": ["Bash(git status*)", "Bash(git branch *)", "Bash(git fetch *)", "Bash(git rebase *)", "Bash(git commit *)", "Bash(git push*)", "Bash(git stash*)", "Bash(git log *)", "Bash(git diff*)", "Bash(git add *)", "Bash(git remote *)", "Bash(git rev-parse *)", "Bash(git merge-base *)", "Bash(gh repo view *)"]
  }
}

If you already have a permissions.allow array, merge these entries into it. Review and adjust the rules to match your security preferences.

Examples

• "rebase onto main": fetches the default branch and rebases the current branch on top
• "rebase onto main --base develop": rebases onto develop instead
• "update branch via rebase": same as "rebase onto main"

Force-Push Safety

After a rebase, the local branch's history may diverge from any previously pushed copy. The skill picks the push command based on whether the rebase actually rewrote history:

• History rewritten (commits replayed onto a new base): git push --force-with-lease, which refuses to overwrite the remote if someone else has pushed in the meantime.
• No-op or fast-forward only (HEAD unchanged after rebase): a plain git push, since nothing was rewritten.
• No upstream yet (fresh branch never pushed): git push -u origin HEAD, no force needed.

The skill never uses plain --force, and never force-pushes the default branch.

See Also

• Merge Main: merge the base branch into the current branch instead of rebasing
• Review Branch: summarize what changed on the current branch
• All plugins