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Graphite

Overview

Graphite (gt) is a CLI tool for managing stacked pull requests - breaking large features into small, incremental changes built on top of each other. This skill provides the mental model, command reference, and workflow patterns needed to work effectively with gt.

CRITICAL: Always Use --no-interactive

NEVER invoke anygt command without --no-interactive. This is a global flag inherited by every gt command — not a per-command option.

Without --no-interactive, gt may open prompts, pagers, or editors that hang indefinitely in agent/CI contexts. The --force flag does NOT prevent prompts — you must use --no-interactive separately.

# WRONG - may hang waiting for user input
gt sync
gt submit --force
gt track --parent main

# CORRECT - always pass --no-interactive
gt sync --no-interactive
gt submit --no-interactive
gt track --parent main --no-interactive
gt restack --no-interactive
gt create my-branch -m "message" --no-interactive

What--interactive controls (all disabled by --no-interactive):

• Prompts (confirmation dialogs in sync, delete, submit, etc.)
• Pagers (output paging in log)
• Editors (commit message editing in create/modify, PR metadata in submit)
• Interactive selectors (branch selection in checkout, move, track)

Note: gt modify --interactive-rebase is a separate, unrelated flag that starts a git interactive rebase. It is NOT the same as the global --interactive.

Core Mental Model

Stacks are Linear Chains

A stack is a sequence of branches where each branch (except trunk) has exactly one parent:

VALID STACK (linear):
main → feature-a → feature-b → feature-c

INVALID (not a stack):
main → feature-a → feature-b
            └─────→ feature-x

Key Concepts

• Parent-Child Relationships : Every branch tracked by gt (except trunk) has exactly one parent branch it builds upon
• Auto-restacking : When modifying a branch, gt automatically rebases all upstack branches to include changes
• Directional Navigation :
  • Downstack/Down : Toward trunk (toward the base) - gt down moves from feature-b → feature-a → main
  • Upstack/Up : Away from trunk (toward the tip) - gt up moves from feature-a → feature-b → feature-c
• Trunk : The main branch (usually main or master) that all stacks build upon

Stack Visualization - CRITICAL MENTAL MODEL

When working with Graphite stacks, always visualize trunk at the BOTTOM:

TOP ↑    feat-3  ← upstack (leaf)
         feat-2
         feat-1
BOTTOM ↓ main    ← downstack (trunk)

Directional Terminology - MUST UNDERSTAND

• UPSTACK / UP = away from trunk = toward TOP = toward leaves
• DOWNSTACK / DOWN = toward trunk = toward BOTTOM = toward main

Detailed Examples

Given stack: main → feat-1 → feat-2 → feat-3

If current branch isfeat-1:

• Upstack: feat-2, feat-3 (children, toward top)
• Downstack: main (parent, toward bottom)

If current branch isfeat-3 (at top):

• Upstack: (nothing, already at top/leaf)
• Downstack: feat-2, feat-1, main (ancestors, toward bottom)

Why This Mental Model Is Critical

🔴 Commands depend on this visualization:

• gt up / gt down navigate the stack
• land-stack traverses branches in specific direction
• Stack traversal logic (parent/child relationships)

🔴 Common mistake: Thinking "upstack" means "toward trunk"

• WRONG : upstack = toward main ❌
• CORRECT : upstack = away from main ✅

🔴 PR landing order: Always bottom→top (main first, then each layer up)

Metadata Storage

All gt metadata is stored in the shared .git directory (accessible across worktrees):

• .git/.graphite_repo_config - Repository-level configuration (trunk branch)
• .git/.graphite_cache_persist - Branch relationships (parent-child graph)
• .git/.graphite_pr_info - Cached GitHub PR information

Important : Metadata is shared across all worktrees since it's in the common .git directory.

Essential Commands

Remember: ALL gt commands below must include--no-interactive (see CRITICAL: Always Use --no-interactive above).

Common Workflow Commands

Navigation Commands

Stack Management

Branch Info & Management

Workflow Patterns

Pattern 1: Creating a New Stack

Build a feature in multiple reviewable chunks:

# 1. Start from trunk
gt checkout main --no-interactive
git pull

# 2. Create first branch
gt create phase-1 -m "Add API endpoints" --no-interactive
# ... make changes ...
git add .
gt modify -m "Add API endpoints" --no-interactive

# 3. Create second branch on top
gt create phase-2 -m "Update frontend" --no-interactive
# ... make changes ...
git add .
gt modify -m "Update frontend" --no-interactive

# 4. Submit entire stack
gt submit --stack --no-interactive

# Result: 2 PRs created
# PR #101: phase-1 (base: main)
# PR #102: phase-2 (base: phase-1)

Pattern 2: Responding to Review Feedback

Update a branch in the middle of a stack:

# Navigate down to target branch
gt down --no-interactive  # Repeat as needed

# Make changes
# ... edit files ...
git add .

# Modify (auto-restacks upstack branches)
gt modify -m "Address review feedback" --no-interactive

# Resubmit stack
gt submit --stack --no-interactive

Pattern 3: Adding to Existing Stack

Insert a new branch in the middle:

# Checkout the parent where you want to insert
gt checkout phase-1 --no-interactive

# Create new branch with --insert
gt create phase-1.5 --insert -m "Add validation" --no-interactive

# Submit new PR
gt submit --no-interactive

Pattern 4: Syncing After Merges

Clean up after PRs merge on GitHub:

# Run sync (--no-interactive auto-confirms branch deletion)
gt sync --no-interactive

# Result:
# - Merged branches deleted locally
# - Remaining branches rebased onto trunk
# - PR bases updated on GitHub

Pattern 5: Splitting Large Changes

Break up a large commit into reviewable pieces:

# Checkout branch with large commit
gt checkout large-feature --no-interactive

# Split into single-commit branches
gt split --no-interactive

# Rename branches meaningfully
gt rename add-api-endpoints --no-interactive
gt up --no-interactive
gt rename add-frontend --no-interactive
gt up --no-interactive
gt rename add-tests --no-interactive

# Submit
gt submit --stack --no-interactive

Common Mistakes to Avoid

1. Don't usegit rebase directly: Use gt modify or gt restack - gt needs to update metadata during rebasing

2. Don't delete branches withgit branch -d: Use gt delete - metadata needs to be updated to re-parent children

3. Don't assumegt submit only affects current branch: It submits downstack too (all ancestors). Use gt submit --stack to include upstack

4. Don't forget togt sync after merges: Stale branches accumulate and metadata gets outdated

Quick Decision Tree

When to use gt commands:

• Start new work → gt create (sets parent relationship)
• Edit current branch → gt modify (auto-restacks children)
• Navigate stack → gt up/down/top/bottom (move through chain)
• View structure → gt log (see visualization)
• Get parent branch → gt branch info (parse "Parent:" line)
• Get branch relationships → gt parent / gt children (quick access)
• Submit PRs → gt submit --stack (create/update all PRs)

Resources

references/

Contains detailed command reference and comprehensive mental model documentation:

• gt-reference.md - Complete command reference, metadata format details, and advanced patterns

Load this reference when users need detailed information about specific gt commands, metadata structure, or complex workflow scenarios.

Weekly Installs

53

Repository

dagster-io/erk

GitHub Stars

74

First Seen

Jan 29, 2026

Security Audits

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