repo-sync
Smart repository synchronization across workspace-hub ecosystem — diagnoses and fixes pull failures (detached HEAD, diverged branches, uncommitted changes)
Best use case
repo-sync is best used when you need a repeatable AI agent workflow instead of a one-off prompt.
Smart repository synchronization across workspace-hub ecosystem — diagnoses and fixes pull failures (detached HEAD, diverged branches, uncommitted changes)
Teams using repo-sync should expect a more consistent output, faster repeated execution, less prompt rewriting.
When to use this skill
- You want a reusable workflow that can be run more than once with consistent structure.
When not to use this skill
- You only need a quick one-off answer and do not need a reusable workflow.
- You cannot install or maintain the underlying files, dependencies, or repository context.
Installation
Claude Code / Cursor / Codex
Manual Installation
- Download SKILL.md from GitHub
- Place it in
.claude/skills/repo-sync/SKILL.mdinside your project - Restart your AI agent — it will auto-discover the skill
How repo-sync Compares
| Feature / Agent | repo-sync | Standard Approach |
|---|---|---|
| Platform Support | Not specified | Limited / Varies |
| Context Awareness | High | Baseline |
| Installation Complexity | Unknown | N/A |
Frequently Asked Questions
What does this skill do?
Smart repository synchronization across workspace-hub ecosystem — diagnoses and fixes pull failures (detached HEAD, diverged branches, uncommitted changes)
Where can I find the source code?
You can find the source code on GitHub using the link provided at the top of the page.
SKILL.md Source
# Repo Sync
Smart pull-all with automatic diagnosis and repair for the workspace-hub multi-repo ecosystem.
## Usage
`/repo-sync` — Pull all repos, diagnose failures, and fix them.
Optional arguments:
- `/repo-sync pull` — Pull all repos (default)
- `/repo-sync status` — Status check only, no pulls
- `/repo-sync push` — Push all repos with unpushed commits
## What It Does
### Phase 1: Bulk Pull
Run `./scripts/repository_sync pull all` to attempt pulling every repo.
### Phase 2: Diagnose Failures
For each repo that failed, check:
1. **Detached HEAD** — submodules pinned at a commit, not on a branch
2. **Diverged branches** — local and remote have diverged, needs merge
3. **Uncommitted changes** — dirty working tree blocking pull
4. **No upstream** — no tracking branch configured
### Phase 3: Auto-Fix
Apply the appropriate fix per failure type:
| Failure | Fix |
|---------|-----|
| Detached HEAD (submodule) | `git checkout main && git pull --no-rebase` |
| Diverged branches | `git pull --no-rebase` (merge strategy) |
| Uncommitted changes | `git stash && git pull --no-rebase && git stash pop` |
| No upstream | Report only, no auto-fix |
| Large repo partial checkout / timed-out pull | Use no-untracked status probes, kill hung sync/status processes if needed, preserve recovery artifacts under `.git/recovery-backups/`, restore accidental tracked deletions; see `references/large-repo-partial-checkout-recovery.md` |
| Archived/read-only remote | Do not force workaround; preserve/export local-only commits and open a follow-up issue |
### Archived / Read-only Remote Exception Handling
If a repo is ahead locally but push fails because the remote is archived or read-only:
1. Confirm the state explicitly:
- current branch
- local HEAD vs upstream HEAD
- ahead commit list (`git log @{u}..HEAD`)
- diffstat for the ahead range
2. Do NOT try to bypass the archive/read-only state.
3. If the ahead range is non-trivial, export a preservation artifact:
- `git format-patch -1 <commit> --stdout > <workspace-hub-artifact>.patch`
4. Write a short decision memo with explicit options:
- abandon
- archive-only
- selective port to a writable successor
5. Open a GitHub issue documenting the exception and link the exported patch artifact.
6. Default recommendation when there is no clear writable successor and the diff is large/destructive: `archive-only`.
This came up with `pyproject-starter`, where the remote was archived/read-only and the only ahead commit was a massive destructive sync commit. The safe action was to preserve the patch in repo artifacts and require explicit human review before any migration.
### Phase 4: Encoding Health Check
After pulling, run the encoding check against all work queue and skill files
to surface any Windows-created UTF-16 / CRLF files that came in via the pull:
```bash
.Codex/hooks/check-encoding.sh
```
This runs in warn-only mode (post-merge behaviour) — it reports bad files but
does not block. Any files flagged should be converted and committed immediately:
```bash
# Convert a UTF-16 file to UTF-8
iconv -f UTF-16 -t UTF-8 <file> | sed 's/\r//' > /tmp/fixed.md
mv /tmp/fixed.md <file>
git add <file> && git commit -m "fix(encoding): convert <file> to UTF-8"
```
### Phase 5: Ecosystem Health + Summary
After the encoding check, spawn an ecosystem health agent in the background:
```python
Task(
subagent_type="Bash",
description="Ecosystem health check",
prompt="Run the 14-check suite from /ecosystem-health skill. Report pass/fail/warn for each group.",
run_in_background=True
)
```
This does not block the pull summary. Report health results alongside repo status.
See `/ecosystem-health` skill for the full check suite and pass conditions.
## Implementation
When this skill is invoked, execute these steps:
### Step 1: Run bulk pull
```bash
./scripts/repository_sync pull all
```
Capture output. Identify repos marked with `✗ Failed`.
### Step 2: For each failed repo, diagnose
```bash
cd <repo_path>
# Check if on a branch
git branch --show-current # empty = detached HEAD
# Check for uncommitted changes
git status --porcelain
# Check divergence (only if on a branch with upstream)
git rev-list --count @{u}.. 2>/dev/null # ahead
git rev-list --count ..@{u} 2>/dev/null # behind
```
### Step 3: Apply fixes
Run all independent repo fixes in parallel using the Bash tool.
**Detached HEAD:**
```bash
cd <repo_path> && git checkout main && git pull --no-rebase
```
**Diverged branches:**
```bash
cd <repo_path> && git pull --no-rebase
```
**Uncommitted changes blocking pull:**
```bash
cd <repo_path> && git stash && git pull --no-rebase && git stash pop
```
If `stash pop` has conflicts, report to user — do NOT auto-resolve.
### Step 4: Report summary table
Format as markdown table:
```
| Repo | Issue | Fix Applied | Result |
|------|-------|-------------|--------|
```
## Important Notes
- **Never force-push** or `reset --hard` without explicit user approval
- **Never rebase** diverged branches — always merge (per workspace AGENTS.md)
- **digitalmodel** and **worldenergydata** are submodules — detached HEAD is normal when workspace-hub pins a specific commit
- After fixing submodules, the workspace-hub `git status` will show them as modified (new submodule pointer) — this is expected
- If `stash pop` fails with conflicts, stop and report to user
- Use `--no-rebase` on all pulls to avoid rebase surprises on diverged repos
- **Encoding check runs after every pull** — UTF-16 files from Windows editors
crash `generate-index.py` and other parsers silently. Fix immediately on detection.
- If the user explicitly wants all dirty/untracked files tracked, run a second pass that stages with `git add -A`, commits on the repo's current branch, and pushes that branch before attempting broader branch-merging work.
- For branch-merging across many repos, merge into each repo's actual default branch (`main` or `master`) detected from GitHub / `origin/HEAD`; do not assume `main`.
- For large batch merges, use a temporary worktree checked out from the default branch (prefer `origin/<default>` if available) so merges are isolated from the user's current working tree and local dirty state.
- Workspace-hub can mutate state during commit/push hooks (`.Codex/state/*`, logs, generated reports). After a commit or failed push, always re-run `git status` and re-fetch before retrying; apparent ref-lock push failures may be stale-expectation races rather than true divergence.
- New-branch pushes in workspace-hub may trigger expensive pre-push checks across tier-1 repos and can time out. If the user has approved sensible commands and the goal is repo hygiene/sync rather than validation, `git push --no-verify` may be necessary after verifying local/remote state.
- Archived/read-only repos can still be committed locally for preservation, but push/merge to remote will fail; report them explicitly as blocked rather than retrying.
- In huge repos, do not run broad `git status --porcelain -uall`, full `du`, or full checkout/pull loops as the first recovery move. Start with no-untracked status and ahead/behind probes, then follow `references/large-repo-partial-checkout-recovery.md`.
- If interrupted sync creates `.Codex.partial-pull-backup-*`, `.codex.partial-pull-backup-*`, or generated provider cache trees, preserve them inside `.git/recovery-backups/` instead of committing or deleting them; they are recovery artifacts unless the user explicitly says otherwise.
## Iron Law
> No destructive git operation (force-push, reset --hard, auto-resolve conflicts) shall be performed without explicit user confirmation — ever.
## Rationalization Defense
| Excuse | Reality |
|--------|---------|
| "The conflict is trivial — I can auto-resolve it" | Trivial-looking conflicts have destroyed production data. Stash pop conflicts go to the user, always. |
| "Force-push is safe here because nobody else uses this branch" | You do not have full visibility into all machines and sessions using this repo. Assume others are active. |
| "I need to reset --hard to get to a clean state" | Use `git stash` to preserve work, then pull. Hard reset is data destruction, not cleanup. |
| "The encoding check is slow, I'll skip it this time" | UTF-16 files crash parsers silently. Skipping the check means shipping a time bomb. |
## Red Flags
These phrases signal you are about to violate the Iron Law:
- "let me just force-push to fix this"
- "I'll reset to a clean state"
- "this merge conflict is simple enough to auto-resolve"
- "skipping the encoding check to save time"
- "nobody else is working on this repo"Related Skills
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