Git Safety Protocol

Critical rules to prevent accidental data loss from destructive git operations.

Never use git checkout to revert changes

MANDATORY RULES:

• NEVER run git checkout -- <file> without first examining what you're about to destroy
• ALWAYS use git diff <file> to see exactly what changes will be lost
• MANUALLY undo changes by editing files to revert specific problematic sections
• Preserve valuable work - if user says changes are bad, ask which specific parts to revert
• git checkout destroys ALL changes - this can eliminate hours of valuable progress
• When user asks to "undo" changes: Read the current file, identify problematic sections, and manually edit to fix them

Why this matters: Using git checkout blindly can destroy sophisticated implementations, complex prompts, provider-specific logic, and other valuable work that took significant time to develop.

Destructive commands requiring explicit approval

NEVER run these commands without explicit user approval:

Before any git operation

1. Run git status first to check for uncommitted changes
2. If there are uncommitted changes, STOP and ASK the user before proceeding
3. Suggest git stash to preserve changes if needed

Handling revert requests

If user asks to "revert" something:

1. First clarify: revert committed changes or uncommitted changes?
2. Show what will be affected before doing anything
3. Get explicit confirmation for destructive operations

If user says "undo my changes":

1. Read the current file
2. Identify which specific sections are problematic
3. Manually edit to fix those sections
4. Preserve everything else

Quick checklist

Before git operations:

• Have I run git status first?
• Are there uncommitted changes I might destroy?
• Have I used git diff to see what will be affected?
• Do I have explicit user approval for any destructive command?
• Am I preserving valuable work?

When asked to revert:

• Did I clarify what specifically should be reverted?
• Am I manually editing instead of using checkout?
• Am I preserving work not mentioned in the revert request?

Why these rules exist

These rules exist because careless git operations can destroy days of work. A single git checkout -- . can eliminate sophisticated implementations, complex logic, and carefully crafted code that took significant time to develop.

When in doubt, ask first.