branch change audit

Manual branch reviews are prone to missing files, especially in monorepos where changes span multiple services. Identifying exactly what changed since branching from main requires tedious git commands and manual grouping.

What it does

• Service-level grouping Categorizes changes by service or directory key using path segment analysis.
• Status preservation Tracks and reports the specific nature of changes including additions, modifications, deletions, and renames.
• Automated baseline detection Resolves the correct upstream branch automatically, checking symbolic refs and remote HEAD.
• Rename tracking Clearly maps file movements showing the transition from old paths to new locations.
• Scope filtering Limits audits to specific sub-directories like apps/ or services/ when requested.

How it works

1. Identify baseline The skill probes the environment to find the upstream target branch, typically origin/main or origin/master.
2. Execute diff Runs a name-status diff between the baseline and the current HEAD to capture the exact delta.
3. Parse and group Organizes raw git output into a structured hierarchy based on repository folders.
4. Generate report Outputs a summary to the chat or writes a CHANGE_AUDIT.md file for PR documentation.

Frameworks & tools

This skill utilizes Git CLI and shell scripting. It is compatible with any repository structure, including complex monorepos managed with tools like Nx, Turborepo, or Lerna.

Why this beats prompting it yourself

Standard LLM prompts often hallucinate change lists or fail to correctly resolve the git baseline. This skill uses specific CLI sequences to ensure every file status is accurate and properly grouped by service, saving you from manual diff parsing.

Use cases

• Generating a pre-PR impact assessment to verify only intended files were touched.
• Auditing monorepo changes to identify which microservices require deployment.
• Creating a structured changelog for team review sessions.
• Troubleshooting unexpected behavior by listing all modifications since the last stable merge.

Known limitations

Requires a local git environment with an established origin to detect the baseline automatically. Does not include unstaged or uncommitted local changes in the branch-to-branch diff.