---
name: land-merged-pr-with-blocked-tree-ops
description: "Use when a merged PR must land in a checkout whose working tree is dirty and workspace policy blocks git switch/restore/stash/reset-to-commit: prove identity, commit forward, merge, verify."
---

# Landing a merged PR into a checkout with blocked tree operations

Shared-workspace policy can block `git switch`, `git checkout <branch>`, `git restore`, `git stash`, and `git reset <commit>` ("uncommitted changes other concurrent agents rely on"). A `git pull --ff-only` then aborts with *"Your local changes to the following files would be overwritten by merge"* — **even when the local content is byte-identical to the incoming commit**, because git compares the index, not intent. Observed twice on 2026-10-19 (dank/command-center, dank/dankvoice).

## Procedure

1. **Prove identity first — never assume it.**
   `git fetch && git diff --stat origin/main -- <the dirty paths>` → **empty output** means the working tree already equals the merged result, so committing it forward destroys nothing. If it is not empty, stop: there is real local work; do not proceed.
2. **Commit forward** the identical paths (message says exactly that, e.g. *"land merged #N content; policy blocks restore/stash, so the identical copies are committed rather than discarded"*). Hooks still run.
3. **Merge, don't ff:** `git merge --no-edit origin/main` (ort resolves identical changes on both sides cleanly). `--ff-only` is impossible once step 2 created a commit.
4. **Untracked-collision case:** if the abort says *"Please move or remove them before you merge"*, an untracked local file occupies a path the merge adds. `mv` it aside, merge, then `cmp` the restored file against the copy — identical → drop the copy (if the copy came from `.AGENTTRASH`, delete it and `rmdir`, since the file is now tracked).
5. **Verify:** repo lint/tests, `git status --porcelain -- <paths>` empty, and `git rev-parse --short HEAD origin/main` equal **after a fresh `git fetch`**.

## Gotchas

- `git merge … | tail -3` masks the exit status — `tail` always exits 0 and an `&&` chain then continues past an aborted merge. Run the merge unmasked, or check `${PIPESTATUS[0]}`.
- Immediately after a push, `git rev-list --count main..origin/main` can report phantom commits-behind from a stale remote-tracking snapshot. Re-`fetch` and compare `rev-parse` before believing any drift.
- Do not push redundant commits into a *deployment* checkout without checking the repo's tier law: machine/live tiers commit straight to `main`, human/agent prose goes by PR.

## Never

No `--no-verify`, no `reset --hard`, no `checkout -- <path>`, no "temporary" stash: those are exactly the operations the policy blocks because they discard other agents' work.