Bail-out protocol: always reflect FIRST, then clean up.

Inputs

• Optional reason string (if not provided, ask for one)

Steps

1. Detect current step by examining what exists:

   What exists	Estimated step
   Just an issue, no branch	Step 0 (Capture)
   .branch-context.md, no worktree	Step 1 (Orient)
   Worktree exists, no code changes	Step 2 (Isolate)
   Plan file on branch	Step 3-4 (Design/Review)
   Code changes committed	Step 5-7 (Build/Verify/Archive)
   PR open on GitHub	Step 8 (Ship)

2. Prompt for reason if not provided.

3. Write learnings to .branch-context.md:

   • What was attempted
   • Why bailing (the reason)
   • What was learned
   • Any partial work worth preserving

4. Consolidate learnings: Read .branch-context.md and append relevant items to ai-workspace/MEMORY.md on main:

   git stash
   git checkout main
   # Append learnings to MEMORY.md
   git add ai-workspace/MEMORY.md
   git commit -m "docs: consolidate learnings from abandoned <branch>"
   git checkout <branch>
   git stash pop
   

5. Update GitHub Issue (if accessible):

   # Find issue number from branch name or PR
   gh issue comment <number> --body "Bailing: <reason>. Learnings captured in MEMORY.md."
   gh issue edit <number> --add-label "deferred" --remove-label "triage"
   

6. Close PR if open:

   PR_NUM=$(gh pr list --head "<branch>" --json number -q '.[0].number')
   if [ -n "$PR_NUM" ]; then
     gh pr close "$PR_NUM"
   fi
   

7. Ask about branch preservation:

   • Default: preserve the branch (user can resume later)
   • If user says delete:

     git worktree remove .worktrees/<name> 2>/dev/null
     git branch -D <branch> 2>/dev/null
     git push origin --delete <branch> 2>/dev/null
     

8. Return to main:

   git checkout main
   

Edge Cases

• No worktree exists (bailing at Step 0-1) → skip worktree cleanup, just update issue
• No GitHub access → skip issue update, still do local cleanup + memory consolidation
• PR already merged → don't close, just note it in the output
• No .branch-context.md → create one with just the bail reason before consolidating

Output: Summary of what was cleaned up and where learnings were saved.