11ai Git stash

Use stashes as named, temporary state—not as a silent cleanup mechanism. Inspect the current worktree and the stash list before changing either. This skill never assumes that a stash is disposable.

Create a focused stash

git status --short --branch --untracked-files=all
git diff --stat
git stash push -m "short reason" -- path/to/file
git stash push --include-untracked -m "short reason"

The first command shelves selected tracked paths. --include-untracked also shelves untracked files and must be intentional because it can hide newly created work. Do not use git stash -a casually; ignored files may contain valuable local state or secrets. Do not stash unrelated pre-existing changes merely to make another workflow pass.

Inspect and restore

git stash list
git stash show --stat stash@{0}
git stash show --patch stash@{0}
git stash apply stash@{0}
git stash pop stash@{0}

Prefer apply when preserving a recovery copy matters; it leaves the stash in place. pop removes it only when the apply succeeds, but conflicts still require careful resolution and verification. Use a path-scoped git stash push when only part of the work should be shelved.

Delete only by request

git stash drop stash@{0}
git stash clear

Show the stash contents and get explicit approval before dropping a stash. git stash clear deletes every stash and is a destructive last resort. Finish with git status --short --branch --untracked-files=all and report what was preserved, applied, conflicted, or removed.