Git Clean Main

Branch strategy that keeps AI development artifacts on

dev

while maintaining a clean

main

master

free of AI tooling files.

When to Use

Use this skill when:

Creating a PR from
```
dev
```
to
```
main
```
/
```
master
```
Merging feature branches into
```
main
```
/
```
master
```
Setting up a new repo's branch strategy
The user mentions keeping main clean or separating AI files

Do NOT use this skill when:

Working entirely within
```
dev
```
or feature branches
The project explicitly wants AI files in main

The Problem

AI-assisted development generates tooling files that are valuable for development but don't belong in production branches:

# AI Agent Platforms
.claude/          ← Claude Code skills, commands, settings
.codex/           ← Codex/OpenAI configuration
.augment/         ← Augment Code
.devin/           ← Devin (Cognition AI)
.bolt/            ← Bolt.new
.v0/              ← Vercel v0
.replit/          ← Replit AI

# AI-Enhanced IDEs
.cursor/          ← Cursor editor state
.windsurf/        ← Windsurf (Codeium)
.trae/            ← Trae (ByteDance)
.kiro/            ← Kiro (Amazon)
.junie/           ← Junie (JetBrains)
.aide/            ← Aide IDE

# AI Coding Assistants
.cline/           ← Cline
.roo/             ← Roo Code
.continue/        ← Continue.dev
.cody/            ← Sourcegraph Cody
.aider/           ← Aider
.copilot/         ← GitHub Copilot
.tabnine/         ← Tabnine
.codeium/         ← Codeium
.gemini/          ← Google Gemini
.amazonq/         ← Amazon Q Developer

# Config & Rules Files
openspec/         ← OpenSpec change proposals and specs
skills-lock.json  ← Installed skills lock file
AGENTS.md         ← OpenAI Codex agent instructions
.cursorrules      ← Cursor rules
.cursorignore     ← Cursor editor ignore
.windsurfrules    ← Windsurf rules
.clinerules       ← Cline rules
.roomodes         ← Roo Code modes
.aider.conf.yml   ← Aider config
.aiderignore      ← Aider ignore

These files should live on

dev

where AI tools use them, but

main

master

should stay clean.

Strategy

main/master ─────●────────●────────●──────── Clean (no AI files)
                 ↑        ↑        ↑
dev ─────●───●───●───●────●───●────●──────── Has AI tooling files
         │       │        │
feature/ ─┘       └────────┘                  Branch from dev

```
dev
```
is the primary working branch — all AI tooling files live here
```
main
```
/
```
master
```
receives clean merges with AI files excluded
Feature branches are created from
```
dev
```
and merged back to
```
dev
```

Setup:

.gitignore

main

master

On the

main

master

branch, add these entries to

.gitignore

gitignore

# AI tooling (kept on dev, excluded from main)

# AI Agent Platforms
.claude/
.codex/
.augment/
.devin/
.bolt/
.v0/
.replit/

# AI-Enhanced IDEs
.cursor/
.windsurf/
.trae/
.kiro/
.junie/
.aide/

# AI Coding Assistants
.cline/
.roo/
.continue/
.cody/
.aider/
.copilot/
.tabnine/
.codeium/
.gemini/
.amazonq/

# Config & Rules Files
openspec/
skills-lock.json
AGENTS.md
.cursorrules
.cursorignore
.windsurfrules
.clinerules
.roomodes
.aider.conf.yml
.aiderignore

This ensures that even if AI files somehow get staged, they won't be committed on

main

Setup: Merge Script

When merging

dev

→

main

, use this workflow to strip AI files:

bash

#!/bin/bash
# merge-to-main.sh — Merge dev into main excluding AI tooling files

set -e

AI_FILES=(
  # AI Agent Platforms
  ".claude"
  ".codex"
  ".augment"
  ".devin"
  ".bolt"
  ".v0"
  ".replit"
  # AI-Enhanced IDEs
  ".cursor"
  ".windsurf"
  ".trae"
  ".kiro"
  ".junie"
  ".aide"
  # AI Coding Assistants
  ".cline"
  ".roo"
  ".continue"
  ".cody"
  ".aider"
  ".copilot"
  ".tabnine"
  ".codeium"
  ".gemini"
  ".amazonq"
  # Config & Rules Files
  "openspec"
  "skills-lock.json"
  "AGENTS.md"
  ".cursorrules"
  ".cursorignore"
  ".windsurfrules"
  ".clinerules"
  ".roomodes"
  ".aider.conf.yml"
  ".aiderignore"
)

# Switch to main and merge dev
git checkout main
git merge dev --no-commit --no-ff

# Remove AI tooling files from the merge
for item in "${AI_FILES[@]}"; do
  if [ -e "$item" ]; then
    git rm -rf --cached "$item" 2>/dev/null || true
    rm -rf "$item" 2>/dev/null || true
  fi
done

# Commit the clean merge
git commit -m "merge dev into main (AI tooling files excluded)"

# Switch back to dev
git checkout dev

Setup: GitHub Actions (Optional)

For automated clean merges via CI:

yaml

# .github/workflows/clean-merge.yml
name: Clean Merge to Main

on:
  workflow_dispatch:
  push:
    branches: [dev]

jobs:
  clean-merge:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    if: github.ref == 'refs/heads/dev'
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
        with:
          fetch-depth: 0
          token: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}

      - name: Configure git
        run: |
          git config user.name "github-actions[bot]"
          git config user.email "github-actions[bot]@users.noreply.github.com"

      - name: Clean merge to main
        run: |
          git checkout main
          git merge dev --no-commit --no-ff || true

          # Remove AI tooling files
          AI_ITEMS=".claude .codex .augment .devin .bolt .v0 .replit"
          AI_ITEMS="$AI_ITEMS .cursor .windsurf .trae .kiro .junie .aide"
          AI_ITEMS="$AI_ITEMS .cline .roo .continue .cody .aider .copilot .tabnine .codeium .gemini .amazonq"
          AI_ITEMS="$AI_ITEMS openspec skills-lock.json AGENTS.md .cursorrules .cursorignore .windsurfrules .clinerules .roomodes .aider.conf.yml .aiderignore"
          for item in $AI_ITEMS; do
            git rm -rf --cached "$item" 2>/dev/null || true
            rm -rf "$item" 2>/dev/null || true
          done

          # Only commit if there are changes
          if ! git diff --cached --quiet; then
            git commit -m "merge dev into main (AI tooling excluded)"
            git push origin main
          fi

          git checkout dev

PR Workflow

When creating a PR from

dev

main

Create PR normally — the PR will show AI files as changed
Before merging, ensure the target branch
```
.gitignore
```
excludes AI files

After merge, verify AI files are not present on

main

bash

git checkout main
ls -la .claude .codex .augment .cursor .windsurf .cline .roo .kiro .gemini openspec skills-lock.json 2>&1
# Should show "No such file or directory" for all

Alternatively, create the PR from a temporary clean branch:

bash

# Create a clean branch from dev
git checkout -b clean/release-to-main dev

# Remove AI files
git rm -rf \
  .claude .codex .augment .devin .bolt .v0 .replit \
  .cursor .windsurf .trae .kiro .junie .aide \
  .cline .roo .continue .cody .aider .copilot .tabnine .codeium .gemini .amazonq \
  openspec skills-lock.json AGENTS.md .cursorrules .cursorignore .windsurfrules .clinerules .roomodes .aider.conf.yml .aiderignore \
  2>/dev/null
git commit -m "chore: remove AI tooling files for main merge"

# Push and create PR to main
git push origin clean/release-to-main
gh pr create --base main --title "chore: merge dev to main" --body "Clean merge excluding AI tooling files"

Files to Exclude

File/Directory	Purpose	Keep on dev	Exclude from main
AI Agent Platforms
`.claude/`	Claude Code skills, commands, settings	Yes	Yes
`.codex/`	Codex / OpenAI configuration	Yes	Yes
`.augment/`	Augment Code	Yes	Yes
`.devin/`	Devin (Cognition AI)	Yes	Yes
`.bolt/`	Bolt.new	Yes	Yes
`.v0/`	Vercel v0	Yes	Yes
`.replit/`	Replit AI	Yes	Yes
AI-Enhanced IDEs
`.cursor/`	Cursor editor state	Yes	Yes
`.windsurf/`	Windsurf (Codeium)	Yes	Yes
`.trae/`	Trae (ByteDance)	Yes	Yes
`.kiro/`	Kiro (Amazon)	Yes	Yes
`.junie/`	Junie (JetBrains)	Yes	Yes
`.aide/`	Aide IDE	Yes	Yes
AI Coding Assistants
`.cline/`	Cline	Yes	Yes
`.roo/`	Roo Code	Yes	Yes
`.continue/`	Continue.dev	Yes	Yes
`.cody/`	Sourcegraph Cody	Yes	Yes
`.aider/`	Aider	Yes	Yes
`.copilot/`	GitHub Copilot	Yes	Yes
`.tabnine/`	Tabnine	Yes	Yes
`.codeium/`	Codeium	Yes	Yes
`.gemini/`	Google Gemini	Yes	Yes
`.amazonq/`	Amazon Q Developer	Yes	Yes
Config & Rules Files
`openspec/`	Change proposals, specs, designs	Yes	Yes
`skills-lock.json`	Installed skills versions	Yes	Yes
`AGENTS.md`	OpenAI Codex agent instructions	Yes	Yes
`.cursorrules`	Cursor rules	Yes	Yes
`.cursorignore`	Cursor editor ignore	Yes	Yes
`.windsurfrules`	Windsurf rules	Yes	Yes
`.clinerules`	Cline rules	Yes	Yes
`.roomodes`	Roo Code modes	Yes	Yes
`.aider.conf.yml`	Aider config	Yes	Yes
`.aiderignore`	Aider ignore	Yes	Yes
Keep on Both
`CLAUDE.md`	Claude Code project instructions	Keep	Keep

Note:
CLAUDE.md
is typically kept on both branches as it serves as project documentation too. Exclude it only if you prefer.

Recommended Scope

Scope: Global (applies to any AI-assisted project)

Install:

npx skills add skingford/skills --skill git-clean-main -g -y

git-clean-main

NPX Install

Tags

SKILL.md Content

Git Clean Main

When to Use

The Problem

Strategy

Setup:
`.gitignore`
on
`main`
/
`master`

Setup: Merge Script

Setup: GitHub Actions (Optional)

PR Workflow

Files to Exclude

Recommended Scope

git-clean-main

NPX Install

Tags

SKILL.md Content

Git Clean Main

When to Use

The Problem

Strategy

Setup: .gitignore on main/master

Setup: Merge Script

Setup: GitHub Actions (Optional)

PR Workflow

Files to Exclude

Recommended Scope

Setup:
`.gitignore`
on
`main`
/
`master`