pmjones/daisy

0.x-dev 2025-10-08 14:48 UTC

Requires

• php: ^8.2
• pmjones/stdlog: ^1.0

Requires (Dev)

• pds/composer-script-names: ^1.0
• pds/skeleton: ^1.0
• phpstan/phpstan: ^2.0
• phpunit/phpunit: ^11.0

MIT

• Paul M. Jones

README

Overview

Daisy is a tool for managing daisy chains of git branches.

Before stacking was cool, I had some bash scripts to do something similar for my refactoring work.

At the time I thought of these sequentially dependent git branches as a "daisy chain". This package takes those bash scripts and collects them into something more manageable.

Workflow

From a "root" branch (e.g. master or prod) start a daisy chain like so:

% daisy start refactor
Starting a new daisy chain.
Created daisy chain refactor_@_ from main.
On branch refactor_@_0
nothing to commit, working tree clean
%

You will now find two new branches with the _@_ sigil in them, indicating they are part of a daisy chain:

• refactor_@_ is a "start" branch, and keeps track of which branch served as the root for the daisy chain; and,

• refactor_@_0 is the first numbered branch in the daisy chain itself.

Make your changes on the numbered branch and commit them. You can then add another branch to the daisy chain:

% daisy add
Adding a new branch to the daisy chain.
On branch refactor_@_1
nothing to commit, working tree clean
%

(The _@_1 branch depends on the _@_0 branch.) Make some changes on this added branch and commit them.

Keep adding branches to the chain until you're done.

You can find out where you are in the in the daisy chain with branch:

% daisy branch
refactor_@_3
%

You can see all the branches in the daisy chain with chain:

% daisy chain
refactor_@_0
refactor_@_1
refactor_@_2
refactor_@_3
refactor_@_4
refactor_@_5
%

If you need to go back and make some fixes, use prev to go back one or more steps:

% daisy branch
refactor_@_5
% daisy prev
refactor_@_4
% daisy prev 2
refactor_@_2
%

Make your changes, commit them, and then step forward one branch at a time to sync each branch first with the remote (via git pull) and then with its previous branch (via rebase):

% daisy branch
refactor_@_2
% daisy next
refactor_@_3
% daisy sync # git pull && git rebase refactor_@_2
%

If there are conflicts, you need to resolve them as with any rebase; git add -A, git rebase --continue, and so on.

Send each branch to the remote origin with send. The first time, this will set the upstream and push the branch:

% daisy branch
refactor_@_0
% daisy send # git push -u origin refactor_@_0
%

Therafter, send will force-push the branch:

% daisy branch
refactor_@_0
% daisy send # git push --force-with-lease
%

After you send a branch you can open it at GitHub to compare it with the previous branch. From there you can start a new PR or go to an existing PR.

% daisy branch
refactor_@_3
% daisy open # https://github.com/owner/repo/compare/refactor_@_2..refactor_@_3
%

Help

Usage:
    daisy <command>

Creation Commands:

    start <name>
        Starts a new daisy chain of branches with the <name>
        prefix by creating a non-numbered "start" branch with an
        empty commit with a message indicating the "root" branch of
        the daisy chain. DO NOT work on this branch. It is for
        tracking the "root" branch only.

    add
        Adds a numbered branch to the end of the daisy chain.

Navigation Commands:

    first
        Switches to the first numbered branch in the daisy chain.

    prev [<steps>]
        Switches to the previous numbered branch in the daisy chain,
        or any number of <steps> previous.

    next [<steps>]
        Switches to the next numbered branch in the daisy chain, or
        any number of <steps> next.

    last
        Switches to the last numbered branch in the daisy chain.

    goto (root|start|<number>)
        Switches to the root branch, start branch, or a numbered
        daisy chain branch.

Info Commands:

    branch
        Shows the current branch in the daisy chain.

    chain
        Shows the list of branches in the daisy chain.

    diff [plain]
        Shows the color diff between the current branch in the daisy
        chain and the previous branch (numbered or "root"). Passing
        'plain' shows a plain (not color) diff.

Deletion Commands:

    drop (first|prev|next|last|<number>)

        Deletes the specified branch from the daisy chain
        using `git branch -d`.

    kill (first|prev|next|last|<number>)

        Deletes the specified branch from the daisy chain
        using `git branch -D`.

Management Commands:

    open
        Opens a comparison request for the current branch.

    send
        Force-pushes the current numbered branch in the daisy chain
        to origin, setting the upstream if not already set.

    sync
        Pulls from the remote origin (if there is one), then
        rebases the current numbered branch in the daisy chain on
        the previous branch (numbered or "root").