Multi-Agent Version Control

Tool-agnostic patterns for coordinating git operations across parallel AI agents.

<when_to_use>

• Dispatching subagents for parallel work

• Planning multi-branch implementations

• Recovering from parallel agent corruption

• Any workflow where multiple agents touch the filesystem

</when_to_use>

The Problem

When parallel subagents perform git operations independently:

• Mixed content - Multiple features end up in wrong branches

• Broken stacks - Branches become siblings instead of parent-child

• Mislabeled PRs - PR titles don't match branch content

• Hours of recovery - Manual intervention required to fix structure

This happens because each agent sees the same starting state and creates branches independently, resulting in siblings instead of a proper stack.

The Policy

Subagents MUST NOT perform git operations.

Only the orchestrator handles git state. Subagents write code to the filesystem and report completion.

ALWAYS:

• Orchestrator creates branches before dispatching subagents

• Subagents write to filesystem only

• Subagents report which files they created/modified

• Orchestrator stages, commits, and pushes

NEVER:

• Subagents commit, push, or create branches

• Parallel git operations from different agents

• Background agents managing branch state

Correct Workflow

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │ ORCHESTRATOR (main agent) │ │ - Manages git state, branches, commits │ │ - Dispatches subagents for CODE ONLY │ │ - Collects results, stages files, commits to correct branch│ └─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ │ ├──► [subagent-1] Write feature-a.ts → filesystem only ├──► [subagent-2] Write feature-b.ts → filesystem only ├──► [subagent-3] Write feature-c.ts → filesystem only │ ▼ ┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │ ORCHESTRATOR collects, then: │ │ - Stages feature-a.ts → commits to branch-a │ │ - Stages feature-b.ts → commits to branch-b │ │ - Stages feature-c.ts → commits to branch-c │ └─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Subagent Prompt Template

Add to subagent prompts when dispatching parallel work:

IMPORTANT: Do NOT perform any git operations (commit, push, branch creation). Write code to the filesystem only. The orchestrator handles all git state. Report which files you created/modified when done.

Task Integration

Track git operations explicitly in task lists:

Stage: Parallel Implementation

• [engineer] Implement config module (filesystem only)
• [engineer] Implement logging module (filesystem only)
• [engineer] Implement state module (filesystem only)
• ORCHESTRATOR: Stage and commit implementations
  • Stage config/ → commit to feature/config
  • Stage logging/ → commit to feature/logging
  • Stage state/ → commit to feature/state

The ORCHESTRATOR: prefix makes it clear which tasks involve git operations.

Graphite-Specific Commands

When using Graphite for stacked PRs, the orchestrator handles all git operations:

After subagents complete, orchestrator commits to each branch

For feature/config branch

gt checkout feature/config git add packages/config/ gt modify -am "feat(config): implement module"

For feature/logging branch

gt checkout feature/logging git add packages/logging/ gt modify -am "feat(logging): implement module"

Alternative: Use absorb from top of stack

Graphite routes staged files to the branch that owns them

gt top git add . gt absorb

Restack and submit

gt restack gt submit --stack

See graphite-stacks for full Graphite workflow.

GitButler-Specific Commands

When using GitButler virtual branches:

Subagents write files, orchestrator assigns to virtual branches

but branch create feature-a but branch create feature-b

Move files to appropriate branches

but move path/to/file.ts --to feature-a but move path/to/other.ts --to feature-b

Commit within each branch

but commit feature-a -m "feat: implement feature-a" but commit feature-b -m "feat: implement feature-b"

Recovery

When parallel agents have corrupted git state:

• Stop all agents - Prevent further damage

• Assess damage - Check branch structure (gt status or git log --graph )

• Stash work - Save uncommitted changes

• Fix relationships - Move branches to correct parents

• Redistribute files - Commit files to correct branches

• Verify - Check structure matches intent

For Graphite-specific recovery, see recovery.md.

Sequential vs Parallel

Approach When Git Handling

Sequential Dependent tasks Each agent can commit (handoff)

Parallel Independent tasks Orchestrator-only commits

Background Fire-and-forget Never commits

Sequential agents can safely commit because they hand off state explicitly. Parallel agents cannot because they don't see each other's changes.

Enforcement

Currently relies on explicit instructions. Always include the git policy when:

• Dispatching parallel subagents

• Using background agents

• Coordinating multi-branch work

Future: Hook-based enforcement could intercept and block git operations from subagent contexts.

• graphite-stacks - Graphite-specific workflows

• recovery.md - Stack corruption recovery