Branches, commits and pull requests

Branch, commit, push and open pull requests from the GitHub tab, publish new work as a fresh repository, and review changes before you merge.

The GitHub tab is the session’s git panel: you switch branches, commit what the agent changed, push and open pull requests without leaving Alpha. To connect an account or attach a repository first, see Connect GitHub and add repositories.

Open it with GitHub in the workspace header, beside Share. Only the session’s owner sees it.

Pick the place by what you want to do:

You want to	Use
Switch to a branch or start a new one	The branch row in the GitHub tab
Commit and push what changed	Changes in the GitHub tab
Open a pull request	The tab’s footer button, Create pull request
Put a project the agent built on GitHub for the first time	Publish to GitHub
Have the changes checked before you merge	/review
Read the raw diff in the transcript	/diff
Merge, rebase, resolve a conflict or rewrite history	Ask the agent

Switch or create a branch

Click the branch row to open the branch list, then type in Filter branches…. Local branches come first, with a check on the current one. Branches that exist only on GitHub follow under origin.

Type a name that doesn’t exist yet and the list offers it, such as Create feature/login. Alpha creates the branch from where you are and switches to it. A name git wouldn’t accept is never offered.

When you switch to an existing branch with uncommitted changes, its name shows dimmed until git answers. If the changes would be overwritten, git refuses and the panel says why. If the branch row reads detached @ and a commit, no branch is checked out: pick or create one, because the pull request button needs a branch.

Create a branch before you commit on main. Pull requests can’t be opened from the default branch.

Read the changes

Changes lists every file that differs from the last commit, or reads “working tree clean”. Each file carries a letter, as in VS Code:

Letter	Colour	Meaning
U	Green	Untracked: a new file git doesn’t know yet
A	Green	Added to the index
M	Amber	Modified
D	Red	Deleted
R	Neutral	Renamed. Hover over it to see the old and new paths.
!	Red	Conflict: git needs a decision before you can commit

Beside the branch name, a pill shows where it stands against GitHub. unpublished means it has never been pushed. ↑ counts commits GitHub doesn’t have yet, and ↓ counts commits you don’t. Opening the tab fetches from GitHub when the last fetch is more than a minute old. Refresh from GitHub, beside the repository name, fetches at once.

Commit, push and pull

Type a message in Commit message (⌘↵ commits & pushes) and pick one of two buttons:

Button	What it does
Commit & push	Commits every change listed and pushes the branch. Shortcut: ⌘Enter (Ctrl on Windows and Linux).
Commit	Commits every change listed and keeps it local. The pill counts it as ↑1.

A commit always includes every listed file. To commit only some, ask the agent. If the push is refused, the commit still stands, counted as ahead, and the panel shows git’s reason.

Pull appears in the branch row when GitHub has commits you don’t. It only fast-forwards: if both sides have moved on, git refuses rather than merge behind your back. Push appears when everything is committed but not yet on GitHub. Each repository runs one git operation at a time, so the other buttons wait while one runs.

Open a pull request

The footer button reads Create pull request, or Push & create PR when the branch has commits GitHub doesn’t have yet or has never been pushed. Alpha pushes the branch for you first.

1. Commit your changes

   The footer button appears only when Changes is empty. On the default branch it stays greyed out.

2. Open the form

   Click the footer button. The New pull request view shows your branch → a base selector set to the default branch, and a count such as “3 commits ahead of origin/main · will push first”.

3. Write the title and description

   Title starts as your last commit’s subject. Describe the change… (optional) is free text. Tick Create as draft for a draft pull request.

4. Create it

   Click Create pull request, or Push & create pull request when the branch still needs pushing. The footer turns into View PR #12, which opens the pull request on GitHub.

The footer button is greyed out, with the reason as its tooltip, in these cases:

Tooltip	What to do
”You’re on main — create a branch for the changes first”	Create a branch. Your commits come with it.
”No commits vs origin/main yet”	Commit something on the branch first.
None, while a git operation runs	Wait for the commit, push, pull or switch to finish.

Pull requests lists up to 50 open pull requests, the current branch’s pinned on top under “this branch · feature/login”. Each row opens on GitHub, where you merge it.

Publish to GitHub

Publish to GitHub creates a new repository from a project the agent built and pushes it. Open it from the empty tab’s Publish to GitHub tile, or the repo switcher → Publish to GitHub….

1. Choose what to publish

   Alpha lists /workspace and each project folder in it, such as “12 items · main · 3 commits · uncommitted changes” or “will run git init”. Folders already linked to GitHub are greyed out.

2. Pick the owner, name and visibility

   Choose your account or a connected organization from the chips. Repository name is filled in from the folder: letters, digits, -, _ and ., up to 100 characters. New repositories are Private unless you pick Public.

3. Create and push

   Click Create repository & push. When it’s done, Done takes you to the tab with the new repository attached.

A folder without a .gitignore gets a starter one that leaves out dependencies, build output, logs and .env files. A stray .env file stays out of the push either way. When every folder is already linked, the view reads Already on GitHub: “There’s nothing new to publish. To send your latest changes there, ask the agent to commit and push them.” A published repository counts toward the limit of 5 per session (Limits).

Review before you merge

/review opens Start a review. In a Codex session, a separate review agent reads the workspace and posts Review findings. In a Claude Code session, Claude Code reviews in the transcript, and /code-review opens the same dialog. Typed with arguments, /code-review runs Claude Code’s own review instead.

Option	What it reviews	You fill in
Review uncommitted changes	Staged, unstaged and untracked files	Nothing
Review against a base branch	Everything this branch would merge, like a pull request	base branch, e.g. main, suggested from the session’s repositories
Review a commit	The changes one commit introduced	commit sha
Custom review instructions	Whatever you describe	What the reviewer should look at

/review followed by text skips the dialog and runs a custom review. A review waits for an idle session: during a turn, it answers ”‘/review’ is disabled while a task is in progress.”

/diff posts a Workspace diff card with the uncommitted changes of every repository in the workspace, new files included, one fold each. With nothing to show, it reads “No changes — the workspace matches its last commit.”

Ask the agent, or fix what git refused

The agent has an authenticated git and gh, with commits authored as you. Ask it for anything the panel doesn’t do: merging, rebasing, resolving a conflict, committing some files or editing a pull request.

Alpha will:

1. Fetch main and merge it into feature/login.
2. Resolve the conflicts and run the tests.
3. Push the branch and share the pull request’s address.

When git or GitHub refuses a commit, push, pull or branch switch, a red strip under the repository name shows its own words. Click it to dismiss it. The New pull request and Publish to GitHub views show their errors above their button.

Message	What to do
git says a switch would overwrite local changes	Commit them, or ask the agent to stash them, then switch again.
git can’t fast-forward on Pull, or rejects a push	Both sides have moved on. Ask the agent to merge or rebase, then push.
”you already have a repository named harbor-landing — pick another name”	Change Repository name.
”Resource not accessible by integration” on Publish to GitHub	Alpha may not create repositories under that owner yet. An owner of the account accepts Alpha’s updated permissions on GitHub.

More fixes are in Troubleshooting and FAQ.

Next steps

Connect GitHub and add repositories

Add organizations, attach repositories (a limit of 5 per session), and fix one that won’t attach.

Work on an existing repository

The whole loop on harbor-api: plan, branch, review and open a pull request.

Setups

Save a machine with your repositories cloned and installed, so sessions start ready.

Slash commands

Every command, including when /review and /diff are available.