Documentation

Git Shadow is a CLI toolkit implementing the Shadow Branch Pattern — a Git workflow that separates your local thinking layer from your collaboration layer.

Just getting started?

• Getting Started — install and run your first command in minutes
• Shadow Branch Pattern — understand the concept behind the tool

Using AI tools with your code?

• Git Shadow as AI Memory Layer — how the @local branch becomes a persistent, editable memory layer for your AI assistant

Looking up a command?

• feature start — create a feature branch pair
• commit — commit with automatic local comment separation
• feature publish — cherry-pick clean commits to the public branch
• feature sync — rebase the shadow branch onto its public counterpart
• feature finish — sync and clean up after a merge
• promote — publish a shadow-only file to the public branch
• install-hooks — install pre-commit and pre-push hooks
• status — show the current branch pair state
• config — read and write configuration
• completion install — install shell tab completion
• doctor — run a health check on your installation
• version — print the installed version

Have a question?

• FAQ — common questions including comparisons with git worktrees, git stash, and other alternatives

Something went wrong?

• Troubleshooting — recovery steps for cherry-pick conflicts, merge conflicts, hook issues, and more