stax

A modern CLI for stacked Git branches and PRs.

What are Stacked Branches?

Instead of one massive PR with 50 files, stacked branches let you split work into small, reviewable pieces that build on each other (and visualize it as a tree).

Why this is great:

Smaller reviews - Each PR is focused, so reviewers move faster and catch more issues
Parallel progress - Keep building on top while lower PRs are still in review
Safer shipping - Merge foundations first; reduce the risk of “one giant PR” landing at once
Cleaner history - Each logical change lands independently (easier to understand, revert, and git blame)

Example stack

◉  feature/auth-ui 1↑
○  feature/auth-api 1↑
○  main

Each branch is a focused PR. Reviewers see small diffs. You ship faster.

Why stax?

stax is a modern stacked-branch workflow that keeps PRs small, rebases safe, and the whole stack easy to reason about.

Blazing fast - Native Rust binary (~22ms stax ls on a 10-branch stack)
Terminal UX - Interactive TUI with tree view, PR status, diff viewer, and reorder mode
Ship stacks, not mega-PRs - Submit/update a whole stack of PRs with correct bases in one command
Safe history rewriting - Transactional restacks + automatic backups + stax undo / stax redo
Merge the stack for you - Cascade merge bottom → current, with rebase/PR-base updates along the way
Drop-in compatible - Uses freephite metadata format—existing stacks migrate instantly

Install

# Homebrew (macOS/Linux)
brew install cesarferreira/tap/stax

# Or with cargo binstall
cargo binstall stax

Both stax and st (short alias) are installed automatically. All examples below use stax, but st works identically.

Full Documentation

Live docs: https://cesarferreira.github.io/stax/
Source docs index: docs/index.md

Run docs locally with uv:

uv run --with-requirements docs/requirements.txt zensical serve

Quick Start

Set up GitHub auth first (required for PR creation, CI checks, and review metadata):

# Option A (recommended): use GitHub CLI auth
gh auth login
stax auth --from-gh

# Option B: enter a personal access token manually
stax auth

# Option C: provide a stax-specific env var
export STAX_GITHUB_TOKEN="ghp_xxxx"

By default, stax does not use ambient GITHUB_TOKEN unless you opt in via [auth].allow_github_token_env = true in config.

# 1. Create stacked branches
stax create auth-api           # First branch off main
stax create auth-ui            # Second branch, stacked on first

# 2. View your stack
stax ls
# ◉  auth-ui 1↑                ← you are here
# ○  auth-api 1↑
# ○  main

# 3. Submit PRs for the whole stack
stax ss
# Creating PR for auth-api... ✓ #12 (targets main)
# Creating PR for auth-ui... ✓ #13 (targets auth-api)

# 4. After reviews, sync and rebase
stax rs --restack

Interactive Branch Creation

Run stax create without arguments to launch the guided wizard:

$ stax create

╭─ Create Stacked Branch ─────────────────────────────╮
│ Parent: feature/auth (current branch)               │
╰─────────────────────────────────────────────────────╯

? Branch name: auth-validation

? What to include:
  ● Stage all changes (3 files modified)
  ○ Empty branch (no changes)

? Commit message (Enter to skip): Validate auth tokens

✓ Created cesar/auth-validation
  → Stacked on feature/auth

Interactive TUI

Run stax with no arguments to launch the interactive terminal UI:

stax

TUI Features:

Visual stack tree with PR status, sync indicators, and commit counts
Full diff viewer for each branch
Keyboard-driven: checkout, restack, submit PRs, create/rename/delete branches
Reorder mode: Rearrange branches in your stack with o then Shift+↑/↓

Key	Action
`j/k` or `↑/↓`	Navigate branches
`Enter`	Checkout branch
`r`	Restack selected branch
`R` (Shift+r)	Restack all branches in stack
`s`	Submit stack
`p`	Open selected branch PR
`o`	Enter reorder mode (reparent branches)
`n`	Create new branch
`e`	Rename current branch
`d`	Delete branch
`/`	Search/filter branches
`Tab`	Toggle focus between stack and diff panes
`?`	Show all keybindings
`q/Esc`	Quit

Reorder Mode

Rearrange branches within your stack without manually running reparent commands:

Select a branch and press o to enter reorder mode
Use Shift+↑/↓ to move the branch up or down in the stack
Preview shows which reparent operations will happen
Press Enter to apply changes and automatically restack

Split Mode

Split a branch with many commits into multiple stacked branches:

stax split

How it works:

Run stax split on a branch with multiple commits
Navigate commits with j/k or arrows
Press s to mark a split point and enter a branch name
Preview shows the resulting branch structure in real-time
Press Enter to execute - new branches are created with proper metadata

Key	Action
`j/k` or `↑/↓`	Navigate commits
`s`	Mark split point at cursor (enter branch name)
`d`	Remove split point at cursor
`S-J/K`	Move split point down/up
`Enter`	Execute split
`?`	Show help
`q/Esc`	Cancel and quit

Example: You have a branch with commits A→B→C→D→E. Mark splits after B ("part1") and D ("part2"):

Before:                    After:
main                       main
  └─ my-feature (A-E)        └─ part1 (A, B)
                                 └─ part2 (C, D)
                                      └─ my-feature (E)

Split uses the transaction system, so you can stax undo if needed.

Core Commands

Command	What it does
`stax`	Launch interactive TUI
`stax ls`	Show your stack with PR status and what needs rebasing
`stax ll`	Show stack with PR URLs and full details
`stax create <name>`	Create a new branch stacked on current
`stax ss`	Submit stack - push all branches and create/update PRs
`stax merge`	Merge PRs from bottom of stack up to current branch
`stax rs`	Repo sync - pull trunk, clean up merged branches
`stax rs --restack`	Sync and rebase all branches onto updated trunk
`stax restack`	Restack current stack (ancestors + current + descendants)
`stax restack --auto-stash-pop`	Restack even when target worktrees are dirty (auto-stash/pop)
`stax rs --restack --auto-stash-pop`	Sync, restack, auto-stash/pop dirty worktrees
`stax cascade`	Restack from bottom, push, and create/update PRs
`stax cascade --no-pr`	Restack and push (skip PR creation/updates)
`stax cascade --no-submit`	Restack only (no remote interaction)
`stax cascade --auto-stash-pop`	Cascade even when target worktrees are dirty (auto-stash/pop)
`stax co`	Interactive branch checkout with fuzzy search
`stax u` / `stax d`	Move up/down the stack
`stax m`	Modify - stage all changes and amend current commit
`stax pr`	Open current branch's PR in browser
`stax open`	Open repository in browser
`stax copy`	Copy branch name to clipboard
`stax copy --pr`	Copy PR URL to clipboard
`stax standup`	Show your recent activity for standups
`stax changelog`	Generate changelog between two refs
`stax undo`	Undo last operation (restack, submit, etc.)

Standup Summary

Struggling to remember what you worked on yesterday? Run stax standup to get a quick summary of your recent activity:

Shows your merged PRs, opened PRs, recent pushes, and anything that needs attention - perfect for daily standups.

stax standup              # Last 24 hours (default)
stax standup --hours 48   # Look back further
stax standup --json       # For scripting

Changelog Generation

Generate a pretty changelog between two git refs - perfect for release notes or understanding what changed between versions:

stax changelog v1.0.0              # From v1.0.0 to HEAD
stax changelog v1.0.0 v2.0.0       # Between two tags
stax changelog abc123 def456       # Between commits

Example output:

Changelog: v1.0.0 → HEAD (5 commits)
──────────────────────────────────────────────────

  abc1234 #42 feat: implement user auth (@johndoe)
  def5678 #38 fix: resolve cache issue (@janesmith)
  ghi9012     chore: update deps (@bob)

Monorepo Support

Working in a monorepo? Filter commits to only those touching a specific folder:

stax changelog v1.0.0 --path apps/frontend
stax changelog v1.0.0 --path packages/shared-utils

This shows only commits that modified files within that path - ideal for generating changelogs for individual packages or services.

JSON Output

For scripting or CI pipelines:

stax changelog v1.0.0 --json

{
  "from": "v1.0.0",
  "to": "HEAD",
  "path": null,
  "commit_count": 3,
  "commits": [
    {
      "hash": "abc1234567890",
      "short_hash": "abc1234",
      "message": "feat: add feature (#42)",
      "author": "johndoe",
      "pr_number": 42
    }
  ]
}

PR numbers are automatically extracted from commit messages (GitHub's squash merge format: (#123)).

Multi-Worktree Support

stax is worktree-aware. When you have branches checked out across multiple worktrees, restack, sync, and cascade all work correctly without requiring you to switch worktrees manually.

How it works

Restack / upstack restack / sync --restack: When a branch to be rebased is checked out in another worktree, stax runs git rebase inside that worktree instead of checking it out in the current one.
Cascade: Before restacking, stax fetches from remote and fast-forwards your local trunk — even if trunk is checked out in a different worktree. This prevents rebasing onto a stale local trunk, which would cause PRs to include commits already merged to remote.
Sync trunk update: If trunk is checked out in another worktree, stax pulls it there directly.

Dirty worktrees

By default, stax fails fast if a target worktree has uncommitted changes, showing you the branch name and worktree path.

Use --auto-stash-pop to let stax stash changes automatically before rebasing and restore them afterward:

stax restack --auto-stash-pop
stax upstack restack --auto-stash-pop
stax sync --restack --auto-stash-pop

If the rebase results in a conflict, the stash is kept intact so your changes are not lost. Run git stash list to find them.

Cascade flags

Command	Behavior
`stax cascade`	restack → push → create/update PRs
`stax cascade --no-pr`	restack → push (skip PR creation/updates)
`stax cascade --no-submit`	restack only (no remote interaction)
`stax cascade --auto-stash-pop`	any of the above, auto-stash/pop dirty worktrees

Use --no-pr when your remote branches should be updated (pushed) but you aren't ready to open or update PRs yet — e.g. branches still in progress. Use --no-submit for a pure local restack with no network activity at all. Use --auto-stash-pop if any branch in the stack is checked out in a dirty worktree.

Tip: run stax rs before stax cascade to pull the latest trunk and avoid rebasing onto stale commits. If your local trunk is behind remote, stax cascade will warn you.

Safe History Rewriting with Undo

Stax makes rebasing and force-pushing safe with automatic backups and one-command recovery:

# Make a mistake while restacking? No problem.
stax restack
# ✗ conflict in feature/auth
# Your repo is recoverable via: stax undo

# Instantly restore to before the restack
stax undo
# ✓ Undone! Restored 3 branch(es).

How It Works

Every potentially-destructive operation (restack, submit, sync --restack, TUI reorder) is transactional:

Snapshot - Before touching anything, stax records the current commit SHA of each affected branch
Backup refs - Creates Git refs at refs/stax/backups/<op-id>/<branch> pointing to original commits
Execute - Performs the operation (rebase, force-push, etc.)
Receipt - Saves an operation receipt to .git/stax/ops/<op-id>.json

If anything goes wrong, stax undo reads the receipt and restores all branches to their exact prior state.

Undo & Redo Commands

Command	Description
`stax undo`	Undo the last operation
`stax undo <op-id>`	Undo a specific operation
`stax redo`	Redo (re-apply) the last undone operation

Flags:

--yes - Auto-approve prompts (useful for scripts)
--no-push - Only restore local branches, don't touch remote

Remote Recovery

If the undone operation had force-pushed branches, stax will prompt:

stax undo
# ✓ Restored 2 local branch(es)
# This operation force-pushed 2 branch(es) to remote.
# Force-push to restore remote branches too? [y/N]

Use --yes to auto-approve or --no-push to skip remote restoration.

Real-World Example

You're building a payments feature. Instead of one 2000-line PR:

# Start the foundation
stax create payments-models
# ... write database models, commit ...

# Stack the API layer on top
stax create payments-api
# ... write API endpoints, commit ...

# Stack the UI on top of that
stax create payments-ui
# ... write React components, commit ...

# View your stack
stax ls
# ◉  payments-ui 1↑           ← you are here
# ○  payments-api 1↑
# ○  payments-models 1↑
# ○  main

# Submit all 3 as separate PRs (each targeting its parent)
stax ss
# Creating PR for payments-models... ✓ #101 (targets main)
# Creating PR for payments-api... ✓ #102 (targets payments-models)
# Creating PR for payments-ui... ✓ #103 (targets payments-api)

Reviewers can now review 3 small PRs instead of one giant one. When payments-models is approved and merged:

stax rs --restack
# ✓ Pulled latest main
# ✓ Cleaned up payments-models (merged)
# ✓ Rebased payments-api onto main
# ✓ Rebased payments-ui onto payments-api
# ✓ Updated PR #102 to target main

Cascade Stack Merge

Merge your entire stack with one command! stax merge intelligently merges PRs from the bottom of your stack up to your current branch, handling rebases and PR updates automatically.

How It Works

Stack:  main ← PR-A ← PR-B ← PR-C ← PR-D

Position        │ What gets merged
────────────────┼─────────────────────────────
On PR-A         │ Just PR-A (1 PR)
On PR-B         │ PR-A, then PR-B (2 PRs)
On PR-C         │ PR-A → PR-B → PR-C (3 PRs)
On PR-D (top)   │ Entire stack (4 PRs)

The merge scope depends on your current branch:

Bottom of stack: Merges just that one PR
Middle of stack: Merges all PRs from bottom up to current
Top of stack: Merges the entire stack

Example Usage

# View your stack
stax ls
# ◉  payments-ui 1↑           ← you are here
# ○  payments-api 1↑
# ○  payments-models 1↑
# ○  main

# Merge all 3 PRs into main
stax merge

You'll see an interactive preview before merging:

╭──────────────────────────────────────────────────────╮
│                    Stack Merge                       │
╰──────────────────────────────────────────────────────╯

You are on: payments-ui (PR #103)

This will merge 3 PRs from bottom → current:

  ┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
  │  1. payments-models (#101)       ✓ Ready        │
  │     ├─ CI: ✓ passed                             │
  │     ├─ Reviews: ✓ 2/2 approved                  │
  │     └─ Merges into: main                        │
  ├─────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
  │  2. payments-api (#102)          ✓ Ready        │
  │     ├─ CI: ✓ passed                             │
  │     ├─ Reviews: ✓ 1/1 approved                  │
  │     └─ Merges into: main (after rebase)         │
  ├─────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
  │  3. payments-ui (#103)           ✓ Ready        │  ← you are here
  │     ├─ CI: ✓ passed                             │
  │     ├─ Reviews: ✓ 1/1 approved                  │
  │     └─ Merges into: main (after rebase)         │
  └─────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Merge method: squash (change with --method)

? Proceed with merge? [y/N]

What Happens During Merge

For each PR in the stack (bottom to top):

Wait for CI - Polls until CI passes (or use --no-wait to skip)
Merge - Merges the PR using your chosen method (squash/merge/rebase)
Rebase next - Rebases the next PR onto updated main
Update PR base - Changes the next PR's target from the merged branch to main
Push - Force-pushes the rebased branch
Repeat - Continues until all PRs are merged

If anything fails (CI, conflicts, permissions), the merge stops safely. Already-merged PRs remain merged, and you can fix the issue and run stax merge again to continue.

Merge Options

# Merge with preview only (no actual merge)
stax merge --dry-run

# Merge entire stack regardless of current position
stax merge --all

# Choose merge strategy
stax merge --method squash    # (default) Squash and merge
stax merge --method merge     # Create merge commit
stax merge --method rebase    # Rebase and merge

# Skip CI polling (fail if not ready)
stax merge --no-wait

# Keep branches after merge (don't delete)
stax merge --no-delete

# Set custom CI timeout (default: 30 minutes)
stax merge --timeout 60

# Skip confirmation prompt
stax merge --yes

Partial Stack Merge

You can merge just part of your stack by checking out a middle branch:

# Stack: main ← auth ← auth-api ← auth-ui ← auth-tests
stax checkout auth-api

# This merges only: auth, auth-api (not auth-ui or auth-tests)
stax merge

# Remaining branches (auth-ui, auth-tests) are rebased onto main
# Run stax merge again later to merge those too

Import Your Open PRs

Already have open PRs on GitHub that aren't tracked by stax? Import them all at once:

stax branch track --all-prs

This command:

Fetches all your open PRs from GitHub
Downloads any missing branches from remote
Sets up tracking with the correct parent (based on each PR's target branch)
Stores PR metadata for each branch

Perfect for onboarding an existing repository or after cloning a fresh copy.

Working with Multiple Stacks

You can have multiple independent stacks at once:

# You're working on auth...
stax create auth
stax create auth-login
stax create auth-validation

# Teammate needs urgent bugfix reviewed - start a new stack
stax co main                   # or: stax t
stax create hotfix-payment

# View everything
stax ls
# ○  auth-validation 1↑
# ○  auth-login 1↑
# ○  auth 1↑
# │ ◉  hotfix-payment 1↑      ← you are here
# ○─┘  main

Navigation

Command	What it does
`stax u`	Move up to child branch
`stax d`	Move down to parent branch
`stax u 3`	Move up 3 branches
`stax top`	Jump to tip of current stack
`stax bottom`	Jump to base of stack (first branch above trunk)
`stax t`	Jump to trunk (main/master)
`stax prev`	Toggle to previous branch (like `git checkout -`)
`stax co`	Interactive picker with fuzzy search

Reading the Stack View

○        feature/validation 1↑
◉        feature/auth 1↓ 2↑ ⟳
│ ○    ☁ feature/payments PR #42
○─┘    ☁ main

Symbol	Meaning
`◉`	Current branch
`○`	Other branch
`☁`	Has remote tracking
`1↑`	1 commit ahead of parent
`1↓`	1 commit behind parent
`⟳`	Needs restacking (parent changed)
`PR #42`	Has open PR

Configuration

stax config  # Show config path and current settings

Config at ~/.config/stax/config.toml:

# ~/.config/stax/config.toml — full reference with defaults

[branch]
# DEPRECATED: Use `format` instead. Auto-prefix for branches.
# prefix = "cesar/"

# Branch name format template. Placeholders: {user}, {date}, {message}
# format = "{user}/{date}/{message}"

# Username for branch naming (default: git config user.name)
# user = "cesar"

# Date format for {date} placeholder (default: "%m-%d")
# Uses chrono strftime: %Y=year, %m=month, %d=day
# date_format = "%m-%d"

# Character to replace spaces and special chars (default: "-")
# replacement = "-"

[remote]
# Git remote name (default: "origin")
# name = "origin"

# Base web URL for GitHub (default: "https://github.com")
# base_url = "https://github.com"

# API base URL for GitHub Enterprise
# api_base_url = "https://github.company.com/api/v3"

[auth]
# Use `gh auth token` as a fallback auth source (default: true)
# use_gh_cli = true

# Allow ambient GITHUB_TOKEN env var (default: false)
# allow_github_token_env = false

# Optional hostname for gh auth token (GitHub Enterprise)
# gh_hostname = "github.company.com"

[ui]
# Show contextual tips/suggestions (default: true)
# tips = true

[ai]
# AI agent for PR body generation: "claude", "codex", "gemini", or "opencode"
# If not set, stax auto-detects installed agents and prompts on first use
# agent = "claude"

# Model to use with the AI agent (default: agent's own default)
# model = "claude-sonnet-4-5-20250929"

Branch Name Format

Use format to template branch names with {user}, {date}, and {message} placeholders:

[branch]
format = "{user}/{date}/{message}"   # "cesar/02-11/add-login"
user = "cesar"                        # Optional: defaults to git config user.name
date_format = "%m-%d"                 # Optional: chrono strftime (default: "%m-%d")

Empty placeholders are cleaned up automatically. The legacy prefix field still works if format is not set.

GitHub Authentication

stax looks for a GitHub token in the following order (first found wins):

STAX_GITHUB_TOKEN environment variable
Credentials file (~/.config/stax/.credentials)
gh auth token (when auth.use_gh_cli = true, default)
GITHUB_TOKEN environment variable (only when auth.allow_github_token_env = true)

# Option 1: stax-specific env var (highest priority)
export STAX_GITHUB_TOKEN="ghp_xxxx"

# Option 2: Interactive setup (saves to credentials file)
stax auth

# Option 3: Import from GitHub CLI auth (saves to credentials file)
stax auth --from-gh

To use GITHUB_TOKEN as a fallback, opt in explicitly:

[auth]
allow_github_token_env = true

export GITHUB_TOKEN="ghp_xxxx"

The credentials file is created with 600 permissions (read/write for owner only).

Check which source stax is actively using:

stax auth status

Claude Code Integration

Teach Claude Code how to use stax by installing the skills file:

# Create skills directory if it doesn't exist
mkdir -p ~/.claude/skills

# Download the stax skills file
curl -o ~/.claude/skills/stax.md https://raw.githubusercontent.com/cesarferreira/stax/main/skills.md

This enables Claude Code to help you with stax workflows, create stacked branches, submit PRs, and more.

Codex Integration

Teach Codex how to use stax by installing the skill file into your Codex skills directory:

# Create skills directory if it doesn't exist
mkdir -p "${CODEX_HOME:-$HOME/.codex}/skills/stax"

# Download the stax skill file
curl -o "${CODEX_HOME:-$HOME/.codex}/skills/stax/SKILL.md" https://raw.githubusercontent.com/cesarferreira/stax/main/skills.md

This enables Codex to help you with stax workflows, create stacked branches, submit PRs, and more.

Gemini CLI Integration

Teach Gemini CLI how to use stax by installing this repo's skill content as GEMINI.md in your project:

# From the stax repo root
curl -o GEMINI.md https://raw.githubusercontent.com/cesarferreira/stax/main/skills.md

Gemini CLI loads project instructions from GEMINI.md, so this gives it stack-aware workflow guidance for branch creation, submit flows, and related operations.

OpenCode Integration

Teach OpenCode how to use stax by installing the skill file in OpenCode's skills directory:

mkdir -p ~/.config/opencode/skills/stax
curl -o ~/.config/opencode/skills/stax/SKILL.md https://raw.githubusercontent.com/cesarferreira/stax/main/skills.md

This enables OpenCode to help with stax workflows, stack operations, and PR generation.

Freephite/Graphite Compatibility

stax uses the same metadata format as freephite and supports similar commands:

freephite	stax	graphite	stax
`fp ss`	`stax ss`	`gt submit`	`stax submit`
`fp bs`	`stax branch submit`	`gt branch submit`	`stax branch submit`
`fp us submit`	`stax upstack submit`	`gt upstack submit`	`stax upstack submit`
`fp ds submit`	`stax downstack submit`	`gt downstack submit`	`stax downstack submit`
`fp rs`	`stax rs`	`gt sync`	`stax sync`
`fp bc`	`stax bc`	`gt create`	`stax create`
`fp bco`	`stax bco`	`gt checkout`	`stax co`
`fp bu`	`stax bu`	`gt up`	`stax u`
`fp bd`	`stax bd`	`gt down`	`stax d`
`fp ls`	`stax ls`	`gt log`	`stax log`

Migration is instant - just install stax and your existing stacks work.

PR Templates

stax automatically discovers PR templates in your repository:

Single Template

If you have one template at .github/PULL_REQUEST_TEMPLATE.md, stax uses it automatically:

stax submit  # Auto-uses template, shows "Edit body?" prompt

Multiple Templates

Place templates in .github/PULL_REQUEST_TEMPLATE/ directory:

.github/
  └── PULL_REQUEST_TEMPLATE/
      ├── feature.md
      ├── bugfix.md
      └── docs.md

stax shows an interactive fuzzy-search picker:

stax submit
# ? Select PR template
#   > No template
#     bugfix
#     feature
#     docs

Template Control Flags

--template <name>: Skip picker, use specific template
--no-template: Don't use any template
--edit: Always open $EDITOR for body (regardless of template)

stax submit --template bugfix  # Use bugfix.md directly
stax submit --no-template      # Empty body
stax submit --edit             # Force editor open

AI-Powered PR Body Generation

Generate a PR description using AI, based on your diff, commit messages, and the repo's PR template:

stax generate --pr-body

stax collects the diff, commit messages, and PR template for the current branch, sends them to an AI agent (Claude, Codex, Gemini CLI, or OpenCode), and updates the PR body on GitHub.

Prerequisites:

Current branch must be tracked by stax
Current branch must already have a PR (create one with stax submit / stax ss)

You can also generate during submit:

stax submit --ai-body

First Run

If no AI agent is configured, stax auto-detects what's installed and walks you through setup:

? Select AI agent:
> claude (default)
  codex
  gemini
  opencode

? Select model for claude:
> claude-sonnet-4-5-20250929 — Sonnet 4.5 (default, balanced)
  claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 — Haiku 4.5 (fastest, cheapest)
  claude-opus-4-6 — Opus 4.6 (most capable)

? Save choices to config? (Y/n): Y
✓ Saved ai.agent = "claude", ai.model = "claude-sonnet-4-5-20250929"

Options

--agent <name>: Override the configured agent for this invocation (claude, codex, gemini, opencode)
--model <name>: Override the model (e.g., claude-haiku-4-5-20251001, gpt-4.1-mini, gemini-2.5-flash)
--edit: Open $EDITOR to review/tweak the generated body before updating the PR

stax generate --pr-body --agent codex                        # Use codex this time
stax generate --pr-body --model claude-haiku-4-5-20251001    # Use a specific model
stax generate --pr-body --agent gemini --model gemini-2.5-flash
stax generate --pr-body --agent opencode
stax generate --pr-body --edit                               # Review in editor first

All Commands

Click to expand full command reference

Stack Operations

Command	Alias	Description
`stax status`	`s`, `ls`	Show stack (simple view)
`stax ll`		Show stack with PR URLs and full details
`stax log`	`l`	Show stack with commits and PR info
`stax submit`	`ss`	Submit full current stack (ancestors + current + descendants)
`stax merge`		Merge PRs from bottom of stack to current
`stax sync`	`rs`	Pull trunk, delete merged branches
`stax restack`		Restack current stack (ancestors + current + descendants)
`stax diff`		Show diffs for each branch vs parent
`stax range-diff`		Show range-diff for branches needing restack

Branch Management

Command	Alias	Description
`stax create <name>`	`c`, `bc`	Create stacked branch
`stax checkout`	`co`, `bco`	Interactive branch picker
`stax modify`	`m`	Stage all + amend current commit
`stax rename`	`b r`	Rename branch and optionally edit commit message
`stax branch track`		Track an existing branch
`stax branch track --all-prs`		Track all your open PRs
`stax branch untrack`	`ut`	Remove stax metadata for a branch (keep git branch)
`stax branch reparent`		Change parent of a branch
`stax branch submit`	`bs`	Submit only current branch
`stax branch delete`		Delete a branch
`stax branch fold`		Fold branch into parent
`stax branch squash`		Squash commits on branch
`stax upstack restack`		Restack current branch + descendants
`stax upstack submit`		Submit current branch + descendants
`stax downstack get`		Show branches below current
`stax downstack submit`		Submit ancestors + current branch

Navigation

Command	Alias	Description
`stax up [n]`	`u`, `bu`	Move up n branches
`stax down [n]`	`d`, `bd`	Move down n branches
`stax top`		Move to stack tip
`stax bottom`		Move to stack base
`stax trunk`	`t`	Switch to trunk
`stax prev`	`p`	Toggle to previous branch

Interactive

Command	Description
`stax`	Launch interactive TUI
`stax split`	Interactive TUI to split branch into multiple stacked branches

Recovery

Command	Description
`stax undo`	Undo last operation (restack, submit, etc.)
`stax undo <op-id>`	Undo a specific operation by ID
`stax redo`	Re-apply the last undone operation

Utilities

Command	Description
`stax auth`	Set GitHub token (`--from-gh` supported)
`stax auth status`	Show active GitHub auth source and resolution order
`stax config`	Show configuration
`stax doctor`	Check repo health
`stax continue`	Continue after resolving conflicts
`stax pr`	Open PR in browser
`stax open`	Open repository in browser
`stax ci`	Show CI status for branches in current stack
`stax ci --all`	Show CI status for all tracked branches
`stax ci --watch`	Watch CI until completion (polls every 15s, records history)
`stax ci --watch --interval 30`	Watch with custom polling interval in seconds
`stax ci --json`	Output CI status as JSON
`stax copy`	Copy branch name to clipboard
`stax copy --pr`	Copy PR URL to clipboard
`stax comments`	Show PR comments with rendered markdown
`stax comments --plain`	Show PR comments as raw markdown
`stax standup`	Show your recent activity for standups
`stax standup --hours 48`	Look back 48 hours instead of default 24
`stax standup --json`	Output activity as JSON for scripting
`stax changelog <from> [to]`	Generate changelog between two refs
`stax changelog v1.0 --path src/`	Changelog filtered by path (monorepo)
`stax changelog v1.0 --json`	Output changelog as JSON
`stax generate --pr-body`	Generate PR body with AI and update the PR
`stax generate --pr-body --edit`	Generate and review in editor before updating

Common Flags

stax create -m "msg" - Create branch with commit message
stax create -a - Stage all changes
stax create -am "msg" - Stage all and commit
stax branch create --message "msg" --prefix feature/ - Create with explicit message and prefix
stax branch reparent --branch feature-a --parent main - Reparent a specific branch
stax rename new-name - Rename current branch
stax rename -e - Rename and edit commit message
stax branch rename --push - Rename and update remote branch in one step
stax branch squash --message "Squashed commit" - Squash branch commits with explicit message
stax branch fold --keep - Fold branch into parent but keep branch
stax submit --draft - Create PRs as drafts
stax branch submit / stax bs - Submit current branch only
stax upstack submit - Submit current branch and descendants
stax downstack submit - Submit ancestors and current branch
stax submit --yes - Auto-approve prompts
stax submit --no-pr - Push branches only, skip PR creation/updates
stax submit --force - Submit even when restack check fails
stax submit --no-prompt - Use defaults, skip interactive prompts
stax submit --template <name> - Use specific template by name (skip picker)
stax submit --no-template - Skip template selection (no template)
stax submit --edit - Always open editor for PR body
stax submit --ai-body - Generate PR body with AI during submit
stax submit --reviewers alice,bob - Add reviewers
stax submit --labels bug,urgent - Add labels
stax submit --assignees alice - Assign users
stax submit --quiet - Minimize submit output
stax submit --verbose - Show detailed submit output
stax merge --all - Merge entire stack
stax merge --method squash - Choose merge method (squash/merge/rebase)
stax merge --dry-run - Preview merge without executing
stax merge --no-wait - Don't wait for CI, fail if not ready
stax merge --no-delete - Keep branches after merge
stax merge --timeout 60 - Wait up to 60 minutes for CI per PR
stax merge --quiet - Minimize merge output
stax restack --auto-stash-pop - Auto-stash/pop dirty target worktrees during restack
stax restack --all - Restack all branches in current stack
stax restack --continue - Continue after resolving restack conflicts
stax restack --quiet - Minimize restack output
stax upstack restack --auto-stash-pop - Auto-stash/pop when restacking descendants
stax rs --restack --auto-stash-pop - Sync, restack, auto-stash/pop dirty worktrees (rs = sync alias)
stax sync --force - Force sync without prompts
stax sync --safe - Avoid hard reset when updating trunk
stax sync --continue - Continue after resolving sync/restack conflicts
stax sync --quiet - Minimize sync output
stax sync --verbose - Show detailed sync output
stax cascade --no-pr - Restack and push branches; skip PR creation/updates
stax cascade --no-submit - Restack only, no remote interaction
stax cascade --auto-stash-pop - Auto-stash/pop dirty target worktrees during cascade restack
stax sync --restack - Sync and rebase all branches
stax status --stack <branch> - Show only one stack
stax status --current - Show only current stack
stax status --compact - Compact output
stax status --json - Output as JSON
stax log --stack <branch> --current --compact --json - Filter log output
stax checkout --trunk - Jump directly to trunk
stax checkout --parent - Jump to parent branch
stax checkout --child 1 - Jump to first child branch
stax ci --refresh - Bypass CI cache
stax undo --yes - Undo without prompts
stax undo --no-push - Undo locally only, skip remote
stax undo --quiet - Minimize undo output
stax redo --quiet - Minimize redo output
stax auth --token <token> - Set GitHub token directly
stax generate --pr-body --edit - Generate and review in editor
stax generate --pr-body --agent codex - Use specific AI agent
stax generate --pr-body --agent gemini - Use Gemini CLI as the agent
stax generate --pr-body --agent opencode - Use OpenCode as the agent
stax generate --pr-body --model claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 - Use specific model

CI/Automation example:

stax submit --draft --yes --no-prompt
stax merge --yes --method squash

Benchmarks

Command	stax	freephite	graphite
`ls` (10-branch stack)	22.8ms	369.5ms	209.1ms

Raw hyperfine results:

➜ hyperfine 'stax ls' 'fp ls' 'gt ls' --warmup 3
Benchmark 1: stax ls
  Time (mean ± σ):      22.8 ms ±   1.0 ms    [User: 9.0 ms, System: 11.3 ms]
  Range (min … max):    21.1 ms …  26.9 ms    112 runs

Benchmark 2: fp ls
  Time (mean ± σ):     369.5 ms ±   7.0 ms    [User: 268.8 ms, System: 184.2 ms]
  Range (min … max):   360.7 ms … 380.4 ms    10 runs

Benchmark 3: gt ls
  Time (mean ± σ):     209.1 ms ±   2.8 ms    [User: 152.5 ms, System: 52.6 ms]
  Range (min … max):   205.9 ms … 215.7 ms    13 runs

Summary
  stax ls ran
   9.18 ± 0.43 times faster than gt ls
   16.23 ± 0.79 times faster than fp ls

License

MIT

Name		Name	Last commit message	Last commit date
Latest commit History 273 Commits
.github		.github
assets		assets
docs		docs
src		src
tasks		tasks
tests		tests
.gitignore		.gitignore
Cargo.lock		Cargo.lock
Cargo.toml		Cargo.toml
Makefile		Makefile
README.md		README.md
justfile		justfile
mkdocs.yml		mkdocs.yml
release.toml		release.toml
skills.md		skills.md

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stax

What are Stacked Branches?

Why stax?

Install

Full Documentation

Quick Start

Interactive Branch Creation

Interactive TUI

Reorder Mode

Split Mode

Core Commands

Standup Summary

Changelog Generation

Monorepo Support

JSON Output

Multi-Worktree Support

How it works

Dirty worktrees

Cascade flags

Safe History Rewriting with Undo

How It Works

Undo & Redo Commands

Remote Recovery

Real-World Example

Cascade Stack Merge

How It Works

Example Usage

What Happens During Merge

Merge Options

Partial Stack Merge

Import Your Open PRs

Working with Multiple Stacks

Navigation

Reading the Stack View

Configuration

Branch Name Format

GitHub Authentication

Claude Code Integration

Codex Integration

Gemini CLI Integration

OpenCode Integration

Freephite/Graphite Compatibility

PR Templates

Single Template

Multiple Templates

Template Control Flags

AI-Powered PR Body Generation

First Run

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Stack Operations

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