A GitHub CLI extension for managing stacked branches and pull requests.
Stacked PRs break large changes into a chain of small, reviewable pull requests that build on each other. gh stack
automates the tedious parts — creating branches, keeping them rebased, setting correct PR base branches, and navigating between layers.
gh extension install github/gh-stack
Requires the GitHub CLI (gh
) v2.0+.
Install the gh-stack skill so your AI coding agent knows how to work with stacked PRs and the gh stack
CLI:
gh skill install github/gh-stack
gh stack init
gh stack add api-endpoints
gh stack push
gh stack view
gh stack submit
A stack is an ordered list of branches where each branch builds on the one below it. The bottom of the stack is based on a trunk branch (typically main
).
frontend → PR #3 (base: api-endpoints) ← top
api-endpoints → PR #2 (base: auth-layer)
auth-layer → PR #1 (base: main) ← bottom
─────────────
main (trunk)
The bottom of the stack is the branch closest to the trunk, and the top is the branch furthest from it. Each branch inherits from the one below it. Navigation commands (up
, down
, top
, bottom
) follow this model: up
moves away from trunk, down
moves toward it.
When you submit, gh stack
creates one PR per branch and links them together as a Stack on GitHub. Each PR's base is set to the branch below it in the stack, so reviewers see only the diff for that layer.
Stack metadata is stored in .git/gh-stack
(a JSON file, not committed to the repo). This tracks which branches belong to which stack and their ordering. Rebase state during interrupted rebases is stored separately in .git/gh-stack-rebase-state
.
Initialize a new stack in the current repository.
gh stack init [flags] [branches...]
Initializes a new stack locally. In interactive mode (no arguments), prompts for a branch name and offers to use the current branch as the first layer.
When explicit branch names are given, existing branches are adopted automatically and any missing branches are created. The trunk defaults to the repository's default branch unless overridden with --base
.
Enables git rerere
automatically so that conflict resolutions are remembered across rebases.
| Flag | Description |
|---|---|
-b, --base <branch> |
|
| Trunk branch for the stack (defaults to the repository's default branch) |
Examples:
gh stack init
gh stack init feature-auth feature-api feature-ui
gh stack init --base develop feature-auth
gh stack init feature-auth feature-api
Add a new branch on top of the current stack.
gh stack add [flags] [branch]
Creates a new branch at the current HEAD, adds it to the top of the stack, and checks it out. Must be run while on the topmost branch of a stack. If no branch name is given, prompts for one.
You can optionally stage changes and create a commit as part of the add
flow. When -m
is provided without an explicit branch name, the branch name is auto-generated in date+slug format (e.g., 03-24-add_login
).
| Flag | Description |
|---|---|
-A, --all |
|
Stage all changes (including untracked files); requires -m |
|
-u, --update |
|
Stage changes to tracked files only; requires -m |
|
-m, --message <string> |
|
| Create a commit with this message before creating the branch |
Note:-A
and-u
are mutually exclusive.
Examples:
gh stack add api-routes
gh stack add
gh stack add -Am "Add login endpoint"
gh stack add -um "Fix auth bug"
gh stack add -m "Add user model"
gh stack add -Am "Add tests" test-layer
gh stack add -um "Update docs" docs-layer
gh stack add -m "Refactor utils" cleanup-layer
Check out a stack by its stack number, a pull request number, a PR URL, or a branch name.
gh stack checkout [<stack-number> | <pr-number> | <pr-url> | <branch>]
A bare number is interpreted first as a stack or PR number (repo-scoped identifiers shown in the GitHub UI). If nothing matches the number, it is tried as a branch name.
When a remote stack is referenced, the command fetches the stack on GitHub, pulls the branches, and sets up the stack locally. If the stack already exists locally and matches, it switches to the branch. If the local and remote stacks have different compositions, you'll be prompted to resolve the conflict.
When a branch name is provided, the command resolves it against locally tracked stacks only.
When run without arguments in an interactive terminal, opens a searchable picker listing every stack available to you — both the stacks tracked locally and the stacks that exist only on GitHub. Each row shows the stack number, its bottom and top branch, base branch, a status bar summarizing how many of its pull requests are merged, open, closed, or not yet pushed, and whether the stack is available locally or only on the remote. Filter with the All / Local / Remote tabs or type /
to search; fully merged stacks are omitted. Selecting a remote-only stack clones it locally before switching to it.
Examples:
gh stack checkout 7
gh stack checkout 42
gh stack checkout https://github.com/owner/repo/pull/42
gh stack checkout feature-auth
gh stack checkout
Pull from remote and do a cascading rebase across the stack.
gh stack rebase [flags] [branch]
Fetches the latest changes from origin
, then ensures each branch in the stack has the tip of the previous layer in its commit history. Rebases branches in order from trunk upward. If a branch's PR has been merged, the rebase automatically switches to --onto
mode to correctly replay commits on top of the merge target.
If a rebase conflict occurs, the operation s and prints the conflicted files with line numbers. Resolve the conflicts, stage with git add
, and continue with --continue
. To undo the entire rebase, use --abort
to restore all branches to their pre-rebase state.
| Flag | Description |
|---|---|
--downstack |
|
| Only rebase branches from trunk to the current branch | |
--upstack |
|
| Only rebase branches from the current branch to the top | |
--no-trunk |
|
| Skip trunk — only rebase stack branches onto each other (no fetch, no trunk rebase) | |
--continue |
|
| Continue the rebase after resolving conflicts | |
--abort |
|
| Abort the rebase and restore all branches to their pre-rebase state | |
--remote <name> |
|
| Remote to fetch from (defaults to auto-detected remote) | |
--committer-date-is-author-date |
|
Set the committer date to the author date during rebase. Alias: --preserve-dates |
| Argument | Description |
|---|---|
[branch] |
|
| Target branch (defaults to the current branch) |
Examples:
gh stack rebase
gh stack rebase --downstack
gh stack rebase --upstack
gh stack rebase --no-trunk
gh stack rebase --continue
gh stack rebase --abort
gh stack rebase --committer-date-is-author-date
Interactively restructure the current stack.
gh stack modify [flags]
Opens a terminal UI for restructuring a stack. You can drop, fold, insert, rename, and reorder branches. All the changes are staged during the preview and applied at once on save.
If the stack of PRs has been created on GitHub, run gh stack submit
afterwards to push the changes and recreate the stack.
| Flag | Description |
|---|---|
--continue |
|
| Continue after resolving conflicts | |
--abort |
|
| Abort the modify session and restore the stack to its pre-modify state |
Operations:
Drop(x
): Remove a branch and its commits from the stack. Local branch and associated PR are preserved.Fold down(d
): Absorb a branch's commits into the branch below (toward trunk). Folded branch removed from stack.Fold up(u
): Absorb a branch's commits into the branch above (away from trunk). Folded branch removed from stack.Insert(i
/I
): Insert a new empty branch into the stack.i
inserts below the cursor;I
inserts above.Reorder(Shift+↑
/Shift+↓
): Move a branch up (away from trunk) or down (toward trunk) in the stack.Rename(r
): Rename a branch locally and in the stack metadata.Undo(z
): Undo the last staged action.
Keybindings:
| Key | Action |
|---|---|
↑ /↓ |
|
| Navigate branch list | |
f |
|
| View files changed | |
c |
|
| View commits | |
x |
|
| Drop branch | |
r |
|
| Rename branch | |
i/I |
|
| Insert branch below/above | |
d/u |
|
| Fold branch down/up | |
Shift+↑ /Shift+↓ |
|
| Move branch up/down | |
z |
|
| Undo last action | |
Ctrl+S |
|
| Apply all changes | |
q /Esc |
|
| Cancel and exit | |
? |
|
| Help |
Preconditions:
- Must have an active stack checked out locally
- Working tree must be clean
- No rebase in progress
- No PR in the stack is queued for merge
- Commit history must be linear
Examples:
gh stack modify
gh stack modify --continue
gh stack modify --abort
Fetch, rebase, push, and sync PR state in a single command.
gh stack sync [flags]
Performs a synchronization of the entire stack:
Fetch— fetches the latest changes fromorigin
.Reconcile the remote stack— mirrors the GitHub stack locally. When PRs have been added to the stack on GitHub (the remote is ahead of your local stack), their branches are pulled down and appended to your local stack automatically. When the local and remote stacks have genuinely diverged (for example, you added a branch locally while different PRs were added to the stack on GitHub), you are prompted to resolve (seeDiverged stacksbelow). In a non-interactive terminal a divergence aborts the sync (nothing is pushed or updated).Fast-forward trunk— fast-forwards the trunk branch to match the remote (skips if diverged).** Cascade rebase**— rebases all stack branches onto their updated parents (only if trunk moved). If a conflict is detected, all branches are restored to their original state, and you are advised to rungh stack rebase
to resolve conflicts interactively.Push— pushes all branches (uses--force-with-lease
if a rebase occurred).Sync PRs— syncs PR state from GitHub and reports the status of each PR.** Sync the stack**— links the stack's open PRs into a stack on GitHub, creating the remote stack object if it doesn't exist yet or updating it if it's partially formed. This only happens when two or more PRs exist; sync never opens PRs (usegh stack submit
for that).Prune— in interactive terminals, prompts to delete local branches for merged PRs. Use--prune
to prune automatically.
A clean remote-ahead update (PRs added on top of your local stack) is pulled down automatically without prompting, so sync
is safe to run in automation. Sync only prompts when the stacks have truly diverged.
When neither stack is a clean prefix of the other — for example, you added a branch locally while separate PRs were added to the same stack on GitHub — sync cannot merge the two automatically. In an interactive terminal it offers three choices:
Use the remote stack as the source of truth— replaces your local stack composition with the remote's, pulling any missing branches. If you were on a branch that the remote stack no longer contains, you're moved to the nearest surviving branch. Requires a clean working state with no uncommitted changes.Delete the stack on GitHub— deletes the stack object on GitHub and stops the sync. Your PRs and local branches are untouched (only the stack on GitHub is removed); recreate the stack withgh stack submit
(rungh stack modify
first if you want to change its structure). This is the way to make GitHub match your local stack, becausesubmit
— unlikesync
— also creates PRs for any branches you haven't submitted yet.Cancel— aborts the sync without pushing branches or updating any PRs.
In a non-interactive terminal, a divergence aborts the sync (exit success) without pushing branches or updating PRs; resolve it by unstacking and recreating the stack.
| Flag | Description |
|---|---|
--remote <name> |
|
| Remote to fetch from and push to (defaults to auto-detected remote) | |
--prune |
|
| Delete local branches for merged PRs |
Examples:
gh stack sync
gh stack sync --prune
Push active branches in the current stack to the remote.
gh stack push [flags]
Pushes every active branch (excluding merged and queued branches) in one git push
using explicit per-branch --force-with-lease
checks. The update is not atomic: branches whose leases pass may update even if another branch is rejected. Fix the rejected branch and rerun the command; branches already updated will be unchanged. This command does not create or update pull requests — use gh stack submit
for that.
| Flag | Description |
|---|---|
--remote <name> |
|
| Remote to push to (defaults to auto-detected remote) |
Examples:
gh stack push
gh stack push --remote upstream
Push all branches and create/update PRs and the stack on GitHub.
gh stack submit [flags]
Creates a Stacked PR for every branch in the stack, pushing branches to the remote.
After creating PRs, submit
automatically creates a Stack on GitHub to link the PRs together. If the stack already exists on GitHub (e.g., from a previous submit), new PRs will be added to the top of the stack.
If every PR in the stack has already been merged, that stack is complete and can't be extended — a new PR on top would target the trunk directly rather than chaining onto the merged PRs. In that case submit
automatically starts a new stack rooted at the trunk for your unmerged branches and creates it on GitHub, leaving the merged stack untouched.
In an interactive terminal, submit
opens a full-screen, mouse- and keyboard-driven editor on a single screen. Every branch without a PR is included by default — deselect any you don't want on the left panel (Ctrl+ X). Because each PR builds on the branch below it, deselecting a branch also deselects the ones stacked above it, and re-including a branch re-includes the ones below it. Draft each PR's title, description (with a markdown preview and $EDITOR
escape), and choose ready-for-review or draft on the right, then submit them all at once with Ctrl+ S. Pass --auto
(or run in CI) to skip the editor and use auto-generated titles.
If the branches already have open PRs but no stack exists on GitHub, you will have the option to link the PRs into a stack with Ctrl+ B.
In the editor, new PRs default to ready for review; flip any PR to draft with the ready ↔ draft toggle. With --auto
, new PRs are created as drafts unless you pass --open
.
| Flag | Description |
|---|---|
--auto |
|
| Skip the editor and use auto-generated PR titles | |
--open |
|
| Mark new and existing PRs as ready for review | |
--remote <name> |
|
| Remote to push to (defaults to auto-detected remote) |
Examples:
gh stack submit
gh stack submit --auto
gh stack submit --open
Link PRs into a stack on GitHub without local tracking.
gh stack link [flags] <branch-or-pr> <branch-or-pr> [...]
Creates or updates a stack on GitHub from branch names or PR numbers/URLs. This command does not store or modify any gh stack
local tracking state. It is designed for users who manage branches with other tools locally (e.g., jj, Sapling, git-town) and want to simply open a stack of PRs.
Arguments are provided in stack order (bottom to top). Branch arguments are automatically pushed to the remote before creating or looking up PRs. For branches that already have open PRs, those PRs are used. For branches without PRs, new PRs are created automatically with the correct base branch chaining. Existing PRs whose base branch doesn't match the expected chain are corrected automatically.
If the PRs are not yet in a stack, a new stack is created. If some of the PRs are already in a stack, the existing stack is updated to include the new PRs. Existing PRs are never removed from a stack — the update is additive only.
| Flag | Description |
|---|---|
--base <branch> |
|
| Base branch for the bottom of the stack (defaults to the repository's default branch) | |
--open |
|
| Mark new and existing PRs as ready for review | |
--remote <name> |
|
| Remote to push to (defaults to auto-detected remote) |
Examples:
gh stack link feature-auth feature-api feature-ui
gh stack link 10 20 30
gh stack link https://github.com/owner/repo/pull/10 https://github.com/owner/repo/pull/20
gh stack link 42 43 feature-auth feature-ui
gh stack link --base develop --open feat-a feat-b feat-c
Merge one or multiple stacked PRs at once.
gh stack merge [<stack-number> | <pr-number>]
All members of the stack up to and including your chosen pull request are merged into the base branch in a single, all-or-nothing operation: if any PR can't be merged, none are.
With no argument, the current active local stack is used. Pass a stack number to merge a stack you don't have checked out (a purely remote operation), or a pull request number to merge directly up to that PR.
In an interactive terminal, a short wizard walks you through choosing which PRs to merge, picking the merge method, and confirming. In a non-interactive terminal, or with --yes
, the whole stack (or everything up to the given PR) is merged without prompting, using your last-used merge method unless one is specified.
Only basic pull request state is checked before merging (open and not a draft); GitHub evaluates branch protection and repository rules when the merge runs, so any such failure is reported back to you. Bypassing merge requirements is not supported for stacked PR merges.
If the base branch uses a merge queue, the stack is added to the queue instead of merging directly. The queue chooses the merge method, so the wizard skips the method step and any --merge-method
(or --squash
/--rebase
/--merge
) flag is ignored with a warning. The selected pull requests are added to the queue together but merge as the queue processes them — they may land in separate groups rather than all at once.
| Flag | Description |
|---|---|
--merge-method <method> |
|
Merge method to use: merge , squash , or rebase |
|
--merge / --squash / --rebase |
|
| Shorthands for the corresponding merge method | |
-y, --yes |
|
| Merge without prompting for confirmation |
Examples:
gh stack merge
gh stack merge 7
gh stack merge 42
gh stack merge --yes --squash
View the current stack.
gh stack view [flags]
Shows all branches in the stack, their ordering, PR links, and the most recent commit with a relative timestamp. Output is piped through a pager (respects GIT_PAGER
, PAGER
, or defaults to less -R
).
| Flag | Description |
|---|---|
-s, --short |
|
| Compact output (branch names only) | |
--json |
|
| Output stack data as JSON |
Examples:
gh stack view
gh stack view --short
gh stack view --json
Remove a stack from local tracking and unstack it on GitHub. Also available as gh stack delete
.
gh stack unstack [<stack-number>] [flags]
With no argument, the command targets the active stack — the one that contains the currently checked out branch — unstacking it on GitHub and removing local tracking.
Provide a stack number (the identifier shown in the github.com stack UI) to unstack a specific stack on GitHub. This works from anywhere in the repository, whether or not the stack is checked out locally — the number is unstacked directly through the GitHub API. If the stack is also tracked locally, its local tracking is removed as well.
Use --local
to only remove local tracking without contacting GitHub.
GitHub decides which pull requests can be unstacked: PRs that are queued for merge or have auto-merge enabled are left stacked. When some pull requests remain stacked, the stack is kept (and local tracking, if any, is unchanged).
| Flag | Description |
|---|---|
--local |
|
| Only remove the stack locally (keep it on GitHub) |
Examples:
gh stack unstack
gh stack unstack 7
gh stack unstack --local
Move between branches in the current stack without having to remember branch names.
gh stack up [n] # Move up n branches (default 1)
gh stack down [n] # Move down n branches (default 1)
gh stack top # Jump to the top of the stack
gh stack bottom # Jump to the bottom of the stack
gh stack trunk # Jump to the trunk branch
gh stack switch # Interactively pick a branch to switch to
Navigation commands clamp to the bounds of the stack — moving up from the top or down from the bottom is a no-op with a message. If you're on the trunk branch, up
moves to the first stack branch.
Examples:
gh stack up # move up one layer
gh stack up 3 # move up three layers
gh stack down
gh stack top
gh stack bottom
gh stack trunk # jump to the trunk branch (e.g., main)
gh stack switch # shows an interactive picker
Share feedback about gh-stack.
gh stack feedback [title]
Opens a GitHub Discussion in the gh-stack repository to submit feedback. Optionally provide a title for the discussion post.
Examples:
gh stack feedback
gh stack feedback "Support for reordering branches"
Create a short command alias so you can type less.
gh stack alias [flags] [name]
Installs a small wrapper script into ~/.local/bin/
that forwards all arguments to gh stack
. The default alias name is gs
, but you can choose any name by passing it as an argument. After setup, you can run gs push
instead of gh stack push
.
On Windows, automatic alias creation is not supported — the command prints manual instructions for creating a batch file or PowerShell function.
| Flag | Description |
|---|---|
--remove |
|
| Remove a previously created alias |
Examples:
gh stack alias
gh stack alias gst
gh stack alias --remove
gh stack alias gst --remove
gh stack init
gh stack add api-routes
gh stack submit
gh stack bottom
gh stack rebase
gh stack push
gh stack sync
If you want to minimize keystrokes, use the -Am
flags to fold staging, committing, and branch creation into a single command. When you don't pass a branch name, one is auto-generated from the commit message in date+slug format (e.g., 03-24-auth_middleware
).
When a branch has no commits yet (e.g., right after init
), add -Am
stages and commits directly on that branch instead of creating a new one. Once a branch has commits, add -Am
creates a new branch, checks it out, and commits there.
gh stack init auth
gh stack add -Am "Auth middleware"
gh stack add -Am "API routes"
gh stack add -Am "Frontend components"
gh stack submit
Compared to the typical workflow, there's no need to name branches, run git add
, or run git commit
separately. Each gh stack add -Am "..."
does it all. Pass an explicit branch name any time you want to control it: gh stack add -Am "API routes" api-routes
.
The interactive screens (submit
, modify
, and view
) and all colored command output (status messages, prompts) automatically adapt their colors to your terminal's background, so they're readable on both dark and light themes. The background is detected from the terminal; if a terminal doesn't report it (some SSH or tmux
setups), the dark palette is used.
Set GH_STACK_THEME
to force a palette if detection is wrong:
| Value | Behavior |
|---|---|
auto (default) |
|
| Detect from the terminal background | |
light |
|
| Force the light palette | |
dark |
|
| Force the dark palette |
export GH_STACK_THEME=light && gh stack view
| Code | Meaning |
|---|---|
| 0 | Success |
| 1 | Generic error |
| 2 | Not in a stack / stack not found |
| 3 | Rebase conflict |
| 4 | GitHub API failure |
| 5 | Invalid arguments or flags |
| 6 | Disambiguation required (branch belongs to multiple stacks) |
| 7 | Rebase already in progress |
| 8 | Stack is locked by another process |
This project is licensed under the terms of the MIT open source license. Please refer to the LICENSE file for the full terms.
See CODEOWNERS
See SUPPORT.md