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)

◉  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 tap cesarferreira/tap && brew install 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.

Quick Start

# 1. Authenticate with GitHub
stax auth

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

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

# 4. 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)

# 5. 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+↑/↓

Reorder Mode

Rearrange branches within your stack without manually running reparent commands:

1. Select a branch and press o to enter reorder mode
2. Use Shift+↑/↓ to move the branch up or down in the stack
3. Preview shows which reparent operations will happen
4. 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:

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

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

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)).

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:

1. Snapshot - Before touching anything, stax records the current commit SHA of each affected branch
2. Backup refs - Creates Git refs at refs/stax/backups/<op-id>/<branch> pointing to original commits
3. Execute - Performs the operation (rebase, force-push, etc.)
4. 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

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):

1. Wait for CI - Polls until CI passes (or use --no-wait to skip)
2. Merge - Merges the PR using your chosen method (squash/merge/rebase)
3. Rebase next - Rebases the next PR onto updated main
4. Update PR base - Changes the next PR's target from the merged branch to main
5. Push - Force-pushes the rebased branch
6. 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

Reading the Stack View

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

Configuration

stax config  # Show config path and current settings

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

[branch]
prefix = "cesar/"      # Auto-prefix branches: "auth" → "cesar/auth"

[remote]
name = "origin"
provider = "github"    # github, gitlab, gitea

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

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):

1. STAX_GITHUB_TOKEN environment variable
2. GITHUB_TOKEN environment variable
3. Credentials file (~/.config/stax/.credentials)

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

# Option 2: Standard GitHub env var (works with other tools too)
export GITHUB_TOKEN="ghp_xxxx"

# Option 3: Interactive setup (saves to credentials file)
stax auth

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

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.

Freephite/Graphite Compatibility

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

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

All Commands

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

Benchmarks

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