Finishing an Analysis Branch

Overview

Guide completion of analysis work by verifying artifacts, presenting structured delivery options, and executing the chosen workflow.

Core principle: Verify artifacts → Present options → Execute choice → Clean up.

Announce at start: "I'm using the finishing-an-analysis-branch skill to complete this work."

The Process

Step 1: Verify Artifacts and Validation

Before presenting options, verify the analysis is complete:

from pathlib import Path
import json

required_artifacts = [
    "artifacts/analysis_manifest.json",
    "artifacts/data_profile.md",
]

for path in required_artifacts:
    if not Path(path).exists():
        print(f"MISSING: {path}")
    else:
        print(f"OK: {path}")

# Check manifest for incomplete stages
manifest = json.loads(Path("artifacts/analysis_manifest.json").read_text())
incomplete = [
    k for k, v in manifest.items()
    if isinstance(v, dict) and not v.get("completed")
    and k not in ["warnings", "human_approvals"]
]
if incomplete:
    print(f"WARNING: Incomplete stages: {incomplete}")

If required artifacts are missing:

Analysis incomplete. Missing artifacts:

[List missing files]

Cannot deliver until analysis stages are complete.

Stop. Don't proceed to Step 2.

If all artifacts present: Continue to Step 2.

Step 2: Summarize Analysis State

Read the manifest and produce a brief summary:

import json
from pathlib import Path

manifest = json.loads(Path("artifacts/analysis_manifest.json").read_text())
print(f"Project: {manifest['project']}")
print(f"Primary metric: {manifest['brainstorming'].get('primary_metric')}")
print(f"Final score: {manifest['model_evaluation'].get('final_score')}")
print(f"Warnings: {manifest.get('warnings', [])}")

Report any unresolved warnings before offering delivery options.

Step 3: Present Options

Present exactly these 4 options:

Analysis complete. What would you like to do?

1. Commit artifacts and merge to main branch locally
2. Push branch and create a Pull Request
3. Keep the branch as-is (I'll handle delivery later)
4. Archive this analysis (save artifacts, discard branch work)

Which option?

Don't add explanation — keep options concise.

Step 4: Execute Choice

Option 1: Commit and Merge Locally

# Stage analysis artifacts
git add artifacts/ docs/datapowers/

# Commit with project name from manifest
PROJECT=$(python3 -c "import json; m=json.load(open('artifacts/analysis_manifest.json')); print(m['project'])")
git commit -m "analysis: ${PROJECT}"

# Switch to base branch and merge
git checkout main
git merge <analysis-branch>
git log --oneline -5

Then: Cleanup (Step 5)

Option 2: Push and Create PR

# Stage and commit
git add artifacts/ docs/datapowers/
git commit -m "analysis: [project name]"

# Push
git push -u origin <analysis-branch>

# Create PR
gh pr create --title "Analysis: [project name]" --body "$(cat <<'PREOF'
## Analysis Summary
- **Project:** [project name]
- **Primary metric:** [metric]
- **Final score:** [score] (CI: [lower], [upper])
- **Hypotheses tested:** [count]

## Key Findings
- [top finding 1]
- [top finding 2]

## Artifacts
- artifacts/analysis_manifest.json — session state
- artifacts/data_profile.md — data profile
- docs/datapowers/ — reports and feature registry

## Validation
- [ ] Statistical review passed
- [ ] Leakage guard APPROVED
- [ ] Test set evaluated once only
PREOF
)"

Then: Cleanup (Step 5)

Option 3: Keep As-Is

Report: "Keeping branch <name>. Analysis artifacts preserved at current paths."

Don't cleanup.

Option 4: Archive

Confirm first:

This will archive artifacts and discard branch work:
- Branch <name> will be deleted
- Artifacts will be copied to: docs/datapowers/archive/[date]/

Type 'archive' to confirm.

Wait for exact confirmation.

If confirmed:

ARCHIVE_DIR="docs/datapowers/archive/$(date +%Y-%m-%d)"
mkdir -p "$ARCHIVE_DIR"
cp -r artifacts/ "$ARCHIVE_DIR/"
git checkout main
git add docs/datapowers/archive/
git commit -m "archive: [project name] analysis artifacts"
git branch -D <analysis-branch>

Step 5: Cleanup

For Options 1, 2, 4 — if working in a git worktree:

git worktree list | grep "$(git branch --show-current)"
# If listed, remove:
git worktree remove <worktree-path>

For Option 3: Keep worktree.

Quick Reference

Option	Commit	Push	Keep Branch	Cleanup
1. Merge locally	✓	-	-	✓
2. Create PR	✓	✓	✓	-
3. Keep as-is	-	-	✓	-
4. Archive	✓	-	-	✓ (force)

Red Flags

Never:

• Deliver without checking manifest for incomplete stages
• Merge when leakage-guard verdict is not APPROVED
• Delete work without typed confirmation
• Force-push without explicit request
• Deliver without committing the analysis manifest

Always:

• Verify all required artifacts exist before offering options
• Report unresolved manifest warnings before delivery
• Get typed confirmation for Option 4
• Include manifest + data profile in every delivery commit

Integration

Called by:

• subagent-driven-analysis (final step) — after all tasks complete
• executing-plans (final step) — after all batches complete

Pairs with:

• verification-before-delivery — run this first if delivery status is uncertain
• analysis-manifest — read manifest state before presenting options

Manifest Integration

Action	Manifest update
Before presenting options	read_manifest() to check incomplete stages and unresolved warnings
Option 1 or 2 chosen (commit/PR)	Write manifest["delivered_at"] and manifest["delivery_verified"] = True
Option 4 (archive)	Copy manifest to archive dir; no manifest write needed

# After delivery commit (Options 1 or 2)
manifest["delivered_at"] = datetime.now(timezone.utc).isoformat()
manifest["delivery_verified"] = True
manifest["last_updated"] = datetime.now(timezone.utc).isoformat()
Path("artifacts/analysis_manifest.json").write_text(json.dumps(manifest, indent=2))

Do NOT record delivered_at before committing all artifacts — the commit must include the manifest with this timestamp.