> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.tyba.dev/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Branches

> The review panel's picker: explore, fetch from the remote, switch branches — and the only network operation in there.

The review panel has a chip with a branch icon. By default it says:

```
base a3f19c0 ‥ HEAD
```

That is the [`base_sha` pinned when the worktree was created](/en/git/worktrees). Click it and the **BranchPicker** opens.

## The list

The branches come from local git, ordered by **commit date, most recent first**. Each row carries the name, the subject of the last commit and, if it is a remote one, the `remote` label.

What the list does for you:

| Rule                     | Effect                                                                                   |
| ------------------------ | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Local beats remote       | Is there a local `feat/x`? `origin/feat/x` disappears from the list. One row per branch. |
| `origin/HEAD` is dropped | It is a symref, not a branch. It is noise.                                               |
| A cap of 200             | Above that, the footer counts: *"+N branches not listed"*.                               |

The current branch comes with a green ✓.

<Note>
  The filter is **200 branches, full stop** — the 200 most recent. In a repo with a big history, the branch you want may not be in the list, and the search box doesn't help there: it filters what already came, it does not go fetch more.
</Note>

The search filters by **name or commit subject**. `watcher` finds both `fix/watcher` and the branch whose last commit says *"fix: watcher stuck in a loop"*.

## Exploring

Clicking a branch's row **does not switch branches**. It becomes what the panel shows — the chip turns violet with its name, and the diff becomes that branch's work.

The exploration diff is not `base_sha..HEAD`. It is:

```
merge-base(default-base, branch)..branch
```

The merge-base is recalculated every time, so what you see is what the branch has **on top of the default base** — without whatever the base moved on its own.

**Back to session** undoes the exploration and the chip goes back to `base ‥ HEAD`.

## The default base

The comparison base is resolved in this order, stopping at the first one that exists:

<Steps>
  <Step title="origin/HEAD">
    The remote's default branch. It is the normal case for a cloned repo.
  </Step>

  <Step title="main, then master">
    Local. It applies when there is no remote — or when `origin/HEAD` isn't resolved in your clone.
  </Step>

  <Step title="HEAD">
    Last resort. Comparing against itself gives an empty diff, and that is better than an error.
  </Step>
</Steps>

<Note>
  A shallow clone, or one made in a way that didn't bring `origin/HEAD`, falls back to the local `main`/`master`. If your project uses `develop` as its base, exploration will compare against `main` — there is no way to configure this.
</Note>

## Fetch

The cloud icon next to the search runs:

```
git fetch --all --prune
```

That is the **picker's only network operation**, and it only happens when you click. Nothing fetches in the background, nothing fetches on a timer. Once the fetch is done, the list reloads by itself — and `--prune` makes the remotes that died on the server disappear from the list.

## Switching branches

The checkout has its own door: the icon to the right of every row that isn't the current one.

It is **armed in two clicks**. The first turns the icon amber (*"Click again to confirm the checkout"*); the second executes. If you don't confirm within 3 seconds, it disarms itself.

What happens next:

* **Local branch** → `git checkout <branch>`.
* **Remote branch** → `git checkout --track origin/<branch>`, creating the local one with tracking.

<Warning>
  **A dirty tree refuses the checkout.** If there is anything uncommitted, you get the error: *"The working tree has uncommitted changes — commit or discard them before switching branches."*

  This is not conservatism: TYBA **never** uses `git stash` in automation. The stash is shared across all of the repository's worktrees — automating `stash` in one session would be messing with another's stack. So it refuses, and the decision is yours.
</Warning>

<Warning>
  In a **non-isolated** session, the picker operates on the root of the session's repository. A checkout there switches the branch of **your actual working copy** — the same one your editor has files open in.

  In an [isolated session](/en/git/worktrees), the checkout only touches its own worktree, and the rest of your machine feels nothing.
</Warning>

## Ref names

Every name coming out of the picker is validated before it becomes a `git` argument. What gets refused:

* empty;
* starts with `-` (`-rf` is a flag, not a branch);
* contains `..` (`a..b` is a range, not a branch);
* has a space or a null byte.

The names come from `for-each-ref` itself, so in practice they pass. The validation exists because IPC is a boundary: what arrives there is input, not fact.

## What does not exist

* **Creating a branch from the picker.** A branch is born with the worktree, derived from the task title.
* **Deleting a branch from the picker.** The `tyba/…` branch is deleted along with the worktree, in the post-delivery flow.
* **Configuring the default base.** It is `origin/HEAD` → `main` → `master` → `HEAD`, and that's it.
* **Automatic fetch.** Network only on a click.
* **Pushing from the picker.** The push [lives in the review](/en/review/commit-and-push), after you have seen the diff.

## See also

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Reading the diff" icon="file-magnifying-glass" href="/en/review/reading-the-diff">
    The panel the picker lives in.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Resolving conflicts" icon="warning" href="/en/git/conflicts">
    When the merge stops halfway.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>