Base worktrees on origin/main

git worktree add ../DPF-<topic> -b feat/<branch> origin/main — never main, never HEAD. Local main is often ahead of or behind origin/main due to unpushed commits, in-flight rebases, or merges from other concurrent sessions; basing a new feature branch on local main sweeps that drift into the PR and fails DCO / sign-off checks.

Why this exists

Local main is not a reliable baseline. It can be:

• Ahead of origin/main with unpushed commits from a prior session
• Behind origin/main because the operator’s pull lagged a merge
• Mid-rebase from a concurrent session

A new worktree branched off local main inherits whichever of those states the local clone happens to be in. The branch is then not what the operator + reviewer think it is, and the resulting PR either:

• Has unrelated commits sweep in (failing DCO, polluting the diff)
• Drops commits that were already merged elsewhere (looking like a rollback)
• Conflicts in ways that aren’t actually conflicts in origin/main

What to do

When creating a worktree:

git -C D:/DPF fetch origin main --quiet
git -C D:/DPF worktree add D:/DPF-<topic> -b <branch-name> origin/main

Three precise verbs:

1. fetch origin main first — ensure the local ref of origin/main is fresh
2. worktree add the worktree directory
3. Base the new branch on origin/main explicitly (not HEAD, not main)

Verify before claiming done

Per structural-verification-is-not-functional, verify PR-level checks before claiming the work is done. Local “tests pass” is not the same as “the PR’s CI is green.” The PR view itself is the ground truth.

Anti-pattern

• git worktree add ../DPF-X -b feat/X (no base specified → defaults to HEAD)
• git worktree add ../DPF-X -b feat/X main (uses local main, may be stale or ahead)
• Branching off HEAD of a worktree that was itself branched off stale local main → compounded staleness

Related principles

• worktree-per-session — one worktree per concurrent session
• sweep-main-before-trusting-worktree-specs — local worktrees go stale; trust origin/main only
• all-changes-land-via-pr — all changes ship through a PR off a current base