Working Directory (w *)

Working Directory commands in Hug help you manage, clean up, and restore changes in your local files. They live under the w (for "working directory") gateway. They range from safe discards to nuclear cleanups, always with previews.

Some of them can also be accessed directly (without using h before them):

• hug get (same as hug w get)
• hug wip (same as hug w wip)
• hug wips (same as hug w wips)
• hug unwip (same as hug w unwip)

Quick Reference

Command	Memory Hook	Summary
hug w discard	Working directory Discard	Discard unstaged or staged changes in tracked files
hug w discard-all	Working directory **discard ALL	Discard unstaged or staged changes in ALL tracked files
hug w wipe	Working directory Wipe	Discard uncommitted changes in tracked files
hug w wipe-all	Working directory Wipe ALL	Discard uncommitted changes in ALL tracked files
hug w purge	Working directory Purge	Remove untracked or ignored files
hug w purge-all	Working directory Purge ALL	Remove ALL untracked or ignored files
hug w zap	Working directory Zap	Combine wipe + purge for files
hug w zap-all	Working directory Zap ALL	Combine wipe + purge for ALL files
hug w wip	Work In Progress	Park changes on new WIP branch (pushable)
hug w wips	Work In Progress, Stay	Park changes on new WIP branch and stay on it
hug w unwip	Unpark Work In Progress	Squash-merge WIP to current branch + delete WIP
hug w wipdel	Work In Progress DELete	Delete WIP branch (no integration)
hug w get	Working directory Get	Restore files from a specific commit

Commands

Discard Changes

Discard unstaged or staged changes in tracked files without affecting untracked / ignored files.

• hug w discard [-u|-s] <files...>

  • Description: Discard unstaged (-u, default) or staged (-s) changes for specific files/paths.
  • Example:

    hug w discard file.js     # Discard unstaged changes in file.js
    hug w discard -s .        # Discard all staged changes in current directory

  • Safety: --dry-run to preview; requires -f to force.

• hug w discard-all [-u|-s]

  • Description: Repo-wide discard of unstaged or staged changes.
  • Example: hug w discard-all (default: unstaged).

Wipe Changes

Discard uncommitted changes (both staged and unstaged) in tracked files without affecting untracked / ignored files.

• hug w wipe <files...>

  • Description: Wipe staged + unstaged for specific files (tracked only).
  • Example: hug w wipe src/*.js

• hug w wipe-all

  • Description: Wipe all tracked files to clean state.
  • Safety: Confirmation required; --dry-run available.

Purge Untracked

Remove untracked or ignored files (e.g., build artifacts).

• hug w purge [-u|-i] <paths...>

  • Description: Purge untracked (-u, default) or ignored (-i) files/paths.
  • Example: hug w purge -i node_modules/

• hug w purge-all [-u|-i]

  • Description: Repo-wide purge.
  • Safety: --dry-run; -f to skip prompts.

Zap (Nuclear Cleanup)

Combines wipe + purge for full reset.

• hug w zap <paths...>

  • Description: Full cleanup (discard + purge) for paths.
  • Example: hug w zap my-file (careful!)

• hug w zap-all

  • Description: Complete repo reset - tracked to clean, untracked/ignored removed.
  • Safety: Always previews and confirms; use with caution.

Utilities

• hug w get <commit> [files...]
  • Description: Restore files from a specific commit to working directory.
  • Example: hug w get HEAD~2 README.md (gets from 2 commits ago)

The WIP Workflow: A Better Way to Manage Temporary Work

The WIP (Work-In-Progress) workflow is a robust, branch-based alternative to git stash or Mercurial's MQ. It lets you park changes on a dedicated, dated branch that you can push, share, and resume safely.

Command	Use Case	Switches Branches?
hug w wip "msg"	Quick Interruption: Park work to handle something else.	No
hug w wips "msg"	Focused Work: Park work to iterate on it immediately.	Yes
hug w unwip	Finish : Integrate completed WIP into your main branch.	No
hug w wipdel	Abandon: Delete a worthless WIP branch.	No

The Lifecycle of a WIP Branch

1. Park Your Work

• To handle a quick interruption (e.g., a hotfix):

  # Parks all changes (staged, unstaged, and untracked) on a new WIP branch,
  # leaving working directory clean for a new, unrelated task.
  hug w wip "Drafting the new feature, pausing for hotfix"

• To start a focused experimental session:

  # Moves all changes (staged, unstaged, and untracked) to a new WIP branch
  # and stays on it for further work.
  hug w wips "Spike on new auth API"

2. Resume Your Work

If you used hug w wip, you can resume your work at any time by switching to the WIP branch that was created.

# List WIP branches and switch to one
hug bl | grep WIP
hug b WIP/24-10-26/1530.spikeonnewauthapi

If you used hug wips, you are already on the branch and can add more commits.

3. Finish and Integrate (unwip)

When the work is complete, switch to your target branch (e.g., main) and "unpark" it. By default, this squash-merges the WIP branch's changes into a single, clean commit and then deletes the WIP branch. For a regular merge that creates a merge commit, use the --no-squash option.

# 1. Switch to your target branch
hug b main

# 2. Unpark the WIP branch (prompts for selection if name is omitted)
hug w unwip WIP/24-10-26/1530.spikeonnewauthapi # Squash-merge by default

hug w unwip --no-squash WIP/24-10-26/1530.spikeonnewauthapi # Perform a regular merge

Unwip Tips

• You can resume work on a WIP branch (hug b <wip>), add more commits, then switch back to your target branch and run hug w unwip.
• After unparking, run hug s to check the status and hug bpush to push the new commit.

4. Abandon and Delete (wipdel)

If the experiment was a dead end, you can delete the WIP branch without merging its changes. The command will attempt a safe deletion, but if the branch contains unmerged work, you will need to use the --force flag to discard it.

# Deletes the branch. Fails if not fully merged.
hug w wipdel WIP/24-10-26/1530.spikeonnewauthapi

# Force-deletes the branch even if it has unmerged work.
hug w wipdel --force WIP/24-10-26/1530.spikeonnewauthapi

Why Use WIP Instead of Stash?

• Persistent & Safe: Stashes are local and can be lost. WIP branches are real commits.
• Shareable: You can hug bpush a WIP branch to get feedback or save it remotely.
• Versioned: You can add multiple commits to a WIP branch, creating a history for your experiment.
• Clear: hug bl | grep WIP gives a clear list of parked tasks, unlike the cryptic git stash list.

Tips

• Chain with status: hug w discard file.js && hug sl
• For undoing HEAD moves that affect working dir, see HEAD Operations.
• For WIP: Park with hug wip (changes moved out of your way into a new WIP branch) or hug wips (changes moved to new WIP branch, working dir stays on it), resume with hug b <wip>, finish with hug w unwip or discard with hug w wipdel.