frond 🌴

Minimal, agent-first CLI for managing stacked PRs with DAG dependencies on GitHub.

Single binary. Zero config.

Install

Homebrew (macOS/Linux):

brew install nvandessel/frond/frond

Binary download: grab the latest from GitHub Releases.

From source:

go install github.com/nvandessel/frond@latest

Requires git and gh (authenticated).

Shell completions

frond completion bash > /etc/bash_completion.d/frond      # bash (Linux)
frond completion zsh > "${fpath[1]}/_frond"                # zsh
frond completion fish > ~/.config/fish/completions/frond.fish  # fish

Usage

frond new feature/auth                                        # create tracked branch
frond new auth/login --on feature/auth                        # child branch
frond new auth/e2e --on feature/auth --after auth/login       # with dependency
frond push -t "Login flow"                                    # push + create PR
frond status                                                  # show dependency graph
frond sync                                                    # fetch, cleanup merged, rebase

main
├── feature/auth  #42
│   ├── auth/login  #43  [ready]
│   ├── auth/signup  #44  [ready]
│   └── auth/e2e  (not pushed)  [blocked: auth/login, auth/signup]

Commands

Command	Description
frond new <name> [--on <parent>] [--after <deps>]	Create tracked branch
frond push [-t title] [-b body] [--draft]	Push + create/update PR
frond sync	Fetch, detect merges, reparent, rebase
frond status [--json] [--fetch]	Show dependency graph
frond track <branch> --on <parent> [--after <deps>]	Track existing branch
frond untrack [<branch>]	Remove from tracking

--json on every command. Exit codes: 0 success, 1 error, 2 conflict.

Stacking patterns

--on creates the git/PR hierarchy (deep stacking). --after creates logical dependencies (wide fan-out). Combine both for real-world use:

frond new feature/payments        --on main
frond new pay/stripe-client       --on feature/payments
frond new pay/stripe-tests        --on pay/stripe-client                              # deep: stacks on stripe-client
frond new pay/db-schema           --on feature/payments
frond new pay/db-migrations       --on pay/db-schema                                  # deep: stacks on db-schema
frond new pay/api-handlers        --on feature/payments  --after pay/stripe-client,pay/db-schema    # wide: fan-out deps
frond new pay/e2e                 --on feature/payments  --after pay/api-handlers,pay/stripe-tests,pay/db-migrations

main
└── feature/payments                        PR → main
    ├── pay/stripe-client                   PR → feature/payments  [ready]
    │   └── pay/stripe-tests                PR → pay/stripe-client  [ready]
    ├── pay/db-schema                       PR → feature/payments  [ready]
    │   └── pay/db-migrations               PR → pay/db-schema  [ready]
    ├── pay/api-handlers                    PR → feature/payments  [blocked: stripe-client, db-schema]
    └── pay/e2e                             PR → feature/payments  [blocked: api-handlers, stripe-tests, db-migrations]

When pay/stripe-client merges, frond sync reparents pay/stripe-tests, unblocks pay/api-handlers, and rebases what's ready.

Key concepts

• --on sets the git parent (PR base). One per branch.
• --after sets logical dependencies (merge ordering). Zero or more.
• These are orthogonal — --on for PR targeting, --after for merge ordering.
• State lives at <git-common-dir>/frond.json — shared across worktrees, invisible to the working tree.