Slim

This is a simple tool that helps with a specific cherry-picking strategy where we need to cherry-pick commits from qa -> stage, then stage -> prod (subsitute any branch names you want for those).

The Problem

I was performing the same steps for each feature:

• merge my feature to QA
• validate and test
• checkout QA
• pull latest QA
• git log to find the commits I want to cherry-pick and keep results on the screen
• open a new termial window
• checkout Stage
• pull latest Stage
• create a new branch, then git cherry-pick all relevent commits from the results of git log
• git push and create a PR

Once my Stage PR is merged and tested:

• pull latest Stage
• git log to find the commits I want to cherry-pick and keep results on the screen
• open a new pane
• checkout Prod
• pull latest Prod
• create a new branch, then git cherry-pick all relevent commits from the git log
• git push and create a PR

Once I got into this rhythm, it felt like an appropriate time to build an automation to reduce the number of steps needed

The Solution

Automate most of this leaving the user to just specifiy the correct branches and commit hashes

<script id="asciicast-429934" src="https://asciinema.org/a/429934.js" async></script>

By default, the tool only shows the current users commit in the commit logs by using the user.email field in the git global config. If there is no value there, the tool will show all recent commits.

Installation

Download the latest release for your OS in the Assests section (currently only Mac and Linux x64 are supported) and put the binary somewhere in your path. For example, on an Arch distro, I put it in /usr/local/bin.

Step-by-step Installation & Setup For Mac

1. Once you've downloaded the latest release for your OS, find the download on your local machine:

   cd Downloads

2. Make the file executable:

   chmod +x slim_darwin

   If this doesn’t work for you, check that your terminal is listed as an app for “Full Disk Access” under Security & Privacy.

3. Confirm the file is executable:

   ls -l slim_darwin

4. Try out a Slim command:

   ./slim_darwin --help

   If you receive an error that macOS cannot verify the developer, open slim_picken in finder holding down the option button. You'll get a prompt to click open.

5. Copy this file to your PATH so that you can use slim commands outside of Downloads directory:

   sudo cp slim_darwin /usr/local/bin/slim

6. cd out of downloads and into a project:

   cd ../YOUR_PROJECT_NAME

7. confirm Slim works outside of downloads:

   slim

You have successfully set up Slim!

Usage

Use

slim pick [from_branch_name] --to [final_destination_branch_name]

This will present the you with a list of commits in the [from_branch_name]

Enter the commits you want to cherry-pick in the correct order delimited by spaces

> slim pick qa --to stage
  [1] 1d31135 (HEAD -> main) cleanup commands to use help() from macro
  [2] 7b9782a (origin/main) keep docs
  [3] ba08289 rename show to find
  [4] 5a46d7e save table after deleteing

Choose a commits to cherry-pick in order [1-5]: 3 2 1

Help

Simple help can be found using the --help flag.

If you need more help, create an issue