Committing when not the only writer: stage a new file by exact name first - #35
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…ct name first Fixes a defect in "Committing when you are not the only writer". The prescribed `git commit -- <paths>` refuses a file git has never seen, and the natural recovery (git add, then a plain commit) is the pattern the section forbids. Both recorded sweeps happened on new files. The fix: stage your own new files by exact name, then commit with the same paths. Also: never stage by directory in a shared repo (`git add -A <dir>` takes other sessions' untracked files), and, marked optional on one sighting, read `git log origin/<branch>..HEAD` before pushing from a shared clone. Petition: claude-notes briefings/petition-carry-forward-2026-09-24b.md item 4; approved by Jones 2026-09-24. Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5.5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
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Why
The section's remedy for a shared index,
git commit -m "..." -- <paths>, fails on a file git has never seen (pathspec ... did not match any file(s) known to git). A new file is the commonest commit in a notebook repository, and the natural recovery,git addthen a plain commit, is the exact pattern the section forbids. Staging your own new file by exact name and then committing with the same paths works, and still leaves another session's staged files out (verified in a scratch repository on 2026-09-24). Staging by directory does not:git add -A <dir>takes other sessions' untracked files, because a path scope cannot express authorship.Sightings
Two independent sweeps (2026-09-07 and 2026-09-24), each committing another session's new file under the wrong message. Both broke a rule the standard already states, so this is filed as a defect in the remedy, not a new rule; one sighting suffices. The closing push sentence rests on one sighting and is marked optional in the text itself.
What changes
Approved by Jones on 2026-09-24. Drafted in claude-notes:
briefings/petition-carry-forward-2026-09-24b.mditem 4.🤖 Generated with Claude Code