Managing Context Switches in TowerGit Using Stash

The Problem: Interrupting Feature Work for Urgent Fixes

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Developers often face a common dilemma: you are halfway through a complex feature implementation with several files modified, but an urgent bug fix is required on a different branch. Committing half-finished, broken code to the history creates \"work-in-progress\" (WIP) commits that clutter the project log and complicate future rebases.

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The solution is Stashing. Stashing takes your uncommitted changes—both staged and unstaged—and saves them in a temporary storage area, reverting your working directory to match the HEAD commit. This allows you to switch branches with a clean slate and return to your exact state later.

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Prerequisites

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• TowerGit installed and connected to a local Git repository.
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• Existing uncommitted changes in the working directory.
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• A stable branch state (no active merge conflicts).
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Procedure: Preserving and Restoring Work

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1. Creating a Stash

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When you need to clear your workspace without losing progress:

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1. Open the Commit or Changes area in the TowerGit interface.
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2. Select the Stash command from the action menu.
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3. Optional: Enter a descriptive name for the stash (e.g., \"Feature-X-UI-Draft\"). This is critical when managing multiple stashes, as the default naming convention is often vague.
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4. Select whether to include untracked files. Untracked files are new files that have not yet been added to the Git index; excluding them will leave them in your directory, potentially causing conflicts when switching branches.
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5. Confirm the operation.
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2. Switching Contexts

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With the working directory now clean, you can safely perform the following:

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• Switch to the hotfix branch.
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• Perform the necessary fix and commit it.
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• Merge or push the fix to the remote repository.
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• Switch back to your original feature branch.
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3. Restoring the Stashed Changes

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Once you return to your feature branch, you must reintegrate your saved work. TowerGit provides a visual list of all stashes, allowing you to choose a specific entry rather than relying on the most recent one.

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1. Navigate to the Stashes section in the sidebar or menu.
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2. Right-click the desired stash entry.
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3. Choose one of two restoration methods:\n
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   • Apply: Reintegrates the changes into the working directory but keeps the stash in the list. Use this if you want to apply the same changes to multiple branches.
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   • Pop: Reintegrates the changes and immediately deletes the stash from the storage list. Use this for standard workflow restoration.
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Comparison: Apply vs. Pop

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Action	Working Directory Result	Stash List Result	Best Use Case
Apply	Changes restored	Stash preserved	Applying one set of changes to multiple branches
Pop	Changes restored	Stash removed	Returning to a single interrupted task

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Verification and Diagnostics

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To ensure the operation was successful, perform these checks:

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• Post-Stash Check: Verify that the \"Changes\" list is empty and the files have reverted to the state of the last commit.
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• Post-Restore Check: Confirm that the modified lines reappear in the editor and are listed as unstaged changes in TowerGit.
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• Conflict Check: If TowerGit alerts you to a merge conflict during a Pop/Apply, it means the branch state changed significantly while the work was stashed. You must resolve these conflicts manually using the built-in merge tool before the stash can be fully cleared.
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Rollback and Recovery

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If you apply a stash and realize it was the wrong version or has caused too many conflicts:

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1. If you used 'Apply': Simply discard the current uncommitted changes in the working directory. The stash still exists in the list and can be reapplied or deleted.
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2. If you used 'Pop': This is higher risk because the stash is removed from the list. If the result is incorrect, you must use git reflog via the terminal to find the dropped commit hash and recover it manually.
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