feat: check remote branches to prevent duplicate branch numbers

- Add --number parameter to create-new-feature scripts (bash & PowerShell)
- Add check_existing_branches() function to fetch and scan remote branches
- Update branch numbering logic to check remotes before creating new branches
- Update /speckit.specify command to document remote branch checking workflow
- Prevents duplicate branch numbers when branches exist on remotes but not locally
- Maintains backward compatibility with existing workflows
- Falls back to local directory scanning when Git is not available

scripts/bash/create-new-feature.sh

@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ set -e
 
 JSON_MODE=false
 SHORT_NAME=""
+BRANCH_NUMBER=""
 ARGS=()
 i=1
 while [ $i -le $# ]; do
@@ -26,17 +27,31 @@ while [ $i -le $# ]; do
             fi
             SHORT_NAME="$next_arg"
             ;;
+        --number)
+            if [ $((i + 1)) -gt $# ]; then
+                echo 'Error: --number requires a value' >&2
+                exit 1
+            fi
+            i=$((i + 1))
+            next_arg="${!i}"
+            if [[ "$next_arg" == --* ]]; then
+                echo 'Error: --number requires a value' >&2
+                exit 1
+            fi
+            BRANCH_NUMBER="$next_arg"
+            ;;
         --help|-h) 
-            echo "Usage: $0 [--json] [--short-name <name>] <feature_description>"
+            echo "Usage: $0 [--json] [--short-name <name>] [--number N] <feature_description>"
             echo ""
             echo "Options:"
             echo "  --json              Output in JSON format"
             echo "  --short-name <name> Provide a custom short name (2-4 words) for the branch"
+            echo "  --number N          Specify branch number manually (overrides auto-detection)"
             echo "  --help, -h          Show this help message"
             echo ""
             echo "Examples:"
             echo "  $0 'Add user authentication system' --short-name 'user-auth'"
-            echo "  $0 'Implement OAuth2 integration for API'"
+            echo "  $0 'Implement OAuth2 integration for API' --number 5"
             exit 0
             ;;
         *) 
@@ -48,7 +63,7 @@ done
 
 FEATURE_DESCRIPTION="${ARGS[*]}"
 if [ -z "$FEATURE_DESCRIPTION" ]; then
-    echo "Usage: $0 [--json] [--short-name <name>] <feature_description>" >&2
+    echo "Usage: $0 [--json] [--short-name <name>] [--number N] <feature_description>" >&2
     exit 1
 fi
 
@@ -65,6 +80,28 @@ find_repo_root() {
     return 1
 }
 
+# Function to check existing branches (local and remote) and return next available number
+check_existing_branches() {
+    local short_name="$1"
+    
+    # Fetch all remotes to get latest branch info (suppress errors if no remotes)
+    git fetch --all --prune 2>/dev/null || true
+    
+    # Find all branches matching the pattern (local and remote)
+    local branches=$(git branch -a 2>/dev/null | grep -E "feature/[0-9]+-${short_name}$" | sed 's/.*feature\///' | sed "s/-${short_name}$//" | sort -n)
+    
+    # Get the highest number
+    local max_num=0
+    for num in $branches; do
+        if [ "$num" -gt "$max_num" ]; then
+            max_num=$num
+        fi
+    done
+    
+    # Return next number
+    echo $((max_num + 1))
+}
+
 # Resolve repository root. Prefer git information when available, but fall back
 # to searching for repository markers so the workflow still functions in repositories that
 # were initialised with --no-git.
@@ -87,20 +124,6 @@ cd "$REPO_ROOT"
 SPECS_DIR="$REPO_ROOT/specs"
 mkdir -p "$SPECS_DIR"
 
-HIGHEST=0
-if [ -d "$SPECS_DIR" ]; then
-    for dir in "$SPECS_DIR"/*; do
-        [ -d "$dir" ] || continue
-        dirname=$(basename "$dir")
-        number=$(echo "$dirname" | grep -o '^[0-9]\+' || echo "0")
-        number=$((10#$number))
-        if [ "$number" -gt "$HIGHEST" ]; then HIGHEST=$number; fi
-    done
-fi
-
-NEXT=$((HIGHEST + 1))
-FEATURE_NUM=$(printf "%03d" "$NEXT")
-
 # Function to generate branch name with stop word filtering and length filtering
 generate_branch_name() {
     local description="$1"
@@ -157,6 +180,28 @@ else
     BRANCH_SUFFIX=$(generate_branch_name "$FEATURE_DESCRIPTION")
 fi
 
+# Determine branch number
+if [ -z "$BRANCH_NUMBER" ]; then
+    if [ "$HAS_GIT" = true ]; then
+        # Check existing branches on remotes
+        BRANCH_NUMBER=$(check_existing_branches "$BRANCH_SUFFIX")
+    else
+        # Fall back to local directory check
+        HIGHEST=0
+        if [ -d "$SPECS_DIR" ]; then
+            for dir in "$SPECS_DIR"/*; do
+                [ -d "$dir" ] || continue
+                dirname=$(basename "$dir")
+                number=$(echo "$dirname" | grep -o '^[0-9]\+' || echo "0")
+                number=$((10#$number))
+                if [ "$number" -gt "$HIGHEST" ]; then HIGHEST=$number; fi
+            done
+        fi
+        BRANCH_NUMBER=$((HIGHEST + 1))
+    fi
+fi
+
+FEATURE_NUM=$(printf "%03d" "$BRANCH_NUMBER")
 BRANCH_NAME="${FEATURE_NUM}-${BRANCH_SUFFIX}"
 
 # GitHub enforces a 244-byte limit on branch names

scripts/powershell/create-new-feature.ps1

@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@
 param(
     [switch]$Json,
     [string]$ShortName,
+    [int]$Number = 0,
     [switch]$Help,
     [Parameter(ValueFromRemainingArguments = $true)]
     [string[]]$FeatureDescription
@@ -12,11 +13,12 @@ $ErrorActionPreference = 'Stop'
 
 # Show help if requested
 if ($Help) {
-    Write-Host "Usage: ./create-new-feature.ps1 [-Json] [-ShortName <name>] <feature description>"
+    Write-Host "Usage: ./create-new-feature.ps1 [-Json] [-ShortName <name>] [-Number N] <feature description>"
     Write-Host ""
     Write-Host "Options:"
     Write-Host "  -Json               Output in JSON format"
     Write-Host "  -ShortName <name>   Provide a custom short name (2-4 words) for the branch"
+    Write-Host "  -Number N           Specify branch number manually (overrides auto-detection)"
     Write-Host "  -Help               Show this help message"
     Write-Host ""
     Write-Host "Examples:"
@@ -56,6 +58,45 @@ function Find-RepositoryRoot {
         $current = $parent
     }
 }
+
+function Get-NextBranchNumber {
+    param(
+        [string]$ShortName
+    )
+    
+    # Fetch all remotes to get latest branch info (suppress errors if no remotes)
+    try {
+        git fetch --all --prune 2>$null | Out-Null
+    } catch {
+        # Ignore fetch errors
+    }
+    
+    # Find all branches matching the pattern (local and remote)
+    $branches = @()
+    try {
+        $allBranches = git branch -a 2>$null
+        if ($allBranches) {
+            $branches = $allBranches | Where-Object { $_ -match "feature/(\d+)-$([regex]::Escape($ShortName))$" } | ForEach-Object {
+                if ($_ -match "feature/(\d+)-") {
+                    [int]$matches[1]
+                }
+            }
+        }
+    } catch {
+        # Ignore errors
+    }
+    
+    # Get the highest number
+    $maxNum = 0
+    foreach ($num in $branches) {
+        if ($num -gt $maxNum) {
+            $maxNum = $num
+        }
+    }
+    
+    # Return next number
+    return $maxNum + 1
+}
 $fallbackRoot = (Find-RepositoryRoot -StartDir $PSScriptRoot)
 if (-not $fallbackRoot) {
     Write-Error "Error: Could not determine repository root. Please run this script from within the repository."
@@ -79,18 +120,6 @@ Set-Location $repoRoot
 $specsDir = Join-Path $repoRoot 'specs'
 New-Item -ItemType Directory -Path $specsDir -Force | Out-Null
 
-$highest = 0
-if (Test-Path $specsDir) {
-    Get-ChildItem -Path $specsDir -Directory | ForEach-Object {
-        if ($_.Name -match '^(\d{3})') {
-            $num = [int]$matches[1]
-            if ($num -gt $highest) { $highest = $num }
-        }
-    }
-}
-$next = $highest + 1
-$featureNum = ('{0:000}' -f $next)
-
 # Function to generate branch name with stop word filtering and length filtering
 function Get-BranchName {
     param([string]$Description)
@@ -145,6 +174,27 @@ if ($ShortName) {
     $branchSuffix = Get-BranchName -Description $featureDesc
 }
 
+# Determine branch number
+if ($Number -eq 0) {
+    if ($hasGit) {
+        # Check existing branches on remotes
+        $Number = Get-NextBranchNumber -ShortName $branchSuffix
+    } else {
+        # Fall back to local directory check
+        $highest = 0
+        if (Test-Path $specsDir) {
+            Get-ChildItem -Path $specsDir -Directory | ForEach-Object {
+                if ($_.Name -match '^(\d{3})') {
+                    $num = [int]$matches[1]
+                    if ($num -gt $highest) { $highest = $num }
+                }
+            }
+        }
+        $Number = $highest + 1
+    }
+}
+
+$featureNum = ('{0:000}' -f $Number)
 $branchName = "$featureNum-$branchSuffix"
 
 # GitHub enforces a 244-byte limit on branch names

templates/commands/specify.md

@@ -31,16 +31,34 @@ Given that feature description, do this:
      - "Create a dashboard for analytics" → "analytics-dashboard"
      - "Fix payment processing timeout bug" → "fix-payment-timeout"
 
-2. Run the script `{SCRIPT}` from repo root **with the short-name argument** and parse its JSON output for BRANCH_NAME and SPEC_FILE. All file paths must be absolute.
+2. **Check for existing branches before creating new one**:
+   
+   a. First, fetch all remote branches to ensure we have the latest information:
+      ```bash
+      git fetch --all --prune
+      ```
+   
+   b. List all branches (local and remote) that match the short-name pattern:
+      ```bash
+      git branch -a | grep -E "feature/[0-9]+-<short-name>$"
+      ```
+   
+   c. Determine the next available number:
+      - Extract all numbers from existing branches (both local and remote)
+      - Find the highest number N from branches that exist
+      - Use N+1 for the new branch number
+   
+   d. Run the script `{SCRIPT}` with the calculated number and short-name:
+      - Pass `--number N+1` and `--short-name "your-short-name"` along with the feature description
+      - Bash example: `{SCRIPT} --json --number 5 --short-name "user-auth" "Add user authentication"`
+      - PowerShell example: `{SCRIPT} -Json -Number 5 -ShortName "user-auth" "Add user authentication"`
    
    **IMPORTANT**:
-
+   - Only consider branches that still exist (local or remote)
-   - Append the short-name argument to the `{SCRIPT}` command with the 2-4 word short name you created in step 1. Keep the feature description as the final argument.
+   - If no existing branches found with this short-name, start with number 1
-   - Bash example: `--short-name "your-generated-short-name" "Feature description here"`
+   - The JSON output will contain BRANCH_NAME and SPEC_FILE paths
-   - PowerShell example: `-ShortName "your-generated-short-name" "Feature description here"`
+   - You must only ever run this script once per feature
    - For single quotes in args like "I'm Groot", use escape syntax: e.g 'I'\''m Groot' (or double-quote if possible: "I'm Groot")
-   - You must only ever run this script once
-   - The JSON is provided in the terminal as output - always refer to it to get the actual content you're looking for
 
 3. Load `templates/spec-template.md` to understand required sections.