Merging overlapping skill change requests

Sometimes Alice and Bob both propose updates to the same skill. If Alice’s change is approved first, Bob’s proposal is based on an older version. Approving Bob’s proposal as-is would replace Alice’s work.

What Harriet does instead

When a proposal is out of date with the live skill, Harriet asks the reviewer to Prepare merged version rather than approve directly.

1. Harriet reads the original proposal and the current live skill.
2. It proposes a new merged candidate that tries to keep the intent of both sets of changes. Harriet explains that starting point next to her logo as Harriet's proposed outcome.
3. The review queue keeps the original (human-authored) proposal only. Open the candidate with Open merged candidate — it is not listed as a second queue item.
4. From either the original or the merged candidate, reviewers see the same actions and a three-way comparison (live, original proposal, merged version).
5. Apply merged version when satisfied, or Discard merge and overwrite live changes if you intentionally want the original proposal to replace the live skill (this discards the merge candidate and later live changes).

The original proposal is left unchanged until a merge is applied or you approve it without merging.

Important limits

• This is not GitHub-style version control. Harriet focuses on preserving intent for reviewers, not on line-for-line DVCS merges.
• If the merged candidate includes code or configuration, Harriet does not execute it, analyse it semantically, or run tests. Reviewers must acknowledge that before applying.
• Binary files (images, spreadsheets, and similar) that conflict need an explicit choice: keep live, use the proposal, or remove.
• If someone else changes the live skill again after a merge is prepared, Harriet marks that merge stale and you prepare a new one.

Resolve this yourself

If you prefer to combine the changes by hand instead of accepting Harriet’s starting point:

1. Prepare merged version (if you have not already), then open Three-way comparison.
2. Edit the Merged version column for the prompt, other long text, and package files until it matches what you want.
3. Optional: draft the combined wording in Harriet Desktop or Claude Desktop, then paste it into Merged version in Endpoint AI. Do not submit a new skill update from Desktop while this proposal is still open — that would create a second overlapping request.
4. Save your edits, then Apply merged version.

Use Discard merge and overwrite live changes only if you intentionally want the original proposal to replace the live skill (this discards the merge candidate and later live changes).

Where to do this

Use the Review queue or the skill detail page in Endpoint AI. Out-of-date proposals show a clear notice and the Prepare merged version action.