boneskull
diff --git a/‎README.md‎
Lines changed: 18 additions & 10 deletions b/‎README.md‎
Lines changed: 18 additions & 10 deletions
diff --git a/‎cmd/adopt.go‎
Lines changed: 65 additions & 20 deletions b/‎cmd/adopt.go‎
Lines changed: 65 additions & 20 deletions
diff --git a/‎cmd/adopt_test.go‎
Lines changed: 131 additions & 0 deletions b/‎cmd/adopt_test.go‎
Lines changed: 131 additions & 0 deletions
diff --git a/‎cmd/cascade.go‎
Lines changed: 11 additions & 0 deletions b/‎cmd/cascade.go‎
Lines changed: 11 additions & 0 deletions
@@ -168,12 +168,16 @@ By default, `init` auto-detects the trunk branch (`main` or `master`). If neithe
 
 Display the branch tree showing the stack hierarchy, current branch, and associated PR numbers.
 
+By default, `log` also shows untracked local branches in the tree if it can detect their likely parent via merge-base analysis. These "detected" branches are annotated but not persisted. Use `--no-detect` to disable this.
+
+Detection is automatically skipped in `--porcelain` mode since the porcelain format has no column to distinguish detected branches from tracked ones.
+
 #### log Flags
 
-| Flag          | Description                           |
-| ------------- | ------------------------------------- |
-| `--all`       | Show all branches                     |
-| `--porcelain` | Machine-readable tab-separated output |
+| Flag            | Description                                    |
+| --------------- | ---------------------------------------------- |
+| `--porcelain`   | Machine-readable tab-separated output          |
+| `--no-detect`   | Skip auto-detection of untracked branches      |
 
 #### Porcelain Format
 
@@ -208,10 +212,12 @@ Start tracking an existing branch by setting its parent.
 
 By default, adopts the current branch. The parent must be either the trunk or another tracked branch.
 
+When no parent is specified, `adopt` auto-detects the parent using PR base branch data (if available) and local merge-base analysis. If the result is ambiguous in interactive mode, you'll be prompted to choose; in non-interactive mode an error is returned.
+
 #### adopt Usage
 
 ```bash
-gh stack adopt <parent>
+gh stack adopt [parent]
 ```
 
 #### adopt Flags
@@ -296,11 +302,12 @@ If a rebase conflict occurs, resolve it and run `gh stack continue`.
 
 #### restack Flags
 
-| Flag          | Description                                              |
-| ------------- | -------------------------------------------------------- |
-| `--only`      | Only restack current branch, not descendants             |
-| `--dry-run`   | Show what would be done                                  |
-| `--worktrees` | Rebase branches checked out in linked worktrees in-place |
+| Flag            | Description                                              |
+| --------------- | -------------------------------------------------------- |
+| `--only`        | Only restack current branch, not descendants             |
+| `--dry-run`     | Show what would be done                                  |
+| `--worktrees`   | Rebase branches checked out in linked worktrees in-place |
+| `--no-detect`   | Skip auto-detection and adoption of untracked branches   |
 
 ### continue
 
@@ -327,6 +334,7 @@ This is the command to run when upstream changes have occurred (e.g., a PR in yo
 | `--no-restack` | Skip restacking branches                                 |
 | `--dry-run`    | Show what would be done                                  |
 | `--worktrees`  | Rebase branches checked out in linked worktrees in-place |
+| `--no-detect`  | Skip auto-detection and adoption of untracked branches   |
 
 ### undo
 
 
@@ -7,19 +7,25 @@ import (
 	"os"
 
 	"github.com/boneskull/gh-stack/internal/config"
+	"github.com/boneskull/gh-stack/internal/detect"
 	"github.com/boneskull/gh-stack/internal/git"
+	"github.com/boneskull/gh-stack/internal/github"
+	"github.com/boneskull/gh-stack/internal/prompt"
 	"github.com/boneskull/gh-stack/internal/style"
-	"github.com/boneskull/gh-stack/internal/tree"
 	"github.com/spf13/cobra"
 )
 
 var adoptCmd = &cobra.Command{
-	Use:   "adopt <parent>",
+	Use:   "adopt [parent]",
 	Short: "Start tracking an existing branch",
 	Long: `Start tracking an existing branch by setting its parent.
 
+When no parent is specified, the parent is auto-detected using PR base branch
+and merge-base analysis. If the result is ambiguous, you will be prompted to
+choose (interactive) or an error is returned (non-interactive).
+
 By default, adopts the current branch. Use --branch to specify a different branch.`,
-	Args: cobra.ExactArgs(1),
+	Args: cobra.MaximumNArgs(1),
 	RunE: runAdopt,
 }
 
@@ -42,9 +48,7 @@ func runAdopt(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) error {
 	}
 
 	g := git.New(cwd)
-
-	// Parent is the required positional argument
-	parent := args[0]
+	s := style.New()
 
 	// Determine branch to adopt (from flag or current branch)
 	var branchName string
@@ -73,25 +77,62 @@ func runAdopt(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) error {
 		return err
 	}
 
+	var parent string
+	var detectedPRNumber int
+
+	if len(args) > 0 {
+		// Explicit parent provided
+		parent = args[0]
+	} else {
+		// Auto-detect parent
+		tracked, listErr := cfg.ListTrackedBranches()
+		if listErr != nil {
+			return fmt.Errorf("list tracked branches: %w", listErr)
+		}
+
+		// Try to get GitHub client (may fail if no auth -- that's ok)
+		gh, _ := github.NewClient() //nolint:errcheck // nil client is fine for local-only detection
+
+		result, detectErr := detect.DetectParent(branchName, tracked, trunk, g, gh)
+		if detectErr != nil {
+			return fmt.Errorf("auto-detect parent: %w", detectErr)
+		}
+
+		switch result.Confidence {
+		case detect.High, detect.Medium:
+			parent = result.Parent
+			fmt.Printf("%s Detected parent %s %s\n",
+				s.SuccessIcon(), s.Branch(parent), s.Muted("("+result.Confidence.String()+" confidence)"))
+		case detect.Ambiguous:
+			if len(result.Candidates) == 0 {
+				return fmt.Errorf("could not detect parent for %s; specify one explicitly", s.Branch(branchName))
+			}
+			if !prompt.IsInteractive() {
+				return fmt.Errorf("ambiguous parent for %s (candidates: %v); specify one explicitly",
+					s.Branch(branchName), result.Candidates)
+			}
+			idx, promptErr := prompt.Select(
+				fmt.Sprintf("Multiple parent candidates for %s:", branchName),
+				result.Candidates, 0)
+			if promptErr != nil {
+				return fmt.Errorf("prompt: %w", promptErr)
+			}
+			parent = result.Candidates[idx]
+		}
+
+		detectedPRNumber = result.PRNumber
+	}
+
 	if parent != trunk {
 		if _, parentErr := cfg.GetParent(parent); parentErr != nil {
 			return fmt.Errorf("parent %q is not tracked", parent)
 		}
 	}
 
-	// Check for cycles (branch can't be ancestor of parent)
-	root, err := tree.Build(cfg)
-	if err != nil {
-		return err
-	}
-
-	parentNode := tree.FindNode(root, parent)
-	if parentNode != nil {
-		for _, ancestor := range tree.GetAncestors(parentNode) {
-			if ancestor.Name == branchName {
-				return errors.New("cannot adopt: would create a cycle")
-			}
-		}
+	// Check for cycles via config parent chain walk (catches cases the tree
+	// model misses when nodes with broken parent links are omitted).
+	if wouldCycle(cfg, branchName, parent) {
+		return errors.New("cannot adopt: would create a cycle")
 	}
 
 	// Set parent
@@ -105,7 +146,11 @@ func runAdopt(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) error {
 		_ = cfg.SetForkPoint(branchName, forkPoint) //nolint:errcheck // best effort
 	}
 
-	s := style.New()
+	// Store PR number if detected
+	if detectedPRNumber > 0 {
+		_ = cfg.SetPR(branchName, detectedPRNumber) //nolint:errcheck // best effort
+	}
+
 	fmt.Printf("%s Adopted branch %s with parent %s\n", s.SuccessIcon(), s.Branch(branchName), s.Branch(parent))
 	return nil
 }
@@ -2,13 +2,33 @@
 package cmd_test
 
 import (
+	"os"
+	"os/exec"
+	"path/filepath"
 	"testing"
 
 	"github.com/boneskull/gh-stack/internal/config"
+	"github.com/boneskull/gh-stack/internal/detect"
 	"github.com/boneskull/gh-stack/internal/git"
 	"github.com/boneskull/gh-stack/internal/tree"
 )
 
+// addCommit creates a file with the given content and commits it.
+func addCommit(t *testing.T, dir, filename, content string) {
+	t.Helper()
+	if err := os.WriteFile(filepath.Join(dir, filename), []byte(content), 0644); err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("write %s: %v", filename, err)
+	}
+	cmd := exec.Command("git", "-C", dir, "add", ".")
+	if err := cmd.Run(); err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("git add: %v", err)
+	}
+	cmd = exec.Command("git", "-C", dir, "commit", "-m", "add "+filename)
+	if err := cmd.Run(); err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("git commit: %v", err)
+	}
+}
+
 func TestAdoptBranch(t *testing.T) {
 	dir := setupTestRepo(t)
 
@@ -148,3 +168,114 @@ func TestAdoptStoresForkPoint(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Errorf("fork point = %s, want %s", storedFP, trunkTip)
 	}
 }
+
+// TestAdoptAutoDetect exercises the full detection-to-adoption pipeline:
+// detect parent, validate, set parent, store fork point.
+func TestAdoptAutoDetect(t *testing.T) {
+	dir := setupTestRepo(t)
+	g := git.New(dir)
+
+	cfg, err := config.Load(dir)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("Load config: %v", err)
+	}
+
+	trunk, err := g.CurrentBranch()
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("CurrentBranch: %v", err)
+	}
+
+	err = cfg.SetTrunk(trunk)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("SetTrunk: %v", err)
+	}
+
+	// Create tracked branch A
+	err = g.CreateAndCheckout("feature-a")
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("CreateAndCheckout feature-a: %v", err)
+	}
+	addCommit(t, dir, "a.txt", "a")
+
+	err = cfg.SetParent("feature-a", trunk)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("SetParent feature-a: %v", err)
+	}
+
+	// Create untracked branch B off A
+	err = g.CreateAndCheckout("feature-b")
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("CreateAndCheckout feature-b: %v", err)
+	}
+	addCommit(t, dir, "b.txt", "b")
+
+	// feature-b should not be tracked yet
+	_, getErr := cfg.GetParent("feature-b")
+	if getErr == nil {
+		t.Fatal("feature-b should not be tracked yet")
+	}
+
+	// Simulate what runAdopt does when no parent arg is given:
+	// 1. Detect parent
+	tracked, _ := cfg.ListTrackedBranches()
+	result, detectErr := detect.DetectParent("feature-b", tracked, trunk, g, nil)
+	if detectErr != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("detection failed: %v", detectErr)
+	}
+	if result.Confidence == detect.Ambiguous {
+		t.Fatal("expected non-ambiguous detection")
+	}
+	if result.Parent != "feature-a" {
+		t.Errorf("expected detected parent 'feature-a', got %q", result.Parent)
+	}
+
+	// 2. Validate parent is tracked (same check as runAdopt)
+	if result.Parent != trunk {
+		if _, parentErr := cfg.GetParent(result.Parent); parentErr != nil {
+			t.Fatalf("detected parent %q is not tracked: %v", result.Parent, parentErr)
+		}
+	}
+
+	// 3. Set parent (same as runAdopt)
+	err = cfg.SetParent("feature-b", result.Parent)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("SetParent failed: %v", err)
+	}
+
+	// 4. Store fork point (same as runAdopt)
+	forkPoint, fpErr := g.GetMergeBase("feature-b", result.Parent)
+	if fpErr != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("GetMergeBase failed: %v", fpErr)
+	}
+	_ = cfg.SetForkPoint("feature-b", forkPoint)
+
+	// Verify the full adoption persisted correctly
+	parent, err := cfg.GetParent("feature-b")
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("feature-b should be tracked now: %v", err)
+	}
+	if parent != "feature-a" {
+		t.Errorf("expected parent 'feature-a', got %q", parent)
+	}
+
+	storedFP, fpGetErr := cfg.GetForkPoint("feature-b")
+	if fpGetErr != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("GetForkPoint failed: %v", fpGetErr)
+	}
+	if storedFP != forkPoint {
+		t.Errorf("fork point mismatch: stored=%s, expected=%s", storedFP, forkPoint)
+	}
+
+	// Verify tree now includes feature-b
+	root, buildErr := tree.Build(cfg)
+	if buildErr != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("Build failed: %v", buildErr)
+	}
+	nodeB := tree.FindNode(root, "feature-b")
+	if nodeB == nil {
+		t.Fatal("feature-b should appear in tree after adoption")
+	}
+	if nodeB.Parent.Name != "feature-a" {
+		t.Errorf("expected parent node 'feature-a', got %q", nodeB.Parent.Name)
+	}
+}
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@ import (
 
 	"github.com/boneskull/gh-stack/internal/config"
 	"github.com/boneskull/gh-stack/internal/git"
+	"github.com/boneskull/gh-stack/internal/github"
 	"github.com/boneskull/gh-stack/internal/state"
 	"github.com/boneskull/gh-stack/internal/style"
 	"github.com/boneskull/gh-stack/internal/tree"
@@ -30,12 +31,14 @@ var (
 	cascadeOnlyFlag      bool
 	cascadeDryRunFlag    bool
 	cascadeWorktreesFlag bool
+	cascadeNoDetectFlag  bool
 )
 
 func init() {
 	cascadeCmd.Flags().BoolVar(&cascadeOnlyFlag, "only", false, "only restack current branch, not descendants")
 	cascadeCmd.Flags().BoolVar(&cascadeDryRunFlag, "dry-run", false, "show what would be done")
 	cascadeCmd.Flags().BoolVar(&cascadeWorktreesFlag, "worktrees", false, "rebase branches checked out in linked worktrees in-place")
+	cascadeCmd.Flags().BoolVar(&cascadeNoDetectFlag, "no-detect", false, "skip auto-detection of untracked branches")
 	rootCmd.AddCommand(cascadeCmd)
 }
 
@@ -64,6 +67,14 @@ func runCascade(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) error {
 		return err
 	}
 
+	// Auto-detect and adopt untracked branches
+	if !cascadeNoDetectFlag {
+		gh, _ := github.NewClient() //nolint:errcheck // nil is fine, skip PR detection
+		if adoptErr := autoDetectAndAdopt(cfg, g, gh, s); adoptErr != nil {
+			fmt.Printf("%s auto-detection: %v\n", s.WarningIcon(), adoptErr)
+		}
+	}
+
 	// Build tree
 	root, err := tree.Build(cfg)
 	if err != nil {