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date: 2026-06-07 tags: [git, web-env, recovery, branches] status: active graduated_to:

"Lost" work in an ephemeral container — search commit content, not the branch name

Symptom — work "done involving be-radical" couldn't be found. git branch -a --list '*be-radical*' returned only the empty current session branch; the work appeared gone.

Root cause — Claude-Code-on-the-web session branches get auto-generated names (claude/<task-slug>-<id>) that reflect the session's framing, not the work done in it. The be-radical commits had been pushed to claude/harness-llm-security-review-AWLnd (a prior security-review session). A branch-name search will always miss this.

Fix — find by content across all refs, not by name:

• git log --all -i --grep=<term> — match commit messages.
• git log --all -i -S<term> / -G<regex> — pickaxe the diffs (finds added/removed files like a new skill).
• then git branch -a --contains <sha> to locate which branch holds it, and git merge-base --is-ancestor <sha> origin/main to check if it ever reached main.

Recovered by range-cherry-picking merge-base..<branch> onto current main (the branch had diverged 9 commits behind, so a plain rebase would have replayed already-merged work).

Guard — convention, no test. When work seems missing in a fresh web container, search commit content across --all first; never conclude it's lost from a branch-name match alone. Nothing is durable until committed and pushed — the container is reclaimed on idle.