Add submit --down to submit only up to a branch

README.md

@@ -303,12 +303,17 @@ Flags:
 > Aliases: `git submit`, `git ss`
 
 Pushes every branch in the stack and creates or updates a PR for each one, each based on the branch
-below it. New PRs are ready for review by default.
+below it. `--down` stops at the current branch, and `git stack submit <branch>` at the named one,
+leaving the branches above alone; handy for getting the bottom of a stack reviewed while you keep
+working on the top. New PRs are ready for review by default.
 
 Unless you pass `-n` / `--no-edit`, `--ai` or `--no-interactive`, gh stack opens its editor for the
 title and body of each new PR. `--draft`, `--publish`, `--ai` and the editor only apply to new PRs.
+gh stack can only submit a whole stack, so with `--down` git-stack pushes those branches itself,
+creates their missing PRs and has `gh stack link` add them to the stack on GitHub; the editor isn't
+available there, so new PRs take their titles from their commits unless you pass `--ai`.
 
-gh stack does the push, with `--force-with-lease`, so after a restack your branches are force
+Branches are pushed with `--force-with-lease`, so after a restack your branches are force
 pushed. If a branch has commits on the remote that aren't in your local one (someone else pushed
 to it), submit refuses rather than overwrite them. `git sync` pulls them in when the remote is
 simply ahead; otherwise merge or cherry-pick them by hand, or pass `--force` if you really do want
@@ -324,6 +329,7 @@ Flags:
 - `--no-ai` don't use AI, even if `stack.ai.auto` is set
 - `-f` / `--force` push even if it overwrites commits someone else pushed
 - `--dry-run` show what would be submitted without pushing anything
+- `--down` only submit the current branch (or the one you name) and the ones below it
 
 ### `git stack up` / `git stack down` / `git stack top` / `git stack bottom`
 

cmd/submit.go

@@ -18,35 +18,46 @@ func newSubmitCmd(c *cli) *cobra.Command {
 		useAI   bool
 		noAI    bool
 		force   bool
+		down    bool
 	)
 	cmd := &cobra.Command{
-		Use:     "submit",
+		Use:     "submit [branch]",
 		Aliases: []string{"ss"},
 		Short:   "Push the stack and create or update its pull requests",
 		Long: `Pushes every branch in the stack and creates or updates a PR for each one, each
-based on the branch below it. New PRs are ready for review by default; pass
---draft, or set git config stack.submit.default to draft (or ask, to be asked
-each time).
+based on the branch below it. With --down, or a branch name, it stops at the
+current (or named) branch and leaves the ones above it alone. New PRs are ready
+for review by default; pass --draft, or set git config stack.submit.default to
+draft (or ask, to be asked each time).
 
 Unless you pass --no-edit, --ai or --no-interactive, gh stack opens its editor
 for the title and body of each new PR. --draft, --publish, --ai and the editor
-only apply to new PRs.
+only apply to new PRs. gh stack can only submit a whole stack, so with --down
+we push those branches ourselves and have gh stack link add their PRs to the
+stack; the editor isn't available there, so new PRs take their titles from
+their commits unless you pass --ai.
 
-gh stack does the push, with --force-with-lease, so after a restack your
+Branches are pushed with --force-with-lease, so after a restack your
 branches are force pushed. If a branch has commits on the remote that aren't in
 your local one (someone else pushed to it), submit refuses rather than
 overwrite them. Run git stack sync to pull them in, or pass --force if you
 really do want them gone.`,
 		Example: `  # push the stack and open PRs for any new branches
   git ss
 
+  # push only the current branch and the ones below it
+  git ss --down
+
+  # push feat-b and the ones below it, whichever branch is checked out
+  git ss feat-b
+
   # open the new PRs as drafts, with titles taken from the commits
   git ss -d -n
 
   # see what would be created without pushing anything
   git stack submit --dry-run`,
-		Args:              cobra.NoArgs,
-		ValidArgsFunction: completeNothing,
+		Args:              cobra.MaximumNArgs(1),
+		ValidArgsFunction: c.completeBranches,
 		RunE: func(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) error {
 			ctx := cmd.Context()
 			a, repo, err := c.app(ctx)
@@ -58,14 +69,19 @@ really do want them gone.`,
 			if err != nil {
 				return err
 			}
-			res, err := a.Submit(ctx, repo, app.SubmitOptions{
+			opts := app.SubmitOptions{
 				Draft:   draft,
 				Publish: publish,
 				NoEdit:  noEdit || (!edit && c.globals.NoInteractive),
 				DryRun:  dryRun,
 				UseAI:   ai,
 				Force:   force,
-			})
+				Down:    down,
+			}
+			if len(args) == 1 {
+				opts.Branch = args[0]
+			}
+			res, err := a.Submit(ctx, repo, opts)
 			if err != nil {
 				return err
 			}
@@ -118,6 +134,7 @@ really do want them gone.`,
 	must(cmd.Flags().MarkHidden("stack"))
 	cmd.Flags().BoolVarP(&force, "force", "f", false, "push even if it overwrites commits someone else pushed")
 	cmd.Flags().BoolVar(&dryRun, "dry-run", false, "report what would be submitted without pushing")
+	cmd.Flags().BoolVar(&down, "down", false, "only submit the current branch and the ones below it")
 	cmd.Flags().BoolVar(&useAI, "ai", false, "have Claude Code write titles and bodies for new PRs (see stack.ai.auto)")
 	cmd.Flags().BoolVar(&noAI, "no-ai", false, "never use AI; takes precedence over --ai and stack.ai.auto")
 	return cmd

docs/architecture.md

@@ -214,6 +214,19 @@ absorbed hunks simply drop out of the staged diff. Everything above the current
 through modify's upstack restack, conflict handling included. There is no absorb specific abort;
 the old tips are printed and in the reflog.
 
+**`submit --down` pushes and creates PRs itself, then links them.** `--down`, or naming a branch,
+submits that branch and the ones below it, so the bottom of a stack can go for review while the
+top is still moving. gh stack submit always pushes every branch, so when there is a branch above
+the one asked for, submit does the work itself: it pushes those branches in one atomic
+`git push`, each with `--force-with-lease` against its remote tracking tip, creates any missing PRs
+through the forge (with the supplied or drafted text, otherwise a single commit's subject and body,
+the way gh stack fills them in), and runs `gh stack link` with the PR numbers so they join the
+stack on GitHub. Numbers resolve to PRs rather than branches, so link pushes nothing. With no stack
+on GitHub yet and a single PR there is nothing to link. A failed link is only a notice: the PRs
+exist, and gh stack submit finds open PRs by branch and adopts a stack that already exists, so a
+later whole stack submit tidies up. gh stack's editor only exists inside its submit, so with
+`--down` the titles come from the commits and we say so.
+
 **`submit --ai` drafts first, then lets gh stack submit, then fixes the PRs up.** The
 alternative was to push and create PRs ourselves and only use gh stack to link them. We
 didn't, because gh stack owns the push (`--force-with-lease`), the base calculation, the

docs/mcp.md

@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@ path is resolved with `git rev-parse`; anything outside a repository returns `no
 | `stack_abort` | Give up an interrupted restack and put every moved branch back | | destructive |
 | `stack_restack` | Local rebase of the stack onto its parents, bottom branch onto the local trunk included; only checks out a branch to resolve a conflict through one git rebase | `scope` = `all`/`upstack`/`downstack`/`only`, `branch`, `continue`, `abort`, `stage_all` | destructive |
 | `stack_navigate` | `up`/`down`/`top`/`bottom` with `steps`, or `branch` | `direction`, `steps`, `branch` | idempotent |
-| `stack_submit` | Push and create/update chained PRs; ready for review by default | `draft`, `publish`, `dry_run`, `pull_requests` `{branch: {title, body}}`, `use_ai`, `force` | destructive, open-world |
+| `stack_submit` | Push and create/update chained PRs (with `down`, only up to the current branch); ready for review by default | `down`, `branch`, `draft`, `publish`, `dry_run`, `pull_requests` `{branch: {title, body}}`, `use_ai`, `force` | destructive, open-world |
 | `stack_sync` | Fetch, update trunk and restack every stack (checked out or not, all worktrees), never pushing; merged branches deleted per `stack.sync.prune` | `prune` (force deletion) | destructive, open-world |
 | `stack_merge` | Merge the stack's PRs up to a branch into trunk, all or nothing, then sync; refuses while a check on any of them failed or is still running | `branch` (default current), `method` = `merge`/`squash`/`rebase`, `no_sync`, `force` (skip the checks check; only with the user's say so) | destructive, open-world |