Work locally or on a branch when
- You are building new functionality.
- You are changing design or text.
- You are refactoring code.
- You want review before the change goes live.
Work on the server when
- The issue only happens in production or staging.
- Dependencies, database, web server, or process manager must be configured.
- You need safe runtime logs or service status.
- You need to verify that deployment actually works.
If the server is messy
If the hosting environment has many manual changes that are not in Git, the agent should first document status and propose a safe cleanup. Do not overwrite an unclear production environment without backup and approval.
Good practice: let the server run a known, documented version. Ask the agent to say clearly whether it is working locally, in the repository, or directly on the hosting environment.
Prompts to choose the safest place to work
- "Should this be solved locally, in Git, or on the server? Explain the safest option."
- "Inspect the server state, but do not change files or restart services yet."
- "If production has manual changes, preserve and classify them before deploying anything new."
- "Create a clean release plan that does not overwrite server-only files."
- "Tell me which checks must happen on the live server because they cannot be verified locally."