modules/06-branches-sandboxes-for-experiments/README.md

@@ -11,6 +11,10 @@
 - **Module 2 — Version Control as a Safety Net.** You can `init`, `commit`, read `git diff`/`git
   log`/`git status`, and `git restore` an unwanted change. Branches build directly on commits: a
   branch is just a label on the commit history you already understand.
+- **Module 3 — Version Control for Words.** You first met `git branch`, `git switch -c`, `git merge`,
+  and `git branch -d` there — on a markdown doc, where a mistake costs nothing and the merge always
+  fast-forwarded. This module takes those same verbs to *code*, where branches actually diverge and
+  merges can conflict.
 - **Module 4 — Getting the AI Out of the Browser.** The AI now edits your real files directly from
   your editor. That's exactly the capability that makes branches matter — you're about to let it edit
   files *fast and confidently*, and you want a wall around the blast radius.
@@ -43,6 +47,10 @@ By the end of this module you can:
 
 ### What a branch actually is
 
+You already drove this loop once — `git switch -c`, `git merge`, `git branch -d` on a doc in Module 3,
+where the merge always fast-forwarded because nothing else had moved. Here the same verbs meet code
+that diverges and conflicts, so it's worth pinning down what a branch really is before we lean on it.
+
 Strip the mystique and a branch is **a named, movable pointer to a commit.** That's the whole
 definition. Your commit history is a chain of snapshots (Module 2); a branch is a sticky label that
 points at one of them and *moves forward* every time you commit on it.
@@ -65,10 +73,11 @@ git branch -d experiment         # delete a branch you've already merged
 git branch -D experiment         # FORCE-delete a branch, merged or not (the "throw it away" button)
 ```
 
-> **Naming note.** `git switch` (create/move between branches) and `git restore` (the Module 2 undo)
-> were split out of the older, overloaded `git checkout` command. You'll still see `git checkout -b
-> experiment` everywhere online — it does the same thing as `git switch -c experiment`. Both work;
-> this module uses `switch`/`restore` because they say what they mean.
+> **Naming note** (you saw the short version in Module 3). `git switch` (create/move between branches)
+> and `git restore` (the Module 2 undo) were split out of the older, overloaded `git checkout` command.
+> You'll still see `git checkout -b experiment` everywhere online — it does the same thing as
+> `git switch -c experiment`. Both work; this module uses `switch`/`restore` because they say what they
+> mean.
 
 ### The reframe: a branch is a sandbox you can blow away
 

modules/08-remotes-and-hosting/README.md

@@ -111,10 +111,13 @@ everywhere.
 
 **2. The remote isn't empty (non-fast-forward).** You let the host create the repo *with* a README,
 then push, and get `! [rejected] ... (fetch first)` or `non-fast-forward`. The remote has a commit
-your local history doesn't, so Git refuses to overwrite it. Fix: either recreate the remote empty, or
-reconcile once with `git pull --rebase origin main` and then push. (This is the same "someone else
-pushed before me" situation you'll hit constantly once you're collaborating — Module 11 — except here
-the "someone else" was the host's auto-generated README.)
+your local history doesn't, so Git refuses to overwrite it. The simple fix is to **recreate the remote
+empty** and push again. (The alternative you'll see online — `git pull --rebase origin main`, then
+push — replays your commits on top of the remote's, but `rebase` is an advanced, history-rewriting
+operation this course doesn't teach as a step here, so prefer the empty-remote fix for now. And note
+that plain `git pull` won't rescue you against an auto-README remote — it refuses to merge unrelated
+histories.) This is the same "someone else pushed before me" situation you'll hit constantly once
+you're collaborating — Module 11 — except here the "someone else" was the host's auto-generated README.
 
 **3. Branch-name mismatch.** Your local default branch is `master` but the host expects `main` (or
 vice versa). `git push -u origin main` then errors with `src refspec main does not match any`. Fix:

modules/11-collaboration-humans-and-agents/README.md

@@ -103,9 +103,10 @@ correctness *and plausibility* — the skill Module 10 is built around. They app
 or comment. For AI-generated diffs this gate is doing more work than it used to: the code compiles,
 reads cleanly, and is still wrong in a way only review catches.
 
-**6 — Merge is the commitment.** Approved, the PR merges into `main`. Squash, merge-commit, or
-rebase — your team picks one; the effect is the same: the branch's work is now part of the shared
-trunk. Delete the branch after; its job is done and its name lives on in the merge.
+**6 — Merge is the commitment.** Approved, the PR merges into `main`. Hosts offer a couple of merge
+styles — a squash or a merge commit; your team picks one and the effect is the same: the branch's work
+is now part of the shared trunk. (You'll also see a *rebase-merge* option; it rewrites history and is
+out of scope here.) Delete the branch after; its job is done and its name lives on in the merge.
 
 **7 — The issue closes — ideally by itself.** If you linked the PR correctly, merging closes the
 issue automatically. The receipt is written without anyone touching the issue. That's the satisfying
@@ -286,9 +287,13 @@ git switch main
 echo "# direct edit" >> README.md
 git commit -am "try to push straight to main"
 git push                      # expect: remote rejects the push to a protected branch
-git reset --hard HEAD~1       # undo the local commit; we'll do it the right way
+git reset --hard HEAD~1       # undo the local commit; we'll add the feature the right way, via a PR
 ```
 
+(That `git reset --hard HEAD~1` is a sharp, history-rewriting command from a later module — it drops
+your most recent commit *and* its changes. It's safe here only because that commit was a throwaway to
+test the guardrail; its full treatment and its real dangers are **Module 12**.)
+
 If the push went through, protection isn't on — fix that before continuing. Feeling the server say
 *no* is the point: "never commit to `main`" is now a rule, not a resolution.
 
@@ -428,8 +433,9 @@ own branch.
   upstream is ongoing work, and PRs *from* forks are deliberately limited by hosts (for example, they
   often can't access the upstream repo's CI secrets — relevant once you reach Module 14). For repos
   you own, prefer branches; reach for forks only when you genuinely lack push access.
-- **The loop diagram is the happy path.** Real PRs get change requests, need a rebase onto a moved
-  `main`, or hit a merge conflict (Module 6) when two contributors touched the same lines — exactly
+- **The loop diagram is the happy path.** Real PRs get change requests, need updating when `main`
+  moves underneath them, or hit a merge conflict (Module 6) when two contributors touched the same
+  lines — exactly
   the parallel-agent scenario worktrees mitigate but don't eliminate. The stations are fixed; the
   number of trips around them isn't.
 - **Squash-merge collapses authorship.** If your team squashes, the agent's (or your) individual

modules/26-orchestrating-multiple-agents/README.md

@@ -190,7 +190,7 @@ The pattern is **fan-out, then fan-in through the front door, one branch at a ti
    first pass that lets you spend your scarce review attention only on PRs that already build and pass
    tests. CI reviews *all* of them in parallel for free; you review the survivors.
 3. **You merge them into `main` in a deliberate order**, not finish-order. Merge the foundational one
-   first (the agent that touched the joint), then rebase/merge the others on top so any conflict
+   first (the agent that touched the joint), then merge the others on top so any conflict
    surfaces against settled code. Each merge is a small, calm, Module-6 conflict resolution — on your
    terms, once, instead of two live agents corrupting each other in real time.
 4. **An assistive reviewer (Module 24) can take the first pass** on each PR — comment on the obvious