diff --git a/.hooks/post-merge b/.hooks/post-merge
new file mode 100755
index 0000000..11fb20c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.hooks/post-merge
@@ -0,0 +1,18 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env nix-shell
+#! nix-shell -i bash ../shell.nix
+
+# Get current branch name
+current_branch=$(git branch --show-current)
+
+# Only restore stash if we're on main branch and a merge just completed
+if [ "$current_branch" = "main" ]; then
+    # Check if there are any stashes to restore
+    if git stash list | grep -q "stash@"; then
+        echo "Post-merge: restoring stashed changes on main branch"
+        git stash pop -q
+    else
+        echo "Post-merge: no stash to restore on main branch"
+    fi
+else
+    echo "Post-merge: no action needed on branch '$current_branch'"
+fi
diff --git a/.hooks/pre-merge-commit b/.hooks/pre-merge-commit
new file mode 100755
index 0000000..9edaf92
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.hooks/pre-merge-commit
@@ -0,0 +1,37 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env nix-shell
+#! nix-shell -i bash ../shell.nix
+
+# Get the target branch (the branch being merged into)
+target_branch=""
+
+# Check if we're in the middle of a merge
+if [ -f .git/MERGE_HEAD ]; then
+    # We're in a merge, check if the current branch is main
+    current_branch=$(git branch --show-current)
+    if [ "$current_branch" = "main" ]; then
+        target_branch="main"
+    fi
+fi
+
+# If we're merging into main, run nix flake check
+if [ "$target_branch" = "main" ]; then
+    echo "Merging into main branch - running nix flake check..."
+    
+    echo "stashing all uncommitted changes"
+    git stash -q --keep-index
+
+    echo "checking flakes all compile"
+    nix flake check
+
+    if [ ! $? -eq 0 ]; then
+        echo "Error: nix flake check failed. Merge aborted."
+        echo "Please fix the issues and try merging again."
+        exit 1
+    fi
+    
+    echo "nix flake check passed. Merge can proceed."
+else
+    echo "Not merging into main branch, skipping nix flake check."
+fi
+
+exit 0
diff --git a/rebuild.sh b/rebuild.sh
index 36a1201..6750450 100755
--- a/rebuild.sh
+++ b/rebuild.sh
@@ -1,5 +1,15 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env bash
 
+# Get current branch and git status for branch-aware behavior
+current_branch=$(git branch --show-current 2>/dev/null || echo "unknown")
+git_status=$(git status --porcelain 2>/dev/null || echo "")
+
+# Default values
+default_target=$(hostname)
+default_user="$USER"
+default_host=$(hostname)
+default_mode=$(if [[ "$current_branch" != "main" ]]; then echo "test"; else echo "switch"; fi)
+
 if [ -d "result" ];
 then
   preserve_result=true
@@ -42,14 +52,29 @@ while [ $# -gt 0 ]; do
       ;;
     --help|-h)
       echo "--help -h: print this message"
-      echo "--target -t: set the target system to rebuild on"
-      echo "--flake -f: set the flake to rebuild on the target system"
-      echo "--mode -m: set the mode to rebuild flake as on the target system"
-      echo "--user -u: set the user to rebuild flake as on the target system"
-      echo "--host: set the host that the flake will be rebuilt on (unset for current machine)"
+      echo "--target -t: defaults to the current system"
+      echo "    currently: $default_target"
+      echo "--flake -f: defaults to same as target"
+      echo "    currently: ${target:-$default_target}"
+      echo "--mode -m: defaults to 'switch', but 'test' on non-main branches"
+      echo "    currently would be: $default_mode"
+      echo "--user -u: defaults to the current user"
+      echo "    currently: $default_user"
+      echo "--host: defaults to building on the current machine"
+      echo "    currently: $default_host"
       echo "--preserve-result: do not remove the generated result folder after building"
       echo "--no-preserve-result: remove any result folder after building"
       echo "--show-trace: show trace on builds"
+      echo ""
+      echo "Branch-aware behavior:"
+      echo "  - On non-main branches: defaults to test mode with warning"
+      echo "  - On main with uncommitted changes: shows warning about creating a branch"
+      echo "  - Current branch: $current_branch"
+      if [[ -n "$git_status" ]]; then
+        echo "  - Git status: uncommitted changes detected"
+      else
+        echo "  - Git status: clean working tree"
+      fi
       exit 0
       ;;
     *)
@@ -60,10 +85,21 @@ while [ $# -gt 0 ]; do
   shift
 done
 
-target=${target:-$(hostname)}
+target=${target:-$default_target}
 flake=${flake:-$target}
-mode=${mode:-switch}
-user=${user:-$USER}
+mode=${mode:-$default_mode}
+user=${user:-$default_user}
+
+# Branch-aware warnings and behavior
+if [[ "$current_branch" != "main" ]] && [[ "$mode" == "test" ]]; then
+    echo "⚠️  WARNING: You are on branch '$current_branch' (not main)"
+    echo "   Defaulting to test mode to prevent accidental system changes"
+    echo "   Specify --mode=switch explicitly if you want to apply changes"
+elif [[ "$current_branch" == "main" ]] && [[ -n "$git_status" ]] && [[ "$mode" != "test" ]]; then
+    echo "⚠️  WARNING: You are on main branch with uncommitted changes"
+    echo "   Consider creating a feature branch for development:"
+    echo "   git checkout -b feature/your-feature-name"
+fi
 
 command="nixos-rebuild $mode --sudo --ask-sudo-password --flake .#$flake"
 
@@ -91,4 +127,4 @@ then
   then
     rm -r result
   fi
-fi
\ No newline at end of file
+fi