Git Flow Strategy

When to Use

• Deciding which branch to base work on.

• Creating a new Release or Hotfix.

• Merging strategies (Squash vs Merge Commit).

1. Branching Model

Branch Source Merge Into Lifespan Purpose

main

Infinite Production-ready code. Stable.

develop

main

main

Infinite Integration branch for next release.

feature/*

develop

develop

Short New features (e.g., feature/login-page ).

release/*

develop

develop , main

Medium Release prep (e.g., release/v1.0.0 ).

hotfix/*

main

develop , main

Very Short Production critical fixes (e.g., hotfix/crash ).

2. Feature Development

• Start: Update develop and branch off. git checkout develop && git pull origin develop git checkout -b feature/my-feature

• Work: Commit changes. Use github skill templates for PRs.

• Finish: PR into develop . Squash merge recommended.

3. Release Process

• Start: Branch off develop when features are frozen. git checkout develop git checkout -b release/v1.2.0

• Work: Bump versions, update changelogs, fix bugs. NO NEW FEATURES.

• Finish:

• Merge into main (Tag this commit).

• Merge into develop (Back-propagate fixes).

• Delete release/v1.2.0 branch.

4. Hotfixes

• Start: Branch off main (Production). git checkout main git checkout -b hotfix/critical-bug

• Work: Fix the critical bug. Minimal changes.

• Finish:

• Merge into main (Tag this commit).

• Merge into develop .

• Delete hotfix branch.

5. Protocols

• Never commit directly to main or develop .

• Keep history clean. Use interactive rebase before PRs.

• Tags are immutable. Once pushed, do not change.