aj-geddes/git-workflow-strategy

Git Workflow Strategy

Table of Contents

• Overview
• When to Use
• Quick Start
• Reference Guides
• Best Practices

Overview

Establish efficient Git workflows that support team collaboration, code quality, and deployment readiness through structured branching strategies and merge patterns.

When to Use

• Team collaboration setup
• Release management
• Feature development coordination
• Hotfix procedures
• Code review processes
• CI/CD integration planning

Quick Start

Minimal working example:

# Initialize GitFlow
git flow init -d

# Start a feature
git flow feature start new-feature
# Work on feature
git add .
git commit -m "feat: implement new feature"
git flow feature finish new-feature

# Start a release
git flow release start 1.0.0
# Update version numbers, changelog
git add .
git commit -m "chore: bump version to 1.0.0"
git flow release finish 1.0.0

# Create hotfix
git flow hotfix start 1.0.1
# Fix critical bug
git add .
git commit -m "fix: critical bug in production"
git flow hotfix finish 1.0.1

Reference Guides

Detailed implementations in the references/ directory:

| Guide | Contents | |---|---| | GitFlow Workflow Setup | GitFlow Workflow Setup, GitHub Flow Workflow, Trunk-Based Development, Git Configuration for Workflows (+1 more) | | Merge Strategy Script | Merge Strategy Script | | Collaborative Workflow with Code Review | Collaborative Workflow with Code Review |

Best Practices

✅ DO

• Choose workflow matching team size and release cycle
• Keep feature branches short-lived (< 3 days)
• Use descriptive branch names with type prefix
• Require code review before merging to main
• Enforce protection rules on main/release branches
• Rebase frequently to minimize conflicts
• Write atomic, logical commits
• Keep commit messages clear and consistent

❌ DON'T

• Commit directly to main branch
• Create long-lived feature branches
• Use vague branch names (dev, test, temp)
• Merge without code review
• Mix multiple features in one branch
• Force push to shared branches
• Ignore failing CI checks
• Merge with merge commits in TBD