lodetomasi Git Workflow Skill
Overview
Comprehensive Git workflow skill covering branching strategies, semantic commits, pull request management, conflict resolution, and team collaboration best practices.
Capabilities
1. Branching Strategies
- GitFlow workflow
- GitHub Flow
- Trunk-based development
- Feature branch workflow
- Release management
2. Commit Management
- Semantic commit messages
- Conventional commits
- Atomic commits
- Interactive rebasing
- Commit squashing
3. Collaboration
- Pull request workflows
- Code review integration
- Conflict resolution
- Fork management
- Team synchronization
4. Release Management
- Version tagging
- Changelog generation
- Semantic versioning
- Release branches
- Hotfix workflows
Branching Strategies
GitFlow
Branch Types:
main- Production-ready codedevelop- Integration branchfeature/*- New featuresrelease/*- Release preparationhotfix/*- Production fixes
Workflow:
# Start new feature
git checkout develop
git checkout -b feature/user-authentication
# Work on feature...
git add .
git commit -m "feat: add login form"
# Complete feature
git checkout develop
git merge --no-ff feature/user-authentication
git branch -d feature/user-authentication
# Prepare release
git checkout -b release/1.2.0 develop
# Bug fixes only...
git checkout main
git merge --no-ff release/1.2.0
git tag -a v1.2.0 -m "Release version 1.2.0"
git checkout develop
git merge --no-ff release/1.2.0
git branch -d release/1.2.0
# Hotfix
git checkout -b hotfix/1.2.1 main
# Fix critical bug...
git checkout main
git merge --no-ff hotfix/1.2.1
git tag -a v1.2.1 -m "Hotfix version 1.2.1"
git checkout develop
git merge --no-ff hotfix/1.2.1
git branch -d hotfix/1.2.1
GitHub Flow
Simpler workflow for continuous deployment:
# Create feature branch from main
git checkout main
git pull origin main
git checkout -b feature/add-search
# Make changes and commit
git add .
git commit -m "feat: implement search functionality"
# Push and create PR
git push -u origin feature/add-search
gh pr create --title "Add search functionality" --body "..."
# After review and CI passes
gh pr merge --squash
# Delete branch
git branch -d feature/add-search
Trunk-Based Development
For teams with strong CI/CD:
# Always work on main (or short-lived branches)
git checkout main
git pull origin main
# Short-lived branch (< 1 day)
git checkout -b improvement/optimize-query
# Small, frequent commits
git add .
git commit -m "perf: optimize user query with indexing"
# Merge quickly
git push origin improvement/optimize-query
# Create PR, get quick review, merge
Semantic Commit Messages
Conventional Commits Format
<type>(<scope>): <subject>
<body>
<footer>
Types
- feat: New feature
- fix: Bug fix
- docs: Documentation only
- style: Code style (formatting, missing semicolons)
- refactor: Code change that neither fixes bug nor adds feature
- perf: Performance improvement
- test: Adding or updating tests
- chore: Maintenance (dependencies, build config)
- ci: CI/CD changes
- revert: Reverting previous commit
Examples
Feature:
git commit -m "feat(auth): add JWT token authentication
Implement JWT-based authentication system with refresh tokens.
Tokens expire after 15 minutes and can be refreshed using the
/api/auth/refresh endpoint.
Closes #123"
Bug Fix:
git commit -m "fix(cart): prevent duplicate items in shopping cart
Users could add the same item multiple times. Added check to
increment quantity instead of creating duplicate entries.
Fixes #456"
Breaking Change:
git commit -m "feat(api)!: change user endpoint response format
BREAKING CHANGE: User API now returns snake_case instead of camelCase.
Update API clients to handle new format.
{
'user_id': 1,
'first_name': 'John'
}
Closes #789"
Performance:
git commit -m "perf(database): add index on user_id for orders table
Query time reduced from 2.3s to 0.15s for orders by user.
Added composite index on (user_id, created_at).
Closes #234"
Interactive Rebasing
Clean Up Commit History
# View last 5 commits
git log --oneline -5
# Interactive rebase
git rebase -i HEAD~5
# Editor opens:
pick a1b2c3d feat: add user model
pick e4f5g6h fix: typo in user model
pick i7j8k9l feat: add user validation
pick m0n1o2p refactor: improve validation
pick q3r4s5t docs: update user model docs
# Change to:
pick a1b2c3d feat: add user model
fixup e4f5g6h fix: typo in user model # Squash into previous
pick i7j8k9l feat: add user validation
fixup m0n1o2p refactor: improve validation
pick q3r4s5t docs: update user model docs
# Save and close editor
Reorder Commits
git rebase -i HEAD~3
# Change order in editor:
pick commit1
pick commit2
pick commit3
# To:
pick commit3 # Now first
pick commit1
pick commit2
Edit Commit Messages
git rebase -i HEAD~3
# Change 'pick' to 'reword':
reword a1b2c3d Old commit message
pick e4f5g6h Another commit
# Editor will open for each 'reword' commit
Pull Request Workflow
Creating a Pull Request
# 1. Create feature branch
git checkout -b feature/user-dashboard main
# 2. Make changes
git add .
git commit -m "feat(dashboard): add user statistics widget"
# 3. Push branch
git push -u origin feature/user-dashboard
# 4. Create PR (using GitHub CLI)
gh pr create \
--title "Add user dashboard with statistics" \
--body "$(cat <<'EOF'
## Summary
Implements user dashboard with statistics widget showing:
- Total orders
- Revenue
- Active sessions
## Changes
- New DashboardController
- Statistics calculation service
- Frontend components
## Testing
- Unit tests added
- Manual testing completed
- Screenshot attached
## Checklist
- [x] Tests added/updated
- [x] Documentation updated
- [x] No breaking changes
- [x] Follows code style
Closes #567
EOF
)"
# 5. Address review comments
git add .
git commit -m "fix(dashboard): address review comments"
git push
# 6. Merge after approval
gh pr merge --squash --delete-branch
Review Pull Requests
# Check out PR locally
gh pr checkout 123
# Run tests
npm test
# Review changes
git diff main...feature/user-dashboard
# Comment on PR
gh pr comment 123 --body "LGTM! Great work on the error handling."
# Request changes
gh pr review 123 --request-changes --body "Please add tests for error cases"
# Approve
gh pr review 123 --approve --body "Approved! Ready to merge."
Conflict Resolution
Merge Conflicts
# Attempt merge
git merge feature/new-feature
# Conflict!
# Auto-merging src/app.js
# CONFLICT (content): Merge conflict in src/app.js
# View conflicted files
git status
# Open file and resolve:
<<<<<<< HEAD
function oldImplementation() {
=======
function newImplementation() {
>>>>>>> feature/new-feature
# Choose one or combine:
function combinedImplementation() {
// Best of both
}
# Mark as resolved
git add src/app.js
# Complete merge
git commit -m "merge: resolve conflicts in app.js"
Rebase Conflicts
# Rebase onto main
git rebase main
# Conflict! Resolve file...
git add resolved-file.js
# Continue rebase
git rebase --continue
# Or abort if needed
git rebase --abort
Advanced Git Techniques
Cherry-Pick
# Apply specific commit from another branch
git cherry-pick a1b2c3d
# Cherry-pick without committing
git cherry-pick -n a1b2c3d
# Cherry-pick range
git cherry-pick a1b2c3d..e4f5g6h
Stash
# Save work in progress
git stash save "WIP: working on feature X"
# List stashes
git stash list
# Apply stash
git stash apply stash@{0}
# Apply and remove
git stash pop
# Create branch from stash
git stash branch feature/from-stash stash@{0}
Bisect
# Find commit that introduced bug
git bisect start
git bisect bad # Current commit is bad
git bisect good v1.0.0 # This version was good
# Git checks out middle commit
# Test and mark:
git bisect good # or git bisect bad
# Repeat until found
# Git will identify the bad commit
# End bisect
git bisect reset
Reflog
# View all ref changes (even after reset)
git reflog
# Recover lost commit
git reset --hard HEAD@{2}
# Recover deleted branch
git checkout -b recovered-branch HEAD@{5}
Integration Scripts
git_workflow_helper.sh
Git workflow automation:
#!/bin/bash
# Git workflow helper
ACTION=$1
BRANCH_NAME=$2
case $ACTION in
"feature")
if [ -z "$BRANCH_NAME" ]; then
echo "Usage: $0 feature <feature-name>"
exit 1
fi
git checkout main
git pull origin main
git checkout -b "feature/$BRANCH_NAME"
echo "Created feature branch: feature/$BRANCH_NAME"
;;
"pr")
CURRENT_BRANCH=$(git branch --show-current)
echo "Creating PR for $CURRENT_BRANCH..."
# Get commit messages for PR description
COMMITS=$(git log --oneline main..HEAD)
gh pr create \
--title "$(echo $CURRENT_BRANCH | sed 's/-/ /g' | sed 's/feature\///')" \
--body "$(cat <<EOF
## Changes
$COMMITS
## Checklist
- [ ] Tests added/updated
- [ ] Documentation updated
- [ ] No breaking changes
- [ ] Code review completed
EOF
)"
;;
"sync")
CURRENT_BRANCH=$(git branch --show-current)
echo "Syncing $CURRENT_BRANCH with main..."
git fetch origin
git merge origin/main
echo "Merged main into $CURRENT_BRANCH"
;;
"cleanup")
echo "Cleaning up merged branches..."
git fetch -p
git branch --merged main | grep -v "main\|master\|develop" | xargs git branch -d
echo "Cleanup complete"
;;
"status")
echo "=== Git Status Overview ==="
echo "Current branch: $(git branch --show-current)"
echo "Commits ahead of main: $(git rev-list --count main..HEAD)"
echo "Modified files: $(git status --short | wc -l)"
echo "Unpushed commits:"
git log --oneline @{u}..HEAD
;;
*)
echo "Usage: $0 {feature|pr|sync|cleanup|status} [args]"
echo ""
echo "Commands:"
echo " feature <name> - Create new feature branch"
echo " pr - Create pull request"
echo " sync - Sync current branch with main"
echo " cleanup - Delete merged branches"
echo " status - Show git status overview"
;;
esac
commit_validator.sh
Validate commit messages:
#!/bin/bash
# Commit message validator (Git hook)
commit_msg_file=$1
commit_msg=$(cat "$commit_msg_file")
# Conventional commit pattern
pattern="^(feat|fix|docs|style|refactor|perf|test|chore|ci|revert)(\(.+\))?: .{1,50}"
if ! echo "$commit_msg" | grep -qE "$pattern"; then
echo "❌ Invalid commit message format!"
echo ""
echo "Format: <type>(<scope>): <subject>"
echo ""
echo "Types: feat, fix, docs, style, refactor, perf, test, chore, ci, revert"
echo ""
echo "Example: feat(auth): add JWT authentication"
exit 1
fi
echo "✅ Commit message valid"
exit 0
Install Git Hooks
# Copy to .git/hooks/commit-msg
cp commit_validator.sh .git/hooks/commit-msg
chmod +x .git/hooks/commit-msg
# Or use husky (Node.js)
npm install --save-dev husky
npx husky install
npx husky add .git/hooks/commit-msg 'npx --no -- commitlint --edit $1'
Best Practices
- Commit Often: Small, atomic commits
- Write Clear Messages: Follow conventional commits
- Pull Before Push: Avoid conflicts
- Review Before Merging: Always use PRs
- Keep Branches Short-Lived: Merge within days
- Don't Commit Secrets: Use .gitignore
- Tag Releases: Use semantic versioning
- Clean History: Rebase/squash before merging
- Test Before Pushing: Run tests locally
- Document Decisions: Use commit messages
.gitignore Best Practices
# Environment
.env
.env.local
.env.*.local
# Dependencies
node_modules/
venv/
__pycache__/
*.pyc
# Build output
dist/
build/
*.log
# IDE
.vscode/
.idea/
*.swp
# OS
.DS_Store
Thumbs.db
# Secrets
*.pem
*.key
config/secrets.json
# Test coverage
coverage/
.coverage
htmlcov/
Requirements
# GitHub CLI
brew install gh
# Or: https://cli.github.com/
# Commitlint (Node.js)
npm install --save-dev @commitlint/cli @commitlint/config-conventional
# Git extras
brew install git-extras
Metrics to Track
- Commit frequency: Daily commits
- PR merge time: < 2 days
- Branch lifetime: < 1 week
- Conflict rate: Minimize
- Code review coverage: 100%
- CI/CD success rate: > 95%