Managing Git
Best practices for version control, branching strategies, and collaborative development.
When to Use This Skill
- Setting up branching strategies
- Writing commit messages
- Handling merges and conflicts
- Managing releases
- Code review workflows
- Maintaining clean history
Branching Strategies
Git Flow
main ─────●─────────────────────●─────────────────●────▶
\ / /
release \───────●─────────● /
\ /
develop ───────●───────●───────●──────●───────●────────▶
\ \ \ \
feature \───────●───────● \───●───●
\ \
hotfix \ \───●────▶ main
| Branch |
Purpose |
Branches From |
Merges Into |
main |
Production code |
- |
- |
develop |
Integration |
main |
release |
feature/* |
New features |
develop |
develop |
release/* |
Release prep |
develop |
main, develop |
hotfix/* |
Production fixes |
main |
main, develop |
Use when: Scheduled releases, multiple versions supported
GitHub Flow
main ─────●─────●─────●─────●─────●────▶
\ / \ / \ /
feature ●─● ●─● ●─●
PR PR PR
| Branch |
Purpose |
main |
Always deployable |
feature/* |
All changes (features, fixes) |
Use when: Continuous deployment, simple workflow
Trunk-Based Development
main ─────●──●──●──●──●──●──●──●──●──●────▶
│ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │
● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●
Small, frequent commits (often direct to main)
Use when: High trust teams, strong CI/CD, frequent deploys
Commit Message Conventions
Conventional Commits
<type>(<scope>): <subject>
<body>
<footer>
Types
| Type |
Description |
Example |
feat |
New feature |
feat(auth): add OAuth2 login |
fix |
Bug fix |
fix(api): handle null response |
docs |
Documentation |
docs(readme): update setup steps |
style |
Formatting |
style: fix indentation |
refactor |
Code restructuring |
refactor(db): simplify query builder |
test |
Adding tests |
test(user): add registration tests |
chore |
Maintenance |
chore(deps): update lodash |
perf |
Performance |
perf(search): add index on email |
ci |
CI/CD changes |
ci: add Node 18 to matrix |
Good vs Bad Commits
BAD:
- "fix"
- "update code"
- "WIP"
- "changes"
- "asdfasdf"
GOOD:
- "fix(auth): prevent session timeout on idle"
- "feat(cart): add quantity validation"
- "refactor(api): extract common error handling"
Commit Body Guidelines
fix(payment): prevent double charge on retry
The payment gateway timeout was causing the retry logic to submit
duplicate charges. Added idempotency key to prevent double-processing.
Closes #1234
- First line: 50 chars max, imperative mood
- Body: Wrap at 72 chars, explain why, not what
- Footer: Reference issues, breaking changes
Branch Naming Conventions
Pattern
<type>/<ticket>-<short-description>
Examples
| Type |
Example |
| Feature |
feature/AUTH-123-add-oauth-login |
| Bugfix |
fix/CART-456-quantity-validation |
| Hotfix |
hotfix/PROD-789-memory-leak |
| Chore |
chore/update-dependencies |
| Docs |
docs/api-documentation |
Branch Rules
- Lowercase with hyphens
- Include ticket number when available
- Keep short but descriptive
- Delete after merge
Git Workflow Commands
Daily Workflow
# Start new feature
git checkout main
git pull origin main
git checkout -b feature/AUTH-123-add-login
# Work on feature
git add -p # Stage hunks interactively
git commit -m "feat(auth): add login form"
# Keep up to date
git fetch origin
git rebase origin/main # Preferred: clean history
# OR
git merge origin/main # Alternative: preserves context
# Push and create PR
git push -u origin feature/AUTH-123-add-login
Useful Commands
| Command |
Purpose |
git stash |
Save uncommitted changes temporarily |
git stash pop |
Restore stashed changes |
git commit --amend |
Modify last commit |
git rebase -i HEAD~3 |
Interactive rebase (squash, reorder) |
git cherry-pick <sha> |
Apply specific commit |
git bisect |
Binary search for bug introduction |
git reflog |
View all HEAD movements (recovery) |
Cleanup Commands
# Delete merged branches locally
git branch --merged | grep -v main | xargs git branch -d
# Prune remote tracking branches
git fetch --prune
# Clean untracked files (careful!)
git clean -fd
Handling Conflicts
Conflict Resolution Flow
1. Identify conflicts
git status
2. Open conflicted files
<<<<<<< HEAD
your changes
=======
their changes
>>>>>>> feature-branch
3. Resolve (keep one, combine, or rewrite)
4. Mark resolved
git add <resolved-file>
5. Continue
git rebase --continue # if rebasing
git commit # if merging
Prevention Strategies
- Small, frequent merges - Reduce conflict scope
- Communication - Coordinate on shared files
- Feature flags - Reduce long-lived branches
- Clear ownership - Minimize overlapping work
Pull Request Best Practices
PR Checklist
PR Size Guidelines
| Size |
Lines Changed |
Review Time |
Recommendation |
| Small |
1-100 |
15 min |
Ideal |
| Medium |
100-400 |
30-60 min |
Acceptable |
| Large |
400+ |
1+ hour |
Split if possible |
PR Description Template
## Summary
Brief description of changes
## Changes
- Added X
- Modified Y
- Removed Z
## Testing
- [ ] Unit tests added
- [ ] Manual testing done
## Screenshots (if applicable)
[Before/After images]
## Related Issues
Closes #123
Release Management
Semantic Versioning
MAJOR.MINOR.PATCH
│ │ │
│ │ └── Bug fixes (backward compatible)
│ └── New features (backward compatible)
└── Breaking changes
Release Process
# Create release branch
git checkout -b release/v1.2.0 develop
# Bump version, update changelog
# ... make changes ...
# Merge to main and tag
git checkout main
git merge release/v1.2.0
git tag -a v1.2.0 -m "Release v1.2.0"
git push origin main --tags
# Merge back to develop
git checkout develop
git merge release/v1.2.0
Changelog Format
# Changelog
## [1.2.0] - 2024-01-15
### Added
- OAuth2 authentication support
### Changed
- Improved error messages
### Fixed
- Memory leak in cache handler
### Deprecated
- Old authentication method (use OAuth2)
### Removed
- Legacy API v1 endpoints
Git Hooks
Common Hooks
| Hook |
Timing |
Use Case |
pre-commit |
Before commit |
Linting, formatting |
commit-msg |
After message |
Validate message format |
pre-push |
Before push |
Run tests |
post-merge |
After merge |
Install dependencies |
Example pre-commit
#!/bin/sh
# .git/hooks/pre-commit
# Run linter
npm run lint
if [ $? -ne 0 ]; then
echo "Linting failed. Please fix errors."
exit 1
fi
# Run tests
npm test
if [ $? -ne 0 ]; then
echo "Tests failed. Please fix before committing."
exit 1
fi
Using Husky (Node.js)
// package.json
{
"husky": {
"hooks": {
"pre-commit": "lint-staged",
"commit-msg": "commitlint -E HUSKY_GIT_PARAMS"
}
}
}
Troubleshooting
Common Issues
| Problem |
Solution |
| Accidental commit to main |
git reset HEAD~1 (before push) |
| Wrong branch |
git stash, switch, git stash pop |
| Need to undo merge |
git revert -m 1 <merge-commit> |
| Lost commits |
git reflog to find, git cherry-pick |
| Large file committed |
git filter-branch or BFG Repo-Cleaner |
Recovery Commands
# Undo last commit (keep changes)
git reset --soft HEAD~1
# Undo last commit (discard changes)
git reset --hard HEAD~1
# Recover deleted branch
git reflog
git checkout -b recovered-branch <sha>
# Undo a pushed commit (safe)
git revert <sha>
Anti-Patterns to Avoid
- Force pushing to shared branches - Breaks others' history
- Giant commits - Hard to review, hard to bisect
- Vague commit messages - "fix" tells nothing
- Long-lived branches - Merge conflict hell
- Committing generated files - Bloats repo, causes conflicts
- Committing secrets - Security risk (even after removal)
- Rebasing public history - Breaks collaborators
- Ignoring CI failures - Broken windows effect
Quick Reference
BRANCHES:
main → Production (protected)
develop → Integration (Git Flow)
feature/* → New work
fix/* → Bug fixes
hotfix/* → Production emergencies
COMMITS:
feat(scope): add feature
fix(scope): fix bug
docs(scope): update docs
refactor(scope): restructure code
DAILY FLOW:
git checkout -b feature/ticket-desc
git add -p && git commit
git rebase origin/main
git push -u origin feature/ticket-desc
VERSIONING:
MAJOR.MINOR.PATCH
Breaking.Feature.Bugfix
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