Git Workflow Guide

Git Workflow Guide

Purpose

Provide comprehensive guidance on:

• Git branching strategies
• Collaboration workflows
• Merge vs rebase decisions
• Conflict resolution
• Git best practices

When to Use

Invoke this skill when:

• Setting up a new project's git workflow
• User asks about branching strategy
• Resolving merge conflicts
• Deciding between merge, rebase, or squash
• Onboarding team members to git practices
• Troubleshooting git issues

Instructions

Step 1: Understand the Context

Determine:

1. Team size: Solo, small team (2-5), medium (6-20), large (20+)
2. Release cadence: Continuous, weekly, monthly, versioned
3. Collaboration style: Individual, pair programming, code review
4. Project maturity: New, active development, maintenance mode

Step 2: Recommend Workflow

Choose appropriate workflow based on context:

For Solo Developers

• Simple trunk-based: Main branch + feature branches
• Minimal overhead
• Quick iterations

For Small Teams (2-5)

• GitHub Flow: Main + feature branches
• Pull requests for review
• Deploy from main

For Medium Teams (6-20)

• Git Flow: Main, develop, feature, release, hotfix branches
• Structured release process
• Clear separation of concerns

For Large Teams/Complex Projects

• Trunk-Based Development: Short-lived feature branches
• Feature flags for incomplete features
• Continuous integration focus

Step 3: Provide Specific Guidance

Based on the user's question, provide detailed guidance on:

• Branch naming conventions
• Commit strategies
• Merge/rebase best practices
• Code review process
• Release management

Branching Strategies

GitHub Flow (Recommended for Most)

Branches:

• main: Always deployable, production code
• feature/*: Short-lived feature branches

Workflow:

# 1. Create feature branch from main
git checkout main
git pull origin main
git checkout -b feature/user-authentication

# 2. Make changes and commit
git add .
git commit -m "feat(auth): add login functionality"

# 3. Push and create pull request
git push -u origin feature/user-authentication

# 4. After review, merge to main
# (Usually done via PR interface)

# 5. Delete feature branch
git branch -d feature/user-authentication

Best for:

• Continuous deployment
• Small to medium teams
• Web applications
• Projects with simple release cycles

Git Flow (Detailed Release Process)

Branches:

• main: Production-ready code
• develop: Integration branch for features
• feature/*: New features
• release/*: Release preparation
• hotfix/*: Emergency fixes

Workflow:

# Feature development
git checkout develop
git checkout -b feature/shopping-cart
# ... make changes ...
git checkout develop
git merge --no-ff feature/shopping-cart

# Release preparation
git checkout -b release/1.2.0 develop
# ... version bumps, final testing ...
git checkout main
git merge --no-ff release/1.2.0
git tag -a v1.2.0
git checkout develop
git merge --no-ff 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
git checkout develop
git merge --no-ff hotfix/1.2.1

Best for:

• Scheduled releases
• Multiple versions in production
• Complex projects with strict release processes
• Enterprise applications

Trunk-Based Development (High-Velocity Teams)

Branches:

• main: The trunk, always deployable
• feature/*: Very short-lived (< 2 days)

Workflow:

# Create short-lived branch
git checkout -b feature/quick-fix

# Small, frequent commits
git commit -m "feat: add validation"
git commit -m "test: add validation tests"

# Merge quickly (same day or next)
git checkout main
git pull --rebase origin main
git merge feature/quick-fix
git push origin main

Key practices:

• Feature flags for incomplete features
• Frequent integration (multiple times per day)
• Strong CI/CD pipeline
• Comprehensive automated testing

Best for:

• High-performing teams
• Continuous deployment
• Large projects with many contributors
• Microservices architectures

Branch Naming Conventions

Feature Branches

feature/user-authentication
feature/add-shopping-cart
feature/implement-search
feat/user-profile-page

Bug Fixes

fix/login-timeout
fix/memory-leak-in-parser
bugfix/null-pointer-exception

Hotfixes

hotfix/security-patch
hotfix/critical-data-loss

Release Branches

release/1.2.0
release/2024-03-15
release/sprint-42

Chore/Maintenance

chore/upgrade-dependencies
chore/update-documentation
refactor/extract-validation-logic

Merge vs Rebase Decision Guide

Use Merge When:

✅ Merging feature branch into main/develop ✅ Preserving complete history is important ✅ Working on public/shared branches ✅ Multiple people worked on the branch

git checkout main
git merge --no-ff feature/user-auth

Pros: Preserves history, safe, easy to understand Cons: Creates merge commits, more complex history

Use Rebase When:

✅ Updating feature branch with latest main ✅ Cleaning up local commits before PR ✅ Want linear history ✅ Working on personal branch

git checkout feature/user-auth
git rebase main

Pros: Clean linear history, no merge commits Cons: Rewrites history, can be dangerous on shared branches

Use Squash Merge When:

✅ Merging PR with many small commits ✅ Want one commit per feature ✅ Cleanup experimental commits

git merge --squash feature/user-auth
git commit -m "feat(auth): add complete user authentication"

Pros: Clean main history, one commit per feature Cons: Loses granular history

Golden Rules

DO:

✅ Commit early and often (on feature branches) ✅ Write meaningful commit messages ✅ Pull before you push ✅ Keep commits atomic (one logical change) ✅ Test before committing ✅ Use branches for all changes ✅ Delete merged branches

DON'T:

❌ Commit directly to main/develop ❌ Force push to shared branches ❌ Commit large binary files ❌ Mix multiple concerns in one commit ❌ Commit broken code ❌ Rewrite public history ❌ Ignore merge conflicts

Common Workflows

Daily Development Workflow

# Morning: Start fresh
git checkout main
git pull origin main
git checkout -b feature/new-feature

# During day: Commit frequently
git add src/component.ts
git commit -m "feat: add user component"
git add tests/component.test.ts
git commit -m "test: add component tests"

# End of day: Push work
git push -u origin feature/new-feature

# Next day: Update with latest main
git checkout main
git pull origin main
git checkout feature/new-feature
git rebase main  # or merge main

# When done: Create PR
# (via GitHub/GitLab interface)

# After merge: Cleanup
git checkout main
git pull origin main
git branch -d feature/new-feature

Conflict Resolution Workflow

# When merge conflict occurs
git merge feature/other-feature
# CONFLICT (content): Merge conflict in src/app.ts

# Option 1: Use merge tool
git mergetool

# Option 2: Edit manually
# Edit src/app.ts, resolve conflicts
git add src/app.ts
git commit -m "merge: resolve conflicts from feature/other-feature"

# Option 3: Abort and try differently
git merge --abort
git rebase feature/other-feature  # Try rebase instead

Hotfix Workflow

# Emergency fix needed in production
git checkout main
git checkout -b hotfix/critical-security-fix

# Make minimal fix
git add security/auth.ts
git commit -m "fix(security): patch XSS vulnerability"

# Test thoroughly
npm test

# Merge to main
git checkout main
git merge --no-ff hotfix/critical-security-fix
git tag -a v1.2.1 -m "Security hotfix"
git push origin main --tags

# Also merge to develop
git checkout develop
git merge --no-ff hotfix/critical-security-fix
git push origin develop

# Deploy immediately
git branch -d hotfix/critical-security-fix

Best Practices by Team Size

Solo Developer

• Keep it simple: main + feature branches
• Commit often, push less frequently
• Use tags for releases
• Consider squash merging for cleaner history

Small Team (2-5)

• GitHub Flow
• Required pull request reviews (at least 1)
• CI checks must pass
• Delete branches after merge
• Regular sync meetings

Medium Team (6-20)

• Git Flow or GitHub Flow
• Code owners for critical paths
• Automated testing required
• Branch protection rules
• Release branches for scheduled releases

Large Team (20+)

• Trunk-based development
• Feature flags
• Strong CI/CD
• Automated code review (linters, etc.)
• Clear contribution guidelines

Troubleshooting Guide

"I committed to the wrong branch"

# Move last commit to new branch
git branch feature/correct-branch
git reset HEAD~ --hard
git checkout feature/correct-branch

"I need to undo my last commit"

# Keep changes, undo commit
git reset HEAD~

# Discard changes too
git reset HEAD~ --hard

"I need to change my last commit message"

git commit --amend -m "New commit message"

"I want to add more changes to last commit"

git add forgotten-file.ts
git commit --amend --no-edit

"My branch is behind main"

git checkout feature/my-branch
git merge main
# or
git rebase main

"I have merge conflicts"

# See conflicted files
git status

# Edit conflicts in files
# Look for <<<<<<, ======, >>>>>>

# Mark as resolved
git add resolved-file.ts
git commit

Output Format for Recommendations

When providing workflow guidance:

## Recommended Workflow: [Name]

**Best for your situation because:**
- [Reason 1]
- [Reason 2]

**Branch structure:**
- [Branch type]: [Purpose]

**Step-by-step:**
1. [Step]
2. [Step]

**Key commands:**
```bash
[Command examples]

Tips:

• [Tip 1]
• [Tip 2]

## Related Skills

- `commit-message-generator`: For writing better commits
- `pr-description-generator`: For pull requests
- `conflict-resolver`: For handling merge conflicts
- `git-history-cleaner`: For cleaning up history before PR

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