Git Workflow - Git Flow Pattern

Branch Structure

• main - Production-ready code only. Tagged releases.
• dev - Integration branch. All features merge here first.
• feature/* - Individual features. Branch from dev, merge back to dev.

Common Operations

Start a New Feature

git checkout dev
git pull origin dev
git checkout -b feature/my-feature

Work on Feature

# Make changes
git add .
git commit -m "Descriptive message"
git push origin feature/my-feature  # Optional: backup to remote

Complete Feature (Merge to Dev)

git checkout dev
git pull origin dev
git merge feature/my-feature
git push origin dev

Release to Production

# Only when dev is stable and ready for release
git checkout main
git pull origin main
git merge dev
git tag -a v0.x.x -m "Release version 0.x.x"
git push origin main --tags

Keep Dev in Sync with Main (Hotfixes)

# If hotfix was applied directly to main
git checkout dev
git merge main
git push origin dev

Rules

1. Never commit directly to main - only merge from dev
2. All features start from dev - not from main
3. Test thoroughly on dev before merging to main
4. Tag all releases on main with semantic versioning
5. Delete feature branches after merging to keep repo clean