Git Feature Branch Workflow and Cheat Sheet

 

Git Feature Branch Cheat Sheet

Quick reference for a production-grade feature-branch workflow: commands, naming, conventions, and best practices — copy/paste into your docs or blog.

Branching model (common)

main — Production-ready, always stable.
develop (optional) — integration before staging.
feature/... — short-lived feature or bugfix branches.
release/ — final testing and prep for production.
hotfix/ — urgent fixes applied to main.

Common commands (step-by-step)

# sync with remote main
git checkout main
git pull origin main

# create feature branch (name using prefix/short-desc)
git checkout -b feature/add-user-auth

# stage & commit changes
git add .
git commit -m "feat(auth): add login API with Supabase integration"

# push branch to remote
git push -u origin feature/add-user-auth

# keep your branch up-to-date (merge or rebase)
git fetch origin
git rebase origin/main   # (or: git merge origin/main)

# delete local & remote branch after merge
git branch -d feature/add-user-auth
git push origin --delete feature/add-user-auth
    

Pull Requests & Merging

1. Open a PR from feature/… → main (or develop).
2. Ensure CI passes (unit + integration + e2e as configured).
3. Request 1–2 reviews, address comments, squash/rebase if needed.
4. Merge using GitHub’s "Merge" (merge commit), "Squash and merge", or "Rebase and merge" per team policy.

Naming conventions

Branch prefixes: feature/, fix/, chore/, hotfix/.
Example: feature/add-user-auth

Commit message style (Conventional Commits)

(scope?): short description

# examples
feat(auth): add login API with Supabase
fix(profile): correct avatar upload path
chore(ci): speed up GitHub Actions cache
    

Repo layout (monorepo example)

repo-root/
├── apps/
│   ├── web/        # Next.js frontend
│   ├── mobile/     # React Native / Expo
│   └── admin/      # Admin dashboard
├── packages/
│   ├── ui/         # shared UI components
│   ├── db/         # migrations & schema
│   └── config/     # shared config & env helpers
├── .github/        # CI workflows (GitHub Actions)
├── supabase/       # Supabase migrations & seed scripts
├── package.json
└── README.md
    

Best practices & tips

• Keep feature branches small and focused — aim for quick reviews.
• Run tests locally before pushing; CI should run full test suite.
• Version database migrations and test them in staging before production.
• Use protected branches for main (require PR reviews, passing CI).
• Prefer draft PRs to share early progress without blocking reviewers.
• Rebase interactively to keep history clean when appropriate (git rebase -i).
• Have rollback plans for code and DB migrations (down-scripts or reversible migrations).

Quick aliases (optional)

# add to ~/.gitconfig under [alias]
co = checkout
br = branch
ci = commit
st = status
undo = reset --soft HEAD~1
    

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