Collaboration Workflow

A Git workflow is a set of rules for how a team uses branches. Think of it like traffic rules — everyone follows the same pattern to avoid crashes.

Best for: Small teams, simple projects

# 1. Create a branch for each feature/fix
git checkout -b feature-add-search

# 2. Work and commit
git add .
git commit -m "Add search bar"

# 3. Push and create PR
git push -u origin feature-add-search

# 4. After PR is approved and merged, delete the branch
git checkout main
git pull
git branch -d feature-add-search

Rules:

• Never commit directly to main
• One branch per feature or bug fix
• All changes go through PR review

Best for: Larger teams, released software

main ──▶ v1.0 ──▶ v1.1 ──▶ v2.0
          │
develop ──┼─────────▶ Next release
          │              │
feature ──┼──────────────┴──▶ Feature work
          │
release ──┴──▶ v1.0-rc ──▶ v1.0 (hotfix branch)

Branches in Git Flow:

Best for: CI/CD, DevOps teams, frequent deployments

# 1. Branch from main
git checkout -b feat-42

# 2. Small, frequent commits
git add .
git commit -m "Add endpoint"
git push origin feat-42

# 3. Open PR immediately (even if WIP)
# 4. Merge quickly (within hours, not days)
# 5. Delete branch

Rules:

• Branches live less than a day
• Small commits and PRs
• Feature flags hide incomplete work
• Continuous integration runs on every push
• Merge to main multiple times per day

Recommendation: Start with Feature Branch. It’s simple and works for most teams.

• Feature Branch — one branch per feature, all go through PR to main (simple)
• Git Flow — structured branches for develop, release, hotfix (complex, for releases)
• Trunk-based — short-lived branches, merge to main multiple times daily (modern CI/CD)
• Start simple (feature branches), add complexity as your team grows
• Never commit directly to main — always use branches + PRs