CrossComm git-flow cheatsheet

Start a feature

99% of work happens on feature branches.

Always start by switching to the develop branch, pulling down all updates and creating your branch:

$ git checkout develop

$ git pull

$ git checkout -b feature/my-feature-name

Feature commits

When working on your feature, make commits to this branch. Push them to GitHub.

$ git add -p

$ git commit

$ git push

Feature review

Have your team review your code by creating a Pull Request.

• Merge target is 'develop'
• Assign to everyone who can review.
• Link the PR in your project's Slack channel.

$ gh pr create --base develop

Finish the feature

• Use Github PR buttons.
• Verify you're merging into 'develop'
• Delete feature branches after merging.

When everything is merged, sync your local git repository:

$ git fetch -p

$ git checkout develop

$ git pull

Start a release

Always branch from the desired commits on 'develop' (probably the most recent).

Use semver version naming convention for releases.

$ git checkout develop

$ git pull

$ git checkout -b release/v1.0.31

Release commits

Commits can be made on a release branch, but they must be limited to work specifically for preparing a release (bug fixes, documentation updates, version string updates)

$ git add -p

$ git commit

$ git push

Finish a release

Finishing a release is one of the bigger steps in git-flow. It is important to merge the release into 'main' and into 'develop'. This is also where we tag the release. Start by creating a pull request from the release to main.

Initiate a new pull request on Github. From release/v1.0.31 to 'main'.

$ gh pr create --head release/v1.0.31 --base main

Review the changes and merge using the github PR merge buttons.

Tag the release

$ git checkout main

$ git pull

$ git tag v1.0.31

$ git push origin --tags

Create a PR to merge release/v1.0.31 onto 'develop'.

$ gh pr create --head release/v1.0.31 --base develop

After merging into 'develop' AND 'main' the release branch can be deleted.

Start a hotfix

A Hotfix works just like a release, except it's branched off main and merges back into main.

$ git checkout main

$ git pull

$ git checkout -b hotfix/my-emergency-fixes

$ git push

$ // commit and push...