Git workflow patterns including branching strategies, commit conventions, merge vs rebase, conflict resolution, and collaborative development best practices for teams of all sizes. Use when choosing a branching strategy, writing commit conventions, deciding merge versus rebase, or resolving conflict

Git Workflow Patterns Best practices for Git version control, branching strategies, and collaborative development. When to Activate Setting up Git workflow for a new project Deciding on branching strategy (GitFlow, trunk based, GitHub flow) Writing commit messages and PR descriptions Resolving merge conflicts Managing releases and version tags Onboarding new team members to Git practices Branching Strategies GitHub Flow (Simple, Recommended for Most) Best for continuous deployment and small to medium teams. Rules: main is always deployable Create feature branches from main Open Pull Request when ready for review After approval and CI passes, merge to main Deploy immediately after merge Trunk Based Development (High Velocity Teams) Best for teams with strong CI/CD and feature flags. Rules: Everyone commits to main or very short lived branches Feature flags hide incomplete work CI must pass before merge Deploy multiple times per day GitFlow (Complex, Release Cycle Driven) Best for scheduled releases and enterprise projects. Rules: main contains production ready code only develop is the integration branch Feature branches from develop , merge back to develop Release branches from develop , merge to main and develop Hotfix branches from main , merge to both main and develop When to Use Which Strategy Team Size Release Cadence Best For GitHub Flow Any Continuous SaaS, web apps, startups Trunk Based 5+ experienced Multiple/day High velocity teams, feature flags GitFlow 10+ Scheduled Enterprise, regulated industries Commit Messages Conventional Commits Format Types Type Use For Example feat New feature feat(auth): add OAuth2 login fix Bug fix fix(api): handle null response in user endpoint docs Documentation docs(readme): update installation instructions style Formatting, no code change style: fix indentation in login component refactor Code refactoring refactor(db): extract connection pool to module test Adding/updating tests test(auth): add unit tests for token validation chore Maintenance tasks chore(deps): update dependencies perf Performance improvement perf(query): add index to users table ci CI/CD changes ci: add PostgreSQL service to test workflow revert Revert previous commit revert: revert "feat(auth): add OAuth2 login" Good vs Bad Examples Commit Message Template Create .gitmessage in repo root: Enable with: git config commit.template .gitmessage Merge vs Rebase Merge (Preserves History) Use when: Merging feature branches into main You want to preserve exact history Multiple people worked on the branch The branch has been pushed and others may have based work on it Rebase (Linear History) Use when: Updating your local feature branch with latest main You want a linear, clean history The branch is local only (not pushed) You're the only one working on the branch Rebase Workflow When NOT to Rebase Pull Request Workflow PR Title Format PR Description Template Code Review Checklist For Reviewers: [ ] Does the code solve the stated problem? [ ] Are there any edge cases not handled? [ ] Is the code readable and maintainable? [ ] Are there sufficient tests? [ ] Are there security concerns? [ ] Is the commit history clean (squashed if needed)? For Authors: [ ] Self review completed before requesting review [ ] CI passes (tests, lint, typecheck) [ ] PR size is reasonable (<500 lines ideal) [ ] Related to a single feature/fix [ ] Description clearly explains the change Conflict Resolution Identify Conflicts Resolve Conflicts Conflict Prevention Strategies Branch Management Naming Conventions Branch Cleanup Stash Workflow Release Management Semantic Versioning Creating Releases Changelog Generation Git Configuration Essential Configs Useful Aliases Gitignore Patterns Common Workflows Starting a New Feature Updating a PR with New Changes Syncing Fork with Upstream Undoing Mistakes Git Hooks Pre Commit Hook Pre Push Hook Anti Patterns Quick Reference Task Command Create branch git checkout b feature/name Switch branch git checkout branch name Delete branch git branch d branch name Merge branch git merge branch name Rebase branch git rebase main View history git log oneline graph View changes git diff Stage changes git add . or git add p Commit git commit m "message" Push git push origin branch name Pull git pull origin branch name Stash git stash push m "message" Undo last commit git reset soft HEAD~1 Revert commit git revert HEAD

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