Gitflow Workflow

A structured branching model for managing releases.

Branch Types

Branch	Purpose	Lifetime
main	Production code	Permanent
develop	Development integration	Permanent
feature/*	New features	Temporary
release/*	Release preparation	Temporary
hotfix/*	Urgent fixes	Temporary

The Model

main:     o-----------o-------o
          |           |       |
hotfix:   |           |    h--h
          |           |
release:  |        r--r
          |       /    \
develop:  o--o---o------o---o
             |         /
feature:     f---f---f

Practice Gitflow

Feature Branches

Start from develop:

git checkout develop
git checkout -b feature/new-feature
# ... work ...
git checkout develop
git merge feature/new-feature
git branch -d feature/new-feature

Release Branches

Prepare for release:

git checkout develop
git checkout -b release/v1.0.0
# ... final testing, version bump ...
git checkout main
git merge release/v1.0.0
git tag v1.0.0
git checkout develop
git merge release/v1.0.0
git branch -d release/v1.0.0

Hotfix Branches

Fix production issues:

git checkout main
git checkout -b hotfix/security-fix
# ... fix the issue ...
git checkout main
git merge hotfix/security-fix
git tag v1.0.1
git checkout develop
git merge hotfix/security-fix
git branch -d hotfix/security-fix

Gitflow Commands

Using git-flow extension:

# Initialize
git flow init

# Features
git flow feature start new-feature
git flow feature finish new-feature

# Releases
git flow release start v1.0.0
git flow release finish v1.0.0

# Hotfixes
git flow hotfix start fix-name
git flow hotfix finish fix-name

When to Use Gitflow

Good for:

• Scheduled release cycles
• Multiple versions in production
• Large teams with clear release process

Not ideal for:

• Continuous deployment
• Small teams
• Rapid iteration

Exercise: Set Up Develop Branch

Create the develop branch from main: