git-workflow

Git Workflow Best Practices

Purpose

This skill provides guidance on Git workflow best practices to ensure clean commit history, effective collaboration, and maintainable version control in your projects.

When to Use This Skill

Auto-activates when:

Mentions of "git", "commit", "branch", "merge", "pull request"
Working with version control operations
Creating or reviewing commits
Managing branches and releases

Commit Messages

Conventional Commits Format

Follow the Conventional Commits specification:

<type>(<scope>): <subject>

<body>

<footer>

Types:

feat: New feature
fix: Bug fix
docs: Documentation only
style: Code style changes (formatting, no logic change)
refactor: Code refactoring (no feature or bug fix)
perf: Performance improvements
test: Adding or updating tests
build: Build system or dependency changes
ci: CI/CD configuration changes
chore: Other changes (tooling, maintenance)

Examples:

feat(auth): add OAuth2 authentication support

Implement OAuth2 authentication flow using the authorization
code grant type. Supports Google and GitHub providers.

Closes #123

fix(api): handle null response from database query

Previously, null responses would cause the API to crash.
Now returns 404 with appropriate error message.

Fixes #456

Commit Message Best Practices

Use imperative mood in subject line: "Add feature" not "Added feature"
Keep subject line under 50 characters
Capitalize subject line
No period at end of subject line
Separate subject from body with blank line
Wrap body at 72 characters
Explain what and why, not how
Reference issues/tickets in footer

Branching Strategy

Branch Naming Convention

Use descriptive, hierarchical branch names:

<type>/<issue-number>-<short-description>

Examples:

feature/123-oauth-authentication
fix/456-null-pointer-crash
docs/789-api-documentation
refactor/321-simplify-parser
hotfix/999-security-vulnerability

Git Flow Strategy

Common branching model:

main (production)
  ├── develop (integration)
  │   ├── feature/123-new-feature
  │   ├── feature/456-another-feature
  │   └── fix/789-bug-fix
  ├── release/1.2.0
  └── hotfix/critical-security-fix

Branch purposes:

main: Production-ready code
develop: Integration branch for features
feature/*: New features
fix/*: Bug fixes
release/*: Release preparation
hotfix/*: Critical production fixes

Branch Management

Creating a feature branch:

git checkout develop
git pull origin develop
git checkout -b feature/123-new-feature

Keeping branch up to date:

git checkout develop
git pull origin develop
git checkout feature/123-new-feature
git rebase develop

Cleaning up merged branches:

git branch -d feature/123-new-feature  # Local
git push origin --delete feature/123-new-feature  # Remote

Pull Requests

Pull Request Description Template

## Summary
Brief description of what this PR does and why.

## Changes
- Add new authentication module
- Update user model with OAuth fields
- Add tests for OAuth flow

## Testing
- [ ] Unit tests pass
- [ ] Integration tests pass
- [ ] Manual testing completed

## Related Issues
Closes #123
Relates to #456

## Checklist
- [ ] Code follows project style guidelines
- [ ] Self-review completed
- [ ] Documentation updated
- [ ] Tests added/updated
- [ ] All tests passing

PR Best Practices

Keep PRs small and focused: One feature/fix per PR
Write clear descriptions: Explain what, why, and how
Self-review before requesting review: Catch obvious issues
Add tests: Every PR should include relevant tests
Update documentation: Keep docs in sync with code
Respond to feedback promptly: Address review comments quickly

Common Operations

Amending Last Commit

# Add changes to previous commit
git add .
git commit --amend --no-edit

# Update commit message
git commit --amend -m "Updated commit message"

Warning: Only amend commits that haven't been pushed!

Interactive Rebase

Clean up commit history:

git rebase -i HEAD~3  # Last 3 commits

Commands:

pick: Keep commit as-is
reword: Change commit message
squash: Combine with previous commit
fixup: Like squash, but discard message
drop: Remove commit

Stashing Changes

# Save changes
git stash push -m "WIP: working on feature"

# List stashes
git stash list

# Apply and remove latest stash
git stash pop

# Apply specific stash
git stash apply stash@{0}

Cherry-Picking Commits

git cherry-pick <commit-hash>

# Multiple commits
git cherry-pick <commit-hash1> <commit-hash2>

# Range of commits
git cherry-pick <start-hash>^..<end-hash>

Undoing Changes

Discard uncommitted changes:

git restore <file>          # Unstaged changes
git restore --staged <file> # Staged changes
git reset --hard HEAD       # All changes (DESTRUCTIVE!)

Undo commits:

# Keep changes, undo commit
git reset --soft HEAD~1

# Keep changes in working directory, unstage
git reset HEAD~1

# Discard changes completely (DESTRUCTIVE!)
git reset --hard HEAD~1

Revert commit (safe for shared branches):

git revert <commit-hash>  # Creates new commit that undoes changes

Collaboration Patterns

Keeping Fork Updated

# Add upstream remote (one time)
git remote add upstream <original-repo-url>

# Fetch and merge upstream changes
git fetch upstream
git checkout main
git merge upstream/main
git push origin main

Resolving Merge Conflicts

# Start merge/rebase
git merge develop  # or git rebase develop

# Edit files to resolve conflicts marked by Git

# Mark as resolved
git add <resolved-file>

# Complete merge
git commit  # for merge
# or
git rebase --continue  # for rebase

Git Configuration

Essential Git Config

# User information
git config --global user.name "Your Name"
git config --global user.email "your.email@example.com"

# Default branch name
git config --global init.defaultBranch main

# Rebase by default on pull
git config --global pull.rebase true

# Better log format
git config --global alias.lg "log --graph --pretty=format:'%Cred%h%Creset -%C(yellow)%d%Creset %s %Cgreen(%cr) %C(bold blue)<%an>%Creset' --abbrev-commit"

Useful Aliases

# Common shortcuts
git config --global alias.st status
git config --global alias.ci commit
git config --global alias.co checkout
git config --global alias.br branch

# Undo last commit (keep changes)
git config --global alias.undo "reset --soft HEAD~1"

# Delete merged branches
git config --global alias.cleanup "!git branch --merged | grep -v '\\*\\|main\\|develop' | xargs -n 1 git branch -d"

Security Best Practices

Avoiding Sensitive Data

Never commit secrets: API keys, passwords, tokens
Use .gitignore: Exclude sensitive files
Use environment variables: Store secrets outside repo
Use git-secrets: Tool to prevent committing secrets

# Install git-secrets
brew install git-secrets  # macOS

# Initialize in repo
git secrets --install
git secrets --register-aws

# Scan for secrets
git secrets --scan-history

Signing Commits

# Generate GPG key
gpg --gen-key

# Configure Git to use GPG
git config --global user.signingkey <key-id>
git config --global commit.gpgsign true

# Sign commit
git commit -S -m "Signed commit message"

.gitignore Best Practices

Common Patterns

# Operating System
.DS_Store
Thumbs.db

# IDE/Editor
.vscode/
.idea/
*.swp

# Language-specific
__pycache__/
*.pyc
node_modules/
*.class
target/

# Build artifacts
dist/
build/
*.egg-info/

# Environment
.env
.env.local
venv/
env/

# Logs
*.log
logs/

# Temporary files
*.tmp
.cache/

gitignore Tips

Use ** for recursive directory matching
Use ! to negate patterns (whitelist files)
Use # for comments
Test patterns: git check-ignore -v <file>

Key Takeaways

Write clear, conventional commit messages
Use descriptive branch names with type prefixes
Keep pull requests small and focused
Rebase feature branches to keep history clean
Never commit sensitive data
Use .gitignore effectively
Review code thoughtfully and constructively
Keep branches up to date with main/develop
Sign commits for security
Configure Git aliases for efficiency