1. feature
release branches
branches develop hot xes master
Tag
Time
0.1
Major Severe bug
feature for xed for
Feature
next release production:
for future hot x 0.2
release
Incorporate
bug x in
develop
Tag
0.2
Start of
release
branch for
From this point on, 1.0
“next release”
means the release
after 1.0
Only
bug xes!
Bug xes from Tag
rel. branch
may be 1.0
continuously
merged back
into develop
Author: Vincent Driessen
Original blog post: http://nvie.com/archives/323
License: Creative Commons

2. The main branches
• Branches
‣ master
‣ develop

3. The main branches
• Lifetime
‣ infinite
• Usage
• master -> production-ready
• develop -> latest for next release

4. develop master
Tag
Time
0.1
initial git to create develop branch, start development

5. Supporting branches
• Branches
‣ feature
‣ release
‣ hotfix

6. Feature branches
• May branch off from: develop
• Must merge back into: develop
• Branch naming convention: anything except
master, develop, release/*, hotfix/*
• Typically exist in developer repos only, not
in origin

7. Feature branches
• Create a feature branch
• When starting work on a new feature,
branch off from the develop branch
• $ git checkout -b myfeature develop

8. Feature branches
• Incorporating a finished feature on develop
• merge into the develop branch
• $ git checkout develop
• $ git merge --no-ff myfeature
• $ git branch -d myfeature
• $ git push origin develop

9. Feature branches
• The --no-ff flag avoids losing information
about the historical existence of a feature

10. feature
branches develop master
Tag
Time
0.1
Major
feature for
Feature
next release
for future
release
create feature/* branches to start new features

11. feature
branches develop master
Tag
Time
0.1
Major
feature for
Feature
next release
for future
release
when finish develop features, merge back to develop branch

12. develop master
Tag
Time
0.1
delete feature branches

13. Release branches
• May branch off from: develop
• Must merge back into: develop and
master
• Branch naming convention: release/*

14. Release branches
• Creating a release branch
• $ git checkout -b release/1.2 develop
• Finishing a release branch
• $ git checkout master
• $ git merge --no-ff release/1.2
• $ git tag -a 1.2
• $ git checkout develop
• $ git merge --no-ff release/1.2
• $ git branch -d release/1.2

15. release branches
develop master
Tag
Time
0.1
Tag
0.2
Start of
release
branch for
1.0
create release/* branch to ready to release

16. release branches
develop master
Tag
Time
0.1
Tag
0.2
Start of
release
branch for
1.0
Only
bug xes!
Bug xes from Tag
rel. branch
may be 1.0
continuously
merged back
into develop
when finish test or fix bugs, merge back to master and develop branches

17. develop master
Tag
Time
0.1
Tag
0.2
Tag
1.0
delete release/* branch

18. Hotfix branches
• May branch off from: master
• Must merge back into: develop and
master
• Branch naming convention: hotfix/*

19. Hotfix branches
• Creating the hotfix branch
• $ git checkout -b hotfix/1.2.1 master
• Finishing a hotfix branch
• $ git checkout master
• $ git merge --no-ff hotfix/1.2.1
• $ git checkout develop
• $ git merge --no-ff hotfix/1.2.1
• $ git branch -d hotfix/1.2.1

20. develop hot xes master
Tag
Time
0.1
Severe bug
xed for
production:
hot x 0.2
create hotfix/* branch to fix bugs

21. develop hot xes master
Tag
Time
0.1
Severe bug
xed for
production:
hot x 0.2
Incorporate
bug x in
develop
Tag
0.2
when finish fix bugs, merge back to master and develop branches

22. develop master
Tag
Time
0.1
Tag
0.2
delete hotfix/* branches

23. Refernce
• http://bit.ly/gitflow-1