Master Git‑Flow: A Step‑by‑Step Guide to Efficient Branch Management

Recently I started defining development standards and decided to adopt Git version control, with Git‑Flow as the preferred workflow.

Why Use Git‑Flow

When using a version control system in a team, agreeing on a unified workflow is crucial. Git can do many things, but without an effective workflow, chaos is inevitable.

Installing Git‑Flow

We use Homebrew to install git‑flow: brew install git-flow Then initialize the project: git flow init Accept the default configuration prompts.

Branch Model

Git‑Flow defines two long‑living branches:

master – contains production‑ready code and should never be worked on directly.

develop – the integration branch for features and the base for release branches.

Supporting branches are created as needed and deleted after merging:

Feature branches: feature/ Release branches: release/ Hotfix branches: hotfix/ Support branches: support/ Long‑living branches persist throughout the project lifecycle.

Feature Branch Workflow

Start a feature: git flow feature start test1 Develop, commit changes:

git add .
git commit -m 'feat: add console.log'

Finish the feature and merge back to develop: git flow feature finish test1 The command creates the feature branch, switches to it, and after finishing, merges it into develop and deletes the feature branch.

Release Branch Workflow

When ready to release a new version: git flow release start 0.1.0 Perform any last‑minute fixes, then finish the release: git flow release finish '0.1.0' This merges the release branch into both master and develop, tags the release, and deletes the release branch.

Hotfix Workflow

For urgent production fixes: git flow hotfix start jartto Apply fixes, commit, then finish: git flow hotfix finish 'jartto' The hotfix branch is created from master, merged back into master and develop, tagged, and then deleted.

Git‑Flow Diagram

References

https://www.git-tower.com/learn/git/ebook/cn/command-line/advanced-topics/git-flow

https://jeffkreeftmeijer.com/git-flow/

https://blog.csdn.net/aaaaaaliang/article/details/79451598

https://www.oschina.net/translate/a-successful-git-branching-model?print