--- tags: - devops - l1 - flashcard-deck - git-workflows --- [Portal](../../../../library/portal/index.md) | **Level:** [L1: Foundations](../../../../library/portal/levels.md) | **Topics:** [Git Workflows & Branching Strategies](../../../../library/portal/topics.md) | **Domain:** DevOps & Tooling id category difficulty tags question answer source_path git-workflows/a1b2c3d4 git-workflows easy trunk-based, workflows What is trunk-based development? Everyone commits to main (the trunk). Feature branches live less than one day. Incomplete features are hidden behind feature flags, not long-lived branches. training/library/topics/git-workflows/primer.md git-workflows/b2c3d4e5 git-workflows easy github-flow, workflows How does GitHub Flow differ from trunk-based development? GitHub Flow uses feature branches with pull requests into main. Branches can live 1-3 days (vs <1 day in TBD). Both use a single main branch with no develop or release branches. training/library/topics/git-workflows/primer.md git-workflows/c3d4e5f6 git-workflows easy gitflow, workflows What are the five branch types in GitFlow? Develop, Feature, Release, Hotfix, and Main. Mnemonic: DFRHM. Main holds production releases, develop is the integration branch, features branch from develop, releases stabilize code, hotfixes patch production. training/library/topics/git-workflows/primer.md git-workflows/d4e5f6a7 git-workflows easy gitlab-flow, workflows What is the core principle of GitLab Flow? Code flows one direction through environment branches: main -> staging -> production. You never commit directly to environment branches — you merge from upstream. Mnemonic: "Water flows downhill." training/library/topics/git-workflows/primer.md git-workflows/e5f6a7b8 git-workflows easy release-branching, workflows When should you use release branching? When you support multiple released versions simultaneously (e.g., PostgreSQL 14/15/16/17). Each release branch is a promise to patch that version until its EOL date. Mnemonic: "Branch per promise." training/library/topics/git-workflows/primer.md git-workflows/f6a7b8c9 git-workflows easy merge, strategies What are the three main merge strategies in Git? 1) Merge commit (--no-ff): preserves full branch history. \n2) Rebase: replays commits for linear history. \n3) Squash merge: combines all branch commits into one. Mnemonic: MRS — Merge, Rebase, Squash. training/library/topics/git-workflows/primer.md git-workflows/a7b8c9d0 git-workflows easy trunk-based, feature-flags Why are feature flags essential for trunk-based development? Feature flags decouple deployment from release. Code ships to production on every commit but new features are hidden behind flags until ready. Without flags, unfinished features would be visible to users. training/library/topics/git-workflows/primer.md git-workflows/b8c9d0e1 git-workflows easy branch-protection, safety Why is branch protection the most important workflow enforcement mechanism? Without branch protection, your workflow is just a suggestion. Any developer can push directly to main, skip CI, or force-push. Branch protection makes the rules mandatory, not optional. training/library/topics/git-workflows/footguns.md git-workflows/c9d0e1f2 git-workflows easy github-flow, deploy What is the deployment model in GitHub Flow? Main is always deployable. Deployments happen from main — either automatically on merge or on a schedule. There are no release branches. Rollback = revert the merge commit. training/library/topics/git-workflows/primer.md git-workflows/d0e1f2a3 git-workflows easy gitflow, origin Who created GitFlow and when? Vincent Driessen published "A Successful Git Branching Model" on January 5, 2010. In 2020, he added a note saying GitFlow is NOT suitable for teams practicing continuous delivery. training/library/topics/git-workflows/primer.md git-workflows/e1f2a3b4 git-workflows medium trunk-based, ci-cd What CI/CD pattern does trunk-based development use? Push to main triggers the full test suite, then auto-deploys to production. Feature flags control visibility. There is one pipeline for one branch. Rollback = turn off the flag or deploy a previous commit. training/library/topics/git-workflows/primer.md git-workflows/f2a3b4c5 git-workflows medium gitflow, hotfix What is the most common GitFlow hotfix mistake? Forgetting to merge the hotfix to BOTH main AND develop. If you only merge to main, the fix is missing in develop and will regress on the next release. Mnemonic: "Hotfix hits home AND dev." training/library/topics/git-workflows/street_ops.md git-workflows/a3b4c5d6 git-workflows medium merge, bisect Why does squash-merging reduce git bisect effectiveness? Squash merge combines all PR commits into one. git bisect can only narrow to the PR level, not the individual change. A squash commit with 847 lines across 23 files cannot be further bisected. training/library/topics/git-workflows/footguns.md git-workflows/b4c5d6e7 git-workflows medium rebase, shared-branches Why should you never rebase a shared branch? Rebase rewrites commit SHAs. Anyone who pulled the old branch now has orphaned commits. Their next pull creates duplicate commits, phantom conflicts, or silently lost work. Rule: "Rebase your own, merge everyone's." training/library/topics/git-workflows/footguns.md git-workflows/c5d6e7f8 git-workflows medium cherry-pick, drift What is cherry-pick drift and why is it dangerous? When fixes are cherry-picked to some release branches but not others, or not backported to main. Over time, different branches have different bug fixes. Users on older versions hit bugs that were fixed elsewhere. training/library/topics/git-workflows/footguns.md git-workflows/d6e7f8a9 git-workflows medium decision, framework What four factors determine which Git workflow to choose? FAST: Frequency (how often you deploy), Active versions (how many you support), Stage gates (do you have staging/prod promotion), Team size. Walk through these and the workflow picks itself. training/library/topics/git-workflows/primer.md git-workflows/e7f8a9b0 git-workflows medium long-lived, branches At what branch age does merge conflict probability become critical? Beyond 3 days, conflict probability rises sharply with team size. A 2-day branch in a 5-person team has ~10% conflict chance. A 2-week branch has ~80%. Rule: "Three days? Three-alarm fire." training/library/topics/git-workflows/footguns.md git-workflows/f8a9b0c1 git-workflows medium gitflow, cadence Why is GitFlow a poor fit for teams deploying multiple times per day? GitFlow adds ceremony (develop branch, release branches, back-merges) designed for scheduled releases. For continuous delivery, this overhead provides no benefit — you spend more time on branch management than writing code. training/library/topics/git-workflows/footguns.md git-workflows/a9b0c1d2 git-workflows medium release, cutting What is the difference between tag-based and branch-based releases? Tag-based: tag a commit on main, CI builds artifacts from the tag. Used in TBD/GitHub Flow. Branch-based: cut a release/X.Y branch from develop, stabilize, merge to main, tag. Used in GitFlow. training/library/topics/git-workflows/street_ops.md git-workflows/b0c1d2e3 git-workflows medium stacked-prs, review What are stacked PRs and when should you use them? A chain of PRs where each builds on the previous: PR#1 → main, PR#2 → PR#1, PR#3 → PR#2. Used for large features that are too big for one PR. Reviewed and merged bottom-up. training/library/topics/git-workflows/street_ops.md git-workflows/c1d2e3f4 git-workflows medium force-push, safety What is --force-with-lease and when should you use it? --force-with-lease force-pushes only if nobody else has pushed since your last fetch. It prevents overwriting others' work. Use it instead of --force when you must update a remote branch after a rebase. training/library/topics/git-workflows/footguns.md git-workflows/d2e3f4a5 git-workflows medium migration, gitflow What is the first step when migrating from GitFlow to trunk-based? Assessment: verify CI runs in <15 minutes, test coverage is >80%, and the team understands feature flags. Do not kill the develop branch until your CI and test infrastructure can protect main. training/library/topics/git-workflows/street_ops.md git-workflows/e3f4a5b6 git-workflows medium gitlab-flow, pitfall What happens if you merge directly to the production branch in GitLab Flow? You bypass staging, skip integration testing, and create a state where production has code that staging does not. Staging is no longer a reliable pre-production environment. Fix: enforce promotion rules with branch protection. training/library/topics/git-workflows/footguns.md git-workflows/f4a5b6c7 git-workflows medium merge, revert How do you revert a feature that was merged with a merge commit vs squash-merged? Merge commit: git revert -m 1 (must specify parent). Squash merge: git revert (simple, one commit). Squash is easier to revert but loses bisect granularity. training/library/topics/git-workflows/primer.md git-workflows/a5b6c7d8 git-workflows medium monorepo, workflow What workflow works best for monorepos and why? Trunk-based development with feature flags. GitFlow in a monorepo creates merge nightmares because one branch contains multiple services. Path-based CI triggers and CODEOWNERS handle the multi-service complexity. training/library/topics/git-workflows/street_ops.md git-workflows/b6c7d8e9 git-workflows hard merge, blame Why does git blame often show merge commits on GitFlow's develop branch? Because feature branches are merged with merge commits, git blame attributes lines to the merge commit author rather than the original commit author. Use git blame -w --first-parent or git log --follow for better results. training/library/topics/git-workflows/footguns.md git-workflows/c7d8e9f0 git-workflows hard release, backport What is the correct order for backporting a fix across release branches? Fix on main first, then cherry-pick to the newest release branch, then to older branches. "Fix forward, port backward." Track with labels (needs-backport-X.Y) and automate with bots. training/library/topics/git-workflows/street_ops.md git-workflows/d8e9f0a1 git-workflows hard trunk-based, google How does Google practice trunk-based development at scale? Google uses a single monorepo (Piper) with 25,000+ engineers committing to trunk. Tooling includes CitC (virtual workspaces), TAP (continuous testing), and code review before commit. Most teams lack Google-scale tooling. training/library/topics/git-workflows/primer.md git-workflows/e9f0a1b2 git-workflows hard migration, develop What is the riskiest moment when migrating from GitFlow to trunk-based? Merging develop into main and deleting the develop branch. If CI is not solid, main will break immediately. The prerequisite: CI runs in <15 minutes, test coverage >80%, and feature flag infrastructure is ready. training/library/topics/git-workflows/street_ops.md git-workflows/f0a1b2c3 git-workflows hard workflow, mismatch What organizational signal indicates a workflow/cadence mismatch? When the team spends more time on branch management (cutting releases, back-merging, resolving merge conflicts) than writing features. A 15-person SaaS team on GitFlow recovered 8 engineering hours per week by switching to GitHub Flow. training/library/topics/git-workflows/footguns.md git-workflows/a0b1c2d3 git-workflows hard squash, compromise What merge strategy compromise balances clean history and bisect granularity? Squash-merge small PRs (<100 lines) for clean history. Use merge commits for large PRs to preserve bisect granularity. Keep PRs small so even squashed commits have manageable diffs. training/library/topics/git-workflows/primer.md git-workflows/b1c2d3e4 git-workflows hard release, spof Why is a single release manager a risk in GitFlow? One person managing release cuts, cherry-picks, merges, and tags is a single point of failure. When they are unavailable, releases stall. Fix: document the runbook, automate with tooling, and rotate the role across 3+ people. training/library/topics/git-workflows/footguns.md --- ## Wiki Navigation ### Related Content - [Git Workflows & Branching Strategies](../../../../library/topics/git-workflows/index.md) (Topic Pack, L2) — Git Workflows & Branching Strategies