Git Workflow

Use this skill when working with Git for version control and collaboration.

Branch Naming Convention

feature/   - New features          (feature/user-authentication)
bugfix/    - Bug fixes             (bugfix/login-redirect)
hotfix/    - Urgent production fix (hotfix/security-patch)
release/   - Release preparation   (release/v2.1.0)
chore/     - Maintenance           (chore/update-dependencies)
docs/      - Documentation         (docs/api-reference)

Commit Message Format

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

<body>

<footer>

Types

• feat: New feature
• fix: Bug fix
• docs: Documentation
• style: Formatting (no code change)
• refactor: Code restructuring
• test: Adding tests
• chore: Maintenance

Examples

feat(auth): add OAuth2 login support

Implement Google and GitHub OAuth providers.
Includes token refresh handling.

Closes #123

fix(cart): resolve race condition in checkout

The cart total was calculated before items
were fully loaded, causing incorrect totals.

Workflow Patterns

Feature Branch Workflow

# Start feature
git checkout main
git pull origin main
git checkout -b feature/new-feature

# Work and commit
git add .
git commit -m "feat: implement feature"

# Stay updated
git fetch origin
git rebase origin/main

# Push and create PR
git push -u origin feature/new-feature

Rebase vs Merge

# Rebase: Linear history (preferred for feature branches)
git checkout feature/my-feature
git rebase main

# Merge: Preserves branch history
git checkout main
git merge --no-ff feature/my-feature

Common Operations

Undo Last Commit (keep changes)

git reset --soft HEAD~1

Amend Last Commit

git add forgotten-file.js
git commit --amend --no-edit

Interactive Rebase (clean up commits)

git rebase -i HEAD~5

# Commands:
# pick   - use commit
# squash - combine with previous
# reword - change message
# drop   - remove commit

Cherry Pick

git cherry-pick abc123

Stash Changes

git stash push -m "WIP: feature"
git stash list
git stash pop

Pull Request Checklist

Before creating PR:

• Branch is up to date with main
• All tests pass
• Code is linted/formatted
• Commits are clean and logical
• No debug code or console.logs
• Documentation updated if needed

PR Description:

## Summary
Brief description of changes

## Changes
- Added X
- Fixed Y
- Updated Z

## Testing
How to test these changes

## Screenshots (if UI)
Before/after images

Gitignore Essentials

# Dependencies
node_modules/
venv/
vendor/

# Build
dist/
build/
*.pyc

# Environment
.env
.env.local
*.env

# IDE
.vscode/
.idea/
*.swp

# OS
.DS_Store
Thumbs.db

# Logs
*.log
logs/

Hooks (Pre-commit)

# .git/hooks/pre-commit
#!/bin/sh
npm run lint
npm test