Git is powerful but can become chaotic without conventions. Good workflows reduce conflicts, enable collaboration, and make history meaningful. AI can help you adopt and maintain effective Git practices.
Branching Strategies
GitHub Flow (Recommended for Most Teams)
main (always deployable)
│
├── feature/user-auth
│ └── PR → main
│
├── feature/payment-integration
│ └── PR → main
│
└── fix/login-bug
└── PR → main
Rules:
mainis always deployable- Branch from
mainfor any change - Open PR for review
- Merge to
mainand deploy
GitFlow (For Scheduled Releases)
main ─────────────────────────────────────────
│ ▲
│ │ (release merge)
develop ──────────────────────────────────────
│ │ ▲
│ │ │ (feature merge)
feature/a feature/b ───┘
When to use: Mobile apps, versioned products, regulated industries.
Trunk-Based Development
main ──●──●──●──●──●──●──●──●──●──
│ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │
└──┴──┴──┴──┴──┴──┴──┴──┘
(small, frequent commits)
Rules:
- Commit directly to
main(or very short-lived branches) - Use feature flags for incomplete work
- Deploy continuously
Commit Best Practices
Commit Message Format
type(scope): subject
body (optional)
footer (optional)
Types:
feat: New featurefix: Bug fixdocs: Documentationstyle: Formattingrefactor: Code restructuringtest: Adding testschore: Maintenance
Examples:
feat(auth): add OAuth2 Google login
Implements Google OAuth2 flow with token refresh.
Stores tokens securely in encrypted session.
Closes #123
fix(cart): prevent negative quantities
Users could enter negative numbers in quantity input,
resulting in negative totals. Added validation.
Atomic Commits
Each commit should be a single logical change:
Interactive Rebase for Clean History
Pull Request Practices
PR Template
PR Size Guidelines
Small PR (Ideal):
- < 200 lines changed
- Single concern
- Reviewable in 15 minutes
Medium PR (Acceptable):
- 200-500 lines
- Related changes
- Reviewable in 30 minutes
Large PR (Avoid):
- > 500 lines
- Consider splitting
- Hard to review thoroughly
Review Etiquette
As Author:
- Respond to all comments
- Don't take feedback personally
- Explain decisions when asked
As Reviewer:
- Be constructive, not critical
- Suggest, don't demand
- Approve when "good enough"
Handling Common Scenarios
Merge vs Rebase
Use merge when: Preserving context matters, shared branches Use rebase when: Clean history desired, personal branches
Resolving Conflicts
Recovering from Mistakes
Stashing Work
Advanced Patterns
Git Hooks
With Husky:
Bisect for Bug Finding
Worktrees for Parallel Work
Team Conventions
Branch Naming
feature/TICKET-123-user-authentication
fix/TICKET-456-login-redirect
hotfix/critical-security-patch
docs/update-api-documentation
refactor/extract-payment-service
Protected Branches
Code Owners
# .github/CODEOWNERS
*.js @frontend-team
*.ts @frontend-team
/api/** @backend-team
/infrastructure/** @platform-team
*.md @docs-team
Conclusion
Good Git practices make collaboration smoother and history meaningful. Choose a workflow that fits your team, enforce it with automation, and document conventions clearly.
AI helps write better commit messages, resolve conflicts, and understand complex Git operations. The investment in Git hygiene pays dividends in easier debugging, cleaner reviews, and smoother onboarding.