[FEATURE]: Support of prevent increment of merged branch in GitHub workflow

[HHobeck]

Prerequisites

• I have written a descriptive issue title
• I have searched issues to ensure it has not already been reported

GitVersion package

GitVersion.Tool

GitVersion version

6.1.0

Operating system

N/A, Windows

What are you seeing?

The feature to increment the version when merging into a branch by using the increment of the source branch is currently supported only in the TrunkBased workflow. It would be good to have the same behavior in the GitFlow and GitHubFlow workflows as well.

Hint: Needs to be implemented probably in MergeMessageVersionStrategy. We should create a separate version strategy class to be able to enable or disable the behavior via the configuration (strategies property).

What is expected?

Scenario 1:
When merging a hotfix branch with increment patch to a main branch with increment minor, I would expect the increment to be patch and not minor in a GitFlow workflow.

Scenario 2:
When merging a feature branch with increment minor to a main branch with increment patch, I would expect the increment to be minor and not patch in a GitFlow workflow.

Steps to Reproduce

Scenario 1:

 *  54 minutes ago  (HEAD -> main)
 |\
 | A 56 minutes ago  (hotfix/foo)
 |/
 *  58 minutes ago (tag: 1.0.0)

Scenario 2:

 *  54 minutes ago  (HEAD -> main)
 |\
 | A 56 minutes ago  (feature/foo)
 |/
 *  58 minutes ago (tag: 1.0.0)

See RepostioryFixture Test section below for more information.

RepositoryFixture Test

[Test]
public void Given_main_with_increment_minor_and_hotfix_with_increment_patch_When_hotfix_merged_into_main_Then_increment_should_be_patch()
{
    using var fixture = new EmptyRepositoryFixture("main");

    var configurationBuilder = TrunkBasedConfigurationBuilder.New
        .WithBranch("main", builder => builder
            .WithIncrement(IncrementStrategy.Minor)
            .WithDeploymentMode(DeploymentMode.ContinuousDelivery)
            .WithPreventIncrementOfMergedBranch(true)
        ).WithBranch("hotfix", builder => builder.WithIncrement(IncrementStrategy.Patch));

    fixture.MakeATaggedCommit("1.0.0");
    fixture.BranchTo("hotfix/foo");
    fixture.MakeACommit();
    fixture.MergeTo("main");

    // ✅ succeeds as expected
    fixture.AssertFullSemver("1.0.1-2", configurationBuilder.Build());
}

It would be good to have the same behavior in the GitFlow and GitHubFlow workflows:

[Test]
public void Given_main_with_increment_minor_and_hotfix_with_increment_patch_When_hotfix_merged_into_main_Then_increment_should_be_patch()
{
    using var fixture = new EmptyRepositoryFixture("main");

    var configurationBuilder = GitFlowConfigurationBuilder.New
        .WithBranch("main", builder => builder.WithIncrement(IncrementStrategy.Minor).WithPreventIncrementOfMergedBranch(true))
        .WithBranch("hotfix", builder => builder.WithIncrement(IncrementStrategy.Patch));

    fixture.MakeATaggedCommit("1.0.0");
    fixture.BranchTo("hotfix/foo");
    fixture.MakeACommit();
    fixture.MergeTo("main");

    // ❔ expected: "1.0.1-2"
    fixture.AssertFullSemver("1.1.0-2", configurationBuilder.Build());
}

Additional acceptance criteria:

[Test]
public void Given_main_with_increment_patch_and_feature_with_increment_minor_When_feature_merged_into_main_Then_increment_should_be_minor()
{
    using var fixture = new EmptyRepositoryFixture("main");

    var configurationBuilder = GitFlowConfigurationBuilder.New
        .WithBranch("main", builder => builder
            .WithIncrement(IncrementStrategy.Patch)
            .WithPreventIncrementOfMergedBranch(true)
        ).WithBranch("feature", builder => builder.WithIncrement(IncrementStrategy.Minor));

    fixture.MakeATaggedCommit("1.0.0");
    fixture.BranchTo("feature/foo");
    fixture.MakeACommit();
    fixture.MergeTo("main");

    // ❔ expected: "1.1.0-2"
    fixture.AssertFullSemver("1.0.1-2", configurationBuilder.Build());
}

Output log or link to your CI build (if appropriate).

N/A

[maondrej]

Hello @HHobeck

I'd like to ask please. I came across several posts, issues, and discussions like #4630 , #4430 and this one what I cannot reference by # (#1221).

I'm trying to get the simple TrunkBased workflow working to behave nearly the same way as the first fixture test mentioned here (I'm using Patch on main instead). In all the threads where people had/have the same issue you always refer to the TrunkBased workflow where this functionality is already supported and supposed to work. I'm not sure whether the test you mentioned here gives falls positive result or we all have the wrong config. The reality is when I merge a feature branch to main, the version is incremented based on Increment property value set on main.

• I follow the same logic as per fixture test (no luck)
• I also tried default workflow: TrunkBased/preview1 and let the config generator do the rest. (Without any config customization)
• I tried the latest version 6.4.0 as well as 6.1.0 you're referencing here but still experience the same behavior.

I'd expect that with the default config generated by TrunkBasedConfigurationBuilder.cs it should just work. Therefore, how to use the default TrunkBased workflow with the default config that works is a mystery. Could someone of you guys just share the config and gitversion where it works?

Config I'm using: GitVersion.yml

Thank you very much for your feedback in advance.

[HHobeck]

This unit tests ensures the functionality:

[Test]
public void Given_main_with_increment_minor_and_hotfix_with_increment_patch_When_hotfix_merged_into_main_Then_increment_should_be_patch()
{
    using var fixture = new EmptyRepositoryFixture("main");

    var configurationBuilder = TrunkBasedConfigurationBuilder.New
        .WithBranch("main", builder => builder
            .WithIncrement(IncrementStrategy.Minor)
            .WithDeploymentMode(DeploymentMode.ContinuousDelivery)
            .WithPreventIncrementOfMergedBranch(true)
        ).WithBranch("hotfix", builder => builder.WithIncrement(IncrementStrategy.Patch));

    fixture.MakeATaggedCommit("1.0.0");
    fixture.BranchTo("hotfix/foo");
    fixture.MakeACommit();
    fixture.MergeTo("main");

    // ✅ succeeds as expected
    fixture.AssertFullSemver("1.0.1-2", configurationBuilder.Build());
}

Have you tried it with native git commands? Are you using any build agents for your test? Are you merging with a fast forward option or do you use a squash merge?

[HHobeck]

mkdir test-trunkbased-workflow-with-minor-increment
cd test-trunkbased-workflow-with-minor-increment/
git init .
echo "{ 'workflow': 'TrunkBased/preview1', 'branches': { 'main': { 'increment': 'None' } } }" > GitVersion.yml
git add *
git commit -m "Initial commit"
git tag 1.0.0
git switch -c feature/just-a-feature
git commit -m "My Feature implementation" --allow-empty
git switch master
git merge feature/just-a-feature --no-ff
gitversion
{
  "AssemblySemFileVer": "1.1.0.0",
  "AssemblySemVer": "1.1.0.0",
  "BranchName": "master",
  "BuildMetaData": null,
  "CommitDate": "2025-09-03",
  "CommitsSinceVersionSource": 2,
  "EscapedBranchName": "master",
  "FullBuildMetaData": "Branch.master.Sha.7180fb5bb3525a7c6943de27d021e7ea3b43918b",
  "FullSemVer": "1.1.0",
  "InformationalVersion": "1.1.0+Branch.master.Sha.7180fb5bb3525a7c6943de27d021e7ea3b43918b",
  "Major": 1,
  "MajorMinorPatch": "1.1.0",
  "Minor": 1,
  "Patch": 0,
  "PreReleaseLabel": "",
  "PreReleaseLabelWithDash": "",
  "PreReleaseNumber": null,
  "PreReleaseTag": "",
  "PreReleaseTagWithDash": "",
  "SemVer": "1.1.0",
  "Sha": "7180fb5bb3525a7c6943de27d021e7ea3b43918b",
  "ShortSha": "7180fb5",
  "UncommittedChanges": 0,
  "VersionSourceSha": "587b3bd44e1f176c5ff6c4cac84cb3e9750dda10",
  "WeightedPreReleaseNumber": 60000
}

[HHobeck]

mkdir test-trunkbased-workflow-with-patch-increment
cd test-trunkbased-workflow-with-patch-increment/
git init .
echo "{ 'workflow': 'TrunkBased/preview1', 'branches': { 'main': { 'increment': 'None' } } }" > GitVersion.yml
git add *
git commit -m "Initial commit"
git tag 1.0.0
git switch -c hotfix/next
git commit -m "My Hotfix implementation" --allow-empty
git switch master
git merge hotfix/next --no-ff
gitversion
{
  "AssemblySemFileVer": "1.0.1.0",
  "AssemblySemVer": "1.0.1.0",
  "BranchName": "master",
  "BuildMetaData": null,
  "CommitDate": "2025-09-03",
  "CommitsSinceVersionSource": 2,
  "EscapedBranchName": "master",
  "FullBuildMetaData": "Branch.master.Sha.8392b8332c740875d5ce65b13a995e8591cc089c",
  "FullSemVer": "1.0.1",
  "InformationalVersion": "1.0.1+Branch.master.Sha.8392b8332c740875d5ce65b13a995e8591cc089c",
  "Major": 1,
  "MajorMinorPatch": "1.0.1",
  "Minor": 0,
  "Patch": 1,
  "PreReleaseLabel": "",
  "PreReleaseLabelWithDash": "",
  "PreReleaseNumber": null,
  "PreReleaseTag": "",
  "PreReleaseTagWithDash": "",
  "SemVer": "1.0.1",
  "Sha": "8392b8332c740875d5ce65b13a995e8591cc089c",
  "ShortSha": "8392b83",
  "UncommittedChanges": 0,
  "VersionSourceSha": "a6ecf63eabb7ff66bcf6f7b2c549679cc66f43a2",
  "WeightedPreReleaseNumber": 60000
}

[HHobeck]

mkdir test-trunkbased-workflow-with-major-increment
cd test-trunkbased-workflow-with-major-increment/
git init .
echo "{ 'workflow': 'TrunkBased/preview1', 'branches': { 'main': { 'increment': 'None' } } }" > GitVersion.yml
git add *
git commit -m "Initial commit"
git tag 1.0.0
git switch -c feature/just-a-feature
git commit -m "My Feature implementation +semver: Major" --allow-empty
git switch master
git merge feature/just-a-feature --no-ff
gitversion
{
  "AssemblySemFileVer": "2.0.0.0",
  "AssemblySemVer": "2.0.0.0",
  "BranchName": "master",
  "BuildMetaData": null,
  "CommitDate": "2025-09-03",
  "CommitsSinceVersionSource": 2,
  "EscapedBranchName": "master",
  "FullBuildMetaData": "Branch.master.Sha.f349b5a09818d884f89d4ccf36f5ba58a92b845b",
  "FullSemVer": "2.0.0",
  "InformationalVersion": "2.0.0+Branch.master.Sha.f349b5a09818d884f89d4ccf36f5ba58a92b845b",
  "Major": 2,
  "MajorMinorPatch": "2.0.0",
  "Minor": 0,
  "Patch": 0,
  "PreReleaseLabel": "",
  "PreReleaseLabelWithDash": "",
  "PreReleaseNumber": null,
  "PreReleaseTag": "",
  "PreReleaseTagWithDash": "",
  "SemVer": "2.0.0",
  "Sha": "f349b5a09818d884f89d4ccf36f5ba58a92b845b",
  "ShortSha": "f349b5a",
  "UncommittedChanges": 0,
  "VersionSourceSha": "833b81d645f62a35330ded1d5806c8e12a612461",
  "WeightedPreReleaseNumber": 60000
}

[HHobeck]

@maondrej: Please create a Q&A item next time. ;)

[maondrej]

This unit tests ensures the functionality:

[Test]
public void Given_main_with_increment_minor_and_hotfix_with_increment_patch_When_hotfix_merged_into_main_Then_increment_should_be_patch()
{
using var fixture = new EmptyRepositoryFixture("main");

var configurationBuilder = TrunkBasedConfigurationBuilder.New
    .WithBranch("main", builder => builder
        .WithIncrement(IncrementStrategy.Minor)
        .WithDeploymentMode(DeploymentMode.ContinuousDelivery)
        .WithPreventIncrementOfMergedBranch(true)
    ).WithBranch("hotfix", builder => builder.WithIncrement(IncrementStrategy.Patch));

fixture.MakeATaggedCommit("1.0.0");
fixture.BranchTo("hotfix/foo");
fixture.MakeACommit();
fixture.MergeTo("main");

// ✅ succeeds as expected
fixture.AssertFullSemver("1.0.1-2", configurationBuilder.Build());

}
Have you tried it with native git commands? Are you using any build agents for your test? Are you merging with a fast forward option or do you use a squash merge?

Thank you very much for the feedback! I used native git command, no build agents. The fast-forward option did the trick. With linear git history, it doesn't work. I was quite sure that I also used --no-ff but apparently did not reference TrunkBased workflow.