branching.md

Branching Strategy

This project follows a structured Git branching model:

• main → Production environment
• develop → Staging / integration environment
• feature/* → Feature development branches

Workflow

1. Developer creates a feature branch from develop
2. Feature is implemented and pushed
3. Pull Request is created to develop
4. CI pipeline validates build and container health
5. After approval, feature is merged into develop
6. Release Pull Request is created from develop to main
7. On merge to main, production deployment is triggered

Conflict Resolution Approach

Before merging, the feature branch is rebased or merged with latest develop branch. Conflicts are resolved locally, tested again, and then pushed.

Branch Protection Strategy

Even though GitHub free plan does not enforce strict protection:

• Direct push to main is avoided
• Pull Request approval is required
• CI pipeline must pass before merge
• Feature branches are short-lived