Git Advanced Workflow Expert

Advanced Git workflows and automation for modern development teams.

Trunk-Based Development

Main branch protection

git config branch.main.mergeoptions --no-ff

Short-lived feature branches

git checkout -b feature/user-auth

Work on feature (max 2 days)

git commit -m "feat: add user authentication" git push origin feature/user-auth

Create PR → Review → Merge → Delete branch

Feature flags for incomplete features

if (featureFlags.isEnabled('new-ui')) { renderNewUI(); } else { renderOldUI(); }

Conventional Commits

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

feat(auth): add OAuth2 support fix(api): resolve race condition in user creation docs(readme): update installation instructions style(ui): format button components refactor(db): optimize query performance test(api): add integration tests for auth chore(deps): upgrade react to v18 perf(api): implement caching layer ci(github): add automated deployment build(webpack): optimize production bundle

Git Hooks with Husky

// package.json { "scripts": { "prepare": "husky install" }, "lint-staged": { ".{ts,tsx}": ["eslint --fix", "prettier --write"], ".{json,md}": ["prettier --write"] } }

.husky/pre-commit

#!/bin/sh . "$(dirname "$0")/_/husky.sh"

Run lint-staged

npx lint-staged

Run tests on staged files

npm test -- --findRelatedTests --passWithNoTests

Prevent commits to main

branch="$(git rev-parse --abbrev-ref HEAD)" if [ "$branch" = "main" ]; then echo "Direct commits to main are not allowed" exit 1 fi

.husky/commit-msg

#!/bin/sh . "$(dirname "$0")/_/husky.sh"

Validate conventional commit format

npx commitlint --edit $1

Monorepo Strategies

Git Sparse Checkout

Clone only specific directories

git clone --filter=blob:none --sparse https://github.com/user/monorepo cd monorepo git sparse-checkout init --cone git sparse-checkout set apps/web packages/ui

Add more paths

git sparse-checkout add apps/api

Git Worktrees

Multiple working directories from same repo

git worktree add ../monorepo-feature feature/new-ui git worktree add ../monorepo-hotfix hotfix/critical-bug git worktree list

Clean up

git worktree remove ../monorepo-feature

Advanced Git Operations

Interactive Rebase

Clean up commits before PR

git rebase -i HEAD~5

Squash fixup commits

git commit --fixup HEAD~~2 git rebase -i --autosquash HEAD~~5

Edit commit history

pick a1b2c3d feat: add feature fixup d4e5f6g fix typo reword g7h8i9j Update message drop j0k1l2m Remove this commit

Cherry-Pick Workflows

Apply specific commits

git cherry-pick abc123

Cherry-pick range

git cherry-pick abc123..def456

Cherry-pick from another branch

git cherry-pick feature-branch~3..feature-branch

Bisect for Bug Hunting

Find bug-introducing commit

git bisect start git bisect bad HEAD git bisect good v1.0.0

Mark each commit

git bisect good # or bad

Automated bisect

git bisect run npm test

Git Automation Scripts

Auto-sync Script

#!/bin/bash

auto-sync.sh

MAIN_BRANCH="main" CURRENT_BRANCH=$(git branch --show-current)

Fetch latest

git fetch origin

Check if main has updates

if [ "$(git rev-parse $MAIN_BRANCH)" != "$(git rev-parse origin/$MAIN_BRANCH)" ]; then echo "Main branch has updates. Rebasing..."

Stash changes

git stash

Update main

git checkout $MAIN_BRANCH git pull --rebase origin $MAIN_BRANCH

Rebase current branch

git checkout $CURRENT_BRANCH git rebase $MAIN_BRANCH

Restore stash

git stash pop

echo "✅ Successfully synced with main" else echo "✅ Already up to date" fi

Release Automation

#!/bin/bash

release.sh

VERSION=$1 if [ -z "$VERSION" ]; then echo "Usage: ./release.sh <version>" exit 1 fi

Ensure clean working directory

if [[ -n $(git status -s) ]]; then echo "❌ Working directory not clean" exit 1 fi

Update version

npm version $VERSION --no-git-tag-version

Build

npm run build

Commit

git add package.json package-lock.json git commit -m "chore: release v$VERSION"

Tag

git tag -a "v$VERSION" -m "Release v$VERSION"

Push

git push origin main --tags

echo "✅ Released v$VERSION"

GitHub Actions Integration

.github/workflows/ci.yml

name: CI

on: pull_request: branches: [main] push: branches: [main]

jobs: test: runs-on: ubuntu-latest steps: - uses: actions/checkout@v4 with: fetch-depth: 0 # Full history for better diffs

  - name: Get changed files
    id: changed-files
    uses: tj-actions/changed-files@v40
    with:
      files: |
        **/*.ts
        **/*.tsx

  - name: Run tests on changed files
    if: steps.changed-files.outputs.any_changed == 'true'
    run: |
      npm test -- ${{ steps.changed-files.outputs.all_changed_files }}

lint: runs-on: ubuntu-latest steps: - uses: actions/checkout@v4 - run: npm ci - run: npm run lint

semantic-release: needs: [test, lint] if: github.ref == 'refs/heads/main' runs-on: ubuntu-latest steps: - uses: actions/checkout@v4 - uses: cycjimmy/semantic-release-action@v4 env: GITHUB_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}

Git Aliases

~/.gitconfig

[alias]

Shortcuts

co = checkout ci = commit st = status br = branch

Logging

lg = log --graph --pretty=format:'%Cred%h%Creset -%C(yellow)%d%Creset %s %Cgreen(%cr) %C(bold blue)<%an>%Creset' --abbrev-commit recent = for-each-ref --count=10 --sort=-committerdate refs/heads/ --format='%(refname:short)'

Workflow

undo = reset --soft HEAD~1 amend = commit --amend --no-edit sync = !git fetch origin && git rebase origin/main cleanup = !git branch --merged | grep -v '\*\|main\|develop' | xargs -n 1 git branch -d

Review

diff-staged = diff --staged contributors = shortlog --summary --numbered --email

Best Practices

✅ Use conventional commits for clarity ✅ Keep commits atomic and focused ✅ Rebase feature branches regularly ✅ Use feature flags for incomplete work ✅ Automate with Git hooks ✅ Protect main branch ✅ Require PR reviews ✅ Use semantic versioning ✅ Tag releases properly ✅ Clean up merged branches

When to Use: Git workflow setup, repository management, automation, trunk-based development, monorepo strategies.