Step-by-step guide for working with feature branches in a GitHub repo: clone, branch, commit, push, open a pull request, merge (preferably squash or rebase), and clean up local and remote branches.

Git Workflow: Feature Branch with GitHub.md

Git Workflow: Feature Branch with GitHub

1. Clone the repository

   git clone [email protected]:your-brother-username/repo-name.git
   cd repo-name

2. Create and switch to a feature branch

   git checkout -b your-feature-name

3. Make code changes...

4. Stage and commit changes

   git add .
   git commit -m "Describe your feature"

5. Push the feature branch to origin and set upstream

   git push -u origin your-feature-name

6. Open GitHub and create a pull request from your-feature-name into main

7. You can continue making changes, committing, and pushing to the same branch

   git add .
   git commit -m "Follow-up changes"
   git push

   These commits will be automatically added to the open pull request.

8. Once the feature is complete, merge the pull request using the GitHub interface
   It’s usually better to use squash merge or rebase merge rather than a merge commit, to keep the main branch history clean

9. Switch back to the main branch locally

   git checkout main

10. Pull the latest changes from origin

    git pull origin main

11. Delete the local feature branch

    git branch -d your-feature-name

    If you used a squash merge or rebase merge in GitHub:

    git branch -D your-feature-name

12. Delete the remote feature branch

    git push origin --delete your-feature-name

    Or delete it directly in the GitHub interface after merging the pull request

This one is for repositories you control (origin) as opposed to forks from another repo (upstream).

Excellent guide!

Understood everything. Thank you for explaining it.