Git Mastery

Enforce distributed-first, async-friendly git workflows with automated quality gates.

Commits: Atomic + Conventional

Every commit must be:

Single logical change (use git add -p for selective staging)
Complete (code + tests + docs together)
Independently buildable and testable
Describable without "and" in subject

Format: type(scope): subject (50 chars max)

feat(auth): add OAuth2 login flow
fix(api): handle null response in user endpoint
docs(readme): add deployment instructions
refactor(db): extract query builder

Types: feat, fix, docs, style, refactor, perf, test, build, ci, chore

BREAKING CHANGE: Add footer BREAKING CHANGE: description → triggers MAJOR version.

Branches: Short-Lived + Typed

Naming: type/issue-description (lowercase, hyphens, <60 chars)

feature/123-oauth-login
fix/456-null-pointer-api
hotfix/critical-auth-bypass

Rules:

Max 3 days old (escalate if longer)
Delete immediately after merge
Rebase onto main daily: git pull --rebase origin main
Never push directly to main

Merge Strategy (Algorithmic)

Condition	Strategy
<3 days, single author, atomic	Rebase (linear history)
Multi-author or external PR	Merge (preserve context)
Many fixup/experimental commits	Squash (clean history)

Main branch: fast-forward only (git config merge.ff only).

PR Workflow

CI passes before human review (lint, type-check, test, security)
CODEOWNERS auto-assigns reviewers
1-2 approvals required
Squash fixup commits before merge
Branch auto-deleted on merge

Context-rich PRs: Include motivation, alternatives considered, areas of concern.

Performance (Large Repos)

Enable commit-graph:

git config core.commitGraph true
git config gc.writeCommitGraph true

Clone optimization:

git clone --filter=blob:none URL  # Partial clone
git sparse-checkout set src/      # Only needed paths

Large files (>10MB): Use Git LFS.

Anti-Patterns

Mixed commits ("fix auth and update logging")
Long-lived branches (>1 week without escalation)
Manual merge strategy choice (use decision tree)
Requiring sync coordination across timezones
Large binary files in git history
WIP/fix typo commits in main history

References

conflict-resolution.md - Distributed async conflict patterns
feature-flags.md - Flag-driven development for long features
release-automation.md - Semantic versioning automation

Commit Conventions

See references/commit-conventions.md for detailed commit message standards including:

Conventional commit format (type(scope): subject)
Imperative mood rules
Body and footer conventions
Breaking change format

git-mastery