Git branch names

2-minute read

Rules Link to heading

Here are my rules for git branch names:

  1. Don’t start with the letter m, that’s reserved for master or main.
  2. No prefixes!
  3. No ids inside branch names.
  4. Use english words, more than one…
  5. Pick either - or _ for separator, but be consistent, never mix.
  6. Use common sense!

That’s it, simple to follow and tab complete in a terminal!

Note: don’t forget to delete barnches once they’re merged, there’s no use for them.

Good Link to heading 

git switch -c resize-gallery
git switch -c navbar-for-admin-section
git switch -c concurrent-processing

Bad Link to heading 

git switch -c my-new-feature         # Breaks rule 1. (starts with an `m`).
git switch -c feature/navbar         # Breaks rule 2. (prefixed with the ticket taxonomy).
git switch -c ZGLV-123865-new-colors # Breaks rule 3. (prefixed with the ticket ID).
git switch -c new-colors-ZGLV-123865 # Breaks rule 3. (contains a ticket ID).
git switch -c fix                    # Breaks rule 4. (uses one word).
git switch -c brenci                 # Breaks rule 4. (uses made up non english word).
git switch -c did-some_stuff         # Breaks rule 5. (uses multiple word separators).
git switch -c fixes-everywhere       # Breaks rule 6. (minimum neuron activity not reached).

Exceptions Link to heading

If you work with semver release branches, you can do soemthing like:

git switch -c 1.0-stable
git switch -c 1.1-stable
git switch -c 1.2-stable
git switch -c 2.0-stable

This is perfectly acceptable since it derives from rule 6, by far the most important one!

Master vs Main Link to heading

Use whichever, I don’t care, but be consistent!