# Git workflow to manage work on multiple branches

> My Git workflow for managing work across branches: permanent master and develop branches, feature and hotfix branches, and tagging each release.

Author: [Flavio Copes](https://flaviocopes.com/about/) | Published: 2014-04-25 | Topics: [Git](https://flaviocopes.com/tags/git/) | Canonical: https://flaviocopes.com/git-workflow/

I track all my development using [Git](https://flaviocopes.com/git/), and I always follow this strategy.

The strategy is inspired by [A successful Git branching model](http://nvie.com/posts/a-successful-git-branching-model/).

I have 2 permanent branches: master and develop.

Those are the rules I follow in my daily routine:

When I take on a new issue, or decide to incorporate a feature, there are 2 main roads:

- The feature is a quick one, or subsequent commits I’ll make won’t break the code (or at least I hope so): I can commit on develop, or do a **quick feature branch**, and then merge it to develop.

- The feature will take more than one commit to finish, maybe it will take days of commits before the feature is finished and it gets stable again: **I do a feature branch**, then merge to develop.

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If something on our **production server requires immediate action**, like a bugfix I need to get solved ASAP, I do a **short hotfix branch**, fix the thing, test the branch locally and on a test machine, then merge it to master and develop.

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If I need a **quick feature/edit** to be pushed on the production server, the develop branch has some unstable code in it, and I’d like that feature/edit ASAP, I can **skip the develop branch, do a quick feature branch and merge it to both master and develop**, as long as the feature/edit is fast and trivial. If it proves to be something more complicated down the road, it’d be better to wait and stabilise the code on the develop branch.

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The **develop branch will always be in a state of flux**, that’s why it should be put on a ‘**freeze**’ when preparing a release. The code is tested and every workflow is checked to verify code quality, and it’s prepared for a merge into master.

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Every time develop or another hotfix branch is merged into master, **I tag it** with a version number, so it’s easy to move back to a previous state if something goes wrong.