GitFlow Workflow Cheat Sheet

GitFlow branching model — main, develop, feature, release, and hotfix branches. Structured release management for teams with scheduled releases.

Last Updated: May 1, 2025

GitFlow Branches

Branch Type	Naming	Lifetime	Merges Into
Main	main / master	Forever (one)	— (production code)
Develop	develop	Forever (one)	main (via release)
Feature	feature/*	Days to weeks	develop
Release	release/*	Days (prep)	main AND develop
Hotfix	hotfix/*	Hours	main AND develop

Feature Branches

git flow feature start name

Create a new feature branch from develop

git flow feature publish name

Push feature branch to remote

git flow feature finish name

Merge feature into develop and delete branch

git flow feature pull origin name

Pull a collaborator's feature branch

git flow feature track name

Track a remote feature branch locally

Release Branches

git flow release start 1.0.0

Start a release branch from develop

git flow release publish 1.0.0

Push release branch to remote

git flow release finish 1.0.0

Merge into main AND develop, create tag, delete branch

git flow release track 1.0.0

Track a remote release branch locally

Hotfix Branches

git flow hotfix start 1.0.1

Start hotfix branch from main

git flow hotfix finish 1.0.1

Merge into main AND develop, tag, delete branch

git flow hotfix publish 1.0.1

Push hotfix to remote for collaboration

Manual GitFlow (Without Extension)

git checkout -b feature/name develop

Create feature from develop

git checkout develop && git merge --no-ff feature/name

Finish feature into develop

git checkout -b release/1.0 develop

Start release from develop

git checkout main && git merge --no-ff release/1.0

Merge release into main

git checkout develop && git merge --no-ff release/1.0

Back-merge release into develop

git tag -a 1.0.0 -m 'Release 1.0.0'

Tag the release commit on main

git checkout -b hotfix/1.0.1 main

Start hotfix from main

git checkout main && git merge --no-ff hotfix/1.0.1

Finish hotfix into main

Pro Tip: GitFlow shines for projects with scheduled releases and multiple versions in production. For continuous deployment, consider GitHub Flow or trunk-based instead.