finishing-a-development-branch

Finishing a development branch involves choosing between merging locally, pushing a pull request, keeping the branch, or discarding it. This structured approach applies pre-merge validation and optional cleanup steps for worktrees to ensure correct integration and repository hygiene.

Merging a completed feature branch locally requires pre-merge validation to confirm tests are green and determine the correct base branch. After merging, you perform recommended cleanup steps to remove the feature branch and maintain repository hygiene.

You should push a pull request instead of merging locally when your standard Git workflow requires code review before integration. Both options are part of a deterministic four-option decision flow that applies pre-merge validation and safeguards to ensure correct integration context.

To clean up Git worktrees after merging a feature branch, you perform the optional cleanup steps defined within the branch finishing workflow. These automated actions remove worktrees and feature branches after your integration decision, maintaining long-term repository hygiene.

You can discard a Git development branch safely after tests pass by selecting the discard option in the deterministic four-option flow. This structured path ensures you remove the feature branch and perform optional worktree cleanup while maintaining a clean repository state.

Yes, this Git branch workflow requires pre-merge validation and base-branch determination to ensure the correct integration context before you merge locally or push a pull request. This step verifies the target base branch automatically as part of the structured finishing process.