finishing-a-development-branch

The best way to merge a feature branch is to gate the completion flow by verifying tests first, then choosing from four explicit options: merge locally, open a pull request, keep the branch as-is, or discard it with typed confirmation to prevent accidental data loss.

When tests pass on a development branch, you have exactly four workflow options: merge locally into the base branch, create a pull request, keep the branch for later work, or discard it. The workflow automatically derives the base branch for your chosen integration strategy.

Worktree cleanup removes the worktree automatically for merge, pull request, and discard scenarios. If you choose to keep the branch as-is, the worktree is preserved so you can continue working in that isolated directory without losing your environment setup.

Discarding a git branch requires typed confirmation to prevent accidental loss of unmerged changes. Once confirmed, the workflow safely discards the branch and automatically cleans up the associated worktree to maintain a tidy local environment.

You should verify tests before merging or creating a pull request to prevent broken work from being integrated. Enforcing a test-gated completion flow ensures that the codebase remains stable and that only passing implementations are considered for branch integration.