finishing-a-development-branch

Finishing a development branch involves choosing between merging locally, pushing for a pull request, keeping the branch, or discarding it. This workflow validates tests first, then presents exactly four integration options with exact commands and handles worktree cleanup automatically.

The options for merging a feature branch are local merge, remote pull request creation, keeping the branch as-is, or discarding it entirely. The workflow enforces a four-option decision process to ensure a clear integration path with corresponding commands for each action.

Yes, you can create a pull request and clean up the worktree together. The workflow presents push and PR creation as one of four branch finishing options, providing exact commands for the action and handling worktree cleanup after the chosen operation completes.

Discarding a development branch cleanly requires selecting the discard option within a structured four-option workflow. This approach provides exact commands for branch removal and automatically manages worktree cleanup to prevent leftover artifacts after the branch is deleted.

Yes, the workflow supports keeping a branch instead of merging. Keeping the branch as-is is one of the four enforced options presented after test validation, allowing development to pause without triggering a merge, pull request, or branch deletion.

Validating tests before deciding to merge or create a pull request ensures the development branch is stable enough for integration. The workflow enforces this check before presenting the four finishing options, preventing broken code from advancing to local merge or PR creation.