finishing-a-development-branch

To finalize a development branch, you need to verify that all tests pass and perform mandatory dogfooding before choosing an integration path. This process ensures code quality and presents structured options like merging locally or creating a pull request.

The best way to merge a feature branch is to use a guided workflow that checks test status first, then offers structured integration options. You can choose between a direct local merge, a formal pull request, keeping the branch, or discarding the work.

Branch management handles worktree cleanup by automatically managing and removing associated worktrees after you select an integration option. This maintains a clean development environment once your development work is finalized and merged.

Yes, you can discard your development work instead of merging. When finalizing a branch, the workflow presents multiple options including discarding the work entirely, keeping the branch, merging locally, or submitting a pull request.

You do not need to run tests manually before creating a pull request if you use a guided finalization process. The workflow automatically performs test verification to ensure all checks pass before offering pull request creation as an integration option.

Code integration fails when tests are not passing because the finalization workflow mandates test verification before proceeding. Ensuring tests are green is a required step to guarantee code quality before any branch merging or pull request options are presented.