finishing-a-development-branch

Finishing a development branch requires verifying all tests pass, identifying the base branch, and choosing from four deterministic options: local merge, push pull request, discard, or cleanup. This structured handoff ensures a feature branch is merge-ready before integration.

The best merge strategies for a completed feature branch involve a four-option decision protocol: merge locally, push a pull request, or discard. Selecting the right merge strategy after tests pass ensures deterministic and safe code integration.

To clean up a git worktree after merging a branch, use a structured handoff process that supports optional worktree cleanup as a final step. This removes the working directory safely once the merge strategy decision and integration are complete.

Yes, you need to run tests before creating a pull request, as the workflow enforces that tests must pass before presenting integration options. Passing tests are a strict prerequisite to selecting a merge strategy and finalizing the branch handoff.

Yes, you can discard a development branch, as the workflow enforces a four-option decision protocol that explicitly includes discarding alongside merging locally or pushing a pull request. This option applies after verifying tests and identifying the base branch.