finishing-a-development-branch

To safely finish a git feature branch, you run tests, choose to merge, create a pull request, keep, or discard the branch, and then execute git and worktree cleanup operations with explicit confirmation before any destructive deletion.

The best way to ensure tests pass before merging a development branch is to use a workflow that enforces test validation first, blocking progress and branch integration if the test suite fails.

Yes, you can discard a git branch and remove its worktree without accidental data loss by requiring explicit confirmation for destructive branch deletion before executing the cleanup operations.

Yes, the branch finalization process supports creating pull requests by presenting a deterministic option to push the branch and create a PR instead of performing a local git merge.

If your test suite fails when finalizing a development branch, the test-first validation blocks progress, preventing you from proceeding to integration or cleanup options until tests pass.

You should keep a branch instead of deleting it after feature work is complete if you need to retain the work without integrating it immediately, selecting the keep branch option from the four fixed choices presented.