Git · The Complete Picture

$ git rebase -i main

# Editor opens; you rewrite the plan:
pick   7e2b9f1 feat: cart model
squash d81c4b7 wip
squash 3c19a4e fix typo
pick   9f04b22 feat: cart API

# pick   = keep as is        drop = delete it
# squash = fold up + edit message
# fixup  = fold up + DISCARD message
# reword = keep code, fix message
# edit   = stop here so I can amend

# Result: 4 commits -> 2 clean ones.
$ git push --force-with-lease

# You spot a bug in a commit from this morning.
# Don't write "fix review comment" — target it:
$ git commit --fixup 7e2b9f1
[feature/cart a91c3d2] fixup! feat: cart model

# Repeat as often as you like, then let Git
# reorder and fold everything automatically:
$ git rebase -i --autosquash main
pick  7e2b9f1 feat: cart model
fixup a91c3d2 fixup! feat: cart model   # auto-placed

# Make it the default:
$ git config --global rebase.autosquash true

# 3 · Squash-merge — whole branch, one commit
$ git merge --squash feature/cart && git commit
# (this is GitHub's "Squash and merge" button)

# 1. Feature: branch from develop, merge to develop
$ git switch -c feature/cart develop
$ git switch develop
$ git merge --no-ff feature/cart

# 2. Release: cut from develop. Feature freeze —
#    ONLY bugfixes now; develop stays open for 1.2
$ git switch -c release/1.1 develop
$ echo "1.1.0" > VERSION && git commit -am "bump"
#   …QA finds things, you fix them HERE…

# 3. Ship: merge to main AND tag AND back-merge
$ git switch main
$ git merge --no-ff release/1.1
$ git tag -a v1.1.0 -m "Release 1.1.0"
$ git switch develop
$ git merge --no-ff release/1.1   # ← never skip
$ git push origin main develop --tags

# Morning: start from a current trunk
$ git switch main && git pull --rebase
$ git switch -c feature/cart-api

#   …small, focused change. 2 hours, not 2 weeks…
$ git commit -am "feat: POST /cart endpoint"

# Before pushing: replay onto whatever landed
# while you worked. Conflicts stay small because
# you're never more than hours behind.
$ git fetch origin && git rebase origin/main
$ git push -u origin feature/cart-api

# PR -> review -> squash-merge -> branch deleted.
# Same day. Then delete it locally too:
$ git switch main && git pull --rebase
$ git branch -d feature/cart-api

# You still merge daily. The switch, not the branch,
# is what hides the unfinished work:

# Day 1 — merge the dead code, flagged off.
# It ships to prod. Nobody can reach it.
if settings.features.new_cart:      # default: off
    return NewCartService().checkout(order)
return LegacyCartService().checkout(order)

# Days 2..14 — keep merging into the dark branch.
# CI runs BOTH paths; the flag stays off.

# Day 15 — on for 5% of traffic. Then 50%. Then all.
# A config change, not a deploy — undo in seconds.

# Day 20 — the real work: DELETE the flag and the old
# path. A flag you never remove is tech debt.

# Never create "Merge branch 'main' of …" again
$ git config --global pull.rebase true

# Remember conflict resolutions and replay them
$ git config --global rerere.enabled true

# --fixup commits fold themselves in automatically
$ git config --global rebase.autosquash true

# Carry stashes/untracked through a rebase safely
$ git config --global rebase.autostash true

# Show the common ancestor in conflicts
$ git config --global merge.conflictstyle zdiff3

# And the alias you'll use a hundred times a day
$ git config --global alias.lg \
    "log --graph --oneline --decorate --all"