openclaw-master-skills/skills/git/branching.md

Branching Traps

Branch Creation

• git checkout -b feature from wrong branch = incorrect base
• git branch feature without checkout = you stay on previous branch — commits go there
• Branch name with spaces fails silently in some tools
• / in branch name (feature/x) = some systems see it as directory

Switching

• git checkout branch with uncommitted changes = they may go to new branch — confusing
• git switch is safer but -f loses changes without warning
• Auto stash doesn't exist — tracked changes are blocking, untracked get mixed
• Checkout of branch with different submodule = submodule stays in previous state

Merge

• Fast-forward merge doesn't create merge commit — linear history but no context
• --no-ff always creates merge commit — useful for features, noise for fixes
• Merge of long branch = mega merge commit hard to review/revert
• Branch deleted after merge = orphan commits if no tag

Rebase

• Rebase of published branch = different history = others must --force pull
• Bad interactive rebase can lose commits — use reflog to recover
• Conflicts in rebase: resolve EACH commit, not just once
• Rebase changes SHAs — CI/CD references to old commits broken

Remote Tracking

• git push -u origin feature needed first time — without -u it doesn't track
• Remote branch deleted doesn't delete local tracking — git fetch --prune to clean
• git pull without upstream configured = error — git branch --set-upstream-to
• Remote rename doesn't update tracking branches — reconfigure manually

Naming Conventions

• Same branch in two remotes (origin/main, upstream/main) = confusion
• Branch name case-insensitive on Mac/Windows, sensitive on Linux — CI bugs
• Branch named same as tag = ambiguity in some commands