Git Workflow

🚫

Non-Negotiable: Never commit broken code. Never push secrets.

Before ANY Coding

Create a feature branch:

git checkout -b feature/descriptive-name

Examples:

feature/user-authentication
fix/checkout-validation
refactor/database-queries

Commit Discipline

✅ Good Commits

# Short, imperative, no emojis
git commit -m "Add user authentication endpoint"
git commit -m "Fix validation bug in checkout form"
git commit -m "Refactor database queries for performance"

❌ Bad Commits

git commit -m "🚀 Added some stuff and fixed things!!"
git commit -m "WIP"
git commit -m "asdfasdf"

Before Committing Checklist

# 1. Build passes
npm run build
 
# 2. Tests pass
npm run test
 
# 3. Check what you're committing
git diff --staged

Look for in the diff:

⚠️ API keys / secrets
⚠️ console.logs / debug code
⚠️ Files in wrong directories
⚠️ TODO comments that shouldn't ship

The Golden Rule

# ALWAYS check what you're committing
git diff --staged
 
# Then verify:
# - No API keys / secrets
# - No console.logs / debug code  
# - Files in correct locations
# - No TODO comments that shouldn't ship

Comprehensive .gitignore

Set this up on day 1:

# Environment
.env
.env.local
.env*.local

# Dependencies
node_modules/
vendor/

# Build
dist/
build/
.next/

# IDE
.idea/
.vscode/
*.swp

# OS
.DS_Store
Thumbs.db

# Logs
*.log
logs/

# Secrets (belt and suspenders)
*.pem
*.key
secrets/

After Feature Complete

# Merge back to main
git checkout main
git merge feature/descriptive-name
 
# Clean up
git branch -d feature/descriptive-name

Development Loop Context Sandwich