Branch and worktree workflow

Starting

Work that will take more than one sitting, or that runs alongside other work, gets its own isolated workspace. A worktree gives you a second checkout of the same repository on a different branch — two efforts, two directories, one object store, no stashing.

Branch from the current upstream default, not from whatever is checked out. Branching off a stale local branch is how unrelated commits end up in a review.

While working

• Commit at points where the tree is coherent, not at the end of the day.
• Keep the branch current with its base often. A merge conflict found on day one is a five-minute fix; the same conflict found on day ten is an afternoon.
• One concern per branch. If you find an unrelated bug, note it and leave it.

Finishing