Git flow vs GitHub flow: which branching model fits?

You

The sale banner went live on Monday at 8:00, exactly on time. And then at lunch the CEO asked why we don't have "proper releases, like every serious company".

Alex Tutor

Some serious companies do have them. Daniel, you worked like that before CatChow, didn't you?

Daniel

Three years on a fitness app for phones. A new version every two weeks, each one reviewed by Apple and Google before users could download it. We used git flow.

Alex Tutor

Git flow comes from a 2010 article by Vincent Driessen, "A successful Git branching model". Its core idea: two branches that live forever, main and develop, plus three kinds of temporary ones.

Alex Tutor

Git flow in a mobile app teammain holds only released versions, each tagged. develop collects the next release. Features branch off develop and return to it; a release branch is cut from develop and merged into main and back into develop; a hotfix starts from main and is merged into both.

2c71a0eVersion 2.7.0v2.7.0
4d8e2b1Update translations
7a3f9c2Add reminder settings
c5e0d38Fix crash on loginhotfix/2.7.1
e8b2f14Merge hotfix/2.7.1v2.7.1
0f6c3a9Merge hotfix/2.7.1 into develop
91be4d7Send reminder notificationsfeature/workout-reminders
5b9d7e2Merge feature/workout-reminders
a4c1e86Bump version to 2.8.0
3e7f0b5Fix reminder text on small screensrelease/2.8.0
6d2a9f3Merge release/2.8.0mainv2.8.0
b8e4c71Merge release/2.8.0 into developdevelop

You

Five lanes instead of our one-plus-short-branches. And merges going both ways.

Alex Tutor

Read it lane by lane. main holds only released versions, and every commit on it gets a tag: v2.7.0, v2.7.1, v2.8.0. develop is where the next version is assembled. The original article called the first one master.

Daniel

Then the temporary ones. feature/* for each feature, release/* to prepare one version, hotfix/* for an urgent fix to what users already have.

And we always merged with a merge commit, never squash, so each feature stayed visible on develop as its own loop. That's what the original model recommends.

Alex Tutor

Question 1

Match each git flow branch with its job.

Tap an answer, then tap the row it belongs to. You can also drag.

main
develop
feature/workout-reminders
release/2.8.0
hotfix/2.7.1

Answers left to place

You

So a feature is merged into develop, not into main. Does that mean users get it?

Daniel

No. Merged into develop means "in the next version". Workout reminders were merged in the middle of a sprint and reached people's phones almost two weeks later.

Alex Tutor

That's the biggest difference for a PM. In our GitHub flow, merged means live within minutes. In git flow, merged means "on the train", and the train leaves on a schedule.

You

So on that team the useful question is "which release is it in?", not "is it merged?"

Daniel

Exactly the question our marketing learned to ask. "Merged" made them announce things users couldn't see yet.

Alex Tutor

GitHub shows the difference if you read closely. The pull request header says it was merged "into develop", and the newest tag is still the old version.

Alex Tutor

Question 2

In git flow, once feature/workout-reminders is merged into develop, users who update the app get workout reminders.

The day reminders were merged

m1mainv2.7.1
d1
f1Add reminder settings
f2Send reminder notificationsfeature/workout-reminders
d2develop

TrueFalse

Alex Tutor

When develop holds enough for the next version, someone cuts a release branch from it: release/2.8.0. From that moment it's a separate lane.

Daniel

On the release branch we only fixed bugs, changed the version number and wrote release notes. No new features. Testers hammered it for a week.

Alex Tutor

Meanwhile develop stays open, so new features for 2.9.0 keep arriving. When the release is ready, it's merged into main, tagged v2.8.0, and merged back into develop so its fixes aren't lost.

You

And a feature merged into develop a day after the cut?

Daniel

Missed the train. It waits for 2.9.0. That's why the cut date was the most important date in our calendar, and PMs fought over it every sprint.

Alex Tutor

For planning, git flow gives you a calendar: a cut date, a week of stabilisation, a release date. Roadmaps in such teams often read like "2.8.0: reminders, 2.9.0: step goals".

You

That sounds predictable, actually.

Daniel

For the calendar, yes. The price is waiting: even a one-line fix on develop rides the next train, unless it's urgent enough for a hotfix.

Alex Tutor

Question 3

Which features reach users in version 2.8.0?

Two features and one release branch

m1v2.7.0
d1
x1Add dark themefeature/dark-mode
d2
y1Add daily step goalsfeature/step-goals
r1Bump version to 2.8.0
d3develop
r2Fix dark theme coloursrelease/2.8.0
m2mainv2.8.0

Choose one answerDark mode and step goals: both were merged into develop before v2.8.0 was taggedDark mode, with its colour fix; step goals wait for the next releaseOnly step goals, because it was merged lastNeither, until develop is merged into main

You

And if something breaks for users between releases? Wait two weeks?

Daniel

Not for a crash. Version 2.7.0 crashed on login for some users. We branched hotfix/2.7.1 straight from main, from the v2.7.0 tag, fixed only that, and shipped it in two days.

Alex Tutor

A hotfix starts from what users have, not from develop, which is full of unreleased work. It's merged into main with a new tag, v2.7.1, and into develop, so the next release doesn't bring the crash back.

Daniel

One wrinkle: if a release branch is open at that moment, the fix goes into it instead of develop. It reaches develop when the release is merged back.

You

Why does it matter whether it goes back? The users already have the fix.

Daniel

Because 2.8.0 is built from develop. Forget the merge back, and version 2.8.0 crashes on login again. I've seen it happen once. Once was enough.

Alex Tutor

Question 4

Put the hotfix for the login crash in version 2.7.0 in order.

Tap an item, then tap where it should go. You can also drag or use the arrows.

Alex Tutor

Git flow fits when releases are events: a mobile app that goes through store review, software customers install and update when they like, or several versions you support at once.

You

And for a website like ours, where there's only ever one version live?

Alex Tutor

Then develop mostly adds waiting and double merges. Many web teams moved to GitHub flow or to trunk-based development: everyone merges small changes into main at least daily, with flags hiding what isn't ready.

Driessen himself agreed. In 2020 he added a note to the article: for web apps delivered continuously, he suggested a simpler workflow like GitHub flow, and kept git flow for explicitly versioned software.

Daniel

Which matches my experience. For the app it was right. Here it would slow us down for nothing.

You

What does trunk-based look like day to day?

Daniel

Branches live hours, not days. You merge half a feature on Tuesday, switched off, and the other half on Wednesday. It needs very good automated tests and a lot of discipline.

Alex Tutor

Question 5

Which team is the most natural fit for git flow?

Choose one answerA marketing site that deploys every merge into main within minutesA two-person team fixing typos in their docs every dayAn online shop with one live version and feature flagsA desktop app with fixed monthly releases, where customers still run the two previous versions

Alex Tutor

You'll meet all three in other repositories: a partner's app, an agency, your next job. The branches page gives the model away in seconds.

Alex Tutor

Branches of the fitness app repository

develop
Default · updated today
main
Updated 9 days ago · tag v2.8.0
release/2.9.0
Updated yesterday · 3 ahead of develop
feature/step-goals
Updated 2 hours ago · pull request into develop
hotfix/2.8.1
Updated 1 hour ago · pull request into main

develop next to main, plus release/… and hotfix/… names: git flow. Often develop is even the default branch, so new pull requests target it.

Daniel

Just main and a few fresh fix/… or feature/… branches with pull requests: GitHub flow, like us. Almost nothing but main, branches that live hours, lots of flags: trunk-based.

You

Daniel's old repository is the textbook case, then: develop as the default, a release branch and a hotfix at the same time.

And the tags page shows whether they number their versions at all.

Alex Tutor

Question 6

Match each repository's branch list with the model it most likely uses.

Tap an answer, then tap the row it belongs to. You can also drag.

main, develop (default), release/3.2.0, hotfix/3.1.2, several feature/…
main plus fix/cart-rounding and content/faq-refresh, each a few days old with a pull request into main
Only main and branches a few hours old; unfinished work hidden behind flags

Answers left to place

Alex Tutor

Now step into Daniel's old team for a moment, back in the week reminders were merged. Marketing sees "reminders merged" in the team chat and wants to announce them on Friday.

Daniel

The release branch is cut next Monday, then a week of testing, then store review, usually a day or two.

You

And even then users have to update the app before they see anything.

Alex Tutor

Write the reply you'd send marketing. Two or three sentences.

Alex Tutor

Question 7Short answer · AI-checked task

You are the PM on Daniel's old app team. feature/workout-reminders was merged into develop on Tuesday. release/2.8.0 is cut next Monday, tested for a week, then submitted to the stores (review usually takes a day or two). Marketing asks: "Reminders are merged, can we announce them this Friday?" Reply in 2–3 sentences.

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You

Back to the CEO. He'll want an answer, not a lecture about lanes.

Alex Tutor

Then find out what he's really worried about. "Proper releases" usually means "I want to know what changed and be sure nothing breaks".

Daniel

Both of which we can get without develop. The "what changed" part is next lesson: tags and release notes.

Alex Tutor

Write him a short recommendation. Start with the answer, then the reasons.

Alex Tutor

Question 8Case · AI-checked task

Write a short recommendation to the CEO: should CatChow switch to git flow?

The CEO heard that a friend's company "releases once a month with a develop branch" and says it sounds safer. He asks whether CatChow should do the same.

What you know about CatChow: one website, one live version; GitHub flow with short branches; every merge into main is deployed within minutes; main is protected (pull requests only, at least one approval, required checks build and test, branches up to date before merging); every pull request gets a preview; feature flags hide unfinished work (the autumn banner went live on time on Monday). In March a bad merge was reverted within ten minutes. Nobody can currently say which version is live, and there are no release notes.

Write 6–10 lines: your recommendation, what git flow would change, when it would make sense, and how to address the CEO's real concern.

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You

So my answer to "proper releases" is: yes to version numbers and release notes, no to develop.

Daniel

I'll set up our first tag this week. Bring coffee, and questions about what v1.4.0 means.

Alex Tutor

That’s the lesson. You answered every task — nicely done.

Next lesson: Releases and versions: tags, SemVer, changelogs