Straypenguins-Tips-Inventory

Merge devel to main While Keeping the Branch History Clean

All updates are made in the devel branch and merged to main via Pull Requests. This is done for security and consistency (as per repository Rules).
However, as updates accumulate, PRs can become cluttered or conflicted, making merges difficult. This guide describes a procedure to keep both branches in sync and avoid such issues.

⚠ Caution:
If you follow the full procedure, unmerged commits in devel may be lost. For routine work, it’s usually enough to just “6. Reset devel to match main (after PR is merged)”.

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Quick Summary

1. Update local repository
2. Rebase devel onto main (resolving conflicts if required)
3. Squash commits (optional but recommended)
4. Force-push devel
5. Open & squash-merge PR from devel to main on GitHub Web
6. Reset devel to match main

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Recommended Procedure

1. Update your local repository

   git fetch origin
   git checkout devel

2. Rebase devel onto the latest main

   git rebase origin/main

• If there are conflicts, resolve them as prompted.
• After resolving conflicts, continue rebase:

  git add <conflicted-files>
  git rebase --continue
  

• Repeat until rebase completes.

3. (Optional) Squash your commits for a clean history

   git rebase -i origin/main

• Change pick to squash for all but the first commit, then save and exit.
• Edit the commit message as prompted.

4. Force-push devel to GitHub

   git push --force-with-lease origin devel

5. Open & merge a Pull Request from devel to main on GitHub Web

• Confirm the diff only shows your intended changes.

  If files are identical, the diff may be empty or minimal.

• Choose “Squash and merge” (or “Bypass rules and Squash and merge” if required).

  This creates a single, clean commit on main.

6. Reset devel to match main (after PR is merged)

• This removes the “ahead/behind” status and prepares devel for new work.

  git checkout devel
  git fetch origin
  git reset --hard origin/main
  git push --force-with-lease origin devel
  

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Notes

• Always resolve conflicts locally for clarity and control.
• Use squash merges to keep main branch history readable.
• Resetting devel after merging avoids endless loops and keeps branches synchronized.

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