Git Flow Next VS Code Extension

A comprehensive VS Code extension for Git Flow Next workflow management, bringing the power of the modern git-flow-next CLI tool directly into your editor.

Features

• Complete Git Flow Support: All git-flow-next commands available through VS Code's command palette
• Smart Branch Detection: Automatically detects current branch type and suggests appropriate actions
• Interactive UI: User-friendly prompts and selections for all operations
• Shorthand Commands: Quick access to common operations like finish, delete, rebase, and update
• Branch Management: Full CRUD operations for features, releases, hotfixes, support, and bugfix branches
• Error Handling: Clear error messages and validation for all operations
• Configuration: Easy setup with presets (Classic, GitHub, GitLab) or custom configuration

Requirements

• VS Code 1.74.0 or higher
• git-flow-next CLI tool installed (Installation Guide)

Installation

Install git-flow-next CLI

macOS/Linux (Homebrew):

brew install gittower/tap/git-flow-next

Manual Installation:

1. Download the latest release from GitHub
2. Extract the binary to a location in your PATH
3. Make it executable: chmod +x /path/to/git-flow

Install VS Code Extension

1. Open VS Code
2. Go to Extensions (Ctrl+Shift+X)
3. Search for "Git Flow Next"
4. Click Install

Usage

Getting Started

1. Initialize Git Flow in your repository:

   • Press Ctrl+Shift+P (or Cmd+Shift+P on Mac)
   • Type "Git Flow Next: Initialize Git Flow"
   • Choose a preset (Classic, GitHub, GitLab, or Custom)

2. Start Working with Branches:

   • Use the command palette to access all git-flow commands
   • Commands are organized by category: Features, Releases, Hotfixes, Support, Bugfixes

Available Commands

Core Commands

• Initialize Git Flow: Set up git-flow in your repository
• Show Overview: Display git-flow configuration and branches
• Configure Git Flow: Manage git-flow settings

Feature Management

• Feature: Start - Create a new feature branch
• Feature: Finish - Complete and merge a feature
• Feature: List - Show all feature branches
• Feature: Checkout - Switch to a feature branch
• Feature: Delete - Remove a feature branch
• Feature: Rename - Rename current feature branch
• Feature: Update - Update feature from parent branch

Release Management

• Release: Start - Begin a new release
• Release: Finish - Complete a release
• Release: List - Show all release branches
• Release: Checkout - Switch to a release branch
• Release: Delete - Remove a release branch
• Release: Rename - Rename current release branch
• Release: Update - Update release from parent branch

Hotfix Management

• Hotfix: Start - Create a hotfix branch
• Hotfix: Finish - Complete a hotfix
• Hotfix: List - Show all hotfix branches
• Hotfix: Checkout - Switch to a hotfix branch
• Hotfix: Delete - Remove a hotfix branch
• Hotfix: Rename - Rename current hotfix branch
• Hotfix: Update - Update hotfix from parent branch

Support Management

• Support: Start - Create a support branch
• Support: Finish - Complete support work
• Support: List - Show all support branches
• Support: Checkout - Switch to a support branch
• Support: Delete - Remove a support branch
• Support: Rename - Rename current support branch
• Support: Update - Update support from parent branch

Bugfix Management

• Bugfix: Start - Create a bugfix branch
• Bugfix: Finish - Complete a bugfix
• Bugfix: List - Show all bugfix branches
• Bugfix: Checkout - Switch to a bugfix branch
• Bugfix: Delete - Remove a bugfix branch
• Bugfix: Rename - Rename current bugfix branch
• Bugfix: Update - Update bugfix from parent branch

Shorthand Commands (Smart Context Detection)

• Finish Current Branch - Automatically finish the current topic branch
• Delete Current Branch - Remove the current topic branch
• Rebase Current Branch - Rebase current branch from parent
• Update Current Branch - Update current branch from parent
• Rename Current Branch - Rename the current topic branch
• Publish Current Branch - Publish current branch to remote

Smart Features

Branch Detection

The extension automatically detects your current branch type:

• feature/my-feature → Feature branch
• release/1.0.0 → Release branch
• hotfix/critical-bug → Hotfix branch
• support/1.0 → Support branch
• bugfix/my-bugfix → Bugfix branch

Context-Aware Commands

When you're on a topic branch, commands like "Finish Current Branch" automatically use the correct git-flow command:

# On feature/my-awesome-feature
# "Finish Current Branch" → git flow feature finish my-awesome-feature

# On release/v1.2.0  
# "Finish Current Branch" → git flow release finish v1.2.0

Configuration

The extension works with git-flow-next's configuration system. You can configure:

• Branch naming prefixes (feature/, release/, hotfix/, etc.)
• Main and develop branch names
• Version tag prefixes
• Merge strategies

Use the "Configure Git Flow" command to manage settings, or configure directly via git-flow-next CLI.

Workflow Examples

Starting a New Feature

1. Press Ctrl+Shift+P
2. Type "Git Flow Next: Feature: Start"
3. Enter feature name (e.g., "user-authentication")
4. Extension creates feature/user-authentication branch and switches to it

Finishing a Feature

1. Ensure you're on the feature branch
2. Press Ctrl+Shift+P
3. Type "Git Flow Next: Finish Current Branch" (or "Feature: Finish")
4. Extension merges the feature and switches back to develop

Creating a Release

1. Press Ctrl+Shift+P
2. Type "Git Flow Next: Release: Start"
3. Enter version number (e.g., "1.2.0")
4. Extension creates release/1.2.0 branch

Emergency Hotfix

1. Press Ctrl+Shift+P
2. Type "Git Flow Next: Hotfix: Start"
3. Enter hotfix version (e.g., "1.2.1")
4. Extension creates hotfix/1.2.1 branch from main

Troubleshooting

Extension Not Working

1. Ensure git-flow-next CLI is installed and in your PATH
2. Verify you're in a git repository
3. Check that git-flow is initialized (git flow overview)

Command Not Found

• Make sure git-flow-next is properly installed
• Try running git flow --version in terminal to verify installation

Permission Issues

• Ensure the git-flow-next binary is executable
• Check that you have write permissions to the repository

Development

Prerequisites

• Node.js 16+
• npm
• VS Code
• git-flow-next CLI

Setup

1. Clone this repository
2. Run npm install to install dependencies
3. Press F5 to run the extension in a new Extension Development Host window

Building

• npm run esbuild - Build the extension
• npm run esbuild-watch - Build and watch for changes
• npm run lint - Run ESLint

Testing

1. Open the extension in VS Code
2. Press F5 to launch Extension Development Host
3. Test commands in the new window
4. Use the Command Palette (Ctrl+Shift+P) to access all Git Flow Next commands

Contributing

We welcome contributions! Please see our Contributing Guidelines for details.

Development Workflow

1. Fork the repository
2. Create a feature branch: git flow feature start my-feature
3. Make your changes
4. Test thoroughly
5. Commit your changes
6. Push to your fork
7. Create a Pull Request

Changelog

0.1.0

• Initial release
• Complete git-flow-next command integration
• Smart branch detection
• Interactive UI for all operations
• Shorthand commands for common workflows

License

MIT License - see LICENSE file for details.

Acknowledgments

• Built for git-flow-next by the Tower team
• Inspired by the original git-flow by Vincent Driessen
• Thanks to the VS Code extension development community

Support

• Issues: GitHub Issues
• Documentation: git-flow-next Docs
• Tower Git Client: Tower