git-branch-updater

TLDR: A Go-based CLI tool that simplifies updating dependent Git branches. Ideal for developers managing complex branching strategies, it significantly reduces the time needed to update feature branches.

Key Features

• Automatic Branch Detection: Easily identify and manage dependent branches.
• Cascading Updates: Propagate changes through a chain of dependent branches.
• Smart Merging: Intelligently merge changes while minimizing conflicts.
• User-Friendly Interface: Simple CLI commands for ease of use.
• Flexible Branch Naming: Support for various branch naming conventions.
• Error Handling: Robust error detection and reporting.
• Fast and Efficient: Optimized performance for quick updates.

Installation

Go to the Releases page and download the appropriate binary for your operating system.

Use Cases

Given multiple dependent branches:

main
-> dev
-> feat/81/task-list
-> feat/82/ui
-> feat/83/integrate-api
-> feat/84/tests

Updating feat/84/tests from the latest main can be tedious. With git-branch-updater, it's a single command:

$ ./git-branch-updater main/dev/81/82/83/84

Result

$ ./git-branch-updater main/dev/81/82/83/84

-- 1. Fetching branches
-- 2. Convert args to full branch names
---- Getting all branch names (git branch -a)
---- Mapping args to full branch names

Is this the correct list of branches?
  -> main
  -> dev
  -> feat/81/task-list
  -> feat/82/ui
  -> feat/83/integrate-api
  -> feat/84/tests
Continue? (y/n): y 
Continuing...

-- 3. Updating branches to latest change
---- Pulling branch: main
---- Pulling branch: dev
---- Pulling branch: feat/81/task-list
---- Pulling branch: feat/82/ui
---- Pulling branch: feat/83/integrate-api
---- Pulling branch: feat/84/tests
-- 4. Merge dependent branches
---- Merging branch: main --> dev
---- Merging branch: dev --> feat/81/task-list
---- Merging branch: feat/81/task-list --> feat/82/ui
---- Merging branch: feat/82/ui --> feat/83/integrate-api
---- Merging branch: feat/83/integrate-api --> feat/84/tests
-- 5. Finished%                     

Options

• --update-only : This only pulls the latest changes into its own feature branch, this will not merge dependent branch

Example: If you just want to update your local branches (main, staging, dev)

$ git-branch-updater main/staging/dev --update-only

What it does? Step-by-step

1. Fetches all branches
2. Convert the arguments passed into their designated full branch names
3. Updates the branches (if there is a remote branch)
4. Merge dependent branches depending on the placement of the args, e.g. main -> dev -> others
5. Returns to the current branch the user is in before running the command

Future Plans

• Be able to merge/rebase or fix conflicts
• Integrate in VSCode