approach-trunk-based-development-for-agent-first-workflows

# Approach: Trunk-Based Development for Agent-First Workflows Trunk-based development (TBD) is a branching strategy where all developers (agents and humans) commit frequently to a single shared branch (`main`), with short-lived feature branches (<24 hours) us... ## Instructions Trunk-based development (TBD) is a branching strategy where all developers (agents and humans) commit frequently to a single shared branch (`main`), with short-lived feature branches (<24 hours) used only for coordinated changes. This approach minimizes merge conflicts, accelerates feedback, and aligns naturally with agent task completion patterns. **Key principles:** 1. **Single source of truth:** `main` branch is always deployable 2. **Small, frequent commits:** Multiple commits per day 3. **Short-lived branches:** Maximum 24 hours, prefer <4 hours 4. **Continuous validation:** Every commit runs tests and checks 5. **Feature flags:** Hide incomplete work, don't hold it in branches 6. **Rapid revert:** Fix or rollback within 15 minutes of failure **When to use trunk-based development:** - ✅ Async multi-agent orchestration (this repository) - ✅ Rapid iteration with frequent small changes - ✅ Strong test coverage and automated validation - ✅ Team comfortable with continuous integration discipline **When to avoid:** - ❌ Large, risky changes without adequate test coverage - ❌ Teams without automated validation infrastructure - ❌ Work requiring extended isolation (>24h) ---