| description | Create Git branches following the Conventional Branch specification (feature/, bugfix/, hotfix/, release/, chore/). Use when creating a new branch, naming a branch, or checking whether a branch name complies with the spec. |
| metadata | {"github-path":"skills/conventional-branch","github-ref":"refs/heads/main","github-repo":"https://github.com/github/awesome-copilot","github-tree-sha":"8609a0d58938270a0a82332d3141364480d2ee63"} |
| name | conventional-branch |
Conventional Branch
Create Git branches that follow the Conventional Branch specification — a simple, consistent convention for naming Git branches.
Branch Name Format
<type>/<description>
Branch Types
| Type | Alias | Purpose |
|---|
feature/ | feat/ | New features or enhancements |
bugfix/ | fix/ | Bug fixes |
hotfix/ | — | Urgent production fixes |
release/ | — | Release preparation (dots allowed in version: release/v1.2.0) |
chore/ | — | Non-code tasks (deps, docs, config) |
Trunk Branches
main, master, and develop are trunk branches — they do not use a prefix. Never create new branches with the same names as trunk branches; branch off them instead.
Naming Rules
- Lowercase only — no uppercase letters anywhere
- Alphanumerics, hyphens, and dots —
a-z, 0-9, -, .
- Dots allowed only in
release/ version descriptions (e.g., release/v1.2.0)
- No underscores, spaces, or special characters
- No consecutive hyphens (
--), dots (..), or hyphen-dot adjacency (-. or .-)
- No leading or trailing hyphens or dots in the description
Valid Examples
main
master
develop
feature/add-login-page
feat/add-login-page
bugfix/fix-header-bug
fix/header-bug
hotfix/security-patch
release/v1.2.0
chore/update-dependencies
feature/issue-123-new-login
Invalid Examples
| Branch | Problem |
|---|
Feature/Add-Login | Uppercase letters |
feature/new--login | Consecutive hyphens |
feature/-new-login | Leading hyphen |
feature/new-login- | Trailing hyphen |
release/v1.-2.0 | Hyphen adjacent to dot |
fix/header bug | Space |
fix/header_bug | Underscore |
unknown/some-task | Unknown prefix type |
Description Guidelines
- Use kebab-case with 2-5 words
- Be descriptive but concise (~50 chars total)
- Good:
add-oauth-login, fix-header-overflow, update-ci-config
- Bad:
fix-bug, new-feature
Workflow
Follow these steps:
Step 1 — Determine Branch Type
Ask the user (if not already clear):
- Branch type — default to
feature when uncertain
- Brief description — what the branch is for
If the user mentions a ticket or issue number, include it in the description (e.g., feature/issue-123-add-oauth).
Step 2 — Validate the Name
Check the assembled name against the Naming Rules above. If any rule fails, fix it:
- Lowercase everything
- Replace underscores and spaces with hyphens
- Collapse consecutive hyphens
- Strip leading/trailing hyphens
Step 3 — Detect the Base Branch
Different repos use different trunk branches. Detect which one this repo uses:
git symbolic-ref --short refs/remotes/origin/HEAD 2>/dev/null | sed 's|^origin/||'
If that returns nothing, check which trunk branch exists locally (priority order: develop, main, master):
for b in develop main master; do
git show-ref --verify --quiet "refs/heads/$b" && echo "$b" && break
done
Step 4 — Create and Checkout
git checkout <base>
git pull origin <base>
git checkout -b <type>/<description>
Step 5 — Confirm
Tell the user:
- The branch name that was created
- That they are now on the new branch
- Remind them:
git push -u origin <branch-name> when ready
Relationship with Conventional Commits
Conventional Branch complements Conventional Commits:
| Conventional Branch | Typical Conventional Commit |
|---|
feature/add-login | feat: add login page |
bugfix/fix-header | fix: header overflow on mobile |
chore/update-deps | chore: bump lodash to 5.0 |
release/v1.2.0 | chore: release v1.2.0 |
Align the branch type with commit types where possible (e.g., feature/* branches with feat: commits).
