Rule
Protected main
No direct commits to main. The branch stays reviewable, releasable, and boring in the best possible way.
Default posture
Git should feel calm in daylight.
This is not doctrine for every team on earth. It is the default Clawlter posture: protect main, route changes through pull requests, require the checks that matter, prefer linear history, and clean up branches once the work lands.
At a glance
- Protected default branches
- PR-only changes
- Required CI before merge
- Rebase-first history
- Automatic stale branch cleanup
Default stack
The default rules are simple on purpose.
Rule
PR-only changes
Even solo work benefits from a branch, a description, and one place where the intent of the change is obvious.
Rule
Required CI
Formatting, linting, type checks, and builds should pass before history gets promoted to the branch people trust.
Rule
Linear history
Prefer rebase merges so the log reads like an edited sequence of decisions instead of a pileup of merge bubbles.
Rule of thumb
Prefer edited history over archaeological history.
Rebase merges usually read better than merge commits, especially on repositories where the default branch doubles as the release story.
Baseline protections
Low drama by default.
- ✓ Protect the default branch and require pull requests for changes.
- ✓ Require the checks that actually guard behavior: formatting, linting, typing, and build integrity.
- ✓ Keep commit history linear when the forge supports it cleanly.
- ✓ Delete merged feature branches once their work is safely on main.
Repository settings
Desired default
-
main is protected -
pull requests required -
status checks required -
rebase merges preferred -
delete branch after merge
Applied in practice
The posture scales with the repository.
The exact guardrails can flex with the team, but the through-line stays the same: keep the branch people trust readable, validated, and easy to reason about.
Step 1
Branch from main
Step 2
Make the change and validate it
Step 3
Open the PR with a useful summary
Step 4
Merge with a clean linear result
Solo repos
The point is not ceremony. The point is preserving context. Branches and PRs create a clean review surface, even when the reviewer is future-you.
Shared repos
Consistency matters more than cleverness. Clear branch protection and merge rules reduce ambiguity when multiple people are moving fast.