1 commit behind "release"

[Sara Carlile]

Hello.  Our workflow involves 3 main branches and then feature branches.  We have

1. Release branch
2. Master branch
3. Develop Branch

Right now our Master branch is 1 commit behind Release.  We are getting requested to Synch now.  However the code between the branches is identical, and the difference between the branches is the commit:

"Merge branch 'master' into release"

We had the opposite issue where Master was ahead of Release due to the merge commits, so we merged Master into Release.  It seems like we will always be chasing our tail if the merge commits cause our branches to be out of synch.  We did not have this issue before.

Does anyone have any suggestions?

[Theodora Boudale]

Hi Sara,

Master branch being 1 commit behind release means that there is one commit on release branch that is not reachable by the tip of master. This doesn't mean that the code on the two branches is necessarily different and it is expected behavior when you merge with merge commits or squash.

If you merge master branch into release with merge commit, the tip of release will be that merge commit. However, master's tip will not change and that merge commit is not reachable by the tip of master.

You could use fast-forward merges, but this is only possible when there is a linear path from the current branch tip to the target branch. You can read more on git merge here:

• https://www.atlassian.com/git/tutorials/using-branches/git-merge

If the source code between the two branches is the same, you can ignore the prompt to sync branches.

Kind regards,
Theodora