Gitflow

Gitflow uses multiple long-lived branches (main, develop) and specific branch prefixes for features, releases, and hotfixes. Here's how to configure new-branch for it.

Configuration

{
  "pattern": "{type}/{title:slugify;max:40}-{id}",
  "patterns": {
    "feature": "feature/{title:slugify;max:40}-{id}",
    "bugfix": "bugfix/{title:slugify;max:40}-{id}",
    "hotfix": "hotfix/{date}-{title:slugify;max:30}-{id}",
    "release": "release/{title:slugify}",
    "support": "support/{title:slugify}"
  },
  "types": [
    { "value": "feature", "label": "Feature" },
    { "value": "bugfix", "label": "Bug Fix" },
    { "value": "hotfix", "label": "Hotfix" },
    { "value": "release", "label": "Release" },
    { "value": "support", "label": "Support" }
  ]
}

Usage

# Feature branch (from develop)
npx new-branch --use feature --title "User authentication" --id PROJ-123 --create
# → feature/user-authentication-PROJ-123

# Bugfix (from develop)
npx new-branch --use bugfix --title "Fix search filter" --id PROJ-456 --create
# → bugfix/fix-search-filter-PROJ-456

# Hotfix (from main)
npx new-branch --use hotfix --title "Fix payment crash" --id PROJ-789 --create
# → hotfix/2026-02-28-fix-payment-crash-PROJ-789

# Release branch
npx new-branch --use release --title "v2.0.0" --create
# → release/v2-0-0

# Support branch
npx new-branch --use support --title "v1.x" --create
# → support/v1-x

Why Use Aliases Here?

Gitflow has distinct branch prefixes with different structures. Pattern aliases map perfectly to this:

Workflow	Alias	Pattern
New feature	--use feature	feature/{title}-{id}
Bug on develop	--use bugfix	bugfix/{title}-{id}
Urgent fix on main	--use hotfix	hotfix/{date}-{title}-{id}
Release prep	--use release	release/{title}

The hotfix pattern includes {date} so you can see when it was created, which is useful for tracking urgency.

Tips

TIP

Set your most common workflow as the default pattern, and use --use for the less frequent ones. Most teams create features far more often than releases or hotfixes.