[ANNOUNCEMENT] Workflow Simplified - Direct to Main Branch

[dev-parkins]

---

name: 📢 Workflow Change Announcement
about: FerrisScript has simplified its branching workflow
title: "[ANNOUNCEMENT] Simplified Workflow - Direct to Main Branch"
labels: documentation, announcement
assignees: ''
pinned: true

🎉 Workflow Simplification - We've Removed the develop Branch!

Effective Date: October 13, 2025
Impact: All contributors

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📋 What Changed?

FerrisScript has simplified its development workflow from a three-branch model to a direct-to-main model (GitHub Flow).

Before (Three-Branch Workflow)

feature/my-feature → develop (PR #1)
develop → main (PR #2)

After (Direct-to-Main Workflow)

feature/my-feature → main (PR)

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✨ Why This Change?

After completing v0.0.4, we realized:

1. ✅ Faster feedback - Reduced PR process from 2 steps to 1
2. ✅ Lower friction - Contributors create one PR instead of two
3. ✅ Simpler mental model - Aligned with industry standard (GitHub Flow)
4. ✅ Better resource usage - Eliminated duplicate CI runs
5. ✅ Same quality - Branch protection + required reviews maintain standards

See docs/planning/REMOVE_DEVELOP_BRANCH_PLAN.md for the complete rationale.

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🚀 What You Need to Do

For New Contributors

Nothing! Just follow the updated CONTRIBUTING.md guide.

For Existing Contributors with Feature Branches

If you have an existing feature branch based on develop:

# Option 1: Rebase onto main (recommended)
git checkout your-feature-branch
git fetch origin
git rebase origin/main
git push --force-with-lease

# Option 2: Start fresh from main
git checkout main
git pull origin main
git checkout -b your-feature-branch-v2
# Cherry-pick or recreate your changes

Updating Your Fork

# Delete local develop branch
git branch -d develop

# Delete remote develop branch from your fork
git push origin --delete develop

# Update main
git checkout main
git pull upstream main
git push origin main

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📖 Updated Workflow

1. Create feature branch from main:

   git checkout main
   git pull origin main
   git checkout -b feature/your-feature

2. Make changes and test locally:

   cargo test --workspace
   cargo clippy --workspace --all-targets --all-features -- -D warnings

3. Create PR to main:

   git push -u origin feature/your-feature
   gh pr create --base main --title "feat: your feature"

4. After PR approval: Squash and merge to main

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🔧 CI Behavior (Unchanged)

The Quick Check optimization remains in place:

• Feature branch PRs: ⚡ Quick Check (2-3 min) - Fast feedback
• Main branch: 🔄 Full Test Suite (10-15 min) - Production validation

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📚 Updated Documentation

All documentation has been updated:

• ✅ CONTRIBUTING.md - Updated workflow instructions
• ✅ GitHub workflows - Removed develop triggers
• ✅ Branch protection - Only main is protected now

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🤔 Questions?

• "Will this affect code quality?" - No! Branch protection + required reviews are unchanged.
• "What about integration testing?" - Still happens on main before release tags.
• "Can I still use draft PRs?" - Yes! Draft PRs are great for early feedback.
• "What if I have merge conflicts?" - Rebase on main instead of develop.

Have other questions? Comment below! 👇

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📊 Success Metrics (First Week)

We're tracking:

• Average PR time (expect 20-30% reduction)
• CI resource usage (expect 15-20% reduction)
• Contributor feedback

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Thank you for adapting to this change! This simplification helps us focus on building great features. 🦀❤️

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Related:

• Full Plan: docs/planning/REMOVE_DEVELOP_BRANCH_PLAN.md
• Contributing Guide: CONTRIBUTING.md