This is one of the tier 1 standards. See full list on the main page.
Protecting the main branch (formally known as the master branch) means setting up safeguards within the repository settings to prevent any un-checked changes from being applied to the production level of the code.
The main branch of a repository is the official 'production' version of the code and for this reason, developers must be very careful when merging changes into it. A major way to avoid the potential disaster of an unintended push to main is to protect the main branch by blocking developers from making un-checked changes via settings within the repository.
Examples of possibly huge problems that can be prevented with a protected main branch includes accidentally force pushing a bad change to main or even accidentally deleting the main branch. While we trust our developers, mistakes can happen, and it never hurts to be careful.
For all INS software, we define "protecting" the main branch to include the following:
- Disabling force pushing to
mainand requiring pull/merge requests before merging any code intomain - Restricting developers from deleting
main - Requiring continuous integration checks to pass before merging is allowed
Depending on the repository hosting service you use, you may also be able to set extra protections for main (or other branches). These can include things like requiring pull/merge requests to be approved by one or more people, or requiring commits to be signed. These protections are up to the development team to decide if they are applicable.
The development team may also choose who these protections apply to. The most common approaches are to have it apply to everyone involved in with the software or have administrators of the repository be exempt from some/all of these rules.
- Instructions for how to set up a protected main branch on GitHub
- Instructions for how to set up a protected main branch on GitLab