🌿 Branching Strategy

Cherry Studio implements a structured branching strategy to maintain code quality and streamline the development process.

Current model. main is the default branch for active development — submit features, refactors, optimizations, and fixes for the current codebase here. The v1 branch is the maintenance line for the shipped v1 release: its hotfixes and subsequent v1 releases go there via hotfix/*, targeting v1 (not main). A v1 fix does not auto-carry to main; if the same bug exists on main, open a separate forward-port PR targeting main. (v1 and v2 code currently coexist on main — expect large, breaking changes.) The generic flow below predates this phase; where it conflicts, this note wins.

Main Branches

• main: Main development branch

  • Contains the latest development code
  • Direct commits are not allowed - changes must come through pull requests
  • Code may contain features in development and might not be fully stable

• release/*: Release branches

  • Created from main branch
  • Contains stable code ready for release
  • Only accepts documentation updates and bug fixes
  • Thoroughly tested before production deployment

For details about the testplan branch used in the Test Plan, please refer to the Test Plan.

Contributing Branches

When contributing to Cherry Studio, please follow these guidelines:

1. Feature Branches:

   • Create from main branch
   • Naming format: feature/issue-number-brief-description
   • Submit PR back to main

2. Bug Fix Branches:

   • Create from main branch
   • Naming format: fix/issue-number-brief-description
   • Submit PR back to main

3. Documentation Branches:

   • Create from main branch
   • Naming format: docs/brief-description
   • Submit PR back to main

4. Hotfix Branches:

   • Create from the v1 branch
   • Naming format: hotfix/issue-number-brief-description
   • Submit PR to v1, not main. A v1 fix does not auto-carry to main — if the same bug exists on main, open a separate forward-port PR targeting main

5. Release Branches:

   • Create from main branch
   • Naming format: release/version-number
   • Used for final preparation work before version release
   • Only accepts bug fixes and documentation updates
   • After testing and preparation, merge back to main and tag with version

Workflow Diagram

Pull Request Guidelines

• Active development (features, refactors, optimizations, fixes for the current codebase) goes to main; v1 hotfixes and subsequent v1 releases go to the v1 branch (see the note at the top). A v1 fix is not auto-carried to main — forward-port it with a separate PR if the bug also exists on main
• Ensure your branch is up to date with the latest main changes before submitting
• Include relevant issue numbers in your PR description
• Make sure all tests pass and code meets our quality standards
• Add before/after screenshots if you add a new feature or modify a UI component

Version Tag Management

• Major releases: v1.0.0, v2.0.0, etc.
• Feature releases: v1.1.0, v1.2.0, etc.
• Patch releases: v1.0.1, v1.0.2, etc.
• Hotfix releases: v1.0.1-hotfix, etc.