Git Workflow

Branch Strategy

We use a dual-branch strategy to accommodate both Git and FTP workflows:

Branch	Purpose	Updated By
main	Development team changes	Manual commits
production	Coworker’s FTP changes	Auto-commits every 15 min

How It Works

graph LR
    A[Coworker FTP] -->|Edits files| B[Production Server]
    B -->|Auto-commit| C[production branch]
    C -->|Pull request| D[main branch]
    E[You - Local Dev] -->|git push| D
    D -->|make deploy| B

For Development Team

1. Work on main branch locally
2. Push changes to GitHub
3. Deploy to production with make deploy

For Coworker (FTP)

1. Edit files via FTP/ShiftEdit
2. Cron job auto-commits every 15 minutes
3. Changes pushed to production branch
4. Team reviews via pull request

Daily Workflow

1. Check for Coworker Changes

# See what coworker changed
make diff

# View recent auto-commits
make log

# Or open GitHub compare view
make compare

2. Review Changes

Open GitHub to see detailed changes:

# Open compare view in browser
open "https://github.com/my-marketing-pro/mmp-webapp/compare/main...production"

3. Merge if Needed

If coworker made changes you want to keep:

Option A: Via GitHub (Recommended)

1. Go to GitHub
2. Create pull request: production → main
3. Review changes
4. Merge pull request

Option B: Via Command Line

# Fetch latest from production branch
git fetch origin production

# Merge into main
git checkout main
git merge origin/production

# Resolve any conflicts
git add .
git commit -m "Merge coworker changes from production"
git push

4. Make Your Changes

# Ensure you're on main
git checkout main

# Make changes
# ... edit files ...

# Commit
git add .
git commit -m "Your descriptive message"

# Push to GitHub
git push origin main

5. Deploy to Production

# Deploy main branch to production server
make deploy

# This runs:
# ssh mymarketingpro "cd /var/www/sftp/app &&
#   sudo git stash &&
#   sudo git checkout main &&
#   sudo git pull &&
#   sudo git stash pop"

Auto-Commit System

How It Works

A cron job on the production server runs every 15 minutes:

# Cron schedule
*/15 * * * * /usr/local/bin/auto-commit-mmp.sh >> /var/log/auto-commit.log 2>&1

Script Location

File: /usr/local/bin/auto-commit-mmp.sh

#!/bin/bash
cd /var/www/sftp/app
git checkout production 2>/dev/null
git add -A
if ! git diff --staged --quiet; then
    git commit -m "Auto-commit: $(date '+%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S')"
    git push origin production
fi

What Gets Committed

• Any file changes in /var/www/sftp/app/
• Created by coworker via FTP
• Committed with timestamp: Auto-commit: 2026-01-21 14:30:00

View Auto-Commit Log

# SSH into server
ssh mymarketingpro

# View log
tail -f /var/log/auto-commit.log

# View recent commits
cd /var/www/sftp/app
git log --oneline -20

Common Commands

Check Status

# Check coworker's changes vs your changes
make diff

# Check production server status
make status

# View recent auto-commits
make log

Pull Latest Code

# Pull from main branch
make pull

# Pull from production branch (coworker changes)
make sync

Deploy

# Deploy main branch to production
make deploy

SSH Access

# SSH into production server
make ssh

# Or directly
ssh mymarketingpro

Handling Conflicts

Scenario: Coworker Edited Same File

If you and coworker edit the same file:

1. Your changes are in main branch
2. Coworker’s changes are in production branch
3. Conflict occurs when merging

Resolution:

# Fetch coworker's changes
git fetch origin production

# Try to merge
git merge origin/production

# If conflict:
# 1. Open conflicted files
# 2. Look for conflict markers:
#    <<<<<<< HEAD
#    Your changes
#    =======
#    Coworker's changes
#    >>>>>>> origin/production

# 3. Manually resolve
# 4. Stage and commit
git add .
git commit -m "Merge production: resolved conflicts"
git push

Scenario: Need to Rollback

If something breaks after deployment:

# Check recent commits
git log --oneline -10

# Rollback to previous commit
git reset --hard <commit-hash>

# Force push (careful!)
git push origin main --force

# Redeploy
make deploy

Git Configuration

Check Current Branch on Server

# SSH into server
ssh mymarketingpro

# Check branch
cd /var/www/sftp/app
git branch --show-current

Should show: main (unless coworker is actively editing via FTP)

Switch Branches on Server

# Switch to main (for deployment)
sudo git checkout main

# Switch to production (for FTP access)
sudo git checkout production

Best Practices

1. Always Pull Before Pushing

# Before starting work
git pull origin main

# Make changes
# ...

# Push
git push origin main

2. Review Auto-Commits Regularly

# Check weekly
make log

# Or open GitHub
make compare

3. Coordinate Big Changes

If making major changes, coordinate with coworker:

• Let them know when you’ll deploy
• Ask them to pause FTP edits during deployment
• Review any pending changes first

4. Use Descriptive Commit Messages

# Bad
git commit -m "fixes"

# Good
git commit -m "Fix authentication redirect loop in app-auth.php:23"

5. Don’t Force Push to Production Branch

The production branch is managed by auto-commits. Never:

# DON'T DO THIS
git push origin production --force

Let the cron job handle it.

Troubleshooting

Auto-Commits Stopped

# SSH into server
ssh mymarketingpro

# Check cron log
tail /var/log/auto-commit.log

# Check if script exists
ls -lh /usr/local/bin/auto-commit-mmp.sh

# Test script manually
sudo /usr/local/bin/auto-commit-mmp.sh

Git Lock File Error

# On server
ssh mymarketingpro
cd /var/www/sftp/app

# Remove lock file
sudo rm -f .git/index.lock

# Try again
sudo git status

Permission Denied

# On server, check ownership
ls -lh /var/www/sftp/app/.git/

# Should be owned by root or www-data
# If needed, fix permissions:
sudo chown -R www-data:www-data /var/www/sftp/app/.git/

GitHub Integration

Compare Branches

Compare what changed between branches:

https://github.com/my-marketing-pro/mmp-webapp/compare/main...production

Create Pull Request

Create PR to merge production → main:

https://github.com/my-marketing-pro/mmp-webapp/pull/new/production

View Auto-Commits

See all auto-commits from coworker:

https://github.com/my-marketing-pro/mmp-webapp/commits/production

Next Steps

• Development Workflow - Development best practices
• Deployment - Deployment procedures
• Makefile Commands - Quick command reference