dev-flow

dev-flow Plugin

Comprehensive release management and versioning guidance for Claude Code projects.

Overview

dev-flow provides comprehensive release and git workflow management for teams. It guides semantic versioning with bracket-based freezing, branch strategy coordination, and systematic rebase conflict resolution. Works with single-component projects, multi-component systems, monorepos, and Claude plugins.

What It Does

Release Management

The release-process skill guides you through:

• Assessing release scope — Determine if changes are PATCH, MINOR, or MAJOR
• Applying bracket system — Freeze at scope level, jump higher if scope creeps
• Version bumping — Correctly increment version numbers across all files
• Changelog management — Document user-facing changes only (no version bump documentation)
• Multi-component coordination — Manage independent versions with parent version rules
• Release workflows — Step-by-step procedures for common scenarios

Branch Strategy

The git-flow and git-flow-next skills help you:

• Choose your workflow — Traditional git-flow for all platforms, or modern git-flow-next for macOS
• Set up branching — Initialize and configure feature/release/hotfix branches
• Coordinate releases — Integrate with release-process for semantic versioning
• Manage hotfixes — Handle production emergencies without disrupting development
• Support team workflows — Multiple concurrent features, explicit dev/prod separation
• Customize strategies — git-flow-next supports GitHub Flow, GitLab Flow, and custom presets

Git Rebase Conflict Resolution

The rebase-resolver skill helps you:

• Resolve conflicts one block at a time — Systematic approach avoiding bulk operations
• Verify before committing — Grep verification prevents incomplete resolutions
• Leverage git rerere — Block-by-block resolution enables conflict pattern learning
• Handle edge cases — Nested markers, AA conflicts, and shifted line numbers
• Continue rebases safely — Ensure all conflicts resolved before proceeding

Installation

/plugin marketplace add full-stack-biz/claude-dev-flow
/plugin install dev-flow@dev-flow-marketplace

Or directly from GitHub:

claude plugin install https://github.com/full-stack-biz/claude-dev-flow --scope user

Quick Start

When planning a release, ask Claude:

"Help me release version X.Y.Z for my project"

or

"Guide me through the release process using the bracket system"

The plugin will:

1. Help assess the scope of changes
2. Apply bracket-based version freezing rules
3. Guide you through updating version files
4. Ensure your changelog follows best practices
5. Help you commit and tag the release

Key Concepts

Bracket System

Prevents version thrashing by freezing at scope level:

• PATCH bracket (Z) — Bug fixes, docs, wording
• MINOR bracket (Y) — New features, backward compatible
• MAJOR bracket (X) — Breaking changes

Core principle: Version freezes at bracket level until commit. Can jump to higher bracket if scope demands it. After commit, reset for next cycle.

Version Freezing

Last commit: 1.2.0
Start patch work → 1.2.1 (patch frozen)
Discover new feature → 1.3.0 (minor frozen, jumped brackets)
Discover breaking change → 2.0.0 (major frozen, jumped brackets)
More work discovered → 2.0.0 (major, don't bump further)
Commit: 2.0.0

Changelog Rules

1. Document user-facing changes only — Skip internal refactoring, cleanup
2. Never document version bumps — NO "Bumped to 1.2.3"
3. Verify against git diff — Run git diff before writing changelog
4. Be specific — "Reduced search time from 500ms to 50ms" not "Improved performance"

Multi-Component Projects

In monorepos and plugins:

• Each component versions independently
• Parent version ≥ highest child version
• Only update components that changed

Project Structure