Branch Strategy

DeployStack's branch strategy allows you to maintain and deploy multiple versions of your application simultaneously. This is particularly valuable when you're evolving your application while maintaining stable versions for production users.

The Multi-Version Journey

Starting Point: Default Branch

Every repository starts with its default branch (typically main or master). This branch:

Always generates Infrastructure as Code templates
Cannot be excluded from template generation
Has implicit priority: 0 in deployment options
Can be changed through your repository settings

When you change your default branch in GitHub:

DeployStack automatically detects the change - you need to install DeployStack GitHub App
Regenerates templates for the new default branch
Updates all deployment buttons

Growing Your Application: Adding New Versions

As your application evolves, you might want to:

Develop a new major version with breaking changes
Maintain an LTS (Long Term Support) version
Test new features with early adopters

This is where branch configurations become powerful. You can maintain up to 5 active branches, each with:

Its own Docker configuration
Separate environment variables
Independent deployment options

For example, when developing version 2 of your application:

deployment:
  branches:
    v2:
      label: "Version 2 Beta"
      description: "Next generation features"
      priority: 1

Branch-Specific Configurations

Each branch can have its own .deploystack directory with standard configuration files. First, create the directories on your default branch:

# Default branch configuration

your-repository/
└── .deploystack/
    ├── config.yml
    ├── docker-compose.yml
    └── env

# v2 branch configuration

your-repository/
└── .deploystack/
    ├── config.yml
    ├── docker-compose.yml
    └── env

This structure allows you to:

Use different Docker configurations per branch
Maintain separate environment variables
Modify service configurations independently
Keep each version's deployment parameters isolated

Remember: The DeployStack GitHub App only monitors the standard filenames: check .deploystack Directory Reference for more info

Real-World Example

Let's say you're maintaining a web application:

application:
  name: "MyWebApp"
  description: "Modern web application stack"

deployment:
  branches:
    v1-lts:
      label: "v1 LTS"
      description: "Stable v1.x release with long-term support"
      priority: 1
    v2-beta:
      label: "v2 Beta"
      description: "New architecture with enhanced features"
      priority: 2
    experimental:
      label: "Edge"
      description: "Latest experimental features"
      priority: 3

Each branch can have different Docker configurations:

main

Benefits for Your Users

This strategy allows your users to:

Choose the version that best fits their needs
Test new versions while maintaining production deployments
Safely transition between versions at their own pace
Deploy LTS versions for stability
Try experimental features in isolation

Important Notes

Maximum of 5 active branches supported
Each branch can have unique Docker configurations
Default branch can be changed (switch to another branch and make it default) but not excluded
Branch configurations (DeployStack config file) must be in the default branch
All branches are automatically monitored for changes
Template regeneration happens automatically when:
Branch content changes
Default branch is changed
Configuration is updated

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