---
id: 148f15d3-1d84-4db7-ad59-5a518f660ac4
type: workflow
title: "next-release branch pattern for batching major-domo changes before deploy"
tags: [major-domo, git, workflow, deployment, ci-cd, branching]
importance: 0.5
confidence: 0.8
created: "2026-02-20T04:31:04.212569+00:00"
updated: "2026-02-20T04:31:04.212569+00:00"
---

## Pattern: next-release Branch for Atomic Deploys

### Context
Major-domo discord-app-v2. Gitea Actions CI/CD triggers a Docker build and deploy on every merge to `main`.

### Problem
Non-urgent changes (deploy scripts, test cleanup, minor fixes) would each trigger a separate deploy if merged individually to `main`. This creates unnecessary intermediate deploys and noisy CI runs.

### Solution
Accumulate non-urgent changes on a `next-release` branch. When ready to deploy, open a single PR from `next-release` into `main` to capture all changes atomically.

### Workflow
```bash
# Start or check out existing batch branch
git checkout -b next-release   # or git checkout next-release

# Merge individual feature/fix branches into it
git merge feature/deploy-script
git merge fix/remove-obsolete-tests

# When ready to deploy, open a PR
tea pulls create --head next-release --base main --title "chore: batch release - deploy script + test cleanup"
```

### First Use
Combined two changes on one `next-release` branch:
- `.scripts/deploy.sh` — new deploy helper script
- Removal of obsolete `MoveAction` test stub (closes #16)

### When to Use
- Changes that are complete but non-urgent
- Multiple small changes that logically belong together
- Avoiding a deploy for every minor cleanup commit

### When NOT to Use
- Hotfixes (go directly to a `fix/` branch → PR to main)
- Breaking changes that need their own deploy validation