🚀 Git Branch Sync Script

Automatically sync commits from main/master to development when both branches are protected

⚡ Quick Start

# 1. Download the script
curl -O https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ijavidilo/trim_branches/main/trim_branches.sh
chmod +x trim_branches.sh

# 2. Run with your repository (Interactive mode - NEW!)
./trim_branches.sh -i

# 3. Or run with direct parameters
./trim_branches.sh https://github.com/your-user/your-repo.git ghp_your_token_here

That's it! The script will automatically create a Pull Request to sync the branches.

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🎯 What does this script do?

Problem: You have protected main and development branches, can't push directly
Solution: Automatically creates a temporary branch and Pull Request

1. 📥 Clones your repository
2. 🔍 Auto-detects main branch (main or master)
3. 🌿 Auto-detects development branch (development, develop, or dev)
4. 🌱 Creates temporary branch from development
5. 🔄 Syncs commits from main → temporary branch
6. 📤 Push and creates Pull Request automatically
7. 🧹 Cleans up temporary files

📋 Requirements

• ✅ Git installed and configured
• ✅ Bash (Git Bash on Windows)
• ✅ GitHub Token with repository permissions

🔑 Create GitHub Token

1. Go to GitHub Settings → Tokens
2. "Generate new token (classic)"
3. Select: ☑️ repo (Full control)
4. Copy the token (starts with ghp_)

💡 Usage

🎯 Interactive Mode (Recommended - NEW!)

# Interactive mode - asks for URL and token
./trim_branches.sh -i

# Interactive with custom branch
./trim_branches.sh -i feature/my-sync

# Interactive with all options
./trim_branches.sh -i feature/sync "My Name" "my@email.com"

📝 Direct Parameters Mode

# Basic syntax
./trim_branches.sh <repo_url> <token>

# Examples
./trim_branches.sh https://github.com/my-team/project.git ghp_1234567890
./trim_branches.sh https://github.com/my-team/project.git ghp_1234567890 feature/my-sync
./trim_branches.sh https://github.com/my-team/project.git ghp_1234567890 feature/sync "My Name" "my@email.com"

📋 Other Options

./trim_branches.sh --help     # Show help
./trim_branches.sh --version  # Show version

📄 Example Output

$ ./trim_branches.sh https://github.com/team/project ghp_token123

[INFO] Starting branch synchronization process
[INFO] Git Host: github.com
[INFO] Repository: team/project
[INFO] Main branch detected: master
[INFO] Development branch detected: development
[INFO] Commits in master not in development: 5
[INFO] Creating branch feature/trim_branches from development...
[INFO] Rebasing master onto feature/trim_branches...
[INFO] Preserving original commit dates and authorship...
[SUCCESS] All conflicts resolved automatically with rebase strategy
[INFO] Pushing branch feature/trim_branches...
[SUCCESS] Pull Request created successfully!
[SUCCESS] URL: https://github.com/team/project/pull/42

=== FINAL SUMMARY ===
Repository: team/project
Main branch: master
Development branch: development  
Feature branch: feature/trim_branches
Commits synchronized: 5
Pull Request: https://github.com/team/project/pull/42
=============================

✨ Features

• 🎯 Interactive mode - User-friendly prompts with validation
• 🔍 Smart branch detection - Auto-detects main/master and development/develop/dev
• ✅ URL validation - Validates GitHub URLs and tokens
• 🛡️ Works with protected branches
• 🔄 Automatic conflict resolution
• 📤 Creates Pull Request automatically
• 🌐 Compatible with GitHub.com and GitHub Enterprise
• 🧹 Automatic cleanup of temporary files
• 🎨 Colorized output - Clear visual feedback with final summary
• 📅 Preserves commit dates - Maintains original authorship and commit timestamps
• 🔧 Non-interactive git operations - Prevents editor prompts during automation
• ✅ Cross-platform (Windows, macOS, Linux)

🔧 Parameters

Parameter	Required	Description	Example
repository_url	✅	Repository URL	https://github.com/team/project.git
personal_access_token	✅	Authentication token	ghp_xxxxxxxxxxxx
feature_branch_name	❌	Temporary branch name	feature/sync-branches
git_user_name	❌	Name for commits	"John Doe"
git_user_email	❌	Email for commits	"john@company.com"

Note: If you don't specify name/email, it uses your global Git configuration

📊 How it works?

1. 📥 Clones repository
2. 🔍 Auto-detects main branch (main/master)
3. 🌿 Auto-detects development branch (development/develop/dev)
4. 🌱 Creates temporary branch from development
5. 🔄 Applies commits from main → temporary branch (preserving original dates)
6. ✅ Resolves conflicts automatically (favoring main branch changes)
7. 📤 Push and creates Pull Request with detailed summary
8. 🎨 Shows colorized final summary with all details
9. 🧹 Cleans up temporary files

💡 Special Cases

• Branches without common history: Handled automatically using merge strategy
• Conflicts: Resolved automatically by prioritizing the main branch changes
• Multiple executions: Recreates the branch if it already exists
• Commit history preservation: Original commit dates and authorship are maintained
• Large repositories: Efficient handling with smart branch detection and minimal cloning

🔧 Technical Details

📅 Commit Date Preservation

The script uses --committer-date-is-author-date during rebase operations to ensure:

• ✅ Original commit timestamps are preserved
• ✅ Author information remains intact
• ✅ Historical timeline is maintained accurately
• ✅ No confusion about when changes were actually made

🤖 Automatic Conflict Resolution

When conflicts occur during synchronization:

• Uses -X theirs strategy to favor main branch changes
• Automatically resolves file conflicts without manual intervention
• Preserves the intent of main branch updates
• Continues rebase process seamlessly

🎨 Enhanced Output

• Colorized messages: Info (blue), success (green), warnings (yellow), errors (red)
• Detailed final summary: Repository info, branches, commit count, PR link
• Progress indicators: Clear status at each step of the process

🚨 Common Errors

🔐 Error 401 - Invalid token

[ERROR] API connectivity test failed (HTTP 401)

Solution: Regenerate your token at GitHub → Settings → Tokens

🚫 Error 403 - No permissions

[ERROR] Authentication failed or insufficient permissions

Solutions:

• Make sure to check ☑️ repo when creating the token
• For GitHub Enterprise: authorize SSO at Settings → Applications

🔍 Error 404 - Repository not found

[ERROR] Repository not found

Solutions:

• Verify the repository URL is correct
• Confirm you have access to the repository

🌿 Development branch doesn't exist

[ERROR] Development branch not found (development/develop/dev)

Solution: Create a development branch:

git checkout -b development  # or 'develop' or 'dev'
git push origin development

📞 Help

Problems? Open an issue with:

• The command you executed
• The complete error you see
• Your operating system

📄 License

MIT License - See LICENSE for details.

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⭐ If it helped you, give the repo a star!
Created by: ijavidilo