Prevent commits in master branch

Question

(For simplicity) I have a master branch and a dev in my Git-repo. I want to ensure the master branch is always working, so all work I do should be in the dev branch.

However, when I merge my changes in with a --no-ff merge, I tend to stay in the master branch, and just continue working in it (because I forget to checkout my dev branch).

Can I put up a rule for the master branch, which states I can't do commits, and fast-forward merges, but only --no-ff merges from another branch?

This must work for private hosted repositories (ergo not GitHub and BitBucket).

Answer 1

Yes, it is possible. You must create pre-commit hook which rejects commits to master branch. Git doesn't call pre-commit hook when you call merge command, so this hook will be rejecting only regular commits.

1. Go to your repository.

2. Create file .git/hooks/pre-commit with following content:

   #!/bin/sh
   
   branch="$(git rev-parse --abbrev-ref HEAD)"
   
   if [ "$branch" = "master" ]; then
     echo "You can't commit directly to master branch"
     exit 1
   fi
   

3. Make it executable (not required on Windows):

   $ chmod +x .git/hooks/pre-commit
   

To disable fast-forward merges you must also add following option to your .git/config file:

[branch "master"]
    mergeoptions = --no-ff

If you want also protect master branch on your remote, check this answer: How to restrict access to master branch on git