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Short-Lived Branch - CI/CD Glossary Definition

A short-lived branch is a feature branch that lives hours to a couple of days before merging. Frequent integration keeps it close to main, so CI feedback is fast and conflicts stay small.

Why prefer them

Short-lived branches are the backbone of trunk-based development. Small, frequently merged changes are easier to review, bisect, and revert than a large branch landed all at once.

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