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Trunk-Based Development - CI/CD Glossary Definition

Trunk-based development is a branching model where developers integrate small changes into a single shared branch (the trunk) frequently, using short-lived feature branches that merge within a day or two. It is the branching model CI was designed for.

Why it matters

Short-lived branches keep merge conflicts small and the trunk always releasable. It pairs with feature flags to hide work-in-progress and with a merge queue to keep the trunk green.

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