10 Git Tagging Best Practices

Git tags are an important part of any software development project. They help developers identify and track specific versions of code, which can be helpful when trying to track down bugs or revert back to a previous version.

There are a few different ways to tag code in Git, and each has its own benefits and drawbacks. In this article, we’ll discuss 10 git tagging best practices that will help you choose the right tagging strategy for your project.

1. Use semantic versioning

Semantic versioning is a way of labeling software releases in a manner that communicates the type and degree of changes from one release to the next. The most basic format for semantic versioning is X.Y.Z, where:

X = major version, Y = minor version, Z = patch
The key idea behind semantic versioning is that the X.Y.Z label can only be incremented in a way that preserves backward compatibility. That is, a change to X indicates a breaking change, a change to Y indicates the addition of new functionality that is backward-compatible, and a change to Z indicates a backward-compatible bug fix.

This system of labeling makes it easy for developers to understand the types of changes between releases and decide whether or not they need to upgrade. For example, if a developer is using version 1.0.0 of a library and version 2.0.0 is released, they know that the new version contains breaking changes and they will need to update their code. On the other hand, if version 1.1.0 is released, they know that the new version contains new features that are backward-compatible, so they can choose whether or not to update.

Semantic versioning is therefore a valuable tool for managing software dependencies and ensuring that updates are made in a controlled and predictable manner.

2. Tag releases in the same branch as your source code

When you tag a release, you’re creating a snapshot of your code at that point in time. If you tag a release in a different branch than your source code, you risk having mismatched versions – the tagged version might not include all of the changes from your source code branch.

Tagging releases in the same branch as your source code ensures that you always have an accurate and complete snapshot of your codebase.

3. Don’t tag commits that haven’t been pushed to a remote repository

If you tag a commit that hasn’t been pushed, and then someone else pushes a commit after that, your tag will be out of date. If you try to push your tag at that point, you’ll get an error saying that the tag has been moved.

To avoid this problem, always tag commits that have been pushed to a remote repository. That way, you can be sure that your tags are up to date.

4. Create annotated tags

Annotated tags are stored as full objects in the Git database. They contain the tagger name and email, the date when they were created, a tagging message, and a reference to the commit that was tagged.

On the other hand, lightweight tags are simply pointers to commits. They don’t store any of that extra information, so if you lose the .git/refs/tags directory, you lose all your lightweight tags.

For these reasons, it’s generally considered best practice to create annotated tags rather than lightweight tags.

5. Include release notes with each tag

When a new version of software is released, it’s important for users to know what has changed. This way, they can decide if they want to upgrade or not. If there are no release notes accompanying a git tag, users have no way of knowing what has changed, and they may be less likely to upgrade.

Release notes don’t have to be long or detailed. A simple list of the changes made in each commit since the last tag would suffice. However, the more information you can provide, the better.

If you’re using git tags to track releases of your software, make sure to include release notes with each tag. This will help users understand what has changed and make informed decisions about whether or not to upgrade.

6. Consider using lightweight tags for internal bookkeeping

Lightweight tags are simply pointers to a specific commit, and they’re easy to create and delete. This makes them ideal for tracking things like which commits have been deployed to production or for marking releases.

On the other hand, annotated tags are stored as full objects in the git database. This means they take up more space and are more difficult to manage. For this reason, it’s generally best to reserve annotated tags for significant milestones that you want to be able to refer back to later.

7. Avoid deleting or rewriting published tags

When you delete or rewrite a published tag, it can cause problems for anyone who has based their work off of that tag. If they try to pull the updated code, they may get errors because the tag no longer exists (or points to the wrong commit).

This can be especially problematic if you’re working on a team where multiple people are pushing to the same repository. To avoid these kinds of problems, it’s best to only delete or rewrite tags that have not been published yet.

8. Sign your tags with GPG

When you sign a tag with GPG, you’re essentially creating a cryptographic signature that can be verified by anyone who has your public key. This signature acts as a way to verify that the tag was actually created by you and has not been tampered with since it was signed.

If someone were to try to modify the tag after it was signed, the signature would no longer be valid and would alert everyone that the tag had been tampered with. This is an important security measure, especially for tags that are used to deploy code to production environments.

Git also allows you to sign commits, which is another best practice that you should follow. Commits can be signed with GPG in the same way as tags, and for the same reasons.

9. Keep your Git tags organized

As your project grows, you will inevitably end up with a lot of tags. If they’re not well organized, it will be difficult to find the ones you need, and you might even end up deleting some by mistake.

A good way to keep your tags organized is to use a naming convention. For example, you could prefix all of your release tags with “release-“, followed by the version number. This would make it easy to find all of your releases, and you could even use a tool like grep to search for specific versions.

You should also consider using an annotation system to annotate your tags. This can be useful for adding additional information about a particular tag, such as the date it was created or the reason for its creation.

10. Automate tagging with CI/CD pipelines

When you’re working with a team of developers on a project, it’s important to be able to track the changes that each developer makes. Tagging allows you to do this by creating a snapshot of the code at a specific point in time.

However, manually tagging every commit can be time-consuming and error-prone. This is where automation comes in. By setting up a CI/CD pipeline, you can automate the process of tagging commits, which will save you time and ensure that your tags are always accurate.