Git Habits for Solo and Small Teams

You do not need a heavyweight process to keep git history readable. A few consistent habits go a long way—even on a solo portfolio repo.

One idea per commit

Commits should answer “why did this change land?” Prefer a short subject that states intent:

Add blog post index for static prerender routes

Fix mobile nav focus order after menu close

Avoid dumping unrelated formatting and feature work in the same commit when you can split them cleanly.

Branches that explain themselves

Use names that hint at the work: blog/more-posts, fix/nav-focus, chore/update-deps. Delete merged branches so the list stays short.

Protect main, ship in small steps

Whether you push straight to main or open PRs for yourself, keep changes reviewable. Smaller diffs are easier to revert and easier to bisect when something regresses after deploy.

Wrap-up

Good git hygiene is about future you: clear commits, short-lived branches, and a main branch you trust to deploy.