# AIQ Project Branching Best Practices

# AIQ Project Branching Best Practices

Use project branching to manage test changes safely across maintenance, feature work, and release validation.

## Recommended guidance

- Keep branch names clear and tied to a change, release, or maintenance objective.
- Avoid long-lived branches that drift from the main project baseline.
- Validate scenarios in the branch before merging or promoting.
- Document major data, environment, or integration differences between branches.

## Validation workflow

1. Create a branch for the planned change.
2. Apply and validate the scenario, data, or configuration update.
3. Review execution output and affected suites.
4. Merge, promote, or retire the branch according to the project workflow.

**Last updated:** September 20, 2026