Work from a feature branch, not your main branch¶
Before you start working on your change, make sure you've created a branch. By default, when you clone your repository fork, you'll be checked out on your main branch. This is a direct copy of BeeWare Docs Tools's main branch.
While you can submit a pull request from your main branch, it's preferable if you don't do this. If you submit a pull request that is almost right, the core team member who reviews your pull request may be able to make the necessary changes, rather than giving feedback asking for a minor change. However, if you submit your pull request from your main branch, reviewers are prevented from making modifications.
Working off your main branch also makes it difficult for you after you complete your first pull request. If you want to work on a second pull request, you will need to have a "clean" copy of the upstream project's main branch on which to base your second contribution; if you've made your first contribution from your main branch, you no longer have that clean version available.
Instead, you should make your changes on a feature branch. A feature branch has a simple name to identify the change that you've made. For example, if you're fixing a bug that causes build issues on Windows 11, you might create a feature branch fix-win11-build. If your bug relates to a specific issue that has been reported, it's also common to reference that issue number in the branch name (e.g., fix-1234).
To create a fix-win11-build feature branch, run:
(.venv) $ git switch -c fix-win11-build
(.venv) $ git switch -c fix-win11-build
(.venv) C:\...>git switch -c fix-win11-build