trunkbaserat

Trunkbaserat, or trunk-based development, is a software development practice in which developers integrate changes into a single shared branch, typically called the trunk or mainline, as frequently as possible—often several times per day. Long-lived feature branches are discouraged or avoided; new functionality is developed in small increments and integrated continuously. To keep the trunk stable, incomplete work is typically hidden behind feature flags or toggles that can be turned on or off in production.

Key practices include continuous integration, automated testing, and frequent code reviews. Developers commit small, logically cohesive changes directly to the trunk or into very short-lived branches that are merged quickly. Feature flags enable enabling completed work without exposing unfinished functionality to users. Release processes are tightly coupled with automation, with canary or blue-green deployment patterns often used to minimize risk.

Benefits of trunk-based development include reduced integration problems, faster feedback from tests and users, and simpler release management. It supports a culture of shared ownership and is well suited to monorepos and large teams that ship frequently, avoiding the overhead of long-lived branches and complex merge histories. It aligns well with modern CI/CD practices and continuous delivery goals.

Challenges and requirements include robust automated testing and quality gates, disciplined commit hygiene, effective feature-flag management, and strong monitoring. The approach can increase trunk instability if automation is weak, so teams invest in comprehensive test suites, rollout controls, and clear rollback capabilities. It is most effective in environments with rapid release cadences and mature development tooling.