branch

This is the official documentation of the @forestadmin/agent Node.js agent.

The forest branch command is at the center of what your Forest Admin development workflow should look like. As explained on this page, it allows you to manage your layouts, a bit like you would use git's branches for your code.

$ forest branch --help
Create a new branch or list your existing branches.

USAGE
  $ forest branch [BRANCH_NAME]

ARGUMENTS
  BRANCH_NAME  The name of the branch to create.

OPTIONS
  -d, --delete            Delete the branch.
  -f, --format=table|json [default: table] Output format.
  -o, --origin=origin     Set the origin of the created branch.
  --force                 When deleting a branch, skip confirmation.
  --help                  Display usage information.
  --projectId=projectId   The id of the project to create a branch in.

Here are a few extra details on how it works.

The forest branch command has 3 uses, depending on how you use it:

• list branches,

• create branches,

• delete branches.

Listing existing branches

To list your existing branches, run forest branch:

$ forest branch
NAME                    ORIGIN      IS CURRENT  CLOSED AT
feature/new-button      production  ✅
fix-missing-label       staging
feature/remove-tooltip  preprod                 2022-08-19T08:08:47.678Z

The IS CURRENT column indicates your currently selected branch: your Development Environment layouts will be displayed according to this branch's layout configuration.

Creating a new branch

To create a new branch, append the name of the branch you wish to create after forest branch, like so:

$ forest branch feature/new-ops-feature --origin production
✅ Switched to new branch: feature/new-ops-feature

There is no specific constraint on branch names, though kebab-case is generally used.

However, keep in mind that your branch name must be unique in the project.

Note that your project must be deployed remotely before you can start using branches:

$ forest branch add-refund-action
❌ You cannot create a branch until this project has either a remote or a production environment.

Any branch reflects layout changes (i.e. configuration changes in your UI) that you've made on that branch. To make this possible, a branch needs an origin, which is the state of the layout you started from and made these layout changes on. This is why you need to have a Production Environment (ideally) or simply a Remote Environment: those Environments can serve as the origin of your branches.

Deleting a branch

To delete a branch, use the -d option and a branch name to the forest branch command:

$ forest branch -d hotfix/fix-dropdown-issue
[? Delete branch "hotfix/fix-dropdown-issue"? Y
✅ Branch hotfix/fix-dropdown-issue successfully deleted.

You will be prompted for confirmation before deleting a branch. To skip that confirmation, use the --force option.