Branches
A branch acts as a parallel line of development. You can make changes on a branch instead of your main repository to isolate your changes so developers can work simultaneously, until you’re ready to merge your changes into the main repository.
When you create a new branch, the branch is a child of the branch that you create it from. A branch isn’t a copy of the entity repository structure, or a special directory; each branch points to its parent branch. This means the branch inherits data and only stores and adds the changes that you make.
Each repository that you make in Unity Version Control (Unity VCS) has a default branch called main. Unity VCS creates the main branch with an empty changeset, cs:0, which contains your root directory.
Each changeset you make belongs to a branch in your repository.
Branch data
In Unity VCS, a branch is a complete entity, and has its own metadata:
| Metadata | Description |
|---|---|
| Creation date | The date and time of the branch creation. |
| Creator | The individual or entity responsible for the branch creation. |
| GUID | Globally Unique Identifier assigned to the branch for identification purposes. |
| Comments | Optional descriptions accompanying branches that provide additional context or information. |
| Attributes | Value-pair combinations assigned to branches, often used for status designation or categorization. |
Branches in the Unity Cloud Dashboard
The Branches tab shows you a list of branches in the repository. On this page, you can do the following tasks:
- Search by branch name, changeset, and author.
- View the latest changeset and time of creation for each branch.
- View the branch creation date.
- Request a code review.