> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.flxbl.io/flxbl/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://docs.flxbl.io/flxbl/codev/branch-operations/tracking-branches.md).

# Tracking additional branches

A **tracked branch** is a branch codev watches for merges and pull requests. Everything codev automates for your trunk — building merged changes, producing release candidates, running preflight on pull requests, analysing code — applies to a branch only once codev is tracking it.

Every project tracks **`main`** by default. You track additional branches when you have long-lived branches — release branches, or a branch that a parallel effort lives on — that need the same automation as trunk.

<figure><img src="/files/dS0X5Uo7inm1ffwZuxcx" alt="Create New Project panel with the Branches to track selector"><figcaption><p>Branches to track are chosen when you set up the project — <code>main</code>, plus any long-lived release branches.</p></figcaption></figure>

## What tracking a branch does

Once codev tracks a branch, that branch takes part in the normal pipeline:

| Area                   | On a tracked branch                                                                                                                        |
| ---------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
| **Builds**             | A merge builds the affected packages and deploys them to the environments that track the branch, then rolls them into a release candidate. |
| **Release candidates** | The branch gets its own candidates, shown under its own tab on the **Release Candidates** page.                                            |
| **Preflight**          | codev runs preflight for the branch, so pull requests targeting it are analysed.                                                           |
| **Code analysis**      | Scheduled code analysis covers every tracked branch, not just `main`.                                                                      |
| **Changesets**         | A changeset pull request can only target a tracked branch.                                                                                 |

An untracked branch is inert to codev — merges and pull requests on it do not build, produce candidates, or run analysis.

## Choosing branches to track

You pick the branches to track when you set up the project, under **Branches to track** — typically `main` plus any long-lived release branches. See [Getting started](/flxbl/codev/ci-cd/getting-started.md) for the full project-setup flow.

## Tracking another branch later

You do not have to decide every branch up front. To start tracking a branch after setup, open **Settings > Projects**, select the project, and add the branch to its tracked branches. Only project owners can change project settings.

codev then runs **preflight** for the new branch and starts including it in scheduled **code analysis**; from that point the branch behaves like any other tracked branch — merges build, produce candidates, and deploy to the environments that track it.

{% hint style="info" %}
Track branches deliberately. Every tracked branch adds build, candidate, and analysis work, and keeps accumulating integration cost for as long as it lives. Track the long-lived branches you actually operate — trunk plus release branches — not every branch in the repository.
{% endhint %}

## Tracked branches and branch operations

Tracked branches are the foundation the other branch operations build on:

* [Cascades](/flxbl/codev/branch-operations/cascades.md) connect two or more long-lived tracked branches and automate the integration between them.
* [Cherry-to](/flxbl/codev/branch-operations/cherry-to.md) delivers a pull request's change onto another branch — usually a tracked release or staging branch, so the delivery merges and builds like any other change there.
* [Unbundle](/flxbl/codev/branch-operations/unbundle.md) rebuilds a release candidate on a tracked branch without a change you remove.

## Related

* [Getting started](/flxbl/codev/ci-cd/getting-started.md) — choosing branches to track during project setup
* [Cascades](/flxbl/codev/branch-operations/cascades.md) — automate integration between long-lived branches
* [Release candidates](/flxbl/codev/ci-cd/overview-2.md) — the candidates a tracked branch produces
* [Environments](/flxbl/codev/environments/environments.md) — how an environment tracks a branch to receive its builds


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