Branches

Branches in Nected allow teams to work in parallel without affecting production. Every Rule, Workflow, Dataset, Integration, and Variable you create or modify is isolated to the currently selected Git branch until you commit and push your changes.

When connected to GitHub, Nected automatically imports your repository’s branch structure and lets users switch to any branch they have permission to access.

How Branch Access Works?

Branch visibility in Nected fully depends on the user’s GitHub permissions:

Workspace Owner / Repository Owner

• Sees all branches from the connected repository

• Can push and pull on every branch

• Can select any branch as default

Workspace Members with Limited Access

• Only see branches they have explicit GitHub permissions for

• Can push/pull only on those authorized branches

• Cannot access protected or restricted branches unless granted permission in GitHub

This ensures that GitHub remains the single source of truth for branch security and governance.

Giving Branch Access via Fine-Grained Personal Access Tokens

Fine-grained Personal Access Tokens (PATs) allow a GitHub repository owner to grant precise, branch-level permissions to workspace admins who will be working inside Nected. This ensures users can Push/Pull on specific branches without exposing the entire repository.

Repository owners can control which branches a workspace admin can push to by combining three GitHub features: repo-scoped Fine-grained PAT, collaborator permissions, and branch protection rules. This allows the admin to see all branches but push only to specific ones.

1

Add the User as a Collaborator

Give the workspace admin Write access to the repository (not Admin). This grants visibility into all branches and allows their PAT to authenticate.

2

Create a Fine-grained Personal Access Token

Generate a Fine-grained PAT and scope it to the specific repository. Under Repository Permissions, set: Contents → Read & Write Avoid granting broader admin permissions. The admin will add this PAT inside Nected.

3

Protect Branches You Want to Restrict

Use GitHub’s Branch Protection Rules to block direct pushes to branches you want controlled (e.g., main, prod). Enable: “Restrict who can push to matching branches” Add only approved users or teams. The workspace admin will still see these branches but cannot push to them.

4

Allow Push Access to Specific Branches

Leave the allowed branch (e.g., branch-x) unprotected, enabling the admin to push changes freely. All other branches require PRs and approval workflows in GitHub.

Creating Branches

Branch creation must be done in GitHub, not in Nected.

To create a new branch, follow GitHub’s documentation: Creating & Deleting Branches

Typical branch creation flow:

1. Create a new branch in GitHub (UI or CLI)

2. Assign permissions to collaborators if required

3. Users in Nected will see the new branch (if they have GitHub access)

4. They can then switch to it and start development

Switching Branches

You can switch branches directly inside Nected.

To switch branches:

1. Open the branch dropdown in the bottom-left workspace sidebar

2. View the list of branches you have access to

3. Select your desired branch

4. Nected loads the content of that branch

Once the workspace finishes loading, you will see:

Available Git configurations:

Setting	Description
Repo Name	Link of the connected GitHub repository
Default Branch	Currently active branch. Along with that, using the dropdown, you can change the active branch
Personal Access Token	You can edit the token in case the current token is expired.

Protected branches enforce Git workflows by disallowing direct changes in Nected unless changes come through GitHub merge events.

Deleting Branches

Branch deletion is also handled entirely by GitHub.

GitHub’s documentation for deleting a branch: Creating & Deleting Branches

Once a branch is deleted in GitHub:

• It is removed from the Git panel in Nected

• Users can no longer switch to it

• Any workspace tied to that branch must switch to an existing one before continuing work

Note: Do not delete a branch in GitHub if you still have unpushed changes in Nected.

Merging Branches

Nected does not merge branches. Branch merges happen only in GitHub through pull requests.

GitHub merge request documentation: Create a PR

The workflow is:

1. Push your changes from Nected to the selected branch

2. Open a Pull Request (PR) in GitHub

3. Reviewers approve, comment, or request changes

4. GitHub merges the branch into the target branch

5. Return to Nected and click Pull to apply the merged updates

This ensures all merges follow your organization’s code-review and governance policies.