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Emergency Fixes: When Production Breaks

Production breaks. You need to fix it now. Understanding emergency fixes is understanding how to respond quickly and safely.

🎯 The Big Picture​

Emergency fixes are different from regular fixes. They're urgent. They need to go to production immediately. Git helps you fix quickly and safely.

Think of it like this: Emergency fixes are like medical emergencies. You need to act fast, but you also need to be careful.

Emergency Fix Workflow​

Step 1: Create Hotfix Branch​

# Create hotfix from main (production)
git checkout -b hotfix/critical-bug main

# Or from specific tag
git checkout -b hotfix/critical-bug v1.2.3

Step 2: Fix the Issue​

# Fix the bug
vim broken-file.js
git add broken-file.js
git commit -m "Fix critical bug: [description]"

Step 3: Test Quickly​

# Quick test (as much as possible)
npm test
# Or manual testing

Step 4: Merge to Main​

# Merge to main immediately
git checkout main
git merge hotfix/critical-bug

# Tag the fix
git tag -a v1.2.4 -m "Hotfix: Critical bug fix"

Step 5: Deploy​

# Push and deploy
git push origin main
git push origin v1.2.4

# Deploy to production

Step 6: Merge to Develop​

# Also merge to develop
git checkout develop
git merge hotfix/critical-bug
git push origin develop

My Take: Emergency Fixes Need Speed​

Emergency fixes need speed. But don't skip safety. Test what you can. Document what you did.

Key Takeaways​

  1. Create hotfix branch - From main or production tag
  2. Fix quickly - But carefully
  3. Test what you can - Don't skip all testing
  4. Merge to main - Deploy immediately
  5. Merge to develop - Keep develop updated

What's Next?​

Next: Recovering Lost Commits.

Remember: Emergency fixes need speed, but don't skip safety.