Branches

A branch is a separate copy of your project that you can change without affecting the main one. Use a branch to try a new structure, let a co-author draft a chapter on their own, or keep a submitted version untouched while you keep writing. When the work is ready, you merge it back with a pull request.

How branches work

Every project has a branch called main. It is the default branch and can’t be renamed or deleted.
A new branch starts from the last saved version of the branch you create it from. Changes on that branch since its last version are not copied. Save a version first if you want them included.
Each branch has its own live copy, its own history and its own compiled PDF. People on different branches don’t see each other’s typing.
There is no limit on the number of branches.

Create a branch

You can create a branch from three places.

From the project page:

Open the project and click the Branches tab.
Click New branch.
Type a Name, for example feature/new-intro or review-draft.
Under Fork from, choose the branch to start from.
Click Create branch.

From the editor: click the branch name in the header, then click New branch… at the bottom of the menu.

From a version in the history: open the History tab, click a version, then click Start a branch from this version. See Version history.

Branch names

Letters (in any language), digits, -, _, . and /, up to 100 characters.
Names are not case-sensitive. You can’t have both Draft and draft.

Switch branches

In the editor, click the branch name in the header.
Pick a branch from Switch branch, or type in Find a branch… to search. The default branch is marked default.

To open a branch from the project page, use the branch’s Open in editor action on the Branches tab.

The Branches tab

The Branches tab lists every branch with when it last changed and how far it is ahead of or behind main. A default badge marks main, and a protected badge shows when main is protected.

Open a branch’s actions menu (⋯) to:

Action	What it does
Open in editor	Opens the branch in the editor.
View history	Opens the branch’s version history.
Compare with main	Shows what changed on the branch compared with `main`.
Open pull request	Proposes merging the branch. Shows Nothing to merge when there is nothing new.
Rename branch	Gives the branch a new name.
Delete branch	Deletes the branch.

Compare a branch with main

On the Branches tab, open a branch’s actions menu and click Compare with main.
Choose how to see the changes:
- Code diff shows the changed lines in each file.
- PDF shows the compiled document Before and After side by side. Use Previous change and Next change to step through the differences.

The page also shows how many versions the branch is ahead of and behind main. A branch is always compared with main. You can’t compare two other branches with each other.

The comparison uses saved versions only, so save a version on the branch to include your latest changes.

Rename a branch

On the Branches tab, open the branch’s actions menu and click Rename branch.
Type the New name and click Rename.

Delete a branch

On the Branches tab, open the branch’s actions menu and click Delete branch.
Click Delete branch to confirm.

Who can do what

Action	Owner	Editor	Viewer
See branches and compare them	Yes	Yes	Yes
Create a branch	Yes	Yes	No
Rename a branch	Yes	Yes	No
Delete a branch	Yes	No	No

On an archived project, branches are read-only for everyone. See Roles and permissions.