From 7576f6ed90ae95ddea2e4869312dfa21686545bb Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Joe Heffer <j.heffer@sheffield.ac.uk>
Date: Thu, 12 Feb 2026 11:59:50 +0000
Subject: [PATCH] chore: add standardised branch name rule set

https://docs.github.com/en/repositories/configuring-branches-and-merges-in-your-repository/managing-rulesets/creating-rulesets-for-a-repository

https://conventional-branch.github.io/
---
 .../rulesets/conventional-branch-naming.json  | 47 +++++++++++++++++++
 CLAUDE.md                                     | 14 +++++-
 CONTRIBUTING.md                               | 20 ++++++--
 3 files changed, 77 insertions(+), 4 deletions(-)
 create mode 100644 .github/rulesets/conventional-branch-naming.json

diff --git a/.github/rulesets/conventional-branch-naming.json b/.github/rulesets/conventional-branch-naming.json
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..8c676d55
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/rulesets/conventional-branch-naming.json
@@ -0,0 +1,47 @@
+{
+  "name": "Conventional Branch Naming",
+  "target": "branch",
+  "enforcement": "active",
+  "conditions": {
+    "ref_name": {
+      "exclude": [
+        "refs/heads/main",
+        "refs/heads/master",
+        "refs/heads/develop",
+        "refs/heads/staging",
+        "refs/heads/production"
+      ],
+      "include": [
+        "~ALL"
+      ]
+    }
+  },
+  "rules": [
+    {
+      "type": "creation",
+      "parameters": {
+        "restricted_ref_names": {
+          "patterns": [
+            {
+              "operator": "regex",
+              "pattern": "^(?!refs/heads/(feat|fix|docs|style|refactor|perf|test|build|ci|chore|revert)/.+$).*"
+            }
+          ]
+        }
+      }
+    },
+    {
+      "type": "update",
+      "parameters": {
+        "update_allows_fetch_and_merge": true
+      }
+    }
+  ],
+  "bypass_actors": [
+    {
+      "actor_id": 5,
+      "actor_type": "RepositoryRole",
+      "bypass_mode": "always"
+    }
+  ]
+}
diff --git a/CLAUDE.md b/CLAUDE.md
index 4f5b4d11..ac5fa3a7 100644
--- a/CLAUDE.md
+++ b/CLAUDE.md
@@ -196,7 +196,19 @@ Components use Bootstrap 5 for styling and Chart.js for visualizations.
 ### Branching Strategy
 
 - **main branch**: Primary branch for all development and production
-- Branch naming: Use semantic prefixes (`feat/`, `fix/`, `docs/`, etc.)
+- **Branch naming**: Must follow [conventional branch naming](https://conventional-branch.github.io/) with these prefixes:
+  - `feat/` - New features
+  - `fix/` - Bug fixes
+  - `docs/` - Documentation changes
+  - `style/` - Code style changes (formatting, whitespace)
+  - `refactor/` - Code refactoring without changing behavior
+  - `perf/` - Performance improvements
+  - `test/` - Test additions or changes
+  - `build/` - Build system or dependency changes
+  - `ci/` - CI/CD configuration changes
+  - `chore/` - Maintenance tasks
+  - `revert/` - Revert previous commits
+- **Enforcement**: GitHub rulesets enforce conventional branch naming for all branches (except `main`, `develop`, `staging`, `production`)
 
 ### Making Changes
 
diff --git a/CONTRIBUTING.md b/CONTRIBUTING.md
index 17759481..c411102e 100644
--- a/CONTRIBUTING.md
+++ b/CONTRIBUTING.md
@@ -15,9 +15,23 @@ Please use the [Kanban board](https://github.com/orgs/RSE-Sheffield/projects/19)
 1. [Raise an issue](https://github.com/RSE-Sheffield/SORT/issues/new?template=Blank+issue) clearly describing the
    problem or user requirements;
 2. [Create a branch](https://docs.github.com/en/issues/tracking-your-work-with-issues/using-issues/creating-a-branch-for-an-issue)
-   that is associated with that issue. It can be helpful to prefix the branch name to match the type of changes
-   e.g. `feat/123-my-feature` for features or `docs/my-guide` for documentation, etc.
-   See [Semantic branch names](https://damiandabrowski.medium.com/semantic-branch-names-and-commit-messages-3ac38a6fcbb6).
+   that is associated with that issue. Branch names must follow [conventional branch naming](https://conventional-branch.github.io/)
+   with one of these prefixes:
+   - `feat/` - New features
+   - `fix/` - Bug fixes
+   - `docs/` - Documentation changes
+   - `style/` - Code style changes (formatting, whitespace)
+   - `refactor/` - Code refactoring without changing behavior
+   - `perf/` - Performance improvements
+   - `test/` - Test additions or changes
+   - `build/` - Build system or dependency changes
+   - `ci/` - CI/CD configuration changes
+   - `chore/` - Maintenance tasks and other changes
+   - `revert/` - Revert previous commits
+
+   Examples: `feat/123-user-authentication`, `fix/survey-validation`, `docs/deployment-guide`
+
+   Note: GitHub branch protection rules enforce this naming convention for all branches except `main`, `develop`, `staging`, and `production`.
 3. In that branch, make changes that aim to resolve that issue;
 4. Create
    a [draft pull request](https://docs.github.com/en/pull-requests/collaborating-with-pull-requests/proposing-changes-to-your-work-with-pull-requests/about-pull-requests#draft-pull-requests) (