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Workspaces that import from GitHub use a branch-aware editing flow. You serve from one branch (typically the deployed one) and Oxygen automatically creates a feature branch when an editor would otherwise write to a protected branch. Two settings on every workspace control the behaviour:
  • protected_branches — list of branches where saving a file triggers Oxygen to create a feature branch instead of overwriting the current branch.
  • base_branch — the branch new feature branches fork from. When unset, they fork from whatever the workspace currently has checked out.
These live in your workspace’s config.yml and are editable from the IDE (or from Manage → Workspaces → Branches).

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protected_branches

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protected_branches
string[]
default:"[default_branch]"
Branches where saving a file in the IDE auto-creates a feature branch instead of overwriting the current branch. Defaults to the repository’s default branch (usually main).
When the IDE is viewing a file on a protected branch, the Save button becomes Save to new branch and shows a “Saving will create a new branch” hint. Pressing save creates a worktree at <user-slug>/<timestamp> (e.g. alice/2026-04-15-113742), writes the file there, and switches the IDE to that branch.
config.yml
protected_branches:
  - main
  - develop

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base_branch

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base_branch
string
Branch used as the fork point when Oxygen auto-creates a feature branch. When unset, new branches fork from whatever the workspace currently has checked out.
If your workspace serves from a dedicated deployment branch, you usually want new work to fork from a different integration branch. base_branch is the switch:
config.yml
# Workspace serves from `deploy` (protected). New feature branches
# fork from `main` so they start from the latest integration work,
# not from whatever has been deployed.
protected_branches:
  - deploy
base_branch: main
base_branch only affects newly created branches. Switching to a branch that already exists always uses that branch’s existing ref as the starting point.

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When to use it

Use base_branch when your workflow has a clear split between:
  • A deployment / serving branch — the one Oxygen runs against.
  • An integration branch — the one humans merge PRs into and where new work should start.
If your repository has only one long-lived branch, leave base_branch unset.

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Full example

config.yml
databases:
  - name: warehouse
    type: postgres
    ...

models:
  - name: openai-4o-mini
    vendor: openai
    model_ref: gpt-4o-mini

defaults:
  database: warehouse

protected_branches:
  - deploy
base_branch: main