📖 [Docs]: Default branches to the default branch and target PRs at their base

[Marius Storhaug (MariusStorhaug)]

Documents two defaults in the Branching and Merging standard: the base a topic branch is cut from, and the branch a pull request targets. Both were implicit before; this makes them explicit for humans and agents alike.

Changed: Branching and Merging

• A topic branch is cut from the default branch by default, unless another base is explicitly named — and an agent follows the same default, branching from elsewhere only when instructed to.
• A pull request is raised against its base branch — the branch it was cut from. A branch off the default branch merges back into the default branch; in the promotion model a branch off dev targets dev, not main. The target differs only when explicitly intended.

[Copilot]

Pull request overview

This PR updates the Branching and Merging standard to make two previously implicit defaults explicit: (1) topic branches are cut from the repository’s default branch unless a different base is explicitly specified, and (2) pull requests should target the branch they were branched from (with the target differing only when intentionally chosen).

Changes:

• Adds an explicit default for the base branch used when creating topic branches (including agent behavior).
• Clarifies that pull requests should target their branch of origin, with an example for promotion-model repos (dev → dev).

[Copilot]

Pull request overview

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