We Tried Trunk-Based Development... The Results Were Shocking.

A real-world case study from MFT Energy demonstrates how a team successfully adopted trunk-based development by committing directly to main with no branches. The team made ~2,500 commits (90% under 200 lines) while building a power trading bidding service under tight deadlines. Results showed main remained deployable (9/10 score), high quality (8.5/10), excellent DORA metrics, and strong team preference (8.5/10 would continue). Success came from small batches, fast feedback, and low transaction costs. However, non-blocking code reviews scored poorly (6/10, -7 NPS) due to lack of prioritization and unclear purpose. The team found trunk-based development worked well even without mandatory TDD or pair programming, proving that small increments with fast feedback create quality and stability.