[CognitiveLens]

Upvoted because git-flow does address many of the points in the OP, but it's also an opinionated add-on that pushes users toward a particular workflow model that may not suit all applications. In my usage of git-flow, I've found that I still need to be pretty comfortable with the "raw" git interface in order to effectively manage everything, so it also doesn't really get around the weaknesses of git itself.