Continuous integration and staging server

[Jurian Sluiman]

We have a staging server onto which all our clients must review the application before we push anything (first launch or later updates) to production. I wonder which one of the following methods is the best to implement a git-flow workflow:

1. Release branches as staging
2. Master as staging

For the first, this means hotfixes are applied directly to production, the release branches are reviewed on staging and the develop+release branchese are tested with CI. For the second, we have our master releases tested by clients, meaning hotfixes are tested on staging as well, but every change by a client requires a finish of a release branch. 

What is the best method here to apply CI, a separate staging environment and a stable production?
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Jurian Sluiman