# Inbound Sync branching

Inbound syncs tend to have much simpler configuration than outbound syncs. Because they are fetching data, typically there's not many settings to chose from which could affect the way each stream is retrieved. But in situations where you could make a change that alters the output data, branching will ensure that you can inspect it in a separate output table in Snowflake before merging.

Also, the Omnata UI allows you to choose which streams of an App are part of a sync. Changing this selection can also be done in a branch.

If your branch points to the same connection as main, and there are no branch-only configuration changes, it's assumed that the same source data is being fetched. The state of each stream will be carried to the branch and maintained there, so that any incremental streams continue from the same place without impact to the main sync.

If your branch points to a different connection to main, or there are branch-only configuration changes, it's assumed that different source data is being fetched. The state of each stream will be re-initialised the first time the branch is created, but will be remembered whenever a branch with the same name is reopened.

### Inbound Storage Location

When branching is enabled for inbound syncs, you need to differentiate the storage location so that different syncs/branches don't try to store their data in the same tables.

When setting a sync level storage location, you will need to either:

1. Include `{{branch_name}}` in one of the fields, or
2. Use Jinja conditional logic somewhere in the template, e.g:\\

   ```django
   {% if branch_name=='main' %}PRODUCTION{% else %}TEST{% endif %}
   ```

You can reach an example of inbound sync branching on [our blog](https://omnata.com/blog-detail/inbound-sync-branching-from-multiple-environments).


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