There are two FAQ articles about git with KiCad in (Start Here) Frequently Asked Questions.
Because merging isn’t usually useful, branches aren’t so useful, either. I have mostly used one branch (master or main) and tags. With tags it’s possible to go back in history. If the design’s history is linear and older versions are needed only occasionally, this is the most simple way to do it. Git branches are good if versions are developed in parallel, although because merging doesn’t work, identical changes must be made as many times as there are development branches.
In my opinion the git history and archives in the file system are two different things and can be handled separately. Different versions can be stored and retrieved from git at any time, but they can also be archived in zip files or just as named folders. What is important to understand has already been said above: KiCad file names must not be versioned, the project folder name can be versioned.