Edit File: git-merge.txt
git-merge(1) ============ NAME ---- git-merge - Join two or more development histories together SYNOPSIS -------- [verse] 'git merge' [-n] [--stat] [--no-commit] [--squash] [--[no-]edit] [-s <strategy>] [-X <strategy-option>] [--[no-]rerere-autoupdate] [-m <msg>] [<commit>...] 'git merge' <msg> HEAD <commit>... 'git merge' --abort DESCRIPTION ----------- Incorporates changes from the named commits (since the time their histories diverged from the current branch) into the current branch. This command is used by 'git pull' to incorporate changes from another repository and can be used by hand to merge changes from one branch into another. Assume the following history exists and the current branch is "`master`": ------------ A---B---C topic / D---E---F---G master ------------ Then "`git merge topic`" will replay the changes made on the `topic` branch since it diverged from `master` (i.e., `E`) until its current commit (`C`) on top of `master`, and record the result in a new commit along with the names of the two parent commits and a log message from the user describing the changes. ------------ A---B---C topic / \ D---E---F---G---H master ------------ The second syntax (<msg> `HEAD` <commit>...) is supported for historical reasons. Do not use it from the command line or in new scripts. It is the same as `git merge -m <msg> <commit>...`. The third syntax ("`git merge --abort`") can only be run after the merge has resulted in conflicts. 'git merge --abort' will abort the merge process and try to reconstruct the pre-merge state. However, if there were uncommitted changes when the merge started (and especially if those changes were further modified after the merge was started), 'git merge --abort' will in some cases be unable to reconstruct the original (pre-merge) changes. Therefore: *Warning*: Running 'git merge' with uncommitted changes is discouraged: while possible, it leaves you in a state that is hard to back out of in the case of a conflict. OPTIONS ------- include::merge-options.txt[] -m <msg>:: Set the commit message to be used for the merge commit (in case one is created). + If `--log` is specified, a shortlog of the commits being merged will be appended to the specified message. + The 'git fmt-merge-msg' command can be used to give a good default for automated 'git merge' invocations. --[no-]rerere-autoupdate:: Allow the rerere mechanism to update the index with the result of auto-conflict resolution if possible. --abort:: Abort the current conflict resolution process, and try to reconstruct the pre-merge state. + If there were uncommitted worktree changes present when the merge started, 'git merge --abort' will in some cases be unable to reconstruct these changes. It is therefore recommended to always commit or stash your changes before running 'git merge'. + 'git merge --abort' is equivalent to 'git reset --merge' when `MERGE_HEAD` is present. <commit>...:: Commits, usually other branch heads, to merge into our branch. Specifying more than one commit will create a merge with more than two parents (affectionately called an Octopus merge). + If no commit is given from the command line, and if `merge.defaultToUpstream` configuration variable is set, merge the remote-tracking branches that the current branch is configured to use as its upstream. See also the configuration section of this manual page. PRE-MERGE CHECKS ---------------- Before applying outside changes, you should get your own work in good shape and committed locally, so it will not be clobbered if there are conflicts. See also linkgit:git-stash[1]. 'git pull' and 'git merge' will stop without doing anything when local uncommitted changes overlap with files that 'git pull'/'git merge' may need to update. To avoid recording unrelated changes in the merge commit, 'git pull' and 'git merge' will also abort if there are any changes registered in the index relative to the `HEAD` commit. (One exception is when the changed index entries are in the state that would result from the merge already.) If all named commits are already ancestors of `HEAD`, 'git merge' will exit early with the message "Already up-to-date." FAST-FORWARD MERGE ------------------ Often the current branch head is an ancestor of the named commit. This is the most common case especially when invoked from 'git pull': you are tracking an upstream repository, you have committed no local changes, and now you want to update to a newer upstream revision. In this case, a new commit is not needed to store the combined history; instead, the `HEAD` (along with the index) is updated to point at the named commit, without creating an extra merge commit. This behavior can be suppressed with the `--no-ff` option. TRUE MERGE ---------- Except in a fast-forward merge (see above), the branches to be merged must be tied together by a merge commit that has both of them as its parents. A merged version reconciling the changes from all branches to be merged is committed, and your `HEAD`, index, and working tree are updated to it. It is possible to have modifications in the working tree as long as they do not overlap; the update will preserve them. When it is not obvious how to reconcile the changes, the following happens: 1. The `HEAD` pointer stays the same. 2. The `MERGE_HEAD` ref is set to point to the other branch head. 3. Paths that merged cleanly are updated both in the index file and in your working tree. 4. For conflicting paths, the index file records up to three versions: stage 1 stores the version from the common ancestor, stage 2 from `HEAD`, and stage 3 from `MERGE_HEAD` (you can inspect the stages with `git ls-files -u`). The working tree files contain the result of the "merge" program; i.e. 3-way merge results with familiar conflict markers `<<<` `===` `>>>`. 5. No other changes are made. In particular, the local modifications you had before you started merge will stay the same and the index entries for them stay as they were, i.e. matching `HEAD`. If you tried a merge which resulted in complex conflicts and want to start over, you can recover with `git merge --abort`. MERGING TAG ----------- When merging an annotated (and possibly signed) tag, Git always creates a merge commit even if a fast-forward merge is possible, and the commit message template is prepared with the tag message. Additionally, if the tag is signed, the signature check is reported as a comment in the message template. See also linkgit:git-tag[1]. When you want to just integrate with the work leading to the commit that happens to be tagged, e.g. synchronizing with an upstream release point, you may not want to make an unnecessary merge commit. In such a case, you can "unwrap" the tag yourself before feeding it to `git merge`, or pass `--ff-only` when you do not have any work on your own. e.g. --- git fetch origin git merge v1.2.3^0 git merge --ff-only v1.2.3 --- HOW CONFLICTS ARE PRESENTED --------------------------- During a merge, the working tree files are updated to reflect the result of the merge. Among the changes made to the common ancestor's version, non-overlapping ones (that is, you changed an area of the file while the other side left that area intact, or vice versa) are incorporated in the final result verbatim. When both sides made changes to the same area, however, Git cannot randomly pick one side over the other, and asks you to resolve it by leaving what both sides did to that area. By default, Git uses the same style as the one used by the "merge" program from the RCS suite to present such a conflicted hunk, like this: ------------ Here are lines that are either unchanged from the common ancestor, or cleanly resolved because only one side changed. <<<<<<< yours:sample.txt Conflict resolution is hard; let's go shopping. ======= Git makes conflict resolution easy. >>>>>>> theirs:sample.txt And here is another line that is cleanly resolved or unmodified. ------------ The area where a pair of conflicting changes happened is marked with markers `<<<<<<<`, `=======`, and `>>>>>>>`. The part before the `=======` is typically your side, and the part afterwards is typically their side. The default format does not show what the original said in the conflicting area. You cannot tell how many lines are deleted and replaced with Barbie's remark on your side. The only thing you can tell is that your side wants to say it is hard and you'd prefer to go shopping, while the other side wants to claim it is easy. An alternative style can be used by setting the "merge.conflictstyle" configuration variable to "diff3". In "diff3" style, the above conflict may look like this: ------------ Here are lines that are either unchanged from the common ancestor, or cleanly resolved because only one side changed. <<<<<<< yours:sample.txt Conflict resolution is hard; let's go shopping. ||||||| Conflict resolution is hard. ======= Git makes conflict resolution easy. >>>>>>> theirs:sample.txt And here is another line that is cleanly resolved or unmodified. ------------ In addition to the `<<<<<<<`, `=======`, and `>>>>>>>` markers, it uses another `|||||||` marker that is followed by the original text. You can tell that the original just stated a fact, and your side simply gave in to that statement and gave up, while the other side tried to have a more positive attitude. You can sometimes come up with a better resolution by viewing the original. HOW TO RESOLVE CONFLICTS ------------------------ After seeing a conflict, you can do two things: * Decide not to merge. The only clean-ups you need are to reset the index file to the `HEAD` commit to reverse 2. and to clean up working tree changes made by 2. and 3.; `git merge --abort` can be used for this. * Resolve the conflicts. Git will mark the conflicts in the working tree. Edit the files into shape and 'git add' them to the index. Use 'git commit' to seal the deal. You can work through the conflict with a number of tools: * Use a mergetool. `git mergetool` to launch a graphical mergetool which will work you through the merge. * Look at the diffs. `git diff` will show a three-way diff, highlighting changes from both the `HEAD` and `MERGE_HEAD` versions. * Look at the diffs from each branch. `git log --merge -p <path>` will show diffs first for the `HEAD` version and then the `MERGE_HEAD` version. * Look at the originals. `git show :1:filename` shows the common ancestor, `git show :2:filename` shows the `HEAD` version, and `git show :3:filename` shows the `MERGE_HEAD` version. EXAMPLES -------- * Merge branches `fixes` and `enhancements` on top of the current branch, making an octopus merge: + ------------------------------------------------ $ git merge fixes enhancements ------------------------------------------------ * Merge branch `obsolete` into the current branch, using `ours` merge strategy: + ------------------------------------------------ $ git merge -s ours obsolete ------------------------------------------------ * Merge branch `maint` into the current branch, but do not make a new commit automatically: + ------------------------------------------------ $ git merge --no-commit maint ------------------------------------------------ + This can be used when you want to include further changes to the merge, or want to write your own merge commit message. + You should refrain from abusing this option to sneak substantial changes into a merge commit. Small fixups like bumping release/version name would be acceptable. include::merge-strategies.txt[] CONFIGURATION ------------- include::merge-config.txt[] branch.<name>.mergeoptions:: Sets default options for merging into branch <name>. The syntax and supported options are the same as those of 'git merge', but option values containing whitespace characters are currently not supported. SEE ALSO -------- linkgit:git-fmt-merge-msg[1], linkgit:git-pull[1], linkgit:gitattributes[5], linkgit:git-reset[1], linkgit:git-diff[1], linkgit:git-ls-files[1], linkgit:git-add[1], linkgit:git-rm[1], linkgit:git-mergetool[1] GIT --- Part of the linkgit:git[1] suite