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0f69be53 JH |
1 | git-merge(1) |
2 | ============ | |
0f69be53 JH |
3 | |
4 | NAME | |
5 | ---- | |
c3f0baac | 6 | git-merge - Join two or more development histories together |
0f69be53 JH |
7 | |
8 | ||
9 | SYNOPSIS | |
10 | -------- | |
17bcdad3 | 11 | [verse] |
f8246281 | 12 | 'git merge' [-n] [--stat] [--no-commit] [--squash] [--[no-]edit] |
340f2c5e | 13 | [-s <strategy>] [-X <strategy-option>] [-S[<keyid>]] |
09c2cb87 | 14 | [--[no-]allow-unrelated-histories] |
93e535a5 | 15 | [--[no-]rerere-autoupdate] [-m <msg>] [<commit>...] |
57bddb11 | 16 | 'git merge' <msg> HEAD <commit>... |
35d2fffd | 17 | 'git merge' --abort |
0f69be53 JH |
18 | |
19 | DESCRIPTION | |
20 | ----------- | |
b40bb374 JN |
21 | Incorporates changes from the named commits (since the time their |
22 | histories diverged from the current branch) into the current | |
23 | branch. This command is used by 'git pull' to incorporate changes | |
24 | from another repository and can be used by hand to merge changes | |
25 | from one branch into another. | |
26 | ||
27 | Assume the following history exists and the current branch is | |
28 | "`master`": | |
29 | ||
30 | ------------ | |
31 | A---B---C topic | |
32 | / | |
33 | D---E---F---G master | |
34 | ------------ | |
35 | ||
36 | Then "`git merge topic`" will replay the changes made on the | |
37 | `topic` branch since it diverged from `master` (i.e., `E`) until | |
38 | its current commit (`C`) on top of `master`, and record the result | |
39 | in a new commit along with the names of the two parent commits and | |
40 | a log message from the user describing the changes. | |
41 | ||
42 | ------------ | |
43 | A---B---C topic | |
44 | / \ | |
45 | D---E---F---G---H master | |
46 | ------------ | |
0f69be53 | 47 | |
57bddb11 | 48 | The second syntax (<msg> `HEAD` <commit>...) is supported for |
dee48c3c | 49 | historical reasons. Do not use it from the command line or in |
57bddb11 | 50 | new scripts. It is the same as `git merge -m <msg> <commit>...`. |
dee48c3c | 51 | |
35d2fffd JH |
52 | The third syntax ("`git merge --abort`") can only be run after the |
53 | merge has resulted in conflicts. 'git merge --abort' will abort the | |
54 | merge process and try to reconstruct the pre-merge state. However, | |
55 | if there were uncommitted changes when the merge started (and | |
56 | especially if those changes were further modified after the merge | |
57 | was started), 'git merge --abort' will in some cases be unable to | |
58 | reconstruct the original (pre-merge) changes. Therefore: | |
59 | ||
76b80cdf MM |
60 | *Warning*: Running 'git merge' with non-trivial uncommitted changes is |
61 | discouraged: while possible, it may leave you in a state that is hard to | |
e330d8ca | 62 | back out of in the case of a conflict. |
dee48c3c | 63 | |
0f69be53 JH |
64 | |
65 | OPTIONS | |
66 | ------- | |
93d69d86 | 67 | include::merge-options.txt[] |
0f69be53 | 68 | |
5f737ac9 NV |
69 | -S[<keyid>]:: |
70 | --gpg-sign[=<keyid>]:: | |
2b594bf9 MM |
71 | GPG-sign the resulting merge commit. The `keyid` argument is |
72 | optional and defaults to the committer identity; if specified, | |
73 | it must be stuck to the option without a space. | |
5f737ac9 | 74 | |
dee48c3c | 75 | -m <msg>:: |
0f8a02c6 | 76 | Set the commit message to be used for the merge commit (in |
f0ecac2b | 77 | case one is created). |
af77aee9 NP |
78 | + |
79 | If `--log` is specified, a shortlog of the commits being merged | |
80 | will be appended to the specified message. | |
81 | + | |
82 | The 'git fmt-merge-msg' command can be | |
83 | used to give a good default for automated 'git merge' | |
561d2b79 | 84 | invocations. The automated message can include the branch description. |
3c64314c | 85 | |
0460ed2c | 86 | --[no-]rerere-autoupdate:: |
cb6020bb JH |
87 | Allow the rerere mechanism to update the index with the |
88 | result of auto-conflict resolution if possible. | |
89 | ||
35d2fffd JH |
90 | --abort:: |
91 | Abort the current conflict resolution process, and | |
92 | try to reconstruct the pre-merge state. | |
93 | + | |
94 | If there were uncommitted worktree changes present when the merge | |
95 | started, 'git merge --abort' will in some cases be unable to | |
96 | reconstruct these changes. It is therefore recommended to always | |
97 | commit or stash your changes before running 'git merge'. | |
98 | + | |
99 | 'git merge --abort' is equivalent to 'git reset --merge' when | |
100 | `MERGE_HEAD` is present. | |
101 | ||
57bddb11 TR |
102 | <commit>...:: |
103 | Commits, usually other branch heads, to merge into our branch. | |
93e535a5 JH |
104 | Specifying more than one commit will create a merge with |
105 | more than two parents (affectionately called an Octopus merge). | |
106 | + | |
a01f7f2b FC |
107 | If no commit is given from the command line, merge the remote-tracking |
108 | branches that the current branch is configured to use as its upstream. | |
93e535a5 | 109 | See also the configuration section of this manual page. |
74e8bc59 JH |
110 | + |
111 | When `FETCH_HEAD` (and no other commit) is specified, the branches | |
112 | recorded in the `.git/FETCH_HEAD` file by the previous invocation | |
113 | of `git fetch` for merging are merged to the current branch. | |
0f69be53 | 114 | |
bb73d73c | 115 | |
30f2bade JN |
116 | PRE-MERGE CHECKS |
117 | ---------------- | |
0f69be53 | 118 | |
30f2bade JN |
119 | Before applying outside changes, you should get your own work in |
120 | good shape and committed locally, so it will not be clobbered if | |
121 | there are conflicts. See also linkgit:git-stash[1]. | |
122 | 'git pull' and 'git merge' will stop without doing anything when | |
123 | local uncommitted changes overlap with files that 'git pull'/'git | |
124 | merge' may need to update. | |
3ae854c3 | 125 | |
30f2bade JN |
126 | To avoid recording unrelated changes in the merge commit, |
127 | 'git pull' and 'git merge' will also abort if there are any changes | |
128 | registered in the index relative to the `HEAD` commit. (One | |
129 | exception is when the changed index entries are in the state that | |
130 | would result from the merge already.) | |
dbddb714 | 131 | |
30f2bade JN |
132 | If all named commits are already ancestors of `HEAD`, 'git merge' |
133 | will exit early with the message "Already up-to-date." | |
3ae854c3 | 134 | |
29280311 JN |
135 | FAST-FORWARD MERGE |
136 | ------------------ | |
137 | ||
138 | Often the current branch head is an ancestor of the named commit. | |
139 | This is the most common case especially when invoked from 'git | |
140 | pull': you are tracking an upstream repository, you have committed | |
141 | no local changes, and now you want to update to a newer upstream | |
142 | revision. In this case, a new commit is not needed to store the | |
143 | combined history; instead, the `HEAD` (along with the index) is | |
144 | updated to point at the named commit, without creating an extra | |
145 | merge commit. | |
146 | ||
147 | This behavior can be suppressed with the `--no-ff` option. | |
ffb1a4be | 148 | |
ebef7e50 JN |
149 | TRUE MERGE |
150 | ---------- | |
c0be8aa0 | 151 | |
29280311 JN |
152 | Except in a fast-forward merge (see above), the branches to be |
153 | merged must be tied together by a merge commit that has both of them | |
154 | as its parents. | |
ffb1a4be | 155 | |
ebef7e50 JN |
156 | A merged version reconciling the changes from all branches to be |
157 | merged is committed, and your `HEAD`, index, and working tree are | |
158 | updated to it. It is possible to have modifications in the working | |
159 | tree as long as they do not overlap; the update will preserve them. | |
ffb1a4be | 160 | |
ebef7e50 JN |
161 | When it is not obvious how to reconcile the changes, the following |
162 | happens: | |
ffb1a4be | 163 | |
ebef7e50 JN |
164 | 1. The `HEAD` pointer stays the same. |
165 | 2. The `MERGE_HEAD` ref is set to point to the other branch head. | |
166 | 3. Paths that merged cleanly are updated both in the index file and | |
ffb1a4be | 167 | in your working tree. |
ebef7e50 JN |
168 | 4. For conflicting paths, the index file records up to three |
169 | versions: stage 1 stores the version from the common ancestor, | |
170 | stage 2 from `HEAD`, and stage 3 from `MERGE_HEAD` (you | |
b1889c36 | 171 | can inspect the stages with `git ls-files -u`). The working |
29b802aa | 172 | tree files contain the result of the "merge" program; i.e. 3-way |
ebef7e50 JN |
173 | merge results with familiar conflict markers `<<<` `===` `>>>`. |
174 | 5. No other changes are made. In particular, the local | |
ffb1a4be JH |
175 | modifications you had before you started merge will stay the |
176 | same and the index entries for them stay as they were, | |
177 | i.e. matching `HEAD`. | |
178 | ||
ed4a6baa | 179 | If you tried a merge which resulted in complex conflicts and |
35d2fffd | 180 | want to start over, you can recover with `git merge --abort`. |
ed4a6baa | 181 | |
77c72780 JH |
182 | MERGING TAG |
183 | ----------- | |
184 | ||
185 | When merging an annotated (and possibly signed) tag, Git always | |
186 | creates a merge commit even if a fast-forward merge is possible, and | |
187 | the commit message template is prepared with the tag message. | |
188 | Additionally, if the tag is signed, the signature check is reported | |
189 | as a comment in the message template. See also linkgit:git-tag[1]. | |
190 | ||
191 | When you want to just integrate with the work leading to the commit | |
192 | that happens to be tagged, e.g. synchronizing with an upstream | |
193 | release point, you may not want to make an unnecessary merge commit. | |
194 | ||
195 | In such a case, you can "unwrap" the tag yourself before feeding it | |
196 | to `git merge`, or pass `--ff-only` when you do not have any work on | |
197 | your own. e.g. | |
198 | ||
e45bda87 | 199 | ---- |
77c72780 JH |
200 | git fetch origin |
201 | git merge v1.2.3^0 | |
202 | git merge --ff-only v1.2.3 | |
e45bda87 | 203 | ---- |
77c72780 JH |
204 | |
205 | ||
70a3f897 JH |
206 | HOW CONFLICTS ARE PRESENTED |
207 | --------------------------- | |
208 | ||
209 | During a merge, the working tree files are updated to reflect the result | |
210 | of the merge. Among the changes made to the common ancestor's version, | |
211 | non-overlapping ones (that is, you changed an area of the file while the | |
212 | other side left that area intact, or vice versa) are incorporated in the | |
213 | final result verbatim. When both sides made changes to the same area, | |
2de9b711 | 214 | however, Git cannot randomly pick one side over the other, and asks you to |
70a3f897 JH |
215 | resolve it by leaving what both sides did to that area. |
216 | ||
2de9b711 | 217 | By default, Git uses the same style as the one used by the "merge" program |
70a3f897 JH |
218 | from the RCS suite to present such a conflicted hunk, like this: |
219 | ||
220 | ------------ | |
221 | Here are lines that are either unchanged from the common | |
222 | ancestor, or cleanly resolved because only one side changed. | |
223 | <<<<<<< yours:sample.txt | |
224 | Conflict resolution is hard; | |
225 | let's go shopping. | |
226 | ======= | |
227 | Git makes conflict resolution easy. | |
228 | >>>>>>> theirs:sample.txt | |
229 | And here is another line that is cleanly resolved or unmodified. | |
230 | ------------ | |
231 | ||
29b802aa | 232 | The area where a pair of conflicting changes happened is marked with markers |
dcb11263 | 233 | `<<<<<<<`, `=======`, and `>>>>>>>`. The part before the `=======` |
29b802aa | 234 | is typically your side, and the part afterwards is typically their side. |
70a3f897 | 235 | |
29b802aa RW |
236 | The default format does not show what the original said in the conflicting |
237 | area. You cannot tell how many lines are deleted and replaced with | |
238 | Barbie's remark on your side. The only thing you can tell is that your | |
70a3f897 JH |
239 | side wants to say it is hard and you'd prefer to go shopping, while the |
240 | other side wants to claim it is easy. | |
241 | ||
da0005b8 | 242 | An alternative style can be used by setting the "merge.conflictStyle" |
70a3f897 JH |
243 | configuration variable to "diff3". In "diff3" style, the above conflict |
244 | may look like this: | |
245 | ||
246 | ------------ | |
247 | Here are lines that are either unchanged from the common | |
248 | ancestor, or cleanly resolved because only one side changed. | |
249 | <<<<<<< yours:sample.txt | |
250 | Conflict resolution is hard; | |
251 | let's go shopping. | |
252 | ||||||| | |
253 | Conflict resolution is hard. | |
254 | ======= | |
255 | Git makes conflict resolution easy. | |
256 | >>>>>>> theirs:sample.txt | |
257 | And here is another line that is cleanly resolved or unmodified. | |
258 | ------------ | |
259 | ||
dcb11263 CJ |
260 | In addition to the `<<<<<<<`, `=======`, and `>>>>>>>` markers, it uses |
261 | another `|||||||` marker that is followed by the original text. You can | |
70a3f897 JH |
262 | tell that the original just stated a fact, and your side simply gave in to |
263 | that statement and gave up, while the other side tried to have a more | |
264 | positive attitude. You can sometimes come up with a better resolution by | |
265 | viewing the original. | |
266 | ||
267 | ||
268 | HOW TO RESOLVE CONFLICTS | |
269 | ------------------------ | |
270 | ||
ffb1a4be JH |
271 | After seeing a conflict, you can do two things: |
272 | ||
29b802aa | 273 | * Decide not to merge. The only clean-ups you need are to reset |
ffb1a4be | 274 | the index file to the `HEAD` commit to reverse 2. and to clean |
35d2fffd JH |
275 | up working tree changes made by 2. and 3.; `git merge --abort` |
276 | can be used for this. | |
ffb1a4be | 277 | |
34ad1afa DH |
278 | * Resolve the conflicts. Git will mark the conflicts in |
279 | the working tree. Edit the files into shape and | |
0b444cdb | 280 | 'git add' them to the index. Use 'git commit' to seal the deal. |
ffb1a4be | 281 | |
34ad1afa DH |
282 | You can work through the conflict with a number of tools: |
283 | ||
ca768288 | 284 | * Use a mergetool. `git mergetool` to launch a graphical |
34ad1afa DH |
285 | mergetool which will work you through the merge. |
286 | ||
ca768288 | 287 | * Look at the diffs. `git diff` will show a three-way diff, |
3588cf94 JN |
288 | highlighting changes from both the `HEAD` and `MERGE_HEAD` |
289 | versions. | |
34ad1afa | 290 | |
3588cf94 JN |
291 | * Look at the diffs from each branch. `git log --merge -p <path>` |
292 | will show diffs first for the `HEAD` version and then the | |
293 | `MERGE_HEAD` version. | |
34ad1afa | 294 | |
ca768288 | 295 | * Look at the originals. `git show :1:filename` shows the |
3588cf94 JN |
296 | common ancestor, `git show :2:filename` shows the `HEAD` |
297 | version, and `git show :3:filename` shows the `MERGE_HEAD` | |
298 | version. | |
ffb1a4be | 299 | |
d504f697 CB |
300 | |
301 | EXAMPLES | |
302 | -------- | |
303 | ||
304 | * Merge branches `fixes` and `enhancements` on top of | |
305 | the current branch, making an octopus merge: | |
306 | + | |
307 | ------------------------------------------------ | |
308 | $ git merge fixes enhancements | |
309 | ------------------------------------------------ | |
310 | ||
311 | * Merge branch `obsolete` into the current branch, using `ours` | |
312 | merge strategy: | |
313 | + | |
314 | ------------------------------------------------ | |
315 | $ git merge -s ours obsolete | |
316 | ------------------------------------------------ | |
317 | ||
318 | * Merge branch `maint` into the current branch, but do not make | |
319 | a new commit automatically: | |
320 | + | |
321 | ------------------------------------------------ | |
322 | $ git merge --no-commit maint | |
323 | ------------------------------------------------ | |
324 | + | |
325 | This can be used when you want to include further changes to the | |
326 | merge, or want to write your own merge commit message. | |
327 | + | |
328 | You should refrain from abusing this option to sneak substantial | |
329 | changes into a merge commit. Small fixups like bumping | |
330 | release/version name would be acceptable. | |
331 | ||
332 | ||
a4081bac JN |
333 | include::merge-strategies.txt[] |
334 | ||
35e9d630 JN |
335 | CONFIGURATION |
336 | ------------- | |
337 | include::merge-config.txt[] | |
338 | ||
da0005b8 | 339 | branch.<name>.mergeOptions:: |
35e9d630 JN |
340 | Sets default options for merging into branch <name>. The syntax and |
341 | supported options are the same as those of 'git merge', but option | |
342 | values containing whitespace characters are currently not supported. | |
343 | ||
3c64314c PB |
344 | SEE ALSO |
345 | -------- | |
5162e697 | 346 | linkgit:git-fmt-merge-msg[1], linkgit:git-pull[1], |
483bc4f0 JN |
347 | linkgit:gitattributes[5], |
348 | linkgit:git-reset[1], | |
349 | linkgit:git-diff[1], linkgit:git-ls-files[1], | |
350 | linkgit:git-add[1], linkgit:git-rm[1], | |
351 | linkgit:git-mergetool[1] | |
3c64314c | 352 | |
0f69be53 JH |
353 | GIT |
354 | --- | |
9e1f0a85 | 355 | Part of the linkgit:git[1] suite |