Merge

Git · Reference cheat sheet

📖 Overview

git merge joins histories by integrating another branch into the current one. Fast-forward moves the pointer when possible; otherwise Git creates a merge commit. Resolve conflicts, then complete the merge commit.

🧩 Core concepts

• Fast-forward — no merge commit if current tip is ancestor of incoming.
• True merge — creates a commit with two parents when histories diverged.
• --no-ff — always create a merge commit (preserves feature-branch topology).
• --squash — stage combined changes without a merge commit (then commit yourself).
• Conflict markers — edit files, git add, then git commit / git merge --continue.
• Abort — git merge --abort returns to pre-merge state.

💡 Examples

git switch main
git fetch origin
git merge origin/main

# Feature into main
git switch main
git merge --no-ff feature/checkout

# Squash merge locally
git merge --squash feature/checkout
git commit -m "feat: checkout flow"

# During conflicts
git status
# edit files, remove <<<<<<< ======= >>>>>>> markers
git add path/to/file
git commit   # completes merge

# Abort
git merge --abort

# Prefer ff-only on release branches
git merge --ff-only origin/main

⚠️ Pitfalls

• Merging the wrong direction (main into feature vs feature into main) confuses PR history.
• Leaving conflict markers in committed files breaks builds — search for <<<<<<<.
• Squash merges on the remote make local feature branches diverge — delete/recreate after.
• Recursive/ort strategies handle most text; binary conflicts need manual choice.

🔗 Related

• Rebase
• Pull
• Branch
• Commit
• Fetch