μMiniGit

Merging, Rebasing & Undoing

Combine branches, resolve conflicting edits, replay commits, or roll back history.

1. Branch Merging (minigit merge)

Merges another branch into your current checked-out branch:

bash
minigit merge feature/payments
  • Fast-Forward: If your current branch is a direct ancestor of the target, MiniGit moves the pointer directly.
  • Three-Way Merge: If history diverged, MiniGit computes the Lowest Common Ancestor (LCA) and creates an automated merge commit.

Resolving Merge Conflicts

When conflicting lines collide:

text
CONFLICT (content): Merge conflict in src/payment.cpp
Automatic merge failed; fix conflicts and then commit the result.
  1. Edit the conflicted files and remove markers (<<<<<<<, =======, >>>>>>>).
  2. Stage the resolution: minigit add src/payment.cpp.
  3. Commit the merge: minigit commit -m "Merge feature/payments with conflict resolution".

2. Replay Linear History (minigit rebase)

Replays commits from the current branch onto an upstream branch:

bash
# Rebase current branch on top of main
minigit rebase main

# After resolving conflicts during rebase
minigit add <resolved-files>
minigit rebase --continue

# Skip current commit or abort entirely
minigit rebase --skip
minigit rebase --abort

3. Cherry-Pick Commits (minigit cherry-pick)

Applies the changes from an existing commit directly onto the current branch:

bash
minigit cherry-pick 7b1c402

4. Invert Changes with Revert (minigit revert)

Applies an inverse diff of a commit and records a new reversal commit (safe for public branches):

bash
minigit revert 7e9a12c

5. Reset History (minigit reset)

Moves HEAD back to an earlier commit with varying levels of intensity:

bash
# Soft: Moves HEAD pointer only (staged & working tree untouched)
minigit reset --soft <commit-sha>

# Mixed (default): Moves HEAD and unstages changes (working files untouched)
minigit reset <commit-sha>

# Hard: Moves HEAD, clears index, AND discards all uncommitted working files
minigit reset --hard <commit-sha>