GitHub Conflicts Skill

Safely resolve merge and rebase conflicts with user guidance.

See also: Shared Conventions | Safety Guidelines

Purpose

Handle merge conflicts methodically without guessing at resolutions.

Commands

git status
git diff
git merge <branch>
git rebase <branch>
git cherry-pick <commit>
git mergetool
git add <file>
git rebase --continue
git merge --abort
git rebase --abort

Conflict Resolution Protocol

Do not guess at resolutions. Follow this process:

1. Stop and Enumerate

List all conflicting files:

git status

2. Analyze Each Conflict

For each conflicting file, show:

• The conflicting sections
• Ours (current branch version)
• Theirs (incoming version)

git diff --name-only --diff-filter=U

3. Present Options

For each conflict, propose:

1. Accept ours - keep current branch version
2. Accept theirs - take incoming version
3. Manual merge - combine both with specific proposal

4. Apply Resolution

Only after user confirms:

# Edit file to resolve
git add <resolved-file>
git rebase --continue  # or git merge --continue

Workflow: Rebase Conflicts

# Start rebase
git fetch origin
git rebase origin/main

# If conflicts occur:
# 1. List conflicts
git status

# 2. Show conflict details (present to user)

# 3. After user decision, resolve and continue
git add <file>
git rebase --continue

Workflow: Merge Conflicts

# Start merge
git merge feature-branch

# If conflicts occur:
# 1. List conflicts
git status

# 2. Show conflict details (present to user)

# 3. After user decision, resolve and commit
git add <file>
git commit

Abort Options

If resolution becomes too complex:

git merge --abort
git rebase --abort
git cherry-pick --abort

Policies

• Never auto-resolve conflicts without user confirmation
• Always show both versions before proposing resolution
• Offer abort as an option for complex conflicts
• Verify successful resolution with git status
• Run tests after resolving if applicable