# Resolving Merge Conflicts

> Use when you need to resolve an in-progress git merge/rebase conflict.

- Skill: `akillness/resolving-merge-conflicts` (Agent Skill)
- Install (CLI): `npx skillmds@latest add akillness/resolving-merge-conflicts`
- Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/akillness/resolving-merge-conflicts/raw
- Safety review: pending
- Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex
- Category: AI & ML
- Author: akillness (https://skillmd.com/u/akillness)
- Updated: 2026-09-17
- Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/akillness/resolving-merge-conflicts

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# Resolving Merge Conflicts

Use when you need to resolve an in-progress git merge/rebase conflict.

This skill is imported from `mattpocock/skills` (MIT) and is **model-invoked** upstream.

## When to use this skill

- Use when you need to resolve an in-progress git merge/rebase conflict.

## Instructions

1. **See the current state** of the merge/rebase. Check git history, and the conflicting files.

2. **Find the primary sources** for each conflict. Understand deeply why each change was made, and what the original intent was. Read the commit messages, check the PRs, check original issues/tickets.

3. **Resolve each hunk.** Preserve both intents where possible. Where incompatible, pick the one matching the merge's stated goal and note the trade-off. Do **not** invent new behaviour. Always resolve; never `--abort`.

4. Discover the project's **automated checks** and run them, typically typecheck, then tests, then format. Fix anything the merge broke.

5. **Finish the merge/rebase.** Stage everything and commit. If rebasing, continue the rebase process until all commits are rebased.

## Examples

- Apply this skill to one narrow scope first, confirm the output matches the shape described above, then widen to the full task.
- When a step needs a fact from the repository or the environment, look it up instead of asking the user for it.

## Best practices

- Keep the upstream procedure intact; record deviations explicitly instead of silently improvising.
- Stop and hand control back to the user at every decision point this skill marks as theirs.
- Prefer small reversible changes, and state assumptions rather than burying them.

## References

- Upstream skill: `mattpocock/skills` `skills/engineering/resolving-merge-conflicts/SKILL.md` (commit `3cca18b`, MIT)
- Project standards: `.agent-skills/skill-standardization/SKILL.md`
- Validator script: `.agent-skills/skill-standardization/scripts/validate_skill.sh`