# Conflict Resolution

> Git Conflict Resolution & Triage

- Skill: `j4flmao/conflict-resolution` (Agent Skill)
- Install (CLI): `npx skillmds@latest add j4flmao/conflict-resolution`
- Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/j4flmao/conflict-resolution/raw
- Safety review: pending
- Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex
- Category: Coding & Dev Tools
- Author: j4flmao (https://skillmd.com/u/j4flmao)
- Updated: 2026-09-21
- Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/j4flmao/conflict-resolution

---

# Git Conflict Resolution & Triage

## Advanced Recovery Techniques

Handling Git conflicts is a crucial skill. This guide covers how to survive "Merge Hell" and use advanced Git features for history manipulation and debugging.

### 1. The 3-Way Merge Mechanism
When rebasing or merging, Git compares the current branch, the incoming branch, and their common ancestor (the merge base).
- **Merge Conflict:** Occurs when two branches modify the same line of the same file, or one deletes a file while the other modifies it.
- **Resolution:** Use `<<< HEAD` (current changes) and `>>> incoming` (incoming changes) markers to manually accept or combine lines.

### 2. Advanced: Git Rerere
**Reuse Recorded Resolution (Rerere)** is a hidden Git feature.
- **Concept:** When you resolve a conflict, Git remembers how you solved it. If the exact same conflict happens again (e.g., during a long rebase), Git resolves it automatically.
- **Enable:** `git config --global rerere.enabled true`

### 3. Advanced: Interactive Rebase & Bisect
- **`git rebase -i` (Interactive):** Allows you to squash, drop, edit, or reword previous commits. Crucial for cleaning up a messy feature branch before a PR.
- **`git bisect`:** Uses a binary search algorithm to find the exact commit that introduced a bug. You mark the current state as `bad` and a past state as `good`, and Git checks out commits in between for testing.

### Rebase & Conflict Flow

```mermaid
%%{init: {"theme": "default", "flowchart": {"useMaxWidth": true}}}%%
flowchart TD
    subgraph Git_Rebase ["Rebase Operation"]
        A["git rebase main"]
        B["Apply Commit 1"]
        C["Apply Commit 2 (Conflict!)"]
    end
    
    subgraph Triage ["Conflict Resolution"]
        D["Open Editor (VSCode / Vim)"]
        E["Resolve <<< HEAD / >>> incoming"]
        F["git add ."]
        G["git rebase --continue"]
    end
    
    subgraph Rerere ["Rerere Cache"]
        H["Record Resolution Pattern"]
        I["Auto-apply in Future"]
    end
    
    A --> B
    B --> C
    C -->|"Pauses Execution"| D
    D --> E
    E --> F
    F --> G
    G -.->|"Save memory"| H
    H -.->|"Cache hit"| I
```