use diff3 or zdiff3 to see the original version of the code

git config --global merge.conflictstyle diff3

This will add an extra section in the middle of your merge conflicts

if you get confused, merge (or cherry-pick) 1 commit at a time

This can make the conflicts smaller and easier to resolve!

git-imerge is a tool to make this easier, though I haven’t tried it

use rerere to remember how you resolved a conflict during a rebase

git config --global rerere.enabled true

This means you won’t have to resolve the exact same conflict over and over again

git checkout --ours/theirs can take all changes from one side

For example

git checkout --ours file.txt

will take the version of file.txt from the “ours” side of the merge

(though upsettingly the meaning of “ours” and “theirs” depends on whether you merged or rebased)

if you can’t tell which code comes from which branch, looking on the web can help

Illustration of an uncertain-looking stick figure with short curly hair.

person (thinking): I’ll just go to GitLab and see what file.txt looks like on the main branch

git merge-tree can check for merge conflicts without actually merging the branches

$ git merge-tree --write-tree
      main mybranch
...
Auto-merging file.py
CONFLICT (content): 
Merge conflict in file.py