Cherry Pick Conflicts and Solutions | Generated by AI
Git cherry-pick is a command that lets you take a commit from one branch and apply it onto another branch, without merging the whole branch history.
How it works
-
When you run
git cherry-pick <commit-hash>, Git:- Locates the changes introduced by that commit (a diff against its parent).
- Reapplies those changes onto your current branch, creating a new commit with a new hash.
- This means the commit content is reused, but it doesn’t keep the original commit’s ancestry.
It’s like saying: “Take just this one commit’s patch and stick it onto where I am right now.”
Why conflicts happen
Conflicts arise because cherry-pick applies changes out of their original context. A few common reasons:
-
Code drift If the target branch has changed in the same areas of code since the original commit, Git can’t cleanly apply the patch. For example:
- Original commit added a function in
fileA. - In the target branch, someone renamed or removed that function. → Conflict when cherry-picking.
- Original commit added a function in
-
Dependent commits missing Sometimes a commit depends on earlier commits (e.g., refactorings, variable renames). If you cherry-pick it without those, the context is different, and conflicts appear.
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Overlapping changes If both branches touched the same lines of code (even for different reasons), Git can’t decide automatically and stops for manual resolution.
Example scenario
feature-branchhas commits A → B → C.- You want commit B in
main. - You run
git checkout main && git cherry-pick B. - If
mainalready touched the same file/lines as B, Git raises a conflict. You must open the file, resolve differences,git add, and thengit cherry-pick --continue.
👉 In short: Cherry-pick replays a patch in a new context. Conflicts happen when that context has diverged too much from the original.
Would you like me to also walk you through best practices to reduce cherry-pick conflicts (like sequencing commits, using -x, or rebasing first)?