GIT-MERGE-FILE(1) Git Manual GIT-MERGE-FILE(1)
NAME
git-merge-file - Run a three-way file merge
SYNOPSIS
git merge-file [-L <current-name> [-L <base-name> [-L <other-name>]]]
[--ours|--theirs|--union] [-p|--stdout] [-q|--quiet] [--marker-size=<n>]
[--[no-]diff3] [--object-id] <current> <base> <other>
DESCRIPTION
Given three files <current>, <base> and <other>, git merge-file
incorporates all changes that lead from <base> to <other> into
<current>. The result ordinarily goes into <current>. git merge-file is
useful for combining separate changes to an original. Suppose <base> is
the original, and both <current> and <other> are modifications of
<base>, then git merge-file combines both changes.
A conflict occurs if both <current> and <other> have changes in a common
segment of lines. If a conflict is found, git merge-file normally
outputs a warning and brackets the conflict with lines containing
<<<<<<< and >>>>>>> markers. A typical conflict will look like this:
<<<<<<< A
lines in file A
=======
lines in file B
>>>>>>> B
If there are conflicts, the user should edit the result and delete one
of the alternatives. When --ours, --theirs, or --union option is in
effect, however, these conflicts are resolved favouring lines from
<current>, lines from <other>, or lines from both respectively. The
length of the conflict markers can be given with the --marker-size
option.
If --object-id is specified, exactly the same behavior occurs, except
that instead of specifying what to merge as files, it is specified as a
list of object IDs referring to blobs.
The exit value of this program is negative on error, and the number of
conflicts otherwise (truncated to 127 if there are more than that many
conflicts). If the merge was clean, the exit value is 0.
git merge-file is designed to be a minimal clone of RCS merge; that is,
it implements all of RCS merge's functionality which is needed by
git(1).
OPTIONS
--object-id
Specify the contents to merge as blobs in the current repository
instead of files. In this case, the operation must take place within
a valid repository.
If the -p option is specified, the merged file (including conflicts,
if any) goes to standard output as normal; otherwise, the merged
file is written to the object store and the object ID of its blob is
written to standard output.
-L <label>
This option may be given up to three times, and specifies labels to
be used in place of the corresponding file names in conflict
reports. That is, git merge-file -L x -L y -L z a b c generates
output that looks like it came from files x, y and z instead of from
files a, b and c.
-p
Send results to standard output instead of overwriting <current>.
-q
Quiet; do not warn about conflicts.
--diff3
Show conflicts in "diff3" style.
--zdiff3
Show conflicts in "zdiff3" style.
--ours, --theirs, --union
Instead of leaving conflicts in the file, resolve conflicts
favouring our (or their or both) side of the lines.
--diff-algorithm={patience|minimal|histogram|myers}
Use a different diff algorithm while merging. The current default is
"myers", but selecting more recent algorithm such as "histogram" can
help avoid mismerges that occur due to unimportant matching lines
(such as braces from distinct functions). See also git-diff(1)
--diff-algorithm.
EXAMPLES
git merge-file README.my README README.upstream
combines the changes of README.my and README.upstream since README,
tries to merge them and writes the result into README.my.
git merge-file -L a -L b -L c tmp/a123 tmp/b234 tmp/c345
merges tmp/a123 and tmp/c345 with the base tmp/b234, but uses labels
a and c instead of tmp/a123 and tmp/c345.
git merge-file -p --object-id abc1234 def567 890abcd
combines the changes of the blob abc1234 and 890abcd since def567,
tries to merge them and writes the result to standard output
GIT
Part of the git(1) suite
Git 2.47.3 07/30/2025 GIT-MERGE-FILE(1)
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