git-hex-conflict-resolution

Git-hex Conflict Resolution

Use this skill when a git-hex operation is paused due to conflicts — or when the user reports being stuck in a rebase, merge, cherry-pick, or revert.

Workflow

1. Inspect the conflict state

Call git-hex-getConflictStatus to determine:

• Whether an operation is in progress and what type (rebase, merge, cherry-pick, revert)
• Which files are conflicting and the conflict type per file
• For rebases: currentStep / totalSteps progress

When to use includeContent: true:

• When you need to see the actual base/ours/theirs content to propose a resolution — typically for text files where you'll edit and resolve.
• Skip it for binary files (they'll be flagged isBinary: true) or when you just need to see the list of conflicting files.
• Use maxContentSize (default 10000) to limit large files. Content is truncated per-file and marked with truncated: true.

Important: inConflict: true can persist even after all files are resolved if the operation is still paused. Check conflictingFiles length, not just inConflict.

2. Resolve each conflicting file

For text files (both_modified, added_by_both):

1. Read the conflict content (base/ours/theirs) from the getConflictStatus response or by reading the file directly.
2. Edit the file to produce the correct merged content. Remove all conflict markers — resolveConflict with resolution: "keep" will reject the file if any <<<<<<<, =======, >>>>>>>, or ||||||| markers remain.
3. Call git-hex-resolveConflict with file and resolution: "keep".

For delete conflicts (deleted_by_us, deleted_by_them):

• resolution: "keep" — restores the file (from theirs if deleted_by_us, from ours if deleted_by_them).
• resolution: "delete" — accepts the deletion.
• Ask the user which they prefer if the intent isn't clear.

Path rules: The file parameter must be a POSIX repo-relative path. No absolute paths, no ../ traversal, no drive letters.

After each resolution, resolveConflict returns remainingConflicts — the count of files still in conflict.

3. Continue or abort

Continue — when all conflicts are resolved (remainingConflicts: 0) or getConflictStatus shows no remaining conflicting files:

• Call git-hex-continueOperation.
• It may return paused: true again if the next commit in a rebase also conflicts. Go back to step 1 in that case.
• Supports: rebase, cherry-pick, merge. Does not support revert or bisect — for those, suggest git revert --continue / git bisect reset directly.

Abort — if the user wants to abandon the operation:

• Call git-hex-abortOperation. This restores the pre-operation state.
• For a rebase initiated by git-hex, git-hex-undoLast is also available as recovery after the operation completes (if the result wasn't what the user wanted).

4. Verify the result

After continueOperation reports completed: true, confirm the state:

• Use git-hex-getRebasePlan or git log to show the user the final history.
• If the result isn't right, suggest git-hex-undoLast to roll back.

Conflict types reference

Operation-level

Type	Meaning
rebase	Interactive rebase paused mid-apply
merge	Merge in progress
cherry-pick	Cherry-pick paused
revert	Revert paused (limited tool support — see above)

File-level

Type	Meaning	Typical resolution
both_modified	Both sides changed the file	Edit to merge, then keep
deleted_by_us	We deleted, they modified	keep (restore) or delete
deleted_by_them	We modified, they deleted	keep (restore) or delete
added_by_both	Both sides added different versions	Edit to merge, then keep