Fix: CONFLICT (content): Merge conflict in …

A conflict is not an error in your repository. It is Git asking a question it cannot answer alone: both sides changed the same part of a file, so which version is right?

Auto-merging config.toml
CONFLICT (content): Merge conflict in config.toml
Automatic merge failed; fix conflicts and then commit the result.

The same message appears during git merge, git pull, git rebase, git cherry-pick, and git stash pop.

1. See what is conflicted

git status
git diff --name-only --diff-filter=U

Conflicted files are listed under Unmerged paths as both modified (UU in git status --short).

2. Edit the file

Git wrote both versions into the file between markers:

title = "Shop"
<<<<<<< HEAD
color = "green"
=======
color = "red"
>>>>>>> feature/red

The part above ======= is the branch you are on (HEAD); the part below is the incoming change. Replace the whole block, markers included, with the text that should survive. That may be one side, the other, or a mix of both. Then search the file for <<<<<<< to be sure none are left.

3. Mark it resolved and continue

git add config.toml
git commit --no-edit        # finishing a merge
# or, during a rebase:
git rebase --continue

Run your tests before continuing. A file without markers can still be wrong if the two changes do not work together.

Taking one side for a whole file

git restore --ours config.toml
git restore --theirs config.toml

Careful: during a rebase the meaning flips. Ours is the branch you are rebasing onto, and theirs is your own commit being replayed. If you picked the wrong side, git restore --merge config.toml brings the conflict markers back.

Changed your mind? Back out

git merge --abort
git rebase --abort
git cherry-pick --abort

Each one returns the repository to how it was before the operation started.

Other kinds of conflict

• CONFLICT (add/add): both sides created a file with the same name. Resolve it like a content conflict.
• CONFLICT (modify/delete): one side edited a file, the other deleted it. Keep it with git add file, or confirm the deletion with git rm file.
• CONFLICT (rename/rename) and similar: run git status, which explains what each side did.

Make conflicts easier to read

Setting git config --global merge.conflictStyle zdiff3 adds a third section between ||||||| and ======= showing the original text before either side changed it. Seeing what both sides started from often makes the right answer obvious. Editors such as VS Code also show conflicts with buttons to accept either side.

Conflicts become rarer and smaller when branches are short-lived and you pull from main often.