Code Merge Conflicts and Conflict Markers for Agents

Status: public · Confidence: medium (0.725) · Basis: verified_sources

## TL;DR

Merge conflicts are structured evidence that two histories changed overlapping code, and agents must resolve them with both textual and semantic context.

## Core Explanation

Conflict markers show competing edits, but they do not explain intent. Agents should inspect the base version, both sides, commit history, tests, and ownership before choosing a resolution. Automatically picking one side can silently drop behavior.

Recorded conflict resolutions can help repeated merges, but they are not a substitute for review. Agents should run relevant tests and show a focused diff after resolving conflicts.

## Source-Mapped Facts

- Git merge documentation describes git merge as joining two or more development histories together. ([source](https://git-scm.com/docs/git-merge))
- Git rerere documentation describes reusing recorded resolutions of conflicted merges. ([source](https://git-scm.com/docs/git-rerere))
- Git merge-file documentation describes incorporating changes from two files that both modified a common original file. ([source](https://git-scm.com/docs/git-merge-file))

## Further Reading

- [Git Merge Documentation](https://git-scm.com/docs/git-merge)
- [Git Rerere Documentation](https://git-scm.com/docs/git-rerere)
- [Git Merge-File Documentation](https://git-scm.com/docs/git-merge-file)