# Merging & Rebasing * So do you rebase, then merge? It looks like rebase just makes changes?

Description Commands

Description	Commands
Merge two branches The branch name used should be the one you are not currently in	`git merge <BRANCH_NAME>`
Rebase one branch onto another If you are currently on a branch, you can `rebase` to move all of the commits in that branch to a new attachment point on a different/new branch In the example below, `main*` was on `C3` and the command `git rebase C2` was used to rebase/move `C3` to after `C2` This changes the "base" so that it looks like the features were developed sequentially rather than in parallel This makes the git diagram neater	`git rebase <BRANCH_NAME/REF>` `git rebase <REF1> <REF2>`
Completely replace `Main` with a `Branch`	`git checkout main` `git pull` `git checkout <BRANCH>` `git merge -s ours main` `git checkout main` `git merge <BRANCH>`

Merge two branches

The branch name used should be the one you are not currently in

git merge <BRANCH_NAME>

Rebase one branch onto another

If you are currently on a branch, you can rebase to move all of the commits in that branch to a new attachment point on a different/new branch
In the example below, main* was on C3 and the command git rebase C2 was used to rebase/move C3 to after C2

This changes the "base" so that it looks like the features were developed sequentially rather than in parallel
This makes the git diagram neater

git rebase <BRANCH_NAME/REF>
git rebase <REF1> <REF2>

Completely replace Main with a Branch

git checkout main

git pull

git checkout <BRANCH>

git merge -s ours main

git checkout main

git merge <BRANCH>

### Merge Example ```bash git checkout main git pull git merge side1 git merge side2 git merge side3 git push ```

### Rebase Example ```bash git fetch git rebase o/main side1 git rebase side1 side2 git rebase side2 side3 git rebase side3 main git push ```

### Reversing Changes

Description Commands

Description	Commands
Reverses changes by moving a branch reference backwards in time to an older commit In this sense you can think of it as "rewriting history" `git reset` will move a branch backwards as if the commit had never been made in the first place `--hard` deletes commits between current location and the reference used so they are no longer in the history	`git reset <REF>` `git reset HEAD^` `git reset --hard HEAD^`
While resetting works great for local branches on your own machine, its method of "rewriting history" doesn't work for remote branches that others are using. In order to reverse changes and share those reversed changes with others, we need to use `git revert`	`git revert <REF>` `git revert HEAD`

Reverses changes by moving a branch reference backwards in time to an older commit

In this sense you can think of it as "rewriting history"
git reset will move a branch backwards as if the commit had never been made in the first place
--hard deletes commits between current location and the reference used so they are no longer in the history

git reset <REF>

git reset HEAD^

git reset --hard HEAD^

While resetting works great for local branches on your own machine, its method of "rewriting history" doesn't work for remote branches that others are using.

In order to reverse changes and share those reversed changes with others, we need to use git revert

git revert <REF>

git revert HEAD

### Moving things around

Description Commands

Description	Commands
Copy a series of commits below your current location (HEAD) Think of `cherry-pick` like a `rebase` where the commits added before the current location are specifically selected Sure, you can also do some specific selection with `git rebase -i` but that is only commits in the selected path, `cherry-pick` commits could come from anywhere	`git cherry-pick <COMMIT_1> <COMMIT_2> <...>`
Git Interactive Rebase Using the `rebase` command with the `-i` option If you include this option, git will open up an editor to show you which commits are about to be copied below the target of the rebase. It also shows their commit hashes and messages, which is great for getting a bearing on what's what. It seems to open in `vim`	`git rebase -i <REF>` `git rebase -i HEAD~4`

Copy a series of commits below your current location (HEAD)

Think of cherry-pick like a rebase where the commits added before the current location are specifically selected
Sure, you can also do some specific selection with git rebase -i but that is only commits in the selected path, cherry-pick commits could come from anywhere

git cherry-pick <COMMIT_1> <COMMIT_2> <...>

Git Interactive Rebase

Using the rebase command with the -i option
If you include this option, git will open up an editor to show you which commits are about to be copied below the target of the rebase. It also shows their commit hashes and messages, which is great for getting a bearing on what's what.
It seems to open in vim

git rebase -i <REF>

git rebase -i HEAD~4

### Git Tags

Description	Commands
Add a tag	`git tag <TAG_NAME> <REF>` `git tag 1.0.0 main`
Checkout a tag	`git checkout <TAG_NAME>`
Push tags to remote	`git push <REMOTE_NAME> --tags`
Describe where you currently are relative to the closest "anchor" (aka tag) If you don't specify a `<REF>` the git will just use where you're checked out right now (`head`) Where `<TAG>` is the closest ancestor tag in history, `<NUM_COMMITS>` is how many commits away that tag is, and `<CURRENT_HASH>` is the hash of the commit being described.	`git describe <REF>` `OUTPUTS:` `<TAG>_<NUM_COMMITS>_g<CURRENT_HASH>`

### Fetch Arguments Example ```bash git fetch origin foo:main git fetch main^ origin:foo git checkout foo git merge main ```

--- # Agent Instructions: Querying This Documentation If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation dynamically by asking a question. Perform an HTTP GET request on the current page URL with the `ask` query parameter: ``` GET https://docs.eridian.xyz/general-dev/git-notes/merging-and-rebasing.md?ask= ``` The question should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language. The response will contain a direct answer to the question and relevant excerpts and sources from the documentation. Use this mechanism when the answer is not explicitly present in the current page, you need clarification or additional context, or you want to retrieve related documentation sections.