Resolving Merge Conflicts

Use when you need to resolve an in-progress git merge/rebase conflict.

Install

Copy install prompt for AI

Natural-language prompt you can paste into any Claude conversation. Claude Code installs it to ~/.claude/skills/resolving-merge-conflicts/; claude.ai and Claude Desktop adopt it for the current chat and tell you how to save it permanently.

Copy install command

curl -fsSL https://spellbook.build/i/resolving-merge-conflicts | bash

Drops the file into ~/.claude/skills/resolving-merge-conflicts/SKILL.md. The script is plain shell — inspect it by dropping the | bash.

Download skill folder

Download .zip

A resolving-merge-conflicts/ folder with SKILL.md (and any supporting files) — unzip into ~/.claude/skills/.

Benchmarks

This skill isn't in a benchmarked category yet. Set metadata.type in the frontmatter to activate scorecards.

Skill content

---
name: resolving-merge-conflicts
description: "Use when you need to resolve an in-progress git merge/rebase conflict."
---

1. **See the current state** of the merge/rebase. Check git history, and the conflicting files.

2. **Find the primary sources** for each conflict. Understand deeply why each change was made, and what the original intent was. Read the commit messages, check the PRs, check original issues/tickets.

3. **Resolve each hunk.** Preserve both intents where possible. Where incompatible, pick the one matching the merge's stated goal and note the trade-off. Do **not** invent new behaviour. Always resolve; never `--abort`.

4. Discover the project's **automated checks** and run them — typically typecheck, then tests, then format. Fix anything the merge broke.

5. **Finish the merge/rebase.** Stage everything and commit. If rebasing, continue the rebase process until all commits are rebased.

engineering resolving merge conflicts