Why conflicts happen during rebaseWhat is rebase?A Git operation that replays your branch's commits on top of another branch's latest commit, creating a linear history instead of a merge commit. Ask AI for more

Rebase replays your commits one at a time on a new base. If you have 5 commits and 3 of them modify a file that also changed in main, you could have up to 3 separate conflicts:

Your commits:
1. Add user authentication
2. Fix typo in auth
3. Add password validation  ← modifies login.js
4. Update error messages     ← modifies login.js
5. Add tests

Main also modified login.js

Result: conflicts on commits 3 and 4

Each conflict is scoped to a single commitWhat is commit?A permanent snapshot of your staged changes saved in Git's history, identified by a unique hash and accompanied by a message describing what changed. Ask AI for more, so you only need to reconcile that one commit's changes with the new base.

The conflict resolution workflow

When Git hits a conflict during rebaseWhat is rebase?A Git operation that replays your branch's commits on top of another branch's latest commit, creating a linear history instead of a merge commit. Ask AI for more, it stops and shows you a message:

$ git rebase origin/main
Auto-merging src/login.js
CONFLICT (content): Merge conflict in src/login.js
error: could not apply abc1234... Add password validation
hint: Resolve all conflicts manually, mark them as resolved with
hint: "git add/rm <conflicted_files>", then run "git rebase --continue".

Step 1: see what is conflicting

git status

# You are currently rebasing branch 'feature' on 'main'.
#   (fix conflicts and then run "git rebase --continue")
#
# Unmerged paths:
#   both modified:   src/login.js

Step 2: open the file and look at the conflict markers

<<<<<<< HEAD
// Code from main (the new base)
function login(username) {
  return authenticate(username);
}
=======
// Code from your commit
function login(username, password) {
  return authenticate(username, password);
}
>>>>>>> abc1234 (Add password validation)

Step 3: resolve by editing the file

Keep what you need and delete the conflict markers:

// Combined version
function login(username, password) {
  return authenticate(username, password);
}

Step 4: stage and continue

git add src/login.js
git rebase --continue

Git moves on to the next commitWhat is commit?A permanent snapshot of your staged changes saved in Git's history, identified by a unique hash and accompanied by a message describing what changed. Ask AI for more. If that commit also conflicts, repeat the process.

Your options during a conflict

Strategies for minimizing conflicts

The best way to handle rebaseWhat is rebase?A Git operation that replays your branch's commits on top of another branch's latest commit, creating a linear history instead of a merge commit. Ask AI for more conflicts is to prevent them in the first place:

Rebase early and often:

# Daily rebase keeps conflicts small
git fetch origin
git rebase origin/main

Small, frequent rebases mean each one has fewer changes to reconcile. A weekly rebase on a fast-moving project can produce dozens of conflicts; a daily rebase usually produces zero or one.

Make small, focused commits:

Communicate with your team:

• Let teammates know when you are refactoringWhat is refactoring?Restructuring existing code to make it cleaner, more readable, or more efficient without changing what it does. Ask AI for more shared files
• Coordinate large changes that touch many files
• Avoid two people modifying the same function at the same time

Complete walkthrough

A realistic scenario from start to finish:

# You are working on a feature
git checkout -b feature/payment
git commit -m "feat: add payment form"
git commit -m "feat: add validation"

# Meanwhile, main has evolved
git fetch origin

# Start rebase
git rebase origin/main

# Conflict on first commit!
# CONFLICT (content): Merge conflict in src/payment.js

# Resolve it
# (edit src/payment.js, remove conflict markers)
git add src/payment.js
git rebase --continue

# Second commit also conflicts!
# CONFLICT (content): Merge conflict in src/payment.js

# Resolve again
# (edit src/payment.js)
git add src/payment.js
git rebase --continue

# Successfully rebased and updated refs/heads/feature/payment

When rebaseWhat is rebase?A Git operation that replays your branch's commits on top of another branch's latest commit, creating a linear history instead of a merge commit. Ask AI for more conflicts are too painful

Sometimes a rebase produces so many conflicts that it is not worth the effort:

# Abort the rebase
git rebase --abort

# Fall back to merge instead
git merge origin/main

This is perfectly acceptable. Merge commits are not bad. They are just different. Choose the tool that makes sense for your situation. If a rebase would require resolving the same conflict across ten commits, a single merge resolution is often the pragmatic choice.

Quick reference