git-merge-index - Linux

Overview

git-merge-index is a Git command that updates the index with a merge of its current content and one or more trees. This command is commonly used to merge changes from upstream or to resolve merge conflicts.

Syntax

git merge-index [<options>] <tree-ish> [<tree-ish>...]

Options/Flags

• -a: Update the index before merging, adding all new files and modifying all existing files.
• –ignore-ancestry: Ignore changes in ancestry.
• -m: Merge as a commit, preserving log messages.
• –no-commit: Do not merge as a commit.
• –quiet: Suppress output.
• -v: Be verbose in output.

Examples

Basic usage

To merge changes from the develop branch into the index:

git merge-index develop

Merging multiple trees

To merge changes from two branches, feature1 and feature2, into the index:

git merge-index feature1 feature2

Merging with conflict resolution

To resolve merge conflicts after merging, use the -m option to create a commit with conflict markers:

git merge-index -m develop

Common Issues

Merge conflicts

If changes in the target branches conflict, git-merge-index will fail. Use the -m option to create a commit with conflict markers and resolve them manually.

Integration

Automating merges

git-merge-index can be used in scripts to automate merge operations, such as merging upstream changes regularly.

Related Commands

• git-merge: Merge commits.
• git-cherry-pick: Apply a commit from one branch to another.
• git-rebase: Rebase commits onto a new base commit.