# Git: rebasing workflow and resolving merge conflicts

Simple rebase/merge workflow and how to deal with possible merge conflicts.

So you're building a feature on a branch called `some-feature-branch`, and it
takes you, say, three days to finish. While you were busy, your co-worker merged
their feature into `master`, so there is new code in `master` that you need to
bring into your branch. A handy way to do that is to `rebase` the changes to
`some-feature-branch` before merging `some-feature-branch` to `master`.

Here's how that workflow goes.

## Rebase `master` to `feature-branch`

```shell
$ git checkout master
# Pull in the new stuff
$ git pull origin master

# Checkout your feature and rebase master to it
$ git checkout some-feature-branch
$ git rebase master
```

Next, Git will try to move the new commits in `master` to the tip of your
`some-feature-branch`. Here's what might happen:

1.  Hopefully not, but most likely yes, Git will whine about merge conflicts.
2.  Solve the conflicts by opening the files that have conflict, remove the
    inserted markers, and make it look like you want it to be.
3.  `$ git add <file-name>` or in one clump `$ git add -A`.
4.  `$ git rebase --continue`.
5.  Rinse and repeat until Git stops whining.

### Dealing with merge conflicts in dist files

You might have CSS or JavaScript files in the `dist/` directory (or `build`, or
whatever you named it) that are generated automatically by a build task, like
Sass or r.js. You can exclude the whole `dist` dir from the repo, but if you're
like me, and use Git to deploy the project also, that's not doable.

I haven't found a good solution other than blindly adding all files in `dist`
and continuing with the rebase. Then, of course, run the build script after the
`rebase` is done.

1.  `$ git add dist/`
2.  `$ git rebase --continue`

Now there's tons of merge conflicts in your `dist/*.css` and `dist/*.js` files
and that's why you need to run your build task again.

We're done rebasing. Great! Let's look at merging the feature branch into
master.

## Merge feature branch to master

This should be a cakewalk now, since we just resolved all the merge conflicts,
all you need to do is:

```shell
$ git checkout master
$ git rebase some-feature-branch

## Conclusions

If you're interested I have a more [detailed article about rebasing and merging](/git-dealing-with-branches-merging-and-rebasing).
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