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Keep Agent Changes Safe When Git Worktrees Conflict

A practical workflow for coordinating branches and worktrees, inspecting Git’s conflict stages, resolving merges, and avoiding recovery surprises.
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To handle Git merge conflicts across multiple agents, give each agent a separate linked worktree and branch, keep its changes committed or otherwise saved, then inspect and resolve conflicts in the worktree doing the merge. Worktrees isolate checkouts and indexes, not the entire repository: most refs remain shared, and separate worktrees do not prevent conflicts when agents change overlapping code.

How do Git worktrees work with multiple agents?

A linked worktree is another working directory attached to the same repository. Each worktree has its own checkout, HEAD, and index, so agents can work without competing for one checkout or staging area. Most refs and repository data are shared, however. A branch already checked out in another worktree is normally protected from being checked out again. See the Git worktree documentation.

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For coordination, assign each agent a distinct branch and worktree, record the owner and branch in the task handoff, and designate an integrator. This is a workflow recommendation based on Git’s shared-ref mechanics, not a protocol enforced by Git. Coordinate operations that update shared refs. If agents must edit the same files, agree on interfaces or divide file ownership where possible; worktrees do not automatically reconcile concurrent edits.

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Create and track worktrees deliberately

Use git worktree list to review worktrees associated with the repository. Create each agent’s worktree on its own branch, and avoid overriding Git’s branch protection as a routine coordination practice. Once work is complete, remove its linked directory with git worktree remove. If a worktree’s link becomes stale after the directory has moved, git worktree repair can repair it. Repositories using submodules need extra care because Git documents incomplete support for multiple checkouts involving submodules.

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How do I safely merge changes from another worktree?

  1. Preserve the incoming work. Ask the contributing agent to commit its changes or otherwise save them before integration. In the worktree that will perform the merge, check git status and get local changes into good shape. A clean index and saved work make it easier to understand the merge and recover if it needs to be abandoned.
  2. Preview when useful. For a preflight, use git merge-tree to calculate a merge without reading or writing the working tree or index. This can expose conflicts before you merge branches into a working checkout. Consult the Git merge-tree documentation for command details.
  3. Start the merge in the integration worktree. Check out the branch that will receive the changes, then run git merge <branch> using the contributing branch name. If Git reports conflicts, inspect the paths before editing.
  4. Review the combined behavior. Resolve each conflict semantically, stage the resolved paths, and continue the merge or commit it.
  5. Verify and clean up. Review the resulting changes and repository status. When the contributing worktree is no longer needed, remove it deliberately rather than deleting its directory without updating Git’s worktree records.

How do I inspect a Git merge conflict?

Start with git status to identify unmerged paths. For a particular path, git diff can show conflict details, while git log --merge -p <path> can help inspect the relevant history. A conflicted file may contain markers such as <<<<<<< and =======, separating competing text. Those markers show the text Git could not combine automatically; they do not decide which behavior is correct.

The index stores up to three versions of an unresolved path. Inspect them directly:

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  • git show :1:<path> shows the common ancestor (base).
  • git show :2:<path> shows the current branch’s version.
  • git show :3:<path> shows the version being merged in.

These stages help distinguish what each side changed from what the file looked like before. A conflict is not always solved correctly by choosing one entire side: the intended result may need changes from both.

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Choose an inspection method that fits the file

Command-line inspection makes the three index stages and diffs explicit, which is useful when you know the repository and file format. You can also launch git mergetool to use a graphical merge tool. A graphical view may make comparing base, current, and incoming versions easier, but the tool’s suitability depends on the file type and whether its result is straightforward to review and stage. Git documents the command, not a particular vendor as the best choice.

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How do I resolve and finish the merge?

  1. Edit each conflicted file into the intended combined result. Remove conflict markers and make sure the code or content expresses the desired behavior, not just syntactically valid text.
  2. Stage each resolved path with git add <path>. Staging tells Git that path’s conflict is resolved.
  3. Check git status for any remaining unmerged paths. Review the staged result before completing the merge.
  4. Run git merge --continue to finish the merge, or commit the merge as appropriate. If you decide to abandon it, use git merge --abort.

Aborting asks Git to reconstruct the state from before the merge, but Git warns that this may not fully restore uncommitted changes in some cases. That is why saving work before starting is safer than relying on abort as a backup.

Do not confuse the two “ours” options

The -X ours merge strategy option favors the current side for conflicting hunks; it does not mean that every change from the other branch is discarded. The separate ours merge strategy ignores the other tree’s changes. Use neither as a shortcut unless that outcome is actually intended.

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Can Git reuse or preview conflict resolutions?

Use rerere for recurring conflict shapes

Git’s rerere feature can record a conflict resolution and reuse it when it recognizes the same conflict later. Enable it with git config rerere.enabled true. This can help when a conflict recurs in a stable form, but it depends on recognizing conflict markers and cannot track every conflict type. Inspect any reapplied result, then stage it yourself: rerere leaves the index alone. See the Git rerere documentation.

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Use merge-tree as a preflight, not a substitute for review

git merge-tree calculates a merge without modifying the working tree or index, so it is useful for checking a proposed integration before changing a checkout. A preview can reveal conflicts, but it does not resolve the code’s intended behavior or replace review of the final merge.

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What should a multi-agent handoff include?

A brief, explicit handoff reduces avoidable confusion while leaving Git’s conflict-resolution mechanics clear:

  • The agent’s worktree location and branch name.
  • The files or interfaces it changed, especially files another agent may also touch.
  • Whether its changes are committed or otherwise saved.
  • Who will integrate the branch and in which worktree.
  • Any known overlap that calls for coordination before the merge.

Git provides the worktree, branch, and merge mechanics; teams decide ownership and integration order. For the complete command behavior, refer to the Git merge documentation and Git worktree documentation.

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