Merge Conflict Resolution Checklist

A calm, repeatable process for resolving Git merge and rebase conflicts in Rust repos - especially Cargo.toml, Cargo.lock, and sqlx migrations.

How to Use This Checklist

• Walk items in order during an active conflict - do not skip straight to editing markers.
• Resolve one file fully before moving to the next when conflicts are large.
• If stuck more than 30 minutes on one file, pair - lockfiles and migrations benefit from a second reviewer.
• Record conflict cause in the PR description to prevent repeat collisions.

Phase 1 - Stabilize

1. Confirm operation type: git status shows merge, rebase, or cherry-pick.
2. List conflicted files: git diff --name-only --diff-filter=U.
3. Abort if wrong branch: git merge --abort or git rebase --abort.
4. Stash unrelated WIP: git stash push -m "pre-conflict".
5. Fetch latest remote: git fetch origin.

Phase 2 - Understand

6. Read both sides: <<<<<<<, =======, >>>>>>> mark yours vs incoming.
7. Check commit messages: git log --oneline --left-right HEAD...MERGE_HEAD.
8. Identify semantic intent: cosmetic formatting vs dependency version vs migration revision.
9. Lockfile rule: pick winning Cargo.toml side, remove markers, run cargo generate-lockfile or cargo update -p crate.
10. Migration rule: never duplicate sqlx revision ids; may need merge migration after resolution.

Phase 3 - Resolve

11. Resolve one file at a time: valid TOML and Rust syntax, no leftover markers.
12. Prefer upstream dependency policy: align with main unless ticket requires bump.
13. Run rustfmt on touched Rust: cargo fmt -- file.rs.
14. Stage resolved file: git add <file>; git diff --check catches marker leftovers.
15. Continue operation: git rebase --continue or complete merge commit.

Phase 4 - Verify

16. Locked build: cargo build --locked.
17. Fmt: cargo fmt --all -- --check.
18. Clippy: cargo clippy --all-targets -- -D warnings.
19. Tests: cargo test --all-features.
20. Migrations: sqlx migrate run when migration files conflicted.

Phase 5 - Finish

21. Review diff size: git diff origin/main...HEAD.
22. Force push safely after rebase: git push --force-with-lease on your feature branch only.
23. PR comment: note conflict files and resolution choices.
24. Prevention: rebase more often if same files conflict repeatedly.
25. Sync with author: clarify misunderstood incoming commits before merge.

FAQs

Related

• Branching & Merging
• Essential Git Commands
• Dependency management
• CI config for Rust

Stack versions: This page was written for Rust 1.97.0 (edition 2024), Tokio 1.x, Axum 0.8, serde 1.0, sqlx 0.8, clap 4, and Polars 0.46+.