rebase

name

rebase

description

Strategic rebase with mandatory pre-analysis. Use when asked to rebase a branch onto main (or any target). Runs a file-level diff of both sides before touching git, produces a per-file disposition plan (KEEP/MERGE/DROP/REWRITE), and only then executes the rebase. Prevents surprise conflicts and silent data loss from rebasing without knowing what changed on both sides. Triggers: 'rebase', 'rebase onto main', 'rebase this branch', 'rebase and merge', 'update branch from main'.

Rebase

Mandatory Pre-Rebase Analysis

Complete all 5 steps before running git rebase.

Step 1 — Identify the merge base and branch files

MERGE_BASE=$(git merge-base <branch> <target>)
git diff <target>...<branch> --name-only        # files touched by the branch
git diff "${MERGE_BASE}..<target>" --name-only  # files changed on target since divergence

Step 2 — Diff overlapping files

For each file appearing in both lists above, read both sides:

git diff "${MERGE_BASE}..<target>" -- <file>    # what target changed
git diff "${MERGE_BASE}..<branch>" -- <file>    # what the branch changed

Determine what each side changed and in which regions.

Step 3 — Assign a disposition to every overlapping file

Disposition	When to use
KEEP	Branch version wins; target change is irrelevant or already superseded
MERGE	Both sides changed different regions — list which regions each side owns
DROP	Branch change superseded by what target already landed; discard it
REWRITE	Branch intent survives, but implementation must change to account for target's changes
NO_CONFLICT	File touched only by the branch — no overlap with target

Step 4 — State the plan before executing

Output the full plan in this format before any git rebase command:

Pre-rebase plan — <branch> onto <target>

Overlapping files:
  path/to/file.py: MERGE — branch adds X in foo(); target rewrites bar(); no region overlap
  path/to/other.py: DROP — target already landed the same change
  path/to/third.py: REWRITE — branch intent survives; must account for renamed parameter on target

No-conflict files (branch-only): path/a.py, path/b.py

Step 5 — Execute the rebase

git rebase <target>

On each conflict:

1. Resolve according to the plan.
2. When a conflict deviates from the plan (e.g., a region marked NO_CONFLICT has an unexpected conflict): stop, explain the deviation, update the plan entry, then resolve.

After completing, verify with git log --oneline and run the test suite.

Rules

• Write the Step 4 plan before running git rebase.
• Resolve each conflict according to the plan — check before accepting either side.
• Read file-level diffs (Step 2); commit message titles are not a substitute.