oliverdavies.uk/content/node.2885a415-17fb-4374-8070-0be55407af6c.yml

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title:
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      <p>Since I posted about <a href="/daily/2024/05/10/optimise-for-revertability">optimising for revertability</a>, I've received a few questions about how I avoid merge commits when working with Git.</p>

      <p>This is an extract from my <code>.config/git/.config</code> file:</p>

      <pre><code class="ini">[merge]
          ff = "only"

      [pull]
          ff = "only"
          rebase = true
      </code></pre>

      <p>This changes the behaviour of when I run <code>git pull</code> to always include <code>--rebase</code> by default and to only allow fast-forward merges and pulls.</p>

      <p>Only allowing fast-forward merges avoids merge commits as Git can just move the pointer for the branch to the latest commit.</p>

      <p>If I can't do a fast-forward merge, I need to rebase first to update everything and bring it up to date.</p>

      <p>Sometimes, when working in team, merge commits will still creep in sometimes and there are situations where you can only create a merge commit.</p>

      <p>In this situation, I can do <code>git merge --ff</code> to allow a merge commit temporarily, but this is the exception instead of the default.</p>

      <blockquote>
        <p>Hint: there's a lot more information on the configuration and arguments if you run and read <code>man git-merge</code>.</p>
      </blockquote>

      <p>When working with online tools such as GitHub and GitLab, I avoid any options like <code>Squash and merge</code> or <code>Create a merge commit</code> and will use rebase options, although I've seen where different commit IDs have been generated when merged in the UI, which is why I prefer to do merges locally.</p>

      <p>Or use <a href="/daily/2023/06/17/avoid-git-merge-hell-with-trunk-based-development">trunk-based development</a> and don't work on topic branches at all.</p>

              
    format: full_html
    processed: |
      <p>Since I posted about <a href="/daily/2024/05/10/optimise-for-revertability">optimising for revertability</a>, I've received a few questions about how I avoid merge commits when working with Git.</p>

      <p>This is an extract from my <code>.config/git/.config</code> file:</p>

      <pre><code class="ini">[merge]
          ff = "only"

      [pull]
          ff = "only"
          rebase = true
      </code></pre>

      <p>This changes the behaviour of when I run <code>git pull</code> to always include <code>--rebase</code> by default and to only allow fast-forward merges and pulls.</p>

      <p>Only allowing fast-forward merges avoids merge commits as Git can just move the pointer for the branch to the latest commit.</p>

      <p>If I can't do a fast-forward merge, I need to rebase first to update everything and bring it up to date.</p>

      <p>Sometimes, when working in team, merge commits will still creep in sometimes and there are situations where you can only create a merge commit.</p>

      <p>In this situation, I can do <code>git merge --ff</code> to allow a merge commit temporarily, but this is the exception instead of the default.</p>

      <blockquote>
        <p>Hint: there's a lot more information on the configuration and arguments if you run and read <code>man git-merge</code>.</p>
      </blockquote>

      <p>When working with online tools such as GitHub and GitLab, I avoid any options like <code>Squash and merge</code> or <code>Create a merge commit</code> and will use rebase options, although I've seen where different commit IDs have been generated when merged in the UI, which is why I prefer to do merges locally.</p>

      <p>Or use <a href="/daily/2023/06/17/avoid-git-merge-hell-with-trunk-based-development">trunk-based development</a> and don't work on topic branches at all.</p>

              
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