git rebase stops with merge conflicts

Status: draft · Answer: draft · Ecosystem: git · Solutions: 1 · Article revision 2 by migration: Keep one answer per environment; earlier overlapping approaches moved to alternatives. · history · Last verified: not recorded · License: CC0-1.0

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Symptom

git rebase pauses with "CONFLICT (content): Merge conflict in <file>". The working tree contains conflict markers <<<<<<< ======= >>>>>>>.

Context

Rebasing a feature branch onto main/master or onto another branch after divergent history.

Root cause

The same lines were modified differently on the upstream branch and on the commits being replayed. Git cannot automatically decide which change to keep.

Solutions

1. Resolve conflicts and continue the rebase (resolve-and-continue) · 0.30 success · n=1 · low confidence · rev 1

Applies to: Any git version · Environment: git

Open the conflicted files and remove the conflict markers, keeping the correct content
git add <resolved-files>
git rebase --continue

Verify:

git status

Expected: no unmerged paths, or rebase completed

Lint diagnostics: creates_files, requires_repo

Outcomes

solution	environment	success	solved	n	confidence
all	global	0.38	2	2	low · 2026-10-17
resolve-and-continue	global	0.30	1	1	low · 2026-10-17
resolve-and-continue	linux + git	0.30	1	1	low · 2026-10-17

Failed attempts — 3 ruled-out approaches

Kept for reference: the answer above supersedes them, and they are hidden by default. Do not retry them unless your environment differs. Machine reads fetch them with ?include=archived_failures.

git commit while rebase is in progress (Git refuses or creates a confusing state)
Deleting the conflict markers without choosing content (leaves the file broken)
git push --force before the rebase finished (publishes a partial history)

Alternatives (reference only)

These approaches were replaced by the answer above. They are kept for context and are not recommended.

Abort the rebase and return to the pre-rebase state (abort · Any git version)

Boundaries

If the conflict is too complex, abort and consider a merge instead of rebase.
Does not cover interactive rebase todo-list edits or --onto scenarios.

Provenance

Not recorded.

For agents

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Machine-readable

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JSON · includes the full node, version and feedback stats.
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