git-merge-index

git merge-index [-a | --aggressive] [-o | --ours] [-t | --theirs] [-q | --quiet]

-a, --aggressive
    Attempt merges even if the index is up-to-date.

-o, --ours
    Resolve conflicting hunks in favor of our version. This assumes you want to keep your changes during conflicts.

-t, --theirs
    Resolve conflicting hunks in favor of their version. This assumes you want to accept the changes from the branch you're merging in.

-q, --quiet
    Suppress output during the merge process. Only errors or warnings will be displayed.


    The file containing the merge result. This file should contain conflict markers (<<<<<<, =======, >>>>>>) indicating the unresolved conflicts.

git-merge-index is a plumbing command designed to speed up merges in specific scenarios.

It's particularly useful when you're working on a large project and a merge conflict interrupts the process.
Rather than starting the entire merge over from scratch, git-merge-index lets you resume the merge from the point where the conflict occurred.

It allows Git to quickly apply changes from the other branch to the index, provided that the index contains the partial result of a previous merge.
This can significantly reduce the time it takes to resolve merge conflicts, especially when dealing with complex and large merges.

This is a plumbing command and is not intended for direct use by end users. It requires a deep understanding of Git's internals, specifically the index and merge process.

The command parses a file containing a merge with conflict markers and attempts to integrate the changes into the index. It analyzes the conflicts and, based on the specified options (e.g., --ours, --theirs), resolves them. This updates the index to reflect the merged state, allowing you to then commit the changes.

git-merge(1), git-checkout(1), git-read-tree(1)