The cursor blinks. Your terminal is frozen. You are staring at the Git rebase screen and wondering what now.
This is the moment where speed, clarity, and control matter. The Git rebase screen shows up when a conflict stops your rebase mid‑way. It’s not just text—it’s Git telling you exactly what broke and where to fix it.
The screen usually lists the conflicting files and gives options. You’ll see lines that mark conflicts inside code:
<<<<<<< HEAD
your changes
=======
incoming changes
>>>>>>> branch-you-are-rebasing
To move forward, you edit these files, remove the markers, and keep only the changes you want. Then you stage those files with:
git add <file>
When all conflicts are resolved and staged, you continue:
git rebase --continue
If you want to skip a commit that’s too messy or no longer needed:
git rebase --skip
If things are beyond repair at this point:
git rebase --abort
The Git rebase screen can also appear if your text editor is set to open commit messages during a rebase step. You’ll see a list of commits, each with a label: pick, reword, squash, fixup, drop. This is the interactive rebase todo list. Save and close the file to apply your choices.
To avoid pain here, remember: small, focused commits reduce merge conflicts. Always pull and rebase often on active branches to keep them fresh. Resolve conflicts as they arise instead of waiting until the end of a project.
Mastering the Git rebase screen means you never lose work, never panic, and never guess at what to do next. It means rebases are a tool, not a problem.
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