Cherry-Picking Commits

Learn how to selectively apply commits from one branch to another

Cherry-Picking Commits

Cherry-picking is a Git technique that allows you to apply specific commits from one branch to another without merging the entire branch. This is useful when you need to selectively apply bug fixes, features, or other changes.

Basic Cherry-Pick

Single Commit

git cherry-pick <commit-hash>

Multiple Commits

# Cherry-pick multiple commits
git cherry-pick <commit1> <commit2> <commit3>

# Cherry-pick a range of commits
git cherry-pick <start-commit>..<end-commit>

Cherry-Pick Options

Cherry-Pick Without Committing

# Apply changes but don't commit
git cherry-pick -n <commit-hash>
git cherry-pick --no-commit <commit-hash>

Cherry-Pick with Edit

# Edit the commit message during cherry-pick
git cherry-pick -e <commit-hash>
git cherry-pick --edit <commit-hash>

Cherry-Pick with Signoff

# Add "Signed-off-by" line
git cherry-pick -s <commit-hash>
git cherry-pick --signoff <commit-hash>

Handling Cherry-Pick Conflicts

When conflicts occur during cherry-picking:

  1. Resolve conflicts in affected files
  2. Stage the resolved files: 
    git add <resolved-files>
  3. Continue the cherry-pick: 
    git cherry-pick --continue

Cherry-Pick Control Commands

# Continue after resolving conflicts
git cherry-pick --continue

# Skip current commit
git cherry-pick --skip

# Abort and return to original state
git cherry-pick --abort

Common Cherry-Pick Scenarios

1. Bug Fix from Main to Feature Branch

# You're on feature-branch and want a bug fix from main
git checkout feature-branch
git cherry-pick <bug-fix-commit-hash>

2. Feature from One Branch to Another

# Apply a specific feature commit
git checkout target-branch
git cherry-pick <feature-commit-hash>

# Cherry-pick a series of commits
git cherry-pick commit1^..commit3

4. Cherry-Pick from Remote Branch

# Fetch latest changes
git fetch origin

# Cherry-pick from remote branch
git cherry-pick origin/feature-branch~2

Advanced Cherry-Pick Techniques

Cherry-Pick with Merge Strategy

# Use specific merge strategy
git cherry-pick -X theirs <commit-hash>
git cherry-pick -X ours <commit-hash>

Cherry-Pick and Modify

# Cherry-pick without committing, then modify
git cherry-pick -n <commit-hash>
# Make additional changes
git add .
git commit -m "Modified cherry-picked commit"

Cherry-Pick Multiple Commits Interactively

# Use rebase to cherry-pick and modify multiple commits
git rebase -i --onto target-branch source-branch~3 source-branch

Cherry-Pick Best Practices

1. Use Descriptive Commit Messages

# When cherry-picking, consider updating the message
git cherry-pick -e <commit-hash>
# Add context about the cherry-pick

2. Reference Original Commit

# Good commit message after cherry-pick
git commit -m "Fix user authentication bug

Cherry-picked from commit abc123 on main branch.
Fixes issue with JWT token validation."

3. Test After Cherry-Picking

# Always test after cherry-picking
git cherry-pick <commit-hash>
npm test  # or your test command

4. Document Cherry-Picks

Keep track of cherry-picked commits to avoid confusion:

# Use git notes to document cherry-picks
git notes add -m "Cherry-picked to feature-branch" <commit-hash>

Cherry-Pick vs Other Methods

Cherry-Pick vs Merge

  • Cherry-pick: Selective application of specific commits
  • Merge: Combines entire branch histories
  • Use cherry-pick when: You need only specific changes
  • Use merge when: You want all changes from a branch

Cherry-Pick vs Rebase

  • Cherry-pick: Copies commits to current branch
  • Rebase: Moves commits to new base
  • Use cherry-pick when: Applying changes across different branches
  • Use rebase when: Reorganizing commits on the same branch

Common Cherry-Pick Workflows

Hotfix Workflow

# 1. Create hotfix from main
git checkout main
git checkout -b hotfix/critical-bug

# 2. Fix the bug and commit
git commit -m "Fix critical security vulnerability"

# 3. Merge hotfix to main
git checkout main
git merge hotfix/critical-bug

# 4. Cherry-pick fix to development branches
git checkout develop
git cherry-pick <hotfix-commit>

git checkout feature-branch
git cherry-pick <hotfix-commit>

Feature Port Workflow

# 1. Develop feature on feature branch
git checkout feature-branch
git commit -m "Add new dashboard widget"

# 2. Port feature to another branch
git checkout other-branch
git cherry-pick <feature-commit>

# 3. Adapt for different context if needed
git cherry-pick -n <feature-commit>
# Make necessary adjustments
git commit -m "Add dashboard widget (adapted for branch context)"

Troubleshooting Cherry-Pick

Empty Cherry-Pick

# When cherry-pick results in no changes
git cherry-pick --allow-empty <commit-hash>

Cherry-Pick Merge Commits

# Cherry-pick a merge commit (specify mainline)
git cherry-pick -m 1 <merge-commit-hash>

Finding Commits to Cherry-Pick

# View commits in another branch
git log --oneline other-branch

# View commits not in current branch
git log --oneline other-branch ^HEAD

# Use gitk for visual selection
gitk --all

Undoing Cherry-Pick

# If cherry-pick hasn't been pushed yet
git reset --hard HEAD~1

# If you need to revert a pushed cherry-pick
git revert <cherry-picked-commit-hash>

Cherry-Pick Examples

Example 1: Bug Fix

# Bug found in main, fix needed in feature branch
git checkout main
git log --oneline  # Find the bug fix commit

git checkout feature-branch
git cherry-pick a1b2c3d  # Apply the fix

Example 2: Multiple Commits

# Cherry-pick last 3 commits from develop
git checkout feature-branch
git cherry-pick develop~2..develop

Example 3: Selective Feature

# Cherry-pick only the core feature, not the tests
git cherry-pick -n feature-commit
# Remove test files
git reset HEAD test/
git commit -m "Add core feature (without tests)"

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