Git: Use VS Code as merge editor

[nchammas]

1.0.0 introduced the ability to use VS Code as a git difftool. The relevant global .gitconfig lines are as follows:

[diff]
    tool = default-difftool
[difftool "default-difftool"]
    cmd = code --wait --diff $LOCAL $REMOTE

How can I use VS Code as a git mergetool?

The relevant arguments it needs to accept, I believe, are $LOCAL, $REMOTE, $BASE, and $MERGED.

[joaomoreno]

Not supported yet.

[skijit]

Is this feature being included in the next iteration, by any chance?

[joaomoreno]

Probably not, this is a big endeavour, since a merge UI needs to be implemented.

[ZombieProtectionAgency]

Is there any plan for the merge UI to support three-way merging? (e.g. change a, change b, common ancestor)

[joaomoreno]

We wouldn't have it any other way. 😉

[theoy]

Can't upvote this one enough. This is the top scenario for me to fall back to a different editor/IDE (*cough* memory-hog Webstorm cough) :)

[kumarharsh]

If possible, this would be a godsend, due to several reasons:

1. Meld, although functional, severely lacks in functionality in relation to configurable key-bindings and colour highlighting, and is really really slow to start on my Windows machine, even when installed on an SSD.
2. I'd like the merge editor to also accept the same .editorconfig/settings which my main text editor has, and if vscode does fill that gap, it'd be awesome.
3. On smaller levels, the editor theme and familiarity with the interface is also a plus - sometimes I or my team makes mistakes while merging due to no syntax highlighting, which although small, have caused huge bugs in production systems. And some of those mistakes are rather difficult to even fathom until they occur. I guess there would always be similar problems with mergetools, but perhaps they will be reduced if one could merge in the same environment in which one writes.

Like I said, meld is ok, but it'd be super if vscode would some day be used in that scenario.

[egucciar]

Visual Studio was always my code merger of choice. Would love to see this feature!

[cchitsiang]

No problem on using other git mergetool but really would like to see own merge UI happen really soon!!

[eckdanny]

😐 meh.

I expect these features in heavy weight IDEs. In vscode's class of light weight editors (in which I'd consider atom, sublime, etc) I don't. For git-related activities I favor a terminal and vim for conflict resolution. The GUI crowd already has great uni-taskers like meld, diffmerge, kaleidoscope, etc.

@kumarharsh that's a good point about immediate feedback (e.g.; linting.) Going the vim route above, I suppose you can set git's default external editor to vscode... tho could be a pain to provide context to the project-specific linting/syntax/etc rules.

[herbertpimentel]

+1

[ghost]

can this feature be implemented as an extension of vscode? or any exists ext recommended.

[herbertpimentel]

I dont think so, as i can see extesions are not allowed to create ui features Enviado do meu telefone Windows 10 De: Tank Sui Enviado:quarta-feira, 7 de dezembro de 2016 10:41 Para: Microsoft/vscode Cc:Herbert Pimentel; Comment Assunto: Re: [Microsoft/vscode] Using VS Code as a git mergetool (#5770) can this feature be implemented as an extension of vscode? or any exists ext recommended. — You are receiving this because you commented. Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub, or mute the thread.

[kumarharsh]

The plugin can provide UI features: look at Git History. It renders a webview, which can "potentially" be used as a merge-tool. But I think it'll be very hard for a plugin to do it without some level of support by vscode itself.

[josser]

Main issue with kaleidoscope, meld, etc tools is in very typical use-case:
Edit result during merge. Like, you know: accept this line from the left, accept that line from the right, and also, add this small fix so they both can work together.
Captain obvious is reporting: Merge tools are good in merging :D
But editing using i.e meld is totally pain especially when you are get used to such handy tool as vscode. That's why most developers want merge-tool integrated in their editor.

[jayshah123]

P4merge's 4-pane 3-way merge UI is excellent.
http://naleid.com/blog/2013/10/29/how-to-use-p4merge-as-a-3-way-merge-tool-with-git-and-tower-dot-app

[idibidiart]

allowing us to see the diff (incredibly useful features in an editor) but not giving us a way to merge is very underwhelming

[MarvDann]

A VS Code extension would be perfect for merging conflicts.

[bogminic]

+1

[vidhya03]

Git side by side conflict resolver not working in latest VS code.

Version 1.10.2
Commit 8076a19
Date 2017-03-08T14:02:52.799Z
Shell 1.4.6
Renderer 53.0.2785.143
Node 6.5.0

[tolgabalci]

Would really like to be able to edit code while merging while using my code editor (vscode), rather than having to use some other editor.

[trumbitta]

Three-way merging / diffing is the way to go for sure

[raxetul]

The missing point is that we don't have 3 or 5 line conflicts. Current inline diffs are not practical for conflicts with over 20 lines even we have 2K and 4K monitors. Also, it would be great to have the ability to mark reviewed diffs not to check again and again.

[lig]

So, the feature is there starting from 1.69. However, I haven't figured out yet how to open the three-way merge from command line that is required for using it as a true git mergetool.

For the difftool I use code --wait --reuse-window --diff $LOCAL $REMOTE.

[bpasero]

Landed in todays insider as:

-m --merge <path1> <path2> <base> <result> Perform a three-way merge by providing paths for two modified versions of a file, the common origin of both modified versions and the output file to save merge results

In order to use it for git, you also need to add the --wait parameter, e.g.

[merge]
	tool = code-insiders
[mergetool]
	writeToTemp = true
	keepBackup = false
[mergetool "code-insiders"]
	cmd = code-insiders --wait -m $REMOTE $LOCAL $BASE $MERGED

You can give our preview releases a try from: https://code.visualstudio.com/insiders/

I suggest to open new issues for issues found and close this one. One feature request on my backlog is to allow to provide labels for the $REMOTE and $LOCAL version to better identify both sides. If someone knows if Git provides good names with some trick or script, please let me know.

[ghost]

@bpasero i tested it . looks good for me .

[ghost]

How ever, it need more tune.
Like quick accept code block , by select left or right

[bpasero]

Same as for the CLI support, feedback for the merge editor should be reported as individual issues.

[jrieken]

As @bpasero said: new, separate issues please! Before that consult the list of remaining bugs and feature-requests: merge-editor