Git Cherry-pick: Apply Specific Commits to Another Branch

Git Cherry-pick Guide

git cherry-pick applies the changes from one or more specific commits onto the current branch. Unlike merge or rebase, it targets individual commits rather than entire branches.

Basic Cherry-pick

# Apply a single commit to the current branch
git cherry-pick abc1234

# Apply multiple commits
git cherry-pick abc1234 def5678 ghi9012

# Apply a range of commits (exclusive start, inclusive end)
git cherry-pick abc1234..ghi9012

Cherry-pick Without Committing

# Apply changes but do not commit
git cherry-pick --no-commit abc1234

# This lets you modify the changes before committing
git add .
git commit -m "adapted: original feature for release branch"

Track the Source

# Add "(cherry picked from commit ...)" to the message
git cherry-pick -x abc1234

Handling Conflicts

# When cherry-pick conflicts:
# 1. Resolve conflicts in your editor
# 2. Stage the resolved files
git add <resolved-files>

# 3. Continue the cherry-pick
git cherry-pick --continue

# Or abort entirely
git cherry-pick --abort

Common Patterns

Hotfix from main to release branch:

git checkout release/v2.1
git cherry-pick <hotfix-commit-hash>

Backport a feature to an older version:

git checkout release/v1.x
git cherry-pick abc1234..def5678

When NOT to Cherry-pick

• If you need the entire branch, use merge or rebase
• Cherry-picking creates duplicate commits with different hashes
• Excessive cherry-picking makes history hard to follow
• Consider if a proper merge workflow would be better