Cherry Picking Commits

Cherry-pick lets you apply specific commits from one branch to another without merging the entire branch. It's like picking individual cherries from a tree.

What is Cherry-Pick?

Cherry-pick copies a commit to your current branch:

Before:
main:    A ← B ← C
              \
feature:       D ← E ← F

After cherry-pick E onto main:
main:    A ← B ← C ← E'
              \
feature:       D ← E ← F

Note: E' is a new commit with the same changes as E, but a different hash.

Basic Cherry-Pick

# Switch to target branch
git checkout main

# Cherry-pick a specific commit
git cherry-pick abc1234

This applies the changes from commit abc1234 to your current branch.

Cherry-Pick Options

Multiple Commits

# Pick multiple commits
git cherry-pick abc1234 def5678 789abcd

# Pick a range (excludes first commit)
git cherry-pick abc1234..def5678

# Pick a range (includes first commit)
git cherry-pick abc1234^..def5678

Without Committing

# Apply changes but don't commit
git cherry-pick --no-commit abc1234

# Now you can modify or combine with other changes
git commit -m "Custom message"

Preserve Original Authorship

# Keep original author (default)
git cherry-pick abc1234

# Sign off
git cherry-pick -s abc1234

Record Original Commit

# Add note about original commit
git cherry-pick -x abc1234
# Message: "Cherry-picked from commit abc1234"

When to Use Cherry-Pick

Scenario 1: Hotfix to Multiple Branches

# Fix is on develop
# abc1234 - Fix critical security bug

# Apply to production branch
git checkout production
git cherry-pick abc1234

# Apply to release branch
git checkout release/2.0
git cherry-pick abc1234

Scenario 2: Pull Specific Feature from Feature Branch

# feature branch has:
# abc1234 - Add validation (want this)
# def5678 - WIP: other stuff (don't want)
# 789abcd - Add tests (want this)

git checkout main
git cherry-pick abc1234 789abcd

Scenario 3: Recover Lost Work

# Found an orphaned commit in reflog
git reflog
# abc1234 HEAD@{10}: commit: Important work

# Apply it to current branch
git cherry-pick abc1234

Scenario 4: Backport to Older Version

# Fix exists in v3
# Need to apply to v2 maintenance branch

git checkout v2-maintenance
git cherry-pick abc1234

Handling Conflicts

If the cherry-pick creates a conflict:

git cherry-pick abc1234
# CONFLICT!

# Option 1: Resolve and continue
# Edit conflicted files
git add resolved-file.js
git cherry-pick --continue

# Option 2: Abort
git cherry-pick --abort

# Option 3: Skip this commit
git cherry-pick --skip

Cherry-Pick vs Merge vs Rebase

Method	Use Case
Merge	Integrate entire branch
Rebase	Move/replay commits onto another branch
Cherry-pick	Copy specific commits

When NOT to Cherry-Pick

• If you need the whole branch → Use merge
• If you're updating your branch → Use rebase
• If commits depend on each other → Cherry-pick all of them

Cherry-Picking a Range

# Commits: A ← B ← C ← D ← E

# Pick C, D, E (excludes B)
git cherry-pick B..E

# Pick B, C, D, E (includes B)
git cherry-pick B^..E

Cherry-Pick and Merge Commits

Merge commits have two parents. You must specify which parent's diff to use:

# -m 1 means "relative to first parent"
git cherry-pick -m 1 merge-commit-hash

Usually:

• -m 1: Changes from the merged branch
• -m 2: Changes from the base branch

Tracking Cherry-Picks

Add Reference in Message

git cherry-pick -x abc1234

Adds:

Original commit message

(cherry picked from commit abc1234)

Using Git Notes

# Add note to commit
git notes add -m "Cherry-picked from feature branch"

Exercise: Cherry-Pick Practice

Practice cherry-picking a commit:

Common Mistakes

Cherry-Picking Dependencies

If commit B depends on commit A:

# Wrong: Only pick B (might not work)
git cherry-pick B

# Right: Pick both
git cherry-pick A B

Cherry-Picking Same Commit Twice

If you cherry-pick the same changes twice, you might get conflicts:

main: ... E' ...   (cherry-picked E)
          ↓
Merge feature with original E
          ↓
Conflict: Same changes exist twice!

Use merge or rebase if you plan to merge the branch later.

Best Practices

1. Use sparingly: Cherry-pick is powerful but can create confusion
2. Document: Use -x to track origin
3. Consider alternatives: Merge or rebase might be better
4. Test thoroughly: Cherry-picked code might lack dependencies
5. Don't double-merge: Be careful if branch will be merged later

Summary

• Cherry-pick copies specific commits to current branch
• Use git cherry-pick <hash> for single commits
• Use ranges for multiple commits
• Use -x to document where commits came from
• Handle conflicts like merge conflicts
• Good for hotfixes, backports, and selective changes
• Be careful about dependencies and future merges

In the next lesson, we'll learn about stashing changes.