SYNOPSIS
--------
[verse]
-'git-merge' [-n] [--no-commit] [--squash] [-s <strategy>]...
+'git-merge' [-n] [--summary] [--no-commit] [--squash] [-s <strategy>]...
[-m <msg>] <remote> <remote>...
+'git-merge' <msg> HEAD <remote>...
DESCRIPTION
-----------
This is the top-level interface to the merge machinery
which drives multiple merge strategy scripts.
+The second syntax (<msg> `HEAD` <remote>) is supported for
+historical reasons. Do not use it from the command line or in
+new scripts. It is the same as `git merge -m <msg> <remote>`.
+
OPTIONS
-------
include::merge-options.txt[]
-<msg>::
+-m <msg>::
The commit message to be used for the merge commit (in case
it is created). The `git-fmt-merge-msg` script can be used
to give a good default for automated `git-merge` invocations.
-<head>::
- Our branch head commit. This has to be `HEAD`, so new
- syntax does not require it
-
<remote>::
Other branch head merged into our branch. You need at
least one <remote>. Specifying more than one <remote>
would want to start over, you can recover with
gitlink:git-reset[1].
+CONFIGURATION
+-------------
+
+merge.summary::
+ Whether to include summaries of merged commits in newly
+ created merge commit. False by default.
+
+merge.verbosity::
+ Controls the amount of output shown by the recursive merge
+ strategy. Level 0 outputs nothing except a final error
+ message if conflicts were detected. Level 1 outputs only
+ conflicts, 2 outputs conflicts and file changes. Level 5 and
+ above outputs debugging information. The default is level 2.
+ Can be overridden by 'GIT_MERGE_VERBOSITY' environment variable.
+
+branch.<name>.mergeoptions::
+ Sets default options for merging into branch <name>. The syntax and
+ supported options are equal to that of git-merge, but option values
+ containing whitespace characters are currently not supported.
HOW MERGE WORKS
---------------
When things cleanly merge, these things happen:
-1. the results are updated both in the index file and in your
- working tree,
-2. index file is written out as a tree,
-3. the tree gets committed, and
-4. the `HEAD` pointer gets advanced.
+1. The results are updated both in the index file and in your
+ working tree;
+2. Index file is written out as a tree;
+3. The tree gets committed; and
+4. The `HEAD` pointer gets advanced.
Because of 2., we require that the original state of the index
file to match exactly the current `HEAD` commit; otherwise we