Cherry Pick

Cherry-pick applies the changes from specific commits onto your current branch, without merging entire branches.

What is Cherry Pick?

Cherry-pick copies a commit from one branch and applies it to another. Unlike merge, it doesn't bring the entire branch history - just the specific commit(s) you select.

Before cherry-pick:
main:    A---B---C
              \
feature:       D---E---F

After cherry-picking E to main:
main:    A---B---C---E'
              \
feature:       D---E---F

Key points:

• Creates a new commit (E') with the same changes but different hash
• Only applies selected commit(s), not the whole branch
• Original commit remains unchanged on its branch
• Useful for selective integration

When to Use Cherry Pick

Hotfix to Multiple Branches

A bug fix on develop needs to go to main immediately:

1. Fix the bug on develop
2. Cherry-pick the fix commit to main
3. Both branches have the fix

Undo a Specific Feature

Need to include one feature from a branch but not others:

1. Identify the commit(s) for that feature
2. Cherry-pick only those commits
3. Other changes stay on the original branch

Recover Lost Work

Accidentally reset or deleted a branch:

1. Find the commit in reflog
2. Cherry-pick it to recover the changes

Backport to Release Branch

A feature on main should also go to release-1.0:

1. Cherry-pick the feature commits to release-1.0
2. Both versions have the feature

Cherry Pick Use Cases

Scenario	Action
Hotfix needed on multiple branches	Cherry-pick fix to each branch
One commit from feature branch	Cherry-pick just that commit
Recover from accidental reset	Find in reflog, cherry-pick
Backport feature to old release	Cherry-pick to release branch
Wrong branch, already committed	Cherry-pick to correct branch, reset original

Cherry Picking in Axis

Single Commit

1. Navigate to History view
2. Find the commit you want to cherry-pick
3. Right-click the commit
4. Select Cherry Pick
5. Choose options (see below)
6. Click Cherry Pick

Multiple Commits

1. Select multiple commits in history (Ctrl/Cmd + click)
2. Right-click the selection
3. Select Cherry Pick
4. Commits are applied in chronological order

Order Matters

When cherry-picking multiple commits, they're applied in order. If commits depend on each other, select them in the correct sequence.

Cherry Pick Options

Option	Description
Create commit	Immediately create a new commit (default)
Stage changes only	Apply changes but don't commit (--no-commit)

Stage Changes Only

Use this when you want to:

• Combine multiple cherry-picks into one commit
• Modify the changes before committing
• Add additional changes with the cherry-picked content

1. Start Cherry Pick
2. Select Stage changes only option
3. Changes are staged but not committed

Handling Conflicts

If the cherry-picked changes conflict with your current branch:

1. Conflicting files are shown in staging area
2. Open the conflict resolver
3. For each conflict:
   • Accept Current - Keep your branch's version
   • Accept Incoming - Take the cherry-picked version
   • Accept Both - Include both changes
   • Edit manually for custom resolution
4. Mark conflicts as resolved
5. Continue or commit the cherry-pick

During Multi-Commit Cherry Pick

When cherry-picking multiple commits:

1. Conflict may occur at any commit
2. Resolve conflicts for that commit
3. Click Continue to proceed to next commit
4. Repeat until all commits are applied

Abort Cherry Pick

If cherry-pick goes wrong:

Click Abort to cancel Working directory returns to previous state No commits are created

Skip a Commit

During multi-commit cherry-pick, if one commit can't be applied:

Click Skip to skip that commit Continue with remaining commits

Continue Cherry Pick

After resolving conflicts:

1. Resolve conflicts in the staging area
2. Click Continue to proceed

Best Practices

Don't Cherry Pick Public Commits

If others are working on the original branch, cherry-picking creates duplicate commits with different hashes. This can cause confusion when branches are eventually merged.

Keep Track of Cherry Picks

Note which commits were cherry-picked and where. Without tracking, the same changes might be merged again later, causing conflicts.

Prefer Merge When Possible

Cherry-pick is for exceptional cases. For regular integration:

• Merge - When you want all changes from a branch
• Cherry-pick - When you need only specific commits

Test After Cherry Pick

The commit worked in its original context. Test that it also works in the new context, especially if:

• Code has diverged between branches
• Dependencies might differ
• Configuration varies between branches

Cherry Pick vs Other Operations

Operation	Use Case
Merge	Integrate entire branch
Rebase	Move commits to new base, rewrite history
Cherry Pick	Copy specific commits to another branch
Revert	Undo a commit by creating inverse changes

Common Issues

"Nothing to Commit"

The changes from the cherry-picked commit already exist in your branch. This can happen if:

• The commit was already merged another way
• Changes were manually duplicated

Repeated Conflicts on Merge

If you cherry-pick and later merge the same branch, Git may show conflicts for already-applied changes. Options:

• Resolve conflicts by accepting current changes
• Use git merge -X ours to prefer your version
• Consider if cherry-pick was the right choice

Lost Original Context

Cherry-picked commits lose their original branch context. The commit message might reference things that don't make sense in the new location. Consider updating the message.