docs(agents): warn about reversed --ours/--theirs in rebase#602
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docs(agents): warn about reversed --ours/--theirs in rebase#602
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During rebase, `--ours` refers to the upstream target (not the branch being rebased), which is the opposite of merge. Using `git checkout --ours <file>` to "keep our work" during a rebase conflict silently takes the upstream version, makes the replayed commit empty, and rebase drops it without error. Adds: - A warning block with merge vs rebase semantics, the safe pattern (`--theirs` to keep your work during rebase), a verification step (`git log --oneline <upstream>..HEAD`), and reflog recovery. - An incident-log row for the 2026-04-29 near-miss on the cpan-reports refresh PR.
Add the official quote from git-rebase(1) and a link to the docs so future agents (and humans) can confirm this isn't folklore.
If a broken rebase drops your commit and you force-push the branch to a SHA that equals master's HEAD, GitHub auto-CLOSES the PR. Pushing the corrected SHA back does NOT reopen it — `gh pr reopen <n>` is required. Add a verification step to check `gh pr view --json state,files` after any force-push. This actually happened on PR #601 during the cpan-reports refresh.
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Combined into PR #601. |
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Summary
During
git rebase, the meaning of--ours/--theirsis the opposite ofgit merge:--ours= the branch you're on--ours= the upstream target (e.g. master),--theirs= the commit being replayed (your work)Using
git checkout --ours <file>to "keep our work" during a rebase conflict silently takes the upstream version, makes the replayed commit empty, and rebase drops it without error. This nearly cost us the cpan-reports refresh on PR #601 (recovered via reflog).This PR adds:
AGENTS.mdwith merge vs rebase semantics, the safe pattern (--theirsduring rebase), a post-rebase verification step (git log --oneline <upstream>..HEAD), and reflog recovery instructions.Test plan