Create patches from commits and apply them

Create .patch files from commits

git format-patch \
    -k \
    -o $OUTPUT_DIR \
    REV1..REV2

Creates .patch files per commit, the options are:

• -k: keep the commit message (do not add [PATCH] to it)
• -o $OUTPUT_DIR: the patch files are written to this dir
• REV1..REV2: commits ranging from REV1 (excluded) to REV2 (included) are used to created patches.

Example

git format-patch -k -o my_patches 79bfe71..b83f760

Apply .patch files

Checking for conflicts

You can check that the patch can be safely applied with:

git apply --check commit.patch

If no output, this can be applied without any conflicts.

Merging patch

git am -3 commit.patch

This will apply the patch, adding the commit using the info found in the file to your current history.

In case of conflicts, the same tool as for merge conflicts will be available.