Neovim Workflow: Mastering Git Conflict Resolution

This is mostly a “note to myself” kind of post, to celebrate my win against my own laziness.

For a long time I used Fugitive’s excellent 3-way diff, typically accessed via :Gvdiffsplit! with satisfaction, however, my common friction point was the back-and-forth between the editor and the terminal to run git status just to find the next file.

I knew there was a much simpler integrated workflow, but only today I took the time to find it :).

1. The Actionable Status List

The key to efficiency is recognizing that Fugitive’s status buffer (:Git) is a complete, live list of your Git state that allows immediate interaction.

  1. Get the List: Run the primary Fugitive command:

    :Git

    This displays your files, including all those marked as Unmerged (U).

  2. Jump and Diff: Instead of manually typing filenames, simply navigate your cursor to an unmerged file and press:

    dv

    This executes a vertical split diff (:Gvdiffsplit!), immediately showing the 3-way view (Local, Merged, Remote) for the file under the cursor.

2. Resolving Conflicts

Now it is just a matter to use the split diff view and resolve the conflicts.

To resolve just the difference block your cursor is currently on, use the following commands:

  • Jump Next/Previous Hunk: ]c / [c
  • Accept Hunk from Local: Run :diffget //2
  • Accept Hunk from Remote: Run :diffget //3

When you want to accept one version of the file completely, instead, you must tell the command to act on the entire range (%). This is done by prefixing the command with :%.

Action Command (Uses Fugitive’s Buffer Suffix)
Accept All Local (Ours) :%diffget //2
Accept All Remote (Theirs) :%diffget //3

Note on Buffers: The suffixes //2 and //3 reliably identify the Local and Remote buffers created by Fugitive, replacing the need for ambiguous buffer numbers or long file names.

3. Staging and Completing the Task

After you’ve finished resolving a file, move back to :Git status buffer. The file is now clean but remains unstaged. To mark the resolution as complete, simply hit:

s

s (for Stage) executes git add <file>, moving the file out of the Unmerged or Unstaged list. You can immediately move the cursor down to the next conflicted file, maintaining a fast, seamless flow entirely within Neovim.