Scenario: clone-differing-content

A folder maintained by hand, and an upstream with different content.

Monorepo (vendor/a/): file.txt and local.txt.
Upstream: file.txt with other content, and upstream.txt.

The two share no history, so there is no merge base but an empty folder. clone refuses, unless --merge is given: then every file that differs is a conflict, and nothing is lost.

Output

setup.bash builds this state:

$ build_scenario scenario_clone_differing_content

$ git splice clone "$UPSTREAM" vendor/a
===  vendor/a: fetching $UPSTREAM
!!   vendor/a exists and differs from 'main' upstream -- '--merge' keeps both, and every file that differs becomes a conflict to resolve
[1]

$ git splice clone --merge "$UPSTREAM" vendor/a
===  vendor/a: fetching $UPSTREAM
Auto-merging vendor/a/file.txt
CONFLICT (add/add): Merge conflict in vendor/a/file.txt
!!   vendor/a: conflict -- resolve it, then 'git commit' (or 'git cherry-pick --abort' to give up)
!!   vendor/a: clone failed
[1]

Files only one side has are kept, the file both have conflicts:

$ git status --short
A  vendor/a/.splice
AA vendor/a/file.txt
A  vendor/a/upstream.txt

$ echo "both versions" >vendor/a/file.txt && git add vendor/a/file.txt && git commit -q --no-edit

The push sends one commit, the merge, on top of upstream's. The folder's history from before it was a splice stays in the monorepo (why):

$ git splice status
On branch main

  ahead 1  vendor/a

Output​

Output