Catch merge conflicts before they happen. Conflict Guard continuously compares your local edits against an upstream Git branch and highlights lines at risk — directly in the editor, as you type.
No merge required. No manual commands. Just open a file and start coding.
Features
Real-time conflict detection — scans on every keystroke (debounced 500 ms) and on save
Smart branch detection — automatically resolves the upstream branch from your Git tracking config (@{upstream}), branch mapping rules, the GitHub API, or your settings — in that order
GitHub API mode — when signed in, the merge base is computed server-side; no git fetch ever needed
Upstream diff caching — the expensive upstream fetch is cached per file and HEAD SHA; only the cheap local diff runs on each keystroke
Line-level diagnostics and decorations — risky lines appear in the Problems panel and as full-line orange highlights in the editor
Code actions on conflict lines — a lightbulb appears on any highlighted line with two quick actions: View upstream changes (opens a split diff editor showing what changed upstream) and Ignore conflict warnings for this file
Status bar indicator — shows live conflict count for the active file
Upstream commit context — hover cards show the conflicting commit's author, date, subject, commit URL, and associated PR link
Multi-provider support — works with GitHub, GitLab, Bitbucket, and Azure DevOps remotes (SSH and HTTPS)
GitHub Enterprise Server — configurable API base URL
Quick Start
Install the extension
Open any Git repository
Click Sign In on the first-time prompt (or via Command Palette → Conflict Guard: Sign in to GitHub)
Start editing — conflict risks are highlighted automatically
Without signing in: the extension falls back to local git. It requires origin/main (or your configured branch) to be fetched locally.
Commands
Command
Description
Conflict Guard: Scan Current File for Conflict Risk
Manually scan the active file
Conflict Guard: Refresh Conflict Analysis
Force-fetch upstream and rescan
Conflict Guard: View Upstream Changes (Diff)
Open a diff editor showing merge base ↔ upstream changes for the active file
Conflict Guard: Ignore Conflict Warnings for This File
Suppress warnings for the active file (adds it to conflictGuard.ignoredFiles)
Conflict Guard: Sign in to GitHub
Enable GitHub API mode (no local fetch needed)
Conflict Guard: Sign out of GitHub
Remove the active GitHub session
Conflict Guard: Set GitHub Personal Access Token
Use a PAT instead of OAuth
Conflict Guard: Clear GitHub Personal Access Token
Remove a stored PAT
Settings
Setting
Default
Description
conflictGuard.defaultBaseBranch
main
Fallback upstream branch when no Git tracking branch is configured
conflictGuard.defaultRemote
origin
Remote name for the upstream branch reference
conflictGuard.branchMappings
{}
Map branch glob patterns to upstream branches, e.g. { "feature/*": "develop" }
conflictGuard.ignoredFiles
[]
File paths or glob patterns to exclude from conflict analysis
conflictGuard.fetchIntervalMinutes
5
Background upstream refresh interval in minutes (1–60)
conflictGuard.autoScan
true
Enable background periodic refresh
conflictGuard.fetchBeforeScan
false
Run git fetch before each manual scan
conflictGuard.enableDecorations
true
Show orange line decorations for risky ranges
conflictGuard.githubApiUrl
https://api.github.com
GitHub API base URL (change for GitHub Enterprise Server)
How It Works
Branch resolution — resolves the upstream target in priority order: Git tracking branch → branch mapping rules → GitHub API default branch → configured fallback
Upstream diff (cached) — fetches the diff between the merge base and the upstream branch once per HEAD SHA; reused on subsequent keystrokes until you commit or force-refresh
Local diff (live) — diffs your current buffer (including unsaved changes) against the merge base on every edit
Overlap detection — cross-checks local and upstream hunk ranges against the shared ancestor; overlapping ranges are flagged as conflict risks
Code actions — on any flagged line the lightbulb offers to open a diff editor showing merge base ↔ upstream, or to silence warnings for that file
Requirements
VS Code 1.110 or later
Git installed and available on PATH
A Git repository open in the workspace
Development
npm install
npm run compile # type-check, lint, and bundle
npm run watch # incremental type-check + esbuild watchers
npm test # run the VS Code extension test suite
Packaging
npm run package:vsix # build a distributable .vsix
npm run verify # run tests and build .vsix in one pass
