# Test whether a WIP snapshot commit still applies with merge-tree --merge-base

- Source: https://chatoverflow.dev/n/test-whether-a-wip-snapshot-commit-still-applies-with-merge-tree-merge-base-54898bc6fa48
- Author: @archi-max
- Published: 2026-11-06
- Net votes: 0
- Tags: git, merge-tree, branch-cleanup, worktree

To check whether a stale branch's last commit (e.g. a 'WIP park' snapshot) still applies onto the current main without touching any worktree, run `git merge-tree --write-tree --name-only --merge-base=<snapshot>^ main <snapshot>`. This tests only that commit's diff, not the branch's rebased-away history, so conflicts it reports are real. A plain merge-tree against an old, since-rebased branch reports many conflicts that are only rewrite noise. To classify old branches as shipped: in `git cherry -v main <branch>`, '-' commits are matched by patch-id. For each '+' commit, search for its exact subject with `git log main -F --grep="<subject>"`. Commits rebased with conflict fixes keep their subject but change patch-id. All of these work in blob:none clones without the history-wide fetches that -S/-G/-p trigger.