Real-Time Conflict Detection

The Problem

You're deep in flow, coding a critical feature. Two hours later, you push—only to discover your teammate already changed the same lines you did. The merge fails. Now you have to understand their changes, figure out how they interact with yours, and manually resolve conflicts.

This is preventable.

The Solution

GitSpectra warns you before you commit that someone else has changed lines you're working on.

How It Works

GitSpectra uses git merge-tree to simulate merges locally, detecting conflicts without touching your working directory:

1. Background Fetch — Periodically runs git fetch to get the latest remote state
2. Merge Simulation — Uses git merge-tree to simulate merging remote changes with your local work
3. Conflict Parsing — Parses output to find exact conflicting line ranges
4. UI Update — Decorates your editor with conflict indicators in real-time

┌─────────────────────────────────────┐
│          GitSpectra Engine          │
├─────────────────────────────────────┤
│                                     │
│   git fetch origin                  │
│           ↓                         │
│   git merge-tree base target HEAD   │
│           ↓                         │
│   Parse conflict markers            │
│           ↓                         │
│   Update VS Code decorations        │
│                                     │
└─────────────────────────────────────┘

Conflict Types

Key Benefits

Configuration

Control conflict detection through VS Code settings:

{
  "gitspectra.fetchInterval": 300,        // Seconds between auto-fetch (0 = disabled)
  "gitspectra.fetchOnSave": true,         // Fetch when you save a file
  "gitspectra.scope.branches": ["origin/main"],  // Branches to check against
  "gitspectra.scope.timeWindow": "30d"    // How far back to look
}