title: How do I prevent an automerge using Git?
body: <p>I am trying to merge a local branch into the master branch without having Git to do an automerge. I would like to “hand pick” what I would like to be merged into master.</p>
  
  <p>When I use Git’s difftool command, I am able to diff and select what I want to be added into the master branch. But then when I do a merge, I will lose what I selected prior because Git will do an automerge. I can commit the changes into master prior to the merge, but doing so seems unnatural.</p>
  
  <p>And Git’s mergetool is only available when there are conflicts from a merge. But if Git does an automerge then usually there aren’t conflicts, so I am unable to run the mergetool command.</p>
  
  <p><strong>Update:</strong></p>
  
  <p>I am starting to think what I am trying to accomplish is bad practice or it’s just not possible. That is, to merge a topic branch and only have it merge what I need from diffing. And in an addition, to have this reflected in history. At any rate, the question I posted surfaced when experimenting with Git.</p>