Cherry-pick is Everywhere

I wanted to contribute to the Fydetab Duo Wiki, but to preview the blog locally, I needed to add pixi or other configurations to the project. These changes were not suitable for the original repository. So I learned how to selectively submit commits, which is where git cherry-pick comes in.

Git’s cherry-pick

In the Git version control system, the cherry-pick command is used to apply a specific commit to the current branch without merging the entire branch. This perfectly fits my needs: I forked the source code, created a branch (dev) for modifications, where the first two commits were files for local configuration, and the later ones were actual changes to the documentation. When I finished the modifications and was ready to submit, I could create a dedicated submission branch based on the unmodified original branch, then use cherry-pick to select the last three commits to include:

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# Apply specified commits to the current branch
git cherry-pick COMMIT3 COMMIT4 COMMIT5

# If conflicts occur, resolve them and continue
git cherry-pick --continue

# Or abort the cherry-pick
git cherry-pick --abort

Then, using this branch to submit a PR ensures that unnecessary content isn’t pushed to the original project.

At the same time, after the upstream merges my PR, I can pull the changes from upstream into the dev branch, allowing me to continue updating, and then modify and use the dedicated merge branch again.

Cherry-picking in data analysis

When I first saw cherry-pick, I found it quite interesting because I had also encountered this term in data‑analysis discussions, where it carries a more negative connotation—referring to “selective presentation.” Honestly, I’ve done quite a bit of this after starting work… It’s one of those “charming” moments in statistics…

Also, I asked an AI, and it seems the phrase “cherry pick” has been around for a long time… Hmmm… Indeed, there’s nothing new under the sun…