Merge Tools

git mergetool opens each conflicted file in a tool showing your side, their side and the base beside the result, and stages the file when you save and quit. Git 1,932 knows dozens of tools and tells you which are installed:

git mergetool --tool-help | sed 's/^\s*//; s/ (.*//' |
  grep -E 'following|available|^(vimdiff|meld|kdiff3|vscode|p4merge|bc4|smerge) '
git config set --global merge.tool vscode

'git mergetool --tool=<tool>' may be set to one of the following:
vimdiff          Use Vim with a custom layout
The following tools are valid, but not currently available:
bc4              Use Beyond Compare
kdiff3           Use KDiff3
meld             Use Meld
p4merge          Use HelixCore P4Merge
smerge           Use Sublime Merge
vscode           Use Visual Studio Code

Here, without a desktop, only vimdiff is available. vscode is known by name, so merge.tool vscode is all VS Code 550 needs; mergetool.keepBackup false stops Git leaving .orig copies behind.