A merge fails with `CONFLICT (content): Merge conflict in config.txt`, and the file has three lines. A developer assumes the whole file is now in question and starts rewriting it from scratch. What does Git actually mean by a conflict here, and what's the right way to read the markers?

A "conflicted file" almost never means the whole file is in dispute — Git only wraps the specific lines both sides actually disagree on in <<<<<<</=======/>>>>>>> markers, and every other line, including ones near the conflict, is left exactly as Git resolved it automatically. git status --short marks a conflicted file UU (unmerged on both sides), not M, because there isn't yet a single agreed version to diff against. The fix is almost always small: edit inside the markers until the file says what it should, delete the three marker lines themselves, and git add the file — that add is what tells Git the conflict is resolved, the same as staging any other change. Rewriting the whole file from scratch throws away work Git had already merged correctly.