Smart Merge AI

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  Upon being mentioned, the Smart Merge Flow immediately acknowledges the request. It provides a direct link to track the AI's progress

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  Seamlessly triggering automated conflict resolution directly within the GitLab workflow using Duo Agent integration

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  Smart Merge AI builds trust with explainable logic. It provides risk levels and reasoning, turning every conflict into a learning moment

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  Visualizing the bridge from Duo Agent to backend. A "Running" status confirms the automated trigger is working within the GitLab ecosystem

Inspiration

Merge conflicts are one of the most frustrating parts of software development.
Developers often spend a lot of time manually resolving conflicts, trying to understand which version is correct, and worrying about introducing bugs.

In fast-paced teams, this slows down development and increases the risk of errors.

We wanted to build something that removes this friction — an AI agent that can intelligently resolve merge conflicts and guide developers with safe, explainable decisions.

What it does

Smart Merge AI is an intelligent GitLab agent that automatically resolves merge conflicts.

• It analyzes conflicting code
• Generates a clean merged version
• Provides explanation and risk assessment
• Suggests whether to merge or review

For simple conflicts, it enables safe automatic merging.
For complex cases, it gives clear recommendations, helping developers make better decisions.

How we built it

We built Smart Merge AI using the GitLab Duo Agent Platform.

• Created a custom AI Agent to analyze and resolve conflicts
• Built a Flow to trigger the agent via GitLab issues and comments
• Integrated GitLab tools like create_issue_note to post results automatically
• Used structured prompts to ensure consistent output (merge, explanation, risk, action)

The system works by simply mentioning the agent in an issue or merge request.

Challenges we ran into

• Understanding GitLab’s Agent and Flow architecture was initially complex
  
• Debugging CI/CD pipeline validation errors (YAML schema issues, toolset configuration)
  
• Ensuring the agent output is structured and useful for real developers
  
• Making the system feel automated within hackathon constraints
  

What we learned

• How to build AI-powered developer tools using GitLab Duo
  
• Designing structured prompts for reliable AI outputs
  
• Integrating AI into real development workflows
  
• Thinking beyond code — building a product that solves real developer pain
  

Future improvements

• Automatic triggering on merge request conflicts (no manual mention needed)
  
• Confidence scoring system for AI decisions
  
• CI/CD integration for auto-resolving conflicts before merge
  
• Learning project-specific coding patterns for smarter merges
  
• Fully automated “safe merge” approvals for low-risk cases
  

Impact

Smart Merge AI reduces the time and effort required to resolve merge conflicts,
making development faster, safer, and more efficient.

It transforms conflict resolution from a manual task into an intelligent, automated workflow.

Built With

• ai
• gitlab
• gitlabduo
• ymal