Show HN: Kinetic Merge – merge a refactored codebase and stay sane
Kinetic Merge is a CLI tool that helps merge codebases that have been refactored on one branch while having new features or changes on another. It handles fine-grained code movements beyond simple file moves, using Git history and JRE 17+. Originally conceived in the early 2010s and finally built starting in 2023, the tool is now on its 57th release and is MIT-licensed.
Background
- Git merge tools work well when files are moved or renamed, but they struggle when code is restructured within files — e.g., methods moved between classes, code split into new files, or visibility reordered. This is exactly what happens during a "refactoring" (changing code structure without changing behavior).