---
stage: Create
group: Source Code
info: To determine the technical writer assigned to the Stage/Group associated with this page, see https://about.gitlab.com/handbook/engineering/ux/technical-writing/#assignments
type: reference, concepts
---

# Cherry-pick changes **(FREE)**

GitLab implements Git's powerful feature to
[cherry-pick any commit](https://git-scm.com/docs/git-cherry-pick "Git cherry-pick documentation")
with introducing a **Cherry-pick** button in merge requests and commit details.

## Cherry-picking a merge request

After the merge request has been merged, a **Cherry-pick** button displays
to cherry-pick the changes introduced by that merge request.

![Cherry-pick Merge Request](img/cherry_pick_changes_mr.png)

After you click that button, a modal displays a
[branch filter search box](../repository/branches/index.md#branch-filter-search-box)
where you can choose to either:

- Cherry-pick the changes directly into the selected branch.
- Create a new merge request with the cherry-picked changes.

### Cherry-pick tracking

> [Introduced](https://gitlab.com/groups/gitlab-org/-/epics/2675) in GitLab 12.9.

When you cherry-pick a merge commit, GitLab displays a system note to the related merge
request thread. It crosslinks the new commit and the existing merge request.

![Cherry-pick tracking in Merge Request timeline](img/cherry_pick_mr_timeline_v12_9.png)

Each deployment's [list of associated merge requests](../../../api/deployments.md#list-of-merge-requests-associated-with-a-deployment) includes cherry-picked merge commits.

NOTE:
We only track cherry-pick executed from GitLab (both UI and API). Support for [tracking cherry-picked commits through the command line](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/issues/202215) is planned for a future release.

## Cherry-picking a commit

You can cherry-pick a commit from the commit details page:

![Cherry-pick commit](img/cherry_pick_changes_commit.png)

Similar to cherry-picking a merge request, you can cherry-pick the changes
directly into the target branch or create a new merge request to cherry-pick the
changes.

When cherry-picking merge commits, the mainline is always the
first parent. If you want to use a different mainline, you need to do that
from the command line.

Here's a quick example to cherry-pick a merge commit using the second parent as the
mainline:

```shell
git cherry-pick -m 2 7a39eb0
```

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