nrepo merge

nrepo merge <keep-id> <absorb-id> [options]

Folds the second idea into the first. The kept idea takes both bodies and both tag sets; the absorbed one is shelved and archived.

Options

Flag	Type	Default	Description
--force	boolean	false	Suppress the preview block.
--json	boolean	false	Output the merged idea as JSON.
--human	boolean	—	Force human-readable output. Wins over --json.

Danger

There is no confirmation prompt, and the merge cannot be undone. --force only hides the preview text — with or without it, the merge runs as soon as you press Enter. Run nrepo diff <keep-id> <absorb-id> first if you are unsure.

What a merge does

Field	Result
Body	Kept idea’s body, then ---, then the absorbed idea’s body. Empty bodies are skipped.
Tags	Union of both sets, on the kept idea.
Relations	Everything pointing at or from the absorbed idea is repointed at the kept idea. Self-references are removed.
created_at	The kept idea takes the earlier of the two timestamps.
Absorbed idea	Status set to shelved and archived.
Title	The kept idea’s. The absorbed title is discarded.
Links (URLs)	Stay with the absorbed idea — they are not transferred.

Caution

No supersedes relation is created between the two, deliberately: the absorbed idea is archived, and archived ideas are filtered out of every relation query, so the relation would be invisible. Do not go looking for one.

Because the absorbed idea is archived, it disappears from nrepo log, nrepo search, and the status counts — this is not the same as manually moving it to shelved, which leaves it visible. And because the kept idea inherits the earlier creation date, it may move down your nrepo log.

Output

nrepo merge 391 402

Merge preview:
  Keep:    #42 "Rewrite auth flow" [exploring]
  Absorb:  #43 "Auth rewrite — JWT variant" [captured]

  The absorbed idea will be shelved and archived.
  Bodies will be concatenated, tags merged.

✓ Merged #43 into #42
  Title: "Rewrite auth flow"
  Tags: auth, security, jwt
  #43 "Auth rewrite — JWT variant" → shelved (superseded by #42)

The preview is printed and the merge proceeds — it is a record of what is about to happen, not a prompt. The closing “superseded by” is wording, not a relation.

Two guards do apply before anything is written: identical IDs are rejected with Cannot merge an idea with itself, and a missing idea returns API error (404): One or both ideas not found.

Merging a detected duplicate is a different operation

nrepo duplicate merge resolves a detection rather than merging two ideas you chose, and the two behave differently — the duplicate path keeps the newer idea and does not transfer relations. Do not treat them as aliases.

Next Steps

nrepo diff Compare the two ideas before you commit to a merge you cannot undo.

nrepo duplicate The other merge path, and how it differs from this one.

Duplicate Detection Which idea survives each kind of merge, and what happens to the other.

nrepo link Relate two ideas instead of collapsing them into one.