---
schema_version: "1"
id: 7e2a3b74e5cbc45c7add2967a767158c87a3f79424039f87207fb6e484cf40fb
title: External Merges
collection: admin
version: current
locale: en-us
portal_url: https://docs.salesforce.com/admin/current/en-us/platform/264-0-0/devops_center_handle_external_merges.md
canonical_url: https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=platform.devops_center_handle_external_merges.htm&release=264.0.0&type=5
source_site: help.salesforce.com
content_type: documentation
content_hash: 7b4963ae95701a304cc8268b0a9ed917110a890dc1c972c31257b8d591d506f3
description: Lifecycle Center detects external changes that you merge directly into a stage’s source control branch.
products:
  - Salesforce Platform
release: "264"
---
# External Merges

Lifecycle Center detects external changes that you merge directly into a stage’s source control branch. 

### Required Editions

<table class="slds-table slds-table_bordered slds-max-medium-table_stacked slds-m-bottom_small edition"><colgroup><col></colgroup><tbody><tr class=""><td class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;">Available in: Lightning Experience in <strong>Professional</strong> (API access required), <strong>Enterprise</strong>, <strong>Performance</strong>, <strong>Unlimited</strong>, and <strong>Developer</strong> Editions</td></tr></tbody><colgroup><col></colgroup><tbody><tr class=""><td class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;">Not Available in: <strong>Government Cloud Plus</strong>. Contact your Salesforce account executive for more details.</td></tr></tbody><colgroup><col></colgroup><tbody><tr class=""><td class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;">Not available in: <strong>EU Operating</strong> Zone. EU Operating zone is a special paid offering that provides an enhanced level of data residency commitment. Lifecycle Center <em>is</em> supported in orgs in the EU that aren’t part of EU OZ, per standard product terms and conditions.</td></tr></tbody></table>

Follow these best practices when working outside of Lifecycle Center:

- Use the **Squash and merge** option when merging changes directly into the source control repository. This option combines all commits into a single commit, which simplifies the history log and makes it easier to audit changes.
- If there are any merge conflicts during the external merge, resolve them by using Agentforce or the source control provider's UI. Then, complete the deployment in Lifecycle Center.
- If you work directly in the source control, there can be a delay before those actions appear in Lifecycle Center. If you take additional actions on related objects in Lifecycle Center before the updates appear, you may see unexpected or inconsistent behavior.
- For metadata changes, wait until delayed events are reflected in Lifecycle Center. For non-metadata changes, such as updates to the .forceignore file, you can continue with promotion.

For details about merge types and tips for creating change requests and merges directly in the source control system, see [External Change Requests and Merges](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=platform.devops_center_external_merges.htm&release=264.0.0&type=5 "You can create a change request and merge your changes directly in the source control system, which is the first half of the promotion process. You can complete the promotion by deploying all externally merged changes to the pipeline stage’s associated environment within DevOps Center or by using Salesforce CLI.").

![Note](https://sf-zdocs-cdn-prod.zoominsoftware.com/tdta-platform-devops_center-264-0-0-production-enus/166010c3-4c34-4087-92ad-aea917baf524/images/icon_note.png)

Note We don't recommend using external merges frequently. Use Lifecycle Center UI for your DevOps tasks, such as promotion.

An external merge updates the stage branch but doesn’t deploy the changes to the environment associated with that stage. Lifecycle Center marks the stage as out of sync until you deploy the changes. See [Complete a Promotion After an External Merge](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=platform.next_gen_devops_center_complete_external_merge.htm&release=264.0.0&type=5 "Deploy changes that were merged in source control to the stage org so the pipeline is in sync.").

![Pipeline visualization for external merge.](https://sf-zdocs-cdn-prod.zoominsoftware.com/tdta-platform-devops_center-264-0-0-production-enus/166010c3-4c34-4087-92ad-aea917baf524/devops_center/images/next_gen_devops_center_external_merge.png)

- **[Complete a Promotion After an External Merge](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=platform.next_gen_devops_center_complete_external_merge.htm&release=264.0.0&type=5)**  
    Deploy changes that were merged in source control to the stage org so the pipeline is in sync.

#### See Also

- [Keep Your Development Environment in Sync](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=platform.devops_center_sync_dev_environment.htm&release=264.0.0&type=5 "Use back sync to update your development environment with the latest changes from the first pipeline stage. Keeping your environment current helps maintain compatibility with your team’s changes and reduce merge conflicts.")
- [Promote Work Items](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=platform.devops_center_promote_work_items.htm&release=264.0.0&type=5 "Move your work items through a predefined sequence of pipeline stages, guiding them from development to production. ")
- [Complete a Promotion After an External Merge](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=platform.next_gen_devops_center_complete_external_merge.htm&release=264.0.0&type=5 "Deploy changes that were merged in source control to the stage org so the pipeline is in sync.")