> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://mintlify.com/juanceresa/sift-kg/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# sift apply-merges

> Apply confirmed entity merges and relation rejections

## Overview

Apply confirmed decisions from the review process to the knowledge graph. Merges approved duplicate entities and removes rejected relations, then updates the graph file.

## Usage

```bash theme={null}
sift apply-merges [OPTIONS]
```

## Options

<ParamField path="--output" type="string">
  Output directory containing graph and review files. Use `-o` as shorthand.
</ParamField>

<ParamField path="--verbose" type="boolean" default="false">
  Enable verbose logging. Use `-v` as shorthand.
</ParamField>

## Behavior

### Application Process

1. **Load Graph** - Reads `graph_data.json`
2. **Apply Entity Merges** - Processes confirmed proposals from `merge_proposals.yaml`
   * Merges entity attributes
   * Redirects all relations to canonical entity
   * Removes duplicate entities
3. **Apply Relation Rejections** - Removes rejected relations from `relation_review.yaml`
4. **Save Graph** - Updates `graph_data.json` with changes

### Entity Merge Logic

When merging entities:

* **Canonical Name** - Uses name from merge proposal
* **Attributes** - Combines attributes from all merged entities
* **Relations** - Redirects all incoming/outgoing relations to canonical entity
* **Source Documents** - Preserves references from all merged entities

### Relation Rejection

Removes relations marked as `status: rejected` in `relation_review.yaml`.

## Input Files

### merge\_proposals.yaml

Reads the `confirmed` section:

```yaml theme={null}
proposals:
  confirmed:
    - cluster_id: "cluster_001"
      members: ["entity_1", "entity_2"]
      canonical_name: "Merged Entity"
```

### relation\_review\.yaml

Reads relations with `status: rejected`:

```yaml theme={null}
relations:
  - source_id: "entity_123"
    target_id: "entity_456"
    relation_type: "WORKS_WITH"
    status: rejected
```

## Output

Updates `graph_data.json` with:

* Merged entities
* Removed duplicate entities
* Removed rejected relations
* Updated entity and relation counts

## Examples

### Apply all confirmed decisions

```bash theme={null}
sift apply-merges
```

Applies all confirmed merges and rejections from review files.

### Apply from custom directory

```bash theme={null}
sift apply-merges --output ./project/output
```

Applies decisions from specified output directory.

### With verbose logging

```bash theme={null}
sift apply-merges -v
```

Shows detailed merge operations.

## Output Summary

Displays:

* Number of entity merges applied
* Number of relations rejected
* Final entity count
* Final relation count
* Graph file location

### No Changes

If no confirmed merges or rejections exist:

```
No changes to apply.
Edit merge_proposals.yaml or relation_review.yaml first.
```

## Next Steps

After applying merges:

```bash theme={null}
sift narrate
```

To generate a narrative summary of the updated knowledge graph.

## Iterative Workflow

The review-apply cycle can be repeated:

1. `sift resolve` - Find more duplicates
2. `sift review` - Review new proposals
3. `sift apply-merges` - Apply decisions
4. Repeat as needed

## Error Handling

Exits with error if:

* No `graph_data.json` found (run `sift build` first)
* Review files are malformed

## Rollback

To undo applied merges:

* Restore `graph_data.json` from backup
* Or rebuild graph from extractions: `sift build`

## See Also

* [review](/api/cli/review) - Review merge proposals
* [resolve](/api/cli/resolve) - Find duplicate entities
* [narrate](/api/cli/narrate) - Generate narrative summary