Originally published at harshit.cloud on 2024-12-19.
Discovered git rebase -i today. Turns five "fix typo" commits into one clean commit before the PR review notices.
the problem
My commit history looked like this:
fix typo
WIP
fix typo again
actually fixed it
remove console.log
Not exactly professional for a PR review.
the solution
Interactive rebase lets you edit, squash, and reorder commits:
# Rebase last 5 commits
git rebase -i HEAD~5
# Or rebase everything since branching from main
git rebase -i main
This opens your editor with:
pick 1a2b3c4 fix typo
pick 5d6e7f8 WIP
pick 9g0h1i2 fix typo again
pick 3j4k5l6 actually fixed it
pick 7m8n9o0 remove console.log
# Commands:
# p, pick = use commit
# r, reword = use commit, but edit message
# e, edit = use commit, but stop for amending
# s, squash = meld into previous commit
# f, fixup = like squash, but discard commit message
# d, drop = remove commit
my workflow
Change it to:
pick 1a2b3c4 fix typo
fixup 5d6e7f8 WIP
fixup 9g0h1i2 fix typo again
fixup 3j4k5l6 actually fixed it
fixup 7m8n9o0 remove console.log
Result: one clean commit.
patterns
Reword commit messages:
pick 1a2b3c4 fix typo
reword 5d6e7f8 add user authentication
Reorder commits:
pick 3j4k5l6 add tests
pick 1a2b3c4 add feature
Split a commit:
edit 1a2b3c4 huge commit with multiple changes
Then:
git reset HEAD^
git add file1.js
git commit -m "feat: add feature A"
git add file2.js
git commit -m "feat: add feature B"
git rebase --continue
warning
Don't rebase commits that have already been pushed to a shared branch. You'll rewrite history under your team and force everyone else to resolve conflicts they didn't cause.
Safe:
# Your feature branch, not pushed yet
git rebase -i main
Dangerous:
# Main branch that others use
git checkout main
git rebase -i HEAD~5 # pushed commits — leave these alone
useful aliases
Add to your ~/.gitconfig:
[alias]
# Interactive rebase with the given number of latest commits
rb = "!f() { git rebase -i HEAD~$1; }; f"
# Rebase on main
rbm = "!git fetch origin main && git rebase -i origin/main"
Now you can do:
git rb 5 # Rebase last 5 commits
git rbm # Rebase on main
For further actions, you may consider blocking this person and/or reporting abuse
