git-rebase

Git Rebase

This skill guides you through rebasing your feature branch onto the latest main for a clean, linear history.

When to Use This Skill

• Preparing branches before creating a PR
• Updating feature branch with latest main changes
• Cleaning up commit history before review
• Syncing personal branches with main
• Handling rebase conflicts
• Interactive rebase for commit cleanup

When to Use Rebase

✅ Good Use Cases:

• Before creating a PR - Clean history before review
• Updating feature branch - Alternative to merge for cleaner history
• Personal branches - When you're the only one working on the branch
• Syncing with main - Keep your branch up-to-date with latest changes

❌ When NOT to Rebase:

• Shared branches - Never rebase branches others are working on
• Already pushed commits - Changes history that others may have
• After merge commits - Can cause complex conflicts
• On main/master - Never rebase the main branch itself

Basic Usage

Standard Rebase

# Rebase current branch onto main
git fetch origin main
git rebase origin/main

With Conflict Handling

# Continue after resolving conflicts
git add <resolved-files>
git rebase --continue

# Abort rebase in progress
git rebase --abort

# Skip current commit (use cautiously)
git rebase --skip

Force Push After Rebase

# Safer force push (recommended)
git push --force-with-lease

# Standard force push (use with caution)
git push --force

Rebase Workflow

Step 1: Pre-flight Checks

Check current branch:

git branch --show-current

Verify not on main/master:

• Cannot rebase main onto itself
• Must be on a feature branch

Check for uncommitted changes:

git status

If you have uncommitted changes:

# Option A: Stash changes
git stash save "WIP: description"

# Option B: Commit changes
git add .
git commit -m "WIP: checkpoint"

Step 2: Update Target Branch

Fetch latest main:

git fetch origin main