git-troubleshooting

Git Troubleshooting Skill

This skill provides comprehensive guidance on diagnosing and resolving git issues, recovering from mistakes, fixing corrupted repositories, and handling common error scenarios.

When to Use

Activate this skill when:

• Encountering git error messages
• Recovering lost commits or branches
• Fixing corrupted repositories
• Resolving detached HEAD state
• Handling botched merges or rebases
• Diagnosing repository issues
• Recovering from force push
• Fixing authentication problems

Recovering Lost Commits

Using Reflog

# View reflog (local history of HEAD)
git reflog

# View reflog for specific branch
git reflog show branch-name

# Output example:
# abc123 HEAD@{0}: commit: feat: add authentication
# def456 HEAD@{1}: commit: fix: resolve bug
# ghi789 HEAD@{2}: reset: moving to HEAD~1

# Recover lost commit
git cherry-pick abc123

# Or create branch from lost commit
git branch recovered-branch abc123

# Or reset to lost commit
git reset --hard abc123

Finding Dangling Commits

# Find all unreachable objects
git fsck --lost-found

# Output:
# dangling commit abc123
# dangling blob def456

# View dangling commit
git show abc123

# Recover dangling commit
git branch recovered abc123

# Or merge it
git merge abc123

Recovering Deleted Branch

# Find branch commit in reflog
git reflog

# Look for branch deletion:
# abc123 HEAD@{5}: checkout: moving from feature-branch to main

# Recreate branch
git branch feature-branch abc123

# Or if branch was merged before deletion
git log --all --oneline | grep "feature"
git branch feature-branch def456

Recovering After Reset

# After accidental reset --hard
git reflog

# Find commit before reset:
# abc123 HEAD@{0}: reset: moving to HEAD~5
# def456 HEAD@{1}: commit: last good commit

# Restore to previous state
git reset --hard def456

# Or create recovery branch
git branch recovery def456

Resolving Detached HEAD

Understanding Detached HEAD