git-operations-safety

Git Operations Safety

Ensure Git operation safety and recoverability to prevent data loss.

Destructive Operations (Require Confirmation)

Following operations cause data loss or history changes, must get explicit user confirmation:

Operation	Risk	Impact
git reset --hard	Lose all uncommitted changes	⚠️ High risk - unrecoverable
git push --force	Overwrite remote history	⚠️ High risk - affects team
git clean -fd	Delete untracked files	⚠️ High risk - permanent deletion
git branch -D	Force delete branch	⚠️ Medium risk - lose unmerged work

Detailed Explanations

1. git reset --hard

Risk: Lose all uncommitted changes and staged content

Safe Alternatives:

# ✅ Use stash to save changes
git stash push -m "Temporary save"
git reset --hard HEAD

# If need to recover:
git stash pop

# ✅ Create backup branch
git branch backup-$(date +%Y%m%d-%H%M%S)
git reset --hard HEAD

Confirmation Process:

1. Run git status to see what will be lost
2. Show user list of files that will be lost
3. Ask: "This will lose following uncommitted changes, continue?"
4. Only execute after explicit confirmation

2. git push --force

Risk: Overwrite remote history, affects other team members

Safe Alternative:

# ✅ Use --force-with-lease (safer)
git push --force-with-lease

Special Restrictions:

# ❌❌❌ Absolutely prohibit force push to main branch
git push --force origin main
git push --force origin master

# Must warn and require secondary confirmation

Warning Template:

🚨 Critical Warning:

You are attempting to force push to main branch, this is extremely dangerous!

Possible consequences:
- Overwrite other team members' commits
- Cause conflicts in team members' local repositories
- May lose important code changes

This operation should typically NOT be performed.

If you really need to do this:
1. Notify all team members
2. Confirm nobody is working based on main branch
3. Ensure complete backup exists

Do you really want to continue?