git-master

Git Master

Advanced Git patterns for when the basics aren't enough.

When to use me

• Rebasing, squashing, or interactive history editing
• Finding when/where code was introduced or deleted (git blame, git log -S/-G)
• Recovering lost commits or branches (git reflog)
• Bisecting to find the commit that introduced a bug
• Cherry-picking or fixup workflows
• Managing stacked branches or worktrees

Atomic commits

One logical change per commit. Before committing, review with:

git add -p              # stage hunks interactively — only what belongs together
git diff --cached       # review exactly what you're about to commit

If the diff mixes unrelated changes, split them into separate commits.

Rewriting history (safety first)

Never rewrite shared/pushed history unless you own the branch and no one else works on it. For personal branches:

# Interactive rebase — reorder, squash, or edit commits
git rebase -i HEAD~5     # last 5 commits
git rebase -i main        # rebase onto main interactively

# Squash the last N commits into one
git reset --soft HEAD~3   # uncommit last 3, keep changes staged
git commit -m "feat: combined feature work"

# Fixup — amend a past commit without a separate "fix" commit
git commit --fixup <sha>  # mark this as a fix for <sha>
git rebase -i --autosquash main  # automatically reorder+squash fixups

# Amend the last commit (not pushed yet)
git commit --amend --no-edit    # add staged changes to last commit
git commit --amend -m "better message"

Code archaeology

Find when code was introduced, changed, or deleted:

# Who last touched each line?
git blame path/to/file -L 40,60    # blame lines 40-60

# When was this string added/removed? (-S = pickaxe)
git log -S "functionName" --oneline -- path/
git log -S "removed_feature" --patch       # show the diff that removed it

# When was a regex pattern changed? (-G = grep-based)
git log -G "TODO|FIXME" --oneline

# Find which commit deleted a file
git log --all --full-history -- "**/deleted-file.ts"

# Show a file at a specific point in time
git show <commit>:path/to/file.ts
git show <commit>~1:path/to/file.ts   # the version before that commit