1Mangesh1 Git Advanced
Advanced Git operations and recovery techniques.
Interactive Rebase
# Rebase last N commits
git rebase -i HEAD~5
# Rebase onto branch
git rebase -i main
# Commands in interactive editor:
# pick = keep commit as-is
# reword = keep commit, edit message
# edit = pause for amending
# squash = combine with previous commit
# fixup = combine with previous, discard message
# drop = remove commit
# Squash last 3 commits into one
git rebase -i HEAD~3
# Change 'pick' to 'squash' for commits 2 and 3
# Abort if something goes wrong
git rebase --abort
# Continue after resolving conflicts
git rebase --continue
# Skip current commit
git rebase --skip
Cherry-Pick
# Pick single commit
git cherry-pick abc1234
# Pick range of commits
git cherry-pick abc1234..def5678
# Pick without committing (stage only)
git cherry-pick --no-commit abc1234
# Pick from another branch
git cherry-pick feature-branch~3 # 3rd commit from tip
# Resolve conflicts and continue
git cherry-pick --continue
# Abort
git cherry-pick --abort
Bisect
# Start bisect
git bisect start
# Mark current as bad
git bisect bad
# Mark known good commit
git bisect good v1.0.0
# Git checks out middle commit - test it, then:
git bisect good # If this commit works
git bisect bad # If this commit is broken
# Repeat until Git finds the culprit
# End bisect
git bisect reset
# Automated bisect with test command
git bisect start HEAD v1.0.0
git bisect run npm test
# Git automatically finds the first bad commit
# Automated with script
git bisect run ./test-script.sh
# Script must exit 0 (good) or 1 (bad)
Stash
# Save work in progress
git stash
git stash push -m "work on feature X"
# Stash specific files
git stash push -m "partial" path/to/file.js
# Include untracked files
git stash -u
git stash --include-untracked
# List stashes
git stash list
# Apply stash
git stash pop # Apply and remove
git stash apply # Apply and keep
git stash pop stash@{2} # Specific stash
# View stash contents
git stash show -p stash@{0}
# Create branch from stash
git stash branch new-branch stash@{0}
# Drop stash
git stash drop stash@{0}
git stash clear # Remove all stashes
Reflog (Recovery)
# View reflog
git reflog
git reflog show HEAD
git reflog show main
# Each entry shows HEAD position at that point
# HEAD@{0} = current
# HEAD@{1} = previous position
# Recover after hard reset
git reflog
# Find the commit hash before the reset
git reset --hard HEAD@{2}
# Recover deleted branch
git reflog
# Find last commit of deleted branch
git checkout -b recovered-branch abc1234
# Recover after bad rebase
git reflog
# Find the commit before rebase started
git reset --hard HEAD@{5}
# Reflog expires after 90 days (default)
Reset vs Revert
# Reset (moves HEAD, rewrites history)
git reset --soft HEAD~1 # Undo commit, keep changes staged
git reset --mixed HEAD~1 # Undo commit, keep changes unstaged (default)
git reset --hard HEAD~1 # Undo commit, discard changes
# Revert (creates new commit, safe for shared branches)
git revert abc1234
git revert HEAD~3..HEAD # Revert range
git revert --no-commit abc1234 # Stage without committing
# Revert a merge commit
git revert -m 1 abc1234 # Keep parent 1 (usually main)
Worktrees
# Create linked worktree
git worktree add ../project-hotfix hotfix-branch
git worktree add ../project-review origin/feature-branch
# List worktrees
git worktree list
# Remove worktree
git worktree remove ../project-hotfix
# Prune stale worktrees
git worktree prune
Log & History
# Compact log
git log --oneline --graph --all
# Search commits by message
git log --grep="fix bug"
# Search commits by code change
git log -S "functionName" # Pickaxe (added/removed)
git log -G "pattern" # Regex in diff
# Show commits that changed a file
git log --follow -- path/to/file.js
# Show who changed each line
git blame path/to/file.js
git blame -L 10,20 path/to/file.js # Lines 10-20
# Diff between branches
git diff main..feature
git diff main...feature # Changes since fork point
# Show files changed between commits
git diff --name-only HEAD~5 HEAD
Cleanup
# Remove untracked files (dry run first!)
git clean -n # Preview
git clean -f # Delete files
git clean -fd # Delete files and directories
git clean -fx # Delete ignored files too
# Garbage collection
git gc
git gc --aggressive
# Remove old reflog entries
git reflog expire --expire=30.days --all
Common Workflows
# Squash merge (clean history)
git checkout main
git merge --squash feature-branch
git commit -m "Add feature X"
# Rebase before merge (linear history)
git checkout feature
git rebase main
git checkout main
git merge feature # Fast-forward
# Fixup workflow
git commit --fixup=abc1234
git rebase -i --autosquash main
Reference
For recovery techniques and reflog patterns: references/recovery.md