# Git History Polish

> Advanced techniques for cleaning up and organizing your local history before pushing to a shared repository.

- Skill: `jcorpac/git-history-polish` (Agent Skill)
- Install (CLI): `npx skillmds@latest add jcorpac/git-history-polish`
- Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/jcorpac/git-history-polish/raw
- Safety review: pending
- Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex
- Category: Coding & Dev Tools
- Author: jcorpac (https://skillmd.com/u/jcorpac)
- Updated: 2026-09-17
- Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/jcorpac/git-history-polish

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# Git History Polish

Your local history is your "draft." Before you push to a shared repository, you should polish it into a clean, narrative-driven sequence of commits.

## Tools
- **Interactive Rebase**: `git rebase -i <base>` allows you to rewrite your local history.
- **Squash**: Combine multiple small "wip" commits into a single atomic change.
- **Fixup**: Like squash, but discards the log message of the combined commit. Perfect for fixing typos or small errors found after a commit.
- **Rewording**: Edit the message of an old commit.

## The Rule of Public History
**NEVER rewrite history that has already been pushed to a shared branch.** Rebase/Squash only what is local or on a private feature branch.

## Value
A clean history makes it easy for future maintainers (including yourself) to understand *why* changes were made without wading through "WIP" noise.