How do I install the Git Surgeon skill?

Run npx skillmds@latest add luan/git-surgeon in your terminal (requires Node.js), paste this page's agent-chat prompt into Claude, Cursor, or any MCP-connected agent, or download the SKILL.md file and copy it into your agent's skills directory.

Is Git Surgeon safe to use?

This skill has not completed SkillMD's automated safety review yet. Capability flags: docs only. SkillMD never runs a skill's scripts for you; review the SKILL.md before installing.

Which AI agents work with Git Surgeon?

This skill is tagged as working with Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex. SKILL.md is an open format, so most agents that read a skills directory can load it too.

Is Git Surgeon free to use?

Yes. Installing skills from SkillMD is free, and the skill stays under its author's original license.

Who published Git Surgeon?

luan (@luan) published this skill. Their other Agent Skills are listed on their SkillMD profile.

Git Surgeon by luan — Agent Skill

Name: Git Surgeon
Rating: 4.2 (5 reviews)
Author: luan

Git Surgeon

Non-interactive hunk-level git operations — stage, unstage, discard, undo, fixup, split, reword by stable hunk ID. Use this skill INSTEAD OF raw git commands whenever the user wants to operate on PART of a file or commit rather than the whole thing. Replaces: git checkout HEAD --, git restore, git add -p, git reset HEAD <file>, git stash-to-discard, git commit --fixup, git rebase -i (for splits/rewords). Triggers: 'only commit part of this file', 'commit only the fix not the refactor', 'discard changes to X but keep the rest', 'throw away just the error handling changes', 'stage only the relevant parts', 'unstage just config.toml', 'split this commit into two', 'mixed a bugfix and refactor in one commit', 'fixup an earlier commit', 'undo just that part of the commit', 'reword commit message', 'cherry-pick specific hunks', 'amend the comment that broke it', 'commit only the part that fixes the issue'. Use this skill even when the user doesn't say 'hunk' — any request to selectively operate on parts of changes,

luan Updated Sep 10, 2026

File contents

git-surgeon

Hunk-level git ops without interactive prompts. Every operation uses stable hunk IDs (7-char hex from file path + content).

Commands

# List hunks — always start here to get IDs
git-surgeon hunks                          # unstaged (ID, file, +/- counts, preview)
git-surgeon hunks --staged                 # staged
git-surgeon hunks --file=src/main.rs       # filter by file
git-surgeon hunks --commit <HEAD/sha>      # from commit
git-surgeon hunks --commit <sha> --full    # with line numbers

# Inspect a hunk
git-surgeon show <id>
git-surgeon show <id> --commit HEAD

# Stage / unstage / discard — all accept multiple IDs and optional --lines
git-surgeon stage <id1> <id2> ...
git-surgeon stage <id> --lines 5-30
git-surgeon unstage <id1> <id2> ...
git-surgeon discard <id1> <id2> ...

# Stage + commit in one step
git-surgeon commit <id1> <id2> ... -m "message"
git-surgeon commit <id>:1-11 <id2> -m "message"   # inline line ranges

# Fixup earlier commit (HEAD → amend; older → autosquash rebase)
git-surgeon fixup <commit>

# Reword (multiple -m for subject + body)
git-surgeon reword HEAD -m "new message"
git-surgeon reword <commit> -m "subject" -m "body"

# Undo hunks from commit (reverse-apply → working tree)
git-surgeon undo <id1> <id2> ... --from <commit>
git-surgeon undo-file <file1> <file2> ... --from <commit>

# Split commit into multiple
git-surgeon split HEAD \
  --pick <id1> <id2> -m "first" \
  --rest-message "remaining"

# Split with line ranges (comma for non-contiguous)
git-surgeon split <commit> \
  --pick <id>:1-11,20-30 <id2> -m "partial"

# Split into 3+ commits
git-surgeon split HEAD \
  --pick <id1> -m "first" \
  --pick <id2> -m "second" \
  --rest-message "rest"

Workflows

Selective commit: hunks → show <id> → commit <id1> <id2> -m "msg"

Fixup: stage <id1> <id2> → fixup <sha>. Unstaged changes preserved.

Undo: hunks --commit <sha> → undo <id> --from <sha> → reversed changes appear unstaged.

Split: hunks --commit <sha> --full → split <sha> --pick <id1> -m "first" --rest-message "second". HEAD splits via reset; older commits via rebase. Requires clean working tree.

Troubleshooting

IDs shift when the diff changes. If "ID not found", re-run hunks for fresh IDs.
Duplicate content across files → IDs get -2, -3 suffixes.

---name: git-surgeondescription: Non-interactive hunk-level git operations — stage, unstage, discard, undo, fixup, split, reword by stable hunk ID. Use this skill INSTEAD OF raw git commands whenever the user wants to operate on PART of a file or commit rather than the whole thing. Replaces: git checkout HEAD --, git restore, git add -p, git reset HEAD <file>, git stash-to-discard, git commit --fixup, git rebase -i (for splits/rewords). Triggers: 'only commit part of this file', 'commit only the fix not the refactor', 'discard changes to X but keep the rest', 'throw away just the error handling changes', 'stage only the relevant parts', 'unstage just config.toml', 'split this commit into two', 'mixed a bugfix and refactor in one commit', 'fixup an earlier commit', 'undo just that part of the commit', 'reword commit message', 'cherry-pick specific hunks', 'amend the comment that broke it', 'commit only the part that fixes the issue'. Use this skill even when the user doesn't say 'hunk' — any request to selectively operate on parts of changes,---# git-surgeonHunk-level git ops without interactive prompts. Every operation uses stable hunk IDs (7-char hex from file path + content).## Commands```bash# List hunks — always start here to get IDsgit-surgeon hunks # unstaged (ID, file, +/- counts, preview)git-surgeon hunks --staged # stagedgit-surgeon hunks --file=src/main.rs # filter by filegit-surgeon hunks --commit <HEAD/sha> # from commitgit-surgeon hunks --commit <sha> --full # with line numbers# Inspect a hunkgit-surgeon show <id>git-surgeon show <id> --commit HEAD# Stage / unstage / discard — all accept multiple IDs and optional --linesgit-surgeon stage <id1> <id2> ...git-surgeon stage <id> --lines 5-30git-surgeon unstage <id1> <id2> ...git-surgeon discard <id1> <id2> ...# Stage + commit in one stepgit-surgeon commit <id1> <id2> ... -m "message"git-surgeon commit <id>:1-11 <id2> -m "message" # inline line ranges# Fixup earlier commit (HEAD → amend; older → autosquash rebase)git-surgeon fixup <commit># Reword (multiple -m for subject + body)git-surgeon reword HEAD -m "new message"git-surgeon reword <commit> -m "subject" -m "body"# Undo hunks from commit (reverse-apply → working tree)git-surgeon undo <id1> <id2> ... --from <commit>git-surgeon undo-file <file1> <file2> ... --from <commit># Split commit into multiplegit-surgeon split HEAD \ --pick <id1> <id2> -m "first" \ --rest-message "remaining"# Split with line ranges (comma for non-contiguous)git-surgeon split <commit> \ --pick <id>:1-11,20-30 <id2> -m "partial"# Split into 3+ commitsgit-surgeon split HEAD \ --pick <id1> -m "first" \ --pick <id2> -m "second" \ --rest-message "rest"```## Workflows**Selective commit**: `hunks` → `show <id>` → `commit <id1> <id2> -m "msg"`**Fixup**: `stage <id1> <id2>` → `fixup <sha>`. Unstaged changes preserved.**Undo**: `hunks --commit <sha>` → `undo <id> --from <sha>` → reversed changes appear unstaged.**Split**: `hunks --commit <sha> --full` → `split <sha> --pick <id1> -m "first" --rest-message "second"`. HEAD splits via reset; older commits via rebase. Requires clean working tree.## Troubleshooting- **IDs shift** when the diff changes. If "ID not found", re-run `hunks` for fresh IDs.- **Duplicate content** across files → IDs get `-2`, `-3` suffixes.

Frequently asked questions