tomevault-io Git Advanced Workflows
Master advanced Git techniques to maintain clean history, collaborate effectively, and recover from any situation with confidence.
When to Use This Skill
- Cleaning up commit history before merging
- Applying specific commits across branches
- Finding commits that introduced bugs
- Working on multiple features simultaneously
- Recovering from Git mistakes or lost commits
- Managing complex branch workflows
- Preparing clean PRs for review
- Synchronizing diverged branches
Core Concepts
1. Interactive Rebase
Interactive rebase is the Swiss Army knife of Git history editing.
Common Operations:
pick: Keep commit as-isreword: Change commit messageedit: Amend commit contentsquash: Combine with previous commitfixup: Like squash but discard messagedrop: Remove commit entirely
Basic Usage:
# Rebase last 5 commits
git rebase -i HEAD~5
# Rebase all commits on current branch
git rebase -i $(git merge-base HEAD main)
# Rebase onto specific commit
git rebase -i abc123
2. Cherry-Picking
Apply specific commits from one branch to another without merging entire branches.
# Cherry-pick single commit
git cherry-pick abc123
# Cherry-pick range of commits (exclusive start)
git cherry-pick abc123..def456
# Cherry-pick without committing (stage changes only)
git cherry-pick -n abc123
# Cherry-pick and edit commit message
git cherry-pick -e abc123
3. Git Bisect
Binary search through commit history to find the commit that introduced a bug.
# Start bisect
git bisect start
# Mark current commit as bad
git bisect bad
# Mark known good commit
git bisect good v1.0.0
# Git will checkout middle commit - test it
# Then mark as good or bad
git bisect good # or: git bisect bad
# Continue until bug found
# When done
git bisect reset
Automated Bisect:
# Use script to test automatically
git bisect start HEAD v1.0.0
git bisect run ./test.sh
# test.sh should exit 0 for good, 1-127 (except 125) for bad
4. Worktrees
Work on multiple branches simultaneously without stashing or switching.
# List existing worktrees
git worktree list
# Add new worktree for feature branch
git worktree add ../project-feature feature/new-feature
# Add worktree and create new branch
git worktree add -b bugfix/urgent ../project-hotfix main
# Remove worktree
git worktree remove ../project-feature
# Prune stale worktrees
git worktree prune
5. Reflog
Your safety net - tracks all ref movements, even deleted commits.
# View reflog
git reflog
# View reflog for specific branch
git reflog show feature/branch
# Restore deleted commit
git reflog
# Find commit hash
git checkout abc123
git branch recovered-branch
# Restore deleted branch
git reflog
git branch deleted-branch abc123
Practical Workflows
Workflow 1: Clean Up Feature Branch Before PR
# Start with feature branch
git checkout feature/user-auth
# Interactive rebase to clean history
git rebase -i main
# Example rebase operations:
# - Squash "fix typo" commits
# - Reword commit messages for clarity
# - Reorder commits logically
# - Drop unnecessary commits
# Force push cleaned branch (safe if no one else is using it)
git push --force-with-lease origin feature/user-auth
Workflow 2: Apply Hotfix to Multiple Releases
# Create fix on main
git checkout main
git commit -m "fix: critical security patch"
# Apply to release branches
git checkout release/2.0
git cherry-pick abc123
git checkout release/1.9
git cherry-pick abc123
# Handle conflicts if they arise
git cherry-pick --continue
# or
git cherry-pick --abort
Workflow 3: Find Bug Introduction
# Start bisect
git bisect start
git bisect bad HEAD
git bisect good v2.1.0
# Git checks out middle commit - run tests
npm test
# If tests fail
git bisect bad
# If tests pass
git bisect good
# Git will automatically checkout next commit to test
# Repeat until bug found
# Automated version
git bisect start HEAD v2.1.0
git bisect run npm test
Workflow 4: Multi-Branch Development
# Main project directory
cd ~/projects/myapp
# Create worktree for urgent bugfix
git worktree add ../myapp-hotfix hotfix/critical-bug
# Work on hotfix in separate directory
cd ../myapp-hotfix
# Make changes, commit
git commit -m "fix: resolve critical bug"
git push origin hotfix/critical-bug
# Return to main work without interruption
cd ~/projects/myapp
git fetch origin
git cherry-pick hotfix/critical-bug
# Clean up when done
git worktree remove ../myapp-hotfix
Workflow 5: Recover from Mistakes
# Accidentally reset to wrong commit
git reset --hard HEAD~5 # Oh no!
# Use reflog to find lost commits
git reflog
# Output shows:
# abc123 HEAD@{0}: reset: moving to HEAD~5
# def456 HEAD@{1}: commit: my important changes
# Recover lost commits
git reset --hard def456
# Or create branch from lost commit
git branch recovery def456
Advanced Techniques
Rebase vs Merge Strategy
When to Rebase:
- Cleaning up local commits before pushing
- Keeping feature branch up-to-date with main
- Creating linear history for easier review
When to Merge:
- Integrating completed features into main
- Preserving exact history of collaboration
- Public branches used by others
# Update feature branch with main changes (rebase)
git checkout feature/my-feature
git fetch origin
git rebase origin/main
# Handle conflicts
git status
# Fix conflicts in files
git add .
git rebase --continue
# Or merge instead
git merge origin/main
Autosquash Workflow
Automatically squash fixup commits during rebase.
# Make initial commit
git commit -m "feat: add user authentication"
# Later, fix something in that commit
# Stage changes
git commit --fixup HEAD # or specify commit hash
# Make more changes
git commit --fixup abc123
# Rebase with autosquash
git rebase -i --autosquash main
# Git automatically marks fixup commits
Split Commit
Break one commit into multiple logical commits.
# Start interactive rebase
git rebase -i HEAD~3
# Mark commit to split with 'edit'
# Git will stop at that commit
# Reset commit but keep changes
git reset HEAD^
# Stage and commit in logical chunks
git add file1.py
git commit -m "feat: add validation"
git add file2.py
git commit -m "feat: add error handling"
# Continue rebase
git rebase --continue
Partial Cherry-Pick
Cherry-pick only specific files from a commit.
# Show files in commit
git show --name-only abc123
# Checkout specific files from commit
git checkout abc123 -- path/to/file1.py path/to/file2.py
# Stage and commit
git commit -m "cherry-pick: apply specific changes from abc123"
Best Practices
- Always Use --force-with-lease: Safer than --force, prevents overwriting others' work
- Rebase Only Local Commits: Don't rebase commits that have been pushed and shared
- Descriptive Commit Messages: Future you will thank present you
- Atomic Commits: Each commit should be a single logical change
- Test Before Force Push: Ensure history rewrite didn't break anything
- Keep Reflog Aware: Remember reflog is your safety net for 90 days
- Branch Before Risky Operations: Create backup branch before complex rebases
# Safe force push
git push --force-with-lease origin feature/branch
# Create backup before risky operation
git branch backup-branch
git rebase -i main
# If something goes wrong
git reset --hard backup-branch
Common Pitfalls
- Rebasing Public Branches: Causes history conflicts for collaborators
- Force Pushing Without Lease: Can overwrite teammate's work
- Losing Work in Rebase: Resolve conflicts carefully, test after rebase
- Forgetting Worktree Cleanup: Orphaned worktrees consume disk space
- Not Backing Up Before Experiment: Always create safety branch
- Bisect on Dirty Working Directory: Commit or stash before bisecting
Recovery Commands
# Abort operations in progress
git rebase --abort
git merge --abort
git cherry-pick --abort
git bisect reset
# Restore file to version from specific commit
git restore --source=abc123 path/to/file
# Undo last commit but keep changes
git reset --soft HEAD^
# Undo last commit and discard changes
git reset --hard HEAD^
# Recover deleted branch (within 90 days)
git reflog
git branch recovered-branch abc123
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