Master advanced Git workflows including rebasing, cherry-picking, bisect, worktrees, and reflog to maintain clean history and recover from any situation...
Master advanced Git techniques to maintain clean history, collaborate effectively, and recover from any situation with confidence.
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 entirelyBasic 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
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
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
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
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
# 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
# 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
# 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
# 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
# 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
When to Rebase:
When to Merge:
# 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
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
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
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"
# 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
# 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
