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Git interactive rebase: clean up your commit history

Turn five 'fix typo' commits into one before the review notices. git rebase -i, the rules for when not to use it, and the aliases I keep around.

2 min read
#version-control#productivity#devops

Discovered git rebase -i today. Turns five "fix typo" commits into one clean commit before the PR review notices.

the problem

My commit history looked like this:

bash
fix typo
WIP
fix typo again
actually fixed it
remove console.log

Not exactly professional for a PR review.

the solution

Interactive rebase lets you edit, squash, and reorder commits:

bash
# Rebase last 5 commits
git rebase -i HEAD~5

# Or rebase everything since branching from main
git rebase -i main

This opens your editor with:

bash
pick 1a2b3c4 fix typo
pick 5d6e7f8 WIP
pick 9g0h1i2 fix typo again
pick 3j4k5l6 actually fixed it
pick 7m8n9o0 remove console.log

# Commands:
# p, pick = use commit
# r, reword = use commit, but edit message
# e, edit = use commit, but stop for amending
# s, squash = meld into previous commit
# f, fixup = like squash, but discard commit message
# d, drop = remove commit

my workflow

Change it to:

bash
pick 1a2b3c4 fix typo
fixup 5d6e7f8 WIP
fixup 9g0h1i2 fix typo again
fixup 3j4k5l6 actually fixed it
fixup 7m8n9o0 remove console.log

Result: one clean commit.

patterns

Reword commit messages:

bash
pick 1a2b3c4 fix typo
reword 5d6e7f8 add user authentication

Reorder commits:

bash
pick 3j4k5l6 add tests
pick 1a2b3c4 add feature

Split a commit:

bash
edit 1a2b3c4 huge commit with multiple changes

Then:

bash
git reset HEAD^
git add file1.js
git commit -m "feat: add feature A"
git add file2.js
git commit -m "feat: add feature B"
git rebase --continue

warning

Don't rebase commits that have already been pushed to a shared branch. You'll rewrite history under your team and force everyone else to resolve conflicts they didn't cause.

Safe:

bash
# Your feature branch, not pushed yet
git rebase -i main

Dangerous:

bash
# Main branch that others use
git checkout main
git rebase -i HEAD~5  # pushed commits — leave these alone

useful aliases

Add to your ~/.gitconfig:

ini
[alias]
    # Interactive rebase with the given number of latest commits
    rb = "!f() { git rebase -i HEAD~$1; }; f"
    
    # Rebase on main
    rbm = "!git fetch origin main && git rebase -i origin/main"

Now you can do:

bash
git rb 5        # Rebase last 5 commits
git rbm         # Rebase on main
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