How to modify a specified commit?

Question

I usually submit a list of commits for review. If I have the following commits:

1. HEAD
2. Commit3
3. Commit2
4. Commit1

...I know that I can modify head commit with git commit --amend. But how can I modify Commit1, given that it is not the HEAD commit?

Answer 1

git stash + rebase automation

For when I need to modify an old commit a lot of times for Gerrit reviews, I've been doing:

git-amend-to() (
  # Stash, apply to past commit, and rebase the current branch on to of the result.
  current_branch="$(git rev-parse --abbrev-ref HEAD)"
  apply_to="$1"
  git stash
  git checkout "$apply_to"
  git stash apply
  git add -u
  git commit --amend --no-edit
  new_sha="$(git log --format="%H" -n 1)"
  git checkout "$current_branch"
  git rebase --onto "$new_sha" "$apply_to"
)

Usage:

• modify file
• git-amend-to $old_sha

I like this over --autosquash as it does not squash other unrelated fixups.

Answer 2

I solved this,

1) by creating new commit with changes i want..

r8gs4r commit 0

2) i know which commit i need to merge with it. which is commit 3.

so, git rebase -i HEAD~4 # 4 represents recent 4 commit (here commit 3 is in 4th place)

3) in interactive rebase recent commit will located at bottom. it will looks alike,

pick q6ade6 commit 3
pick vr43de commit 2
pick ac123d commit 1
pick r8gs4r commit 0

4) here we need to rearrange commit if you want to merge with specific one. it should be like,

parent
|_child

pick q6ade6 commit 3
f r8gs4r commit 0
pick vr43de commit 2
pick ac123d commit 1

after rearrange you need to replace p pick with f (fixup will merge without commit message) or s (squash merge with commit message can change in run time)

and then save your tree.

now merge done with existing commit.

Note: Its not preferable method unless you're maintain on your own. if you have big team size its not a acceptable method to rewrite git tree will end up in conflicts which you know other wont. if you want to maintain you tree clean with less commits can try this and if its small team otherwise its not preferable.....

Answer 3

To get a non-interactive command, put a script with this content in your PATH:

#!/bin/sh
#
# git-fixup
# Use staged changes to modify a specified commit
set -e
cmt=$(git rev-parse $1)
git commit --fixup="$cmt"
GIT_EDITOR=true git rebase -i --autosquash "$cmt~1"

Use it by staging your changes (with git add) and then run git fixup <commit-to-modify>. Of course, it will still be interactive if you get conflicts.

Answer 4

Use the awesome interactive rebase:

git rebase -i @~9   # Show the last 9 commits in a text editor

Find the commit you want, change pick to e (edit), and save and close the file. Git will rewind to that commit, allowing you to either:

• use git commit --amend to make changes, or
• use git reset @~ to discard the last commit, but not the changes to the files (i.e. take you to the point you were at when you'd edited the files, but hadn't committed yet).

The latter is useful for doing more complex stuff like splitting into multiple commits.

Then, run git rebase --continue, and Git will replay the subsequent changes on top of your modified commit. You may be asked to fix some merge conflicts.

Note: @ is shorthand for HEAD, and ~ is the commit before the specified commit.

Read more about rewriting history in the Git docs.

Don't be afraid to rebase

ProTip™:   Don't be afraid to experiment with "dangerous" commands that rewrite history* — Git doesn't delete your commits for 90 days by default; you can find them in the reflog:

$ git reset @~3   # go back 3 commits
$ git reflog
c4f708b HEAD@{0}: reset: moving to @~3
2c52489 HEAD@{1}: commit: more changes
4a5246d HEAD@{2}: commit: make important changes
e8571e4 HEAD@{3}: commit: make some changes
... earlier commits ...
$ git reset 2c52489
... and you're back where you started

* Watch out for options like --hard and --force though — they can discard data.
* Also, don't rewrite history on any branches you're collaborating on.

---

On many systems, git rebase -i will open up Vim by default. Vim doesn't work like most modern text editors, so take a look at how to rebase using Vim. If you'd rather use a different editor, change it with git config --global core.editor your-favorite-text-editor.

Answer 5

Run:

$ git rebase --interactive commit_hash^

each ^ indicates how many commits back you want to edit, if it's only one (the commit hash that you specified), then you just add one ^.

Using Vim you change the words pick to reword for the commits you want to change, save and quit(:wq). Then git will prompt you with each commit that you marked as reword so you can change the commit message.

Each commit message you have to save and quit(:wq) to go to the next commit message

If you want to exit without applying the changes, press :q!

EDIT: to navigate in vim you use j to go up, k to go down, h to go left, and l to go right( all this in NORMAL mode, press ESC to go to NORMAL mode ). To edit a text, press i so that you enter the INSERT mode, where you insert text. Press ESC to go back to NORMAL mode :)

UPDATE: Here's a great link from github listing How to undo (almost) anything with git

Answer 6

If for some reason you don't like interactive editors, you can use git rebase --onto.

Say you want to modify Commit1. First, branch from before Commit1:

git checkout -b amending [commit before Commit1]

Second, grab Commit1 with cherry-pick:

git cherry-pick Commit1

Now, amend your changes, creating Commit1':

git add ...
git commit --amend -m "new message for Commit1"

And finally, after having stashed any other changes, transplant the rest of your commits up to master on top of your new commit:

git rebase --onto amending Commit1 master

Read: "rebase, onto the branch amending, all commits between Commit1 (non-inclusive) and master (inclusive)". That is, Commit2 and Commit3, cutting the old Commit1 out entirely. You could just cherry-pick them, but this way is easier.

Remember to clean up your branches!

git branch -d amending