git rebase

Move a branch's commits onto a new base, or rewrite the last commits

What it does

git rebase main takes the commits of the current branch and replays them on top of the latest main, as if the work had just started. History stays straight, with no merge commits. If a commit conflicts with the new base, git stops: fix the files, stage them with git add and go on with git rebase --continue, or cancel it all with git rebase --abort.

With -i rebase becomes interactive: git opens an editor with a list of commits, where you can keep each one (pick), reword it (reword), fold it into the previous one (squash) or drop it (drop). That is how history gets tidied up before a pull request.

Careful. rebase creates new commits in place of the old ones. Do not rebase commits that are already on a shared branch: your teammates' history will split from yours. After a rebase, push your own branch with git push --force-with-lease.

Syntax

git rebase <branch>
git rebase -i <commit>
git rebase --continue
git rebase --abort

Examples

• Move the current branch’s commits on top of the latest main

  git rebase main

  • rebase — rewrite the branch on top of another
  • main — the new base

• Interactively edit the last three commits

  git rebase -i HEAD~3

  same as: git rebase --interactive HEAD~3

  • rebase — rewrite history
  • -i — interactively: squash, reword, drop
  • HEAD~3 — the last three commits

Related commands

• git merge — Bring the changes from another branch into the current one
• git reset — Move the branch to another commit, for example to undo the last commits
• git push — Send your commits to the server

Practise · All commands