--- name: git-workflows description: Advanced git operations beyond add/commit/push. Use when rebasing, bisecting bugs, using worktrees for parallel development, recovering with reflog, managing subtrees/submodules, resolving merge conflicts, cherry-picking across branches, or working with monorepos. metadata: {"clawdbot":{"emoji":"🌿","requires":{"bins":["git"]},"os":["linux","darwin","win32"]}} ---

Git Workflows

Advanced git operations for real-world development. Covers interactive rebase, bisect, worktree, reflog recovery, subtrees, submodules, sparse checkout, conflict resolution, and monorepo patterns.

When to Use

• Cleaning up commit history before merging (interactive rebase)
• Finding which commit introduced a bug (bisect)
• Working on multiple branches simultaneously (worktree)
• Recovering lost commits or undoing mistakes (reflog)
• Managing shared code across repos (subtree/submodule)
• Resolving complex merge conflicts
• Cherry-picking commits across branches or forks
• Working with large monorepos (sparse checkout)

Interactive Rebase

Squash, reorder, edit commits

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

# Rebase onto main (all commits since diverging)
git rebase -i main

The editor opens with a pick list:

pick a1b2c3d Add user model
pick e4f5g6h Fix typo in user model
pick i7j8k9l Add user controller
pick m0n1o2p Add user routes
pick q3r4s5t Fix import in controller

Commands available:

pick   = use commit as-is
reword = use commit but edit the message
edit   = stop after this commit to amend it
squash = merge into previous commit (keep both messages)
fixup  = merge into previous commit (discard this message)
drop   = remove the commit entirely

Common patterns

# Squash fix commits into their parent
# Change "pick" to "fixup" for the fix commits:
pick a1b2c3d Add user model
fixup e4f5g6h Fix typo in user model
pick i7j8k9l Add user controller
fixup q3r4s5t Fix import in controller
pick m0n1o2p Add user routes

# Reorder commits (just move lines)
pick i7j8k9l Add user controller
pick m0n1o2p Add user routes
pick a1b2c3d Add user model

# Split a commit into two
# Mark as "edit", then when it stops:
git reset HEAD~
git add src/model.ts
git commit -m "Add user model"
git add src/controller.ts
git commit -m "Add user controller"
git rebase --continue

Autosquash (commit messages that auto-arrange)

# When committing a fix, reference the commit to squash into
git commit --fixup=a1b2c3d -m "Fix typo"
# or
git commit --squash=a1b2c3d -m "Additional changes"

# Later, rebase with autosquash
git rebase -i --autosquash main
# fixup/squash commits are automatically placed after their targets

Abort or continue

git rebase --abort      # Cancel and restore original state
git rebase --continue   # Continue after resolving conflicts or editing
git rebase --skip       # Skip the current commit and continue

Bisect (Find the Bug)

Binary search through commits

# Start bisect
git bisect start

# Mark current commit as bad (has the bug)
git bisect bad

# Mark a known-good commit (before the bug existed)
git bisect good v1.2.0
# or: git bisect good abc123

# Git checks out a middle commit. Test it, then:
git bisect good   # if this commit doesn't have the bug
git bisect bad    # if this commit has the bug

# Repeat until git identifies the exact commit
# "abc123 is the first bad commit"

# Done — return to original branch
git bisect reset

Automated bisect (with a test script)

# Fully automatic: git runs the script on each commit
# Script must exit 0 for good, 1 for bad
git bisect start HEAD v1.2.0
git bisect run ./test-for-bug.sh

# Example test script
cat > /tmp/test-for-bug.sh << 'EOF'
#!/bin/bash
# Return 0 if bug is NOT present, 1 if it IS
npm test -- --grep "login should redirect" 2>/dev/null
EOF
chmod +x /tmp/test-for-bug.sh
git bisect run /tmp/test-for-bug.sh

Bisect with build failures

# If a commit doesn't compile, skip it
git bisect skip

# Skip a range of known-broken commits
git bisect skip v1.3.0..v1.3.5

Worktree (Parallel Branches)

Work on multiple branches simultaneously

# Add a worktree for a different branch
git worktree add ../myproject-hotfix hotfix/urgent-fix
# Creates a new directory with that branch checked out

# Add a worktree with a new branch
git worktree add ../myproject-feature -b feature/new-thing

# List worktrees
git worktree list

# Remove a worktree when done
git worktree remove ../myproject-hotfix

# Prune stale worktree references
git worktree prune

Use cases

# Review a PR while keeping your current work untouched
git worktree add ../review-pr-123 origin/pr-123

# Run tests on main while developing on feature branch
git worktree add ../main-tests main
cd ../main-tests && npm test

# Compare behavior between branches side by side
git worktree add ../compare-old release/v1.0
git worktree add ../compare-new release/v2.0

Reflog (Recovery)

See everything git remembers

# Show reflog (all HEAD movements)
git reflog
# Output:
# abc123 HEAD@{0}: commit: Add feature
# def456 HEAD@{1}: rebase: moving to main
# ghi789 HEAD@{2}: checkout: moving from feature to main

# Show reflog for a specific branch
git reflog show feature/my-branch

# Show with timestamps
git reflog --date=relative

Recover from mistakes

# Undo a bad rebase (find the commit before rebase in reflog)
git reflog
# Find: "ghi789 HEAD@{5}: checkout: moving from feature to main" (pre-rebase)
git reset --hard ghi789

# Recover a deleted branch
git reflog
# Find the last commit on that branch
git branch recovered-branch abc123

# Recover after reset --hard
git reflog
git reset --hard HEAD@{2}   # Go back 2 reflog entries

# Recover a dropped stash
git fsck --unreachable | grep commit
# or
git stash list  # if it's still there
git log --walk-reflogs --all -- stash  # find dropped stash commits

Cherry-Pick

Copy specific commits to another branch

# Pick a single commit
git cherry-pick abc123

# Pick multiple commits
git cherry-pick abc123 def456 ghi789

# Pick a range (exclusive start, inclusive end)
git cherry-pick abc123..ghi789

# Pick without committing (stage changes only)
git cherry-pick --no-commit abc123

# Cherry-pick from another remote/fork
git remote add upstream https://github.com/other/repo.git
git fetch upstream
git cherry-pick upstream/main~3   # 3rd commit from upstream's main

Handle conflicts during cherry-pick

# If conflicts arise:
# 1. Resolve conflicts in the files
# 2. Stage resolved files
git add resolved-file.ts
# 3. Continue
git cherry-pick --continue

# Or abort
git cherry-pick --abort

Subtree and Submodule

Subtree (simpler — copies code into your repo)

# Add a subtree
git subtree add --prefix=lib/shared https://github.com/org/shared-lib.git main --squash

# Pull updates from upstream
git subtree pull --prefix=lib/shared https://github.com/org/shared-lib.git main --squash

# Push local changes back to upstream
git subtree push --prefix=lib/shared https://github.com/org/shared-lib.git main

# Split subtree into its own branch (for extraction)
git subtree split --prefix=lib/shared -b shared-lib-standalone

Submodule (pointer to another repo at a specific commit)

# Add a submodule
git submodule add https://github.com/org/shared-lib.git lib/shared

# Clone a repo with submodules
git clone --recurse-submodules https://github.com/org/main-repo.git

# Initialize submodules after clone (if forgot --recurse)
git submodule update --init --recursive

# Update submodules to latest
git submodule update --remote

# Remove a submodule
git rm lib/shared
rm -rf .git/modules/lib/shared
# Remove entry from .gitmodules if it persists

When to use which

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