Git Advanced Workflows

Advanced Git techniques for clean history, effective collaboration, and confident recovery.

Triggers

Trigger Phrase	Operation
rebase my branch	Interactive or standard rebase guidance
cherry-pick a commit	Cherry-pick with conflict resolution
find the breaking commit	Git bisect workflow
recover lost commits	Reflog exploration and recovery
use git worktrees	Worktree setup and management

Process

Phase 1: Assess the Situation

1. Identify which workflow applies (rebase, cherry-pick, bisect, worktree, recovery)
2. Check current branch state: git status, git log --oneline -10
3. Create a safety branch before any destructive operation: git branch backup-<timestamp>
   • macOS/Linux (bash/zsh): git branch backup-$(date +%s)
   • Windows PowerShell: git branch backup-$(Get-Date -UFormat %s)

Phase 2: Execute the Workflow

Rebase: Clean Up Feature Branch Before PR

git checkout feature/user-auth
git rebase -i main
# Squash "fix typo" commits, reword messages, reorder logically
git push --force-with-lease origin feature/user-auth

Rebase operations: pick (keep), reword (change message), edit (amend content), squash (combine keeping message), fixup (combine discarding message), drop (remove).

Autosquash pattern:

git commit --fixup HEAD        # Mark as fixup for previous commit
git rebase -i --autosquash main  # Auto-marks fixup commits

Split a commit:

git rebase -i HEAD~3          # Mark commit with 'edit'
git reset HEAD^               # Reset commit, keep changes in working tree (unstaged)
git add file1.py && git commit -m "feat: add validation"
git add file2.py && git commit -m "feat: add error handling"
git rebase --continue

Cherry-Pick: Apply Hotfix to Multiple Releases

git checkout main
git commit -m "fix: critical security patch"

git checkout release/2.0
git cherry-pick abc123

git checkout release/1.9
git cherry-pick abc123
# On conflict: fix files, git add, git cherry-pick --continue

Partial cherry-pick (specific files only):

git show --name-only abc123
git restore --source=abc123 -- path/to/file1.py path/to/file2.py
git commit -m "cherry-pick: apply specific changes from abc123"

Bisect: Find Bug Introduction

git bisect start
git bisect bad HEAD
git bisect good v2.1.0
# Git checks out middle commit. Run tests, mark good/bad, repeat.
git bisect reset  # When done

Automated bisect:

git bisect start HEAD v2.1.0
git bisect run ./test.sh
# test.sh: exit 0 = good, 125 = skip, any other non-zero = bad

Worktree: Multi-Branch Development

git worktree add ~/worktrees/myapp-hotfix hotfix/critical-bug
# Work in the new worktree using the -C flag to avoid changing the current directory.
# e.g., git -C ~/worktrees/myapp-hotfix commit -a -m "fix: critical bug"
git worktree remove ~/worktrees/myapp-hotfix  # Clean up when done
git worktree prune  # Remove stale entries

Recovery: Undo Mistakes with Reflog

git reflog                     # Find lost commit hash
git reset --hard def456        # Restore to that state
# Or create branch: git branch recovery def456

Abort operations in progress:

git rebase --abort
git merge --abort
git cherry-pick --abort
git bisect reset

Other recovery commands:

git restore --source=abc123 path/to/file  # Restore file from commit
git reset --soft HEAD^                     # Undo commit, keep changes staged
git reflog                                 # 1. Find the hash of the desired commit
git branch recovered abc123                # 2. Create a branch from that hash (within reflog retention; ~90 days by default, configurable)

Phase 3: Verify and Clean Up

1. Confirm working tree is clean: git status
2. Validate history: git log --oneline matches expectations
3. Run tests after any history rewrite
4. Remove worktrees if created: git worktree list

Decision Guide

Rebase vs Merge

Use Rebase	Use Merge
Cleaning local commits before push	Integrating completed features into main
Keeping feature branch current with main	Preserving exact collaboration history
Creating linear history for review	Public branches used by others

Anti-Patterns

Avoid	Why	Instead
Rebasing shared branches	Rewrites history for all collaborators	Merge for shared branches
--force without --force-with-lease	Overwrites teammates' work	Always --force-with-lease
Bisecting on dirty working tree	Checkout fails with uncommitted changes	Commit or stash first
Orphaned worktrees	Consume disk space silently	Remove after use
No backup before complex rebase	No recovery path if rebase fails	Create safety branch first

Verification

• Working tree is clean (git status)
• Branch history matches expectations (git log --oneline)
• Tests pass after history rewrite
• Force push used --force-with-lease
• Worktrees cleaned up (git worktree list)