Git Emergency
My commit does too many things
Severity Minor
What just happened
Several unrelated changes ended up in one commit. Reviewers (and git revert) prefer one subject per commit.
Potential risks
- Rewriting history: do it before pushing.
Before you run anything
- Backup branch first, as always.
Recovery steps
- 1
Backup
One command to come back if needed.
Safe$ git branch backup/before-split - 2
Undo the commit, keep the changes
Everything goes back to “modified, not staged”.
Caution$ git reset HEAD~1 - 3
Commit piece by piece
-p asks for each change: y to take it, n to leave it for the next commit.
Safe$ git add -p$ git commit -m "feat: first part"$ git add -p$ git commit -m "fix: second part"
These procedures are provided for information only. Read each command and adapt it to your situation before running it. Disclaimer
Other disasters
🪓 I deleted my branch🚨 I pushed directly to main💥 I ran git reset --hard🧨 I overwrote a colleague's commits🔑 I pushed my .env file to GitHub🔀 I made a bad merge👻 I lost uncommitted changes🎯 I committed on the wrong branch🎈 I'm in “detached HEAD” state⚔️ I'm stuck in a merge conflict🚫 My push is rejected (non-fast-forward)🌀 My rebase went wrong🐘 GitHub rejects a file over 100 MB🥸 I committed with the wrong name or email🗑️ I deleted a file and committed it⏪ I want to undo my last commit✏️ I amended a commit that was already pushed🧹 Too many messy commits to clean up📮 I pushed to the wrong branch🧭 I rebased onto the wrong branch🔁 I need back the changes I reverted📦 git stash pop gave me a conflict🙈 I committed a file that should be ignored🔠 Git doesn't see my file rename (upper/lower case)🧨 I ran git clean -fd by mistake🩻 My repository is corrupted🙃 I forgot to pull before pushing👯 Duplicated lines of code after a merge➖ I added a file I didn't want to (git add)✏️ I made a typo in a commit message🧺 I lost a stash (drop, clear or pop gone wrong)🫥 I pulled and my code disappeared🍒 I cherry-picked the wrong commit☁️ I deleted a branch on GitHub / GitLab👥 I pushed with the wrong GitHub account🚚 The repository was renamed or moved🏷️ I tagged the wrong commit🌊 Git says every file is modified, but I changed nothing📦 I committed node_modules (or a build folder)📂 I ran git init in the wrong folder🧨 My pull request has conflicts⏳ My pull request is behind main📝 I have to apply review changes to my PR🧳 My PR shows commits that aren't mine🎯 I opened my PR against the wrong branch🚨 A merged PR broke main🚪 I closed my PR (or deleted its branch) by mistake🔴 The checks of my PR are failing🐘 My PR is too big to review🍴 My fork is behind the original repository