GIT-HISTORY(1) Git Manual GIT-HISTORY(1)
git-history - EXPERIMENTAL: Rewrite history
git history reword <commit> [--dry-run] [--update-refs=(branches|head)]
git history split <commit> [--dry-run] [--update-refs=(branches|head)] [--] [<pathspec>...]
Rewrite history by rearranging or modifying specific commits in the
history.
THIS COMMAND IS EXPERIMENTAL. THE BEHAVIOR MAY CHANGE.
This command is related to git-rebase(1) in that both commands can be
used to rewrite history. There are a couple of major differences
though:
+o git-history(1) can work in a bare repository as it does not need
to touch either the index or the worktree.
+o git-history(1) does not execute any githooks(5) at the current
point in time. This may change in the future.
+o git-history(1) by default updates all branches that are
descendants of the original commit to point to the rewritten
commit.
Overall, git-history(1) aims to provide a more opinionated way to
modify your commit history that is simpler to use compared to git-
rebase(1) in general.
Use git-rebase(1) if you want to reapply a range of commits onto a
different base, or interactive rebases if you want to edit a range of
commits at once.
This command does not (yet) work with histories that contain merges.
You should use git-rebase(1) with the --rebase-merges flag instead.
Furthermore, the command does not support operations that can result
in merge conflicts. This limitation is by design as history rewrites
are not intended to be stateful operations. The limitation can be
lifted once (if) Git learns about first-class conflicts.
The following commands are available to rewrite history in different
ways:
reword <commit>
Rewrite the commit message of the specified commit. All the other
details of this commit remain unchanged. This command will spawn
an editor with the current message of that commit.
split <commit> [--] [<pathspec>...]
Interactively split up <commit> into two commits by choosing
hunks introduced by it that will be moved into the new split-out
commit. These hunks will then be written into a new commit that
becomes the parent of the previous commit. The original commit
stays intact, except that its parent will be the newly split-out
commit.
The commit messages of the split-up commits will be asked for by
launching the configured editor. Authorship of the commit will be
the same as for the original commit.
If passed, <pathspec> can be used to limit which changes shall be
split out of the original commit. Files not matching any of the
pathspecs will remain part of the original commit. For more
details, see the pathspec entry in gitglossary(7).
It is invalid to select either all or no hunks, as that would
lead to one of the commits becoming empty.
--dry-run
Do not update any references, but instead print any ref updates
in a format that can be consumed by git-update-ref(1). Necessary
new objects will be written into the repository, so applying
these printed ref updates is generally safe.
--update-refs=(branches|head)
Control which references will be updated by the command, if any.
With branches, all local branches that point to commits which are
descendants of the original commit will be rewritten. With head,
only the current HEAD reference will be rewritten. Defaults to
branches.
$ git log --stat --oneline
3f81232 (HEAD -> main) original
bar | 1 +
foo | 1 +
2 files changed, 2 insertions(+)
$ git history split HEAD
diff --git a/bar b/bar
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..5716ca5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/bar
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+bar
(1/1) Stage addition [y,n,q,a,d,p,?]? y
diff --git a/foo b/foo
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..257cc56
--- /dev/null
+++ b/foo
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+foo
(1/1) Stage addition [y,n,q,a,d,p,?]? n
$ git log --stat --oneline
7cebe64 (HEAD -> main) original
foo | 1 +
1 file changed, 1 insertion(+)
d1582f3 split-out commit
bar | 1 +
1 file changed, 1 insertion(+)
Part of the git(1) suite
Git 2.54.0 2026-04-19 GIT-HISTORY(1)
NAME
git-history - EXPERIMENTAL: Rewrite history
SYNOPSIS
git history reword <commit> [--dry-run] [--update-refs=(branches|head)]
git history split <commit> [--dry-run] [--update-refs=(branches|head)] [--] [<pathspec>...]
DESCRIPTION
Rewrite history by rearranging or modifying specific commits in the
history.
THIS COMMAND IS EXPERIMENTAL. THE BEHAVIOR MAY CHANGE.
This command is related to git-rebase(1) in that both commands can be
used to rewrite history. There are a couple of major differences
though:
+o git-history(1) can work in a bare repository as it does not need
to touch either the index or the worktree.
+o git-history(1) does not execute any githooks(5) at the current
point in time. This may change in the future.
+o git-history(1) by default updates all branches that are
descendants of the original commit to point to the rewritten
commit.
Overall, git-history(1) aims to provide a more opinionated way to
modify your commit history that is simpler to use compared to git-
rebase(1) in general.
Use git-rebase(1) if you want to reapply a range of commits onto a
different base, or interactive rebases if you want to edit a range of
commits at once.
LIMITATIONS
This command does not (yet) work with histories that contain merges.
You should use git-rebase(1) with the --rebase-merges flag instead.
Furthermore, the command does not support operations that can result
in merge conflicts. This limitation is by design as history rewrites
are not intended to be stateful operations. The limitation can be
lifted once (if) Git learns about first-class conflicts.
COMMANDS
The following commands are available to rewrite history in different
ways:
reword <commit>
Rewrite the commit message of the specified commit. All the other
details of this commit remain unchanged. This command will spawn
an editor with the current message of that commit.
split <commit> [--] [<pathspec>...]
Interactively split up <commit> into two commits by choosing
hunks introduced by it that will be moved into the new split-out
commit. These hunks will then be written into a new commit that
becomes the parent of the previous commit. The original commit
stays intact, except that its parent will be the newly split-out
commit.
The commit messages of the split-up commits will be asked for by
launching the configured editor. Authorship of the commit will be
the same as for the original commit.
If passed, <pathspec> can be used to limit which changes shall be
split out of the original commit. Files not matching any of the
pathspecs will remain part of the original commit. For more
details, see the pathspec entry in gitglossary(7).
It is invalid to select either all or no hunks, as that would
lead to one of the commits becoming empty.
OPTIONS
--dry-run
Do not update any references, but instead print any ref updates
in a format that can be consumed by git-update-ref(1). Necessary
new objects will be written into the repository, so applying
these printed ref updates is generally safe.
--update-refs=(branches|head)
Control which references will be updated by the command, if any.
With branches, all local branches that point to commits which are
descendants of the original commit will be rewritten. With head,
only the current HEAD reference will be rewritten. Defaults to
branches.
EXAMPLES
Split a commit
$ git log --stat --oneline
3f81232 (HEAD -> main) original
bar | 1 +
foo | 1 +
2 files changed, 2 insertions(+)
$ git history split HEAD
diff --git a/bar b/bar
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..5716ca5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/bar
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+bar
(1/1) Stage addition [y,n,q,a,d,p,?]? y
diff --git a/foo b/foo
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..257cc56
--- /dev/null
+++ b/foo
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+foo
(1/1) Stage addition [y,n,q,a,d,p,?]? n
$ git log --stat --oneline
7cebe64 (HEAD -> main) original
foo | 1 +
1 file changed, 1 insertion(+)
d1582f3 split-out commit
bar | 1 +
1 file changed, 1 insertion(+)
GIT
Part of the git(1) suite
Git 2.54.0 2026-04-19 GIT-HISTORY(1)