Tribblix: manual page: git-replace.1

GIT-REPLACE(1) Git Manual GIT-REPLACE(1)

NAME

git-replace - Create, list, delete refs to replace objects

SYNOPSIS

git replace [-f] <object> <replacement>
git replace [-f] --edit <object>
git replace [-f] --graft <commit> [<parent>...]
git replace [-f] --convert-graft-file
git replace -d <object>...
git replace [--format=<format>] [-l [<pattern>]]

DESCRIPTION

Adds a replace reference in refs/replace/ namespace.

The name of the replace reference is the SHA-1 of the object that is
replaced. The content of the replace reference is the SHA-1 of the
replacement object.

The replaced object and the replacement object must be of the same
type. This restriction can be bypassed using -f.

Unless -f is given, the replace reference must not yet exist.

There is no other restriction on the replaced and replacement
objects. Merge commits can be replaced by non-merge commits and vice
versa.

Replacement references will be used by default by all Git commands
except those doing reachability traversal (prune, pack transfer and
fsck).

It is possible to disable the use of replacement references for any
command using the --no-replace-objects option just after git.

For example if commit foo has been replaced by commit bar:

$ git --no-replace-objects cat-file commit foo

shows information about commit foo, while:

$ git cat-file commit foo

shows information about commit bar.

The GIT_NO_REPLACE_OBJECTS environment variable can be set to achieve
the same effect as the --no-replace-objects option.

OPTIONS

-f, --force
If an existing replace ref for the same object exists, it will be
overwritten (instead of failing).

-d, --delete
Delete existing replace refs for the given objects.

--edit <object>
Edit an object's content interactively. The existing content for
<object> is pretty-printed into a temporary file, an editor is
launched on the file, and the result is parsed to create a new
object of the same type as <object>. A replacement ref is then
created to replace <object> with the newly created object. See
git-var(1) for details about how the editor will be chosen.

--raw
When editing, provide the raw object contents rather than
pretty-printed ones. Currently this only affects trees, which
will be shown in their binary form. This is harder to work with,
but can help when repairing a tree that is so corrupted it cannot
be pretty-printed. Note that you may need to configure your
editor to cleanly read and write binary data.

--graft <commit> [<parent>...]
Create a graft commit. A new commit is created with the same
content as <commit> except that its parents will be [<parent>...]
instead of <commit>'s parents. A replacement ref is then created
to replace <commit> with the newly created commit. Use
--convert-graft-file to convert a $GIT_DIR/info/grafts file and
use replace refs instead.

--convert-graft-file
Creates graft commits for all entries in $GIT_DIR/info/grafts and
deletes that file upon success. The purpose is to help users with
transitioning off of the now-deprecated graft file.

-l <pattern>, --list <pattern>
List replace refs for objects that match the given pattern (or
all if no pattern is given). Typing "git replace" without
arguments, also lists all replace refs.

--format=<format>
When listing, use the specified <format>, which can be one of
short, medium and long. When omitted, the format defaults to
short.

FORMATS

The following formats are available:

+o short: <replaced-sha1>

+o medium: <replaced-sha1> -> <replacement-sha1>

+o long: <replaced-sha1> (<replaced-type>) -> <replacement-sha1>
(<replacement-type>)

CREATING REPLACEMENT OBJECTS

git-hash-object(1), git-rebase(1), and git-filter-repo[1], among
other git commands, can be used to create replacement objects from
existing objects. The --edit option can also be used with git replace
to create a replacement object by editing an existing object.

If you want to replace many blobs, trees or commits that are part of
a string of commits, you may just want to create a replacement string
of commits and then only replace the commit at the tip of the target
string of commits with the commit at the tip of the replacement
string of commits.

BUGS

Comparing blobs or trees that have been replaced with those that
replace them will not work properly. And using git reset --hard to go
back to a replaced commit will move the branch to the replacement
commit instead of the replaced commit.

There may be other problems when using git rev-list related to
pending objects.

GIT

Part of the git(1) suite

NOTES

1. git-filter-repo
https://github.com/newren/git-filter-repo

Git 2.48.1 2025-01-13 GIT-REPLACE(1)