Redistributing code from old commits

Introduction §

Redistributing code from old commits is a sophisticated Git operation that allows you to rearrange changes made in your repository’s history. This can be useful for cleaning up commits, separating features, or fixing mistakes. Lazygit provides a user-friendly interface to handle this process with custom patches.

Lazygit §

Follow these steps to redistribute code from old commits in Lazygit:

1. Navigate to Commit Files:

   • Open Lazygit and go to the Commits panel.
   • Scroll to the commit of interest and press enter to open the Commit Files window.

2. Select File for Modification:

   • In the Commit Files window, select the file you want to modify and press enter.
   • This opens the Add Lines/Hunks to Patch window.
   • Scroll to the lines with changes you want to move and press space to add them to the custom patch on the right window, as shown in the image .

3. Apply the Custom Patch:

   • Go back to the Commits window by pressing esc twice.
   • Scroll to the commit where you want to apply the custom patch, as indicated in .
   • Press Ctrl + P to bring up the Patch Options menu, shown in .
   • Select ”move patch to selected commit” and press enter.

4. Observe the Changes:

   • After applying the patch, observe the changes in your commit history, as illustrated in .

Creating Custom Patches §

Custom patches are a core feature in Lazygit, allowing you to interactively modify your commit history:

• To create a custom patch, navigate within a commit and use space to toggle entire files or specific lines/hunks for the custom patch.
• The custom patch you’re building is displayed as a separate panel, as shown in .
• To access the custom patch menu, type Ctrl + P. This menu, depicted in , offers various options, such as resetting the patch, applying it, or creating a new commit with the changes.

Basic Terminal §

In the terminal, redistributing changes from old commits can be more complex:

1. Start an interactive rebase:

   git rebase -i <commit-hash>^

   Choose the commit just before the one you want to edit.

2. Mark the commit with edit.

3. Make the necessary code changes and commit them:

   git add <file>
   git commit --amend

4. Continue the rebase process:

   git rebase --continue

5. Repeat these steps for each commit you want to modify.

Conclusion §

Redistributing code from old commits using Lazygit’s custom patches is a powerful way to refactor your commit history. While Lazygit provides a visual and interactive approach, the terminal commands offer a more traditional method but require careful handling to avoid errors. Remember, modifying historical commits should be approached with caution, especially in shared repositories.