wshobson--agents/plugins/developer-essentials/skills/git-advanced-workflows/references/details.md

git-advanced-workflows — detailed patterns and worked examples

Practical Workflows

Workflow 1: Clean Up Feature Branch Before PR

# Start with feature branch
git checkout feature/user-auth

# Interactive rebase to clean history
git rebase -i main

# Example rebase operations:
# - Squash "fix typo" commits
# - Reword commit messages for clarity
# - Reorder commits logically
# - Drop unnecessary commits

# Force push cleaned branch (safe if no one else is using it)
git push --force-with-lease origin feature/user-auth

Workflow 2: Apply Hotfix to Multiple Releases

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

# Apply to release branches
git checkout release/2.0
git cherry-pick abc123

git checkout release/1.9
git cherry-pick abc123

# Handle conflicts if they arise
git cherry-pick --continue
# or
git cherry-pick --abort

Workflow 3: Find Bug Introduction

# Start bisect
git bisect start
git bisect bad HEAD
git bisect good v2.1.0

# Git checks out middle commit - run tests
npm test

# If tests fail
git bisect bad

# If tests pass
git bisect good

# Git will automatically checkout next commit to test
# Repeat until bug found

# Automated version
git bisect start HEAD v2.1.0
git bisect run npm test

Workflow 4: Multi-Branch Development

# Main project directory
cd ~/projects/myapp

# Create worktree for urgent bugfix
git worktree add ../myapp-hotfix hotfix/critical-bug

# Work on hotfix in separate directory
cd ../myapp-hotfix
# Make changes, commit
git commit -m "fix: resolve critical bug"
git push origin hotfix/critical-bug

# Return to main work without interruption
cd ~/projects/myapp
git fetch origin
git cherry-pick hotfix/critical-bug

# Clean up when done
git worktree remove ../myapp-hotfix

Workflow 5: Recover from Mistakes

# Accidentally reset to wrong commit
git reset --hard HEAD~5  # Oh no!

# Use reflog to find lost commits
git reflog
# Output shows:
# abc123 HEAD@{0}: reset: moving to HEAD~5
# def456 HEAD@{1}: commit: my important changes

# Recover lost commits
git reset --hard def456

# Or create branch from lost commit
git branch recovery def456

Advanced Techniques

Rebase vs Merge Strategy

When to Rebase:

• Cleaning up local commits before pushing
• Keeping feature branch up-to-date with main
• Creating linear history for easier review

When to Merge:

• Integrating completed features into main
• Preserving exact history of collaboration
• Public branches used by others

# Update feature branch with main changes (rebase)
git checkout feature/my-feature
git fetch origin
git rebase origin/main

# Handle conflicts
git status
# Fix conflicts in files
git add .
git rebase --continue

# Or merge instead
git merge origin/main

Autosquash Workflow

Automatically squash fixup commits during rebase.

# Make initial commit
git commit -m "feat: add user authentication"

# Later, fix something in that commit
# Stage changes
git commit --fixup HEAD  # or specify commit hash

# Make more changes
git commit --fixup abc123

# Rebase with autosquash
git rebase -i --autosquash main

# Git automatically marks fixup commits

Split Commit

Break one commit into multiple logical commits.

# Start interactive rebase
git rebase -i HEAD~3

# Mark commit to split with 'edit'
# Git will stop at that commit

# Reset commit but keep changes
git reset HEAD^

# Stage and commit in logical chunks
git add file1.py
git commit -m "feat: add validation"

git add file2.py
git commit -m "feat: add error handling"

# Continue rebase
git rebase --continue

Partial Cherry-Pick

Cherry-pick only specific files from a commit.

# Show files in commit
git show --name-only abc123

# Checkout specific files from commit
git checkout abc123 -- path/to/file1.py path/to/file2.py

# Stage and commit
git commit -m "cherry-pick: apply specific changes from abc123"