How to delete commit history in git

Title: Git deletes submission history: reasons, necessary knowledge and operation steps

Git is a widely used version control tool. Developers can use Git for code management and version control. An important feature of Git is the ability to roll back a commit and create a new one, but sometimes we need to delete the commit history. This article will introduce the reasons, necessary knowledge and operation steps for deleting commit history in Git.

1. Why you need to delete the submission history

1.1 Protect code security

If you are using Git as the version control system, then others can modify the code from the remote library Obtain your submission history, including sensitive information such as passwords, keys, etc. You can protect the security of your code from accidental or malicious disclosure by deleting your commit history.

1.2 Clear history

When performing Git operations, there may be some unnecessary submissions, such as submissions or test submissions that you do not want to show in the log, etc. These commits can be confusing, and removing them clears the history and makes your logs clearer.

1.3 Merge branch history

When you develop on a branch and then merge the branch to the master branch, some unnecessary commit history may appear. By removing these commit histories, you make the master branch's history cleaner and more readable.

2. Essential knowledge

2.1 Rewrite history

The method of deleting commit history is through Git’s “Rewrite History” function. When you use this feature, Git will change the commit ID and change history, which affects changes that you and others are interested in. Therefore, when making modifications to the code, real-time backup is necessary.

2.2 Force Push

After deleting the commit history, you may encounter an error message such as "Push Rejected" when you try to push changes to the remote library because the history has been changed. This is because your remote code repository already contains the commit you deleted, and if you want to push the changes, you must use a force push.

3. Operation steps

Next we will introduce how to delete the commit history from Git. Before proceeding, please make sure you have backed up your code.

3.1 Use the git reset command

Use the command git reset --soft HEAD~ to roll back the specified number of commits. where "number" represents the number of commits you want to rollback.

3.2 Use the git push -f command

Next, you need to push the changes to the remote repository. Since the history has changed, you must use the git push -f command to force push the changes.

4.3 Use the git filter-branch command

You can also use the more powerful command git filter-branch to delete the commit history. This command allows you to modify everything in the commit history, including commit messages, authors, timestamps, etc. It can delete specified files, folders or certain commits.

You need to note that this command will clear all additional data, including tags, etc. Be careful to keep a backup.

Summary

Deleting commit history in Git is a very advanced operation that requires caution and backup of your code. Before deleting your commit history, make sure to make a backup in your version control system to prevent data loss. At the same time, basic code development standards need to be established in the team to ensure that the code is easy to manage and improve code quality. I hope this article can help you better understand the operation and management of Git.

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