rebase to squash multiple commits on same branch

Question

Can we use rebase to squash multiple commits into one single commit on the same branch?

Taking an example, i have created two topic branches - issueA_1 and issueA_2 from master. I make a couple of commits in both branches, as can be seen in the diagram(i am using commit names here instead of commit hashes for brevity) :

 --> (issueA_1) - commitX1 / (master)-- \ --> (issueA_2) | commitY1 | commitY2

Then i do :

git checkout issueA_2 git rebase -i issueA_1

I change the rebase file to :

pick commitY1 fixup commitY2

After this rebase, the commit history looks like this :

 --> (issueA_1) - commitX1 / (master)-- \ --> (issueA_2) | commitX1 | commitY1 | commitY2

I don't need the branch issueA_1 anymore, so i do :

git branch -D issueA_1

The commit history of issueA_2 isn't pretty enough to be merged into master yet. I want commitX1, commitY1 and commitY2 of this branch to be squashed into 1 single commit before i merge into master. Is this possible?

possible duplicate of Squash my last X commits together using Git — Alex Wolf
– Alex Wolf, Commented Aug 15, 2014 at 10:13

Ilion · Accepted Answer · 2014-08-15 09:09:09Z

43

Yes, the simplest way I find is to do:

git rebase -i HEAD~3

This will let you review the last 3 commits and you can then squash them.

answered Aug 15, 2014 at 9:09

Ilion

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2 Comments

phougatv Over a year ago

Using this command I get the following text on my command window - pick <commit_id_1> <comment_1 written while committing> pick <commit_id_2> <comment_2 written while committing> # Rebase 551a895..4a2dc5e onto 551a895 (2 commands) # # Commands: # p, pick <commit> = use commit # r, reword <commit> = use commit, but edit the commit message # e, edit <commit> = use commit, but stop for amending # s, squash <commit> = use commit, but meld into previous commit ..... and so on. I'm unable to type any command mentioned on that window.

Ilion Over a year ago

@phougatv You probably need to use vim commands. Press i to enter interactive mode then change the list of commits as described. Press esc to exit interactive mode then press :x to exit and save.

martin · Accepted Answer · 2014-08-15 09:15:20Z

3

In your case,

git checkout issueA_2 git rebase -i master

or

git rebase -i commitX1^ #parent of commitX1 in branch issueA_2

should also work. In this case, you don't need to count (I'm usually one off).

answered Aug 15, 2014 at 9:15

martin

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4 Comments

faizal Over a year ago

what is git co? Did you mean git checkout ?

faizal Over a year ago

Would "commitX1^" be identical to "HEAD~3" in this context?

martin Over a year ago

Yes, if I have counted that correcly ;)

faizal Over a year ago

ok. How could i have missed "git rebase -i master"! That was the simplest and safest option. I guess i was a little nervous thinking of rebase and master in the same line..it didn't strike me that the command does not effect the master branch at all.

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