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en/tutorials/git/17git-rebase

# Rebasing

Rebasing moves or replays your branch's commits onto a different base commit, creating a linear history without merge commits.

## Basic Rebase

```bash
git checkout feature
git rebase main
```

This takes all commits from `feature` and replays them on top of `main`. The result is a clean, linear history.

## Visual Example

```bash
# Before rebase:
      C1---C2 (feature)
     /
A---B---C3 (main)

# After git rebase main on feature:
              C1'---C2' (feature)
             /
A---B---C3 (main)
```

The prime notation (C1', C2') indicates these are new commits with different hashes.

## Interactive Rebase

```bash
git rebase -i HEAD~3
```

Opens an editor where you can reorder, squash, reword, or drop the last 3 commits:

```
pick a1b2c34 Add login form
pick d5e6f78 Fix typo
pick g9h0i12 Add validation
```

- `pick` — keep the commit as-is
- `squash` — merge into previous commit
- `reword` — change the commit message
- `drop` — remove the commit entirely

## Rebase vs Merge

- **Rebase**: Linear history, clean log, rewrites commit hashes
- **Merge**: Preserves history, adds merge commit, safe for shared branches

## When to Rebase

- Cleaning up feature branch history before merging
- Updating a feature branch with latest changes from main
- Squashing multiple small commits into meaningful ones
- Keeping a linear history for easier code review

## Best Practices

- Use rebase on local/feature branches before merging
- Never rebase commits that are pushed to shared branches
- Run tests after a rebase to catch conflicts
- Keep rebase operations small and focused

## Common Mistakes

- Rebasing a branch that others are working on
- Using interactive rebase on too many commits at once
- Forgetting that rebase changes commit hashes
- Resolving conflicts incorrectly during a rebase
- Pushing a rebased branch without force-pushing (requires `--force-with-lease`)

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