How to Edit Commit Messages: Amending Git Commits

Introduction

In the world of version control, commit messages are like a logbook for your project's history. They help you and your team understand what changes were made and why. However, it's common to make mistakes in commit messages—whether it’s a typo, an unclear description, or a misleading statement. Thankfully, Git provides several ways to correct these mistakes. This blog post will guide you through the process of amending commit messages, ensuring that your commit history remains clean and accurate.

Understanding Commit Messages

Why Good Commit Messages Matter

Good commit messages are crucial for:

• Clarity: They provide context about why changes were made, which is essential for future reference.

Not Clear Message

git commit -m "login up"

Clear Message

git commit -m "Add user authentication: Implemented login and signup functionality with JWT"

• Collaboration: Clear messages help team members understand each other's work and make collaboration more effective.

Common Mistakes in Commit Messages

• Typos: Simple spelling or grammatical errors.

• Incomplete Descriptions: Messages that don’t fully explain the changes made.

• Misleading Information: Commit messages that don’t accurately reflect the content of the commit.

Amending the Most Recent Commit

Scenario: Fixing a Recent Commit Message

You can easily amend if you’ve just committed and realized an issue with the commit message. This is useful for quick corrections without altering the overall commit history.

Command and Explanation

To fix the most recent commit message, use:

git commit --amend

How to Use

1. Run the Command:

git commit --amend

1. Edit the Commit Message:
   • An editor will open with the existing commit message.
   • Modify the message as needed.
   • Save and close the editor to update the commit message.

Example

# Original commit message 
git commit -m "Fix typo in documentation" 

# Amending the commit message 
git commit --amend # Edit the message in the editor, then save and close

The Editor will look like this.

You'll need to edit or rewrite the existing commit message. In my case, the message was "readme updated," which I then changed to the desired message.

When the editor opens in my case, it's Vim as my terminal editor you can press i to enter Insert Mode. Once in Insert Mode, you'll see "INSERT" at the bottom of the screen, allowing you to modify or update the commit message as needed.

Once Updated press the ESC key and then :wq and hit Enter

ESC will turn off insert mode and :wq will write and quit your editor. It will ensure that each change will be written and saved.

Pressing Enter will close the editor and the commit message is updated.
use this command to see the commits.

git log

Conclusion

Fixing mistakes in commit messages is essential for maintaining a clean and understandable project history. Git's --amend feature provides a simple and effective way to correct recent commit messages, ensuring that your project's log remains accurate and informative. By following best practices and keeping your commit messages clear and descriptive, you enhance collaboration and make future maintenance much easier.

There are many other methods and tools available for maintaining a clean commit history, such as interactive rebasing and commit squashing. I’ll be sharing more tips and techniques in my upcoming posts. Stay tuned!

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