Git Editor: Git History Rewriting Tool

Git Editor is a powerful Rust-based command-line utility designed to safely rewrite Git commit timestamps within a specified date range. Perfect for fixing commit dates, adding consistency to repositories, or reconstructing development timelines.

Features

Rewrite commit timestamps within a specified date range
Pick and edit specific commits interactively
Show commit history with detailed statistics
Preserve commit order and relationships
Maintain author and committer information
Compatible with any Git repository
Docker support for containerized execution

Installation

Prerequisites

Rust 1.72+ (Install Rust)
Git (Install Git)
OpenSSL development libraries

From Source

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/rohansen856/git-editor.git
cd git-editor

# Build the project
cargo build --release

# The binary will be available at target/release/git-editor

Usage

Git Editor supports three main modes of operation:

1. Full History Rewrite (Default)

git-editor --repo-path "/path/to/repo" --email "user@example.com" --name "Author Name" --begin "YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS" --end "YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS"

2. Show History Only

git-editor --repo-path "/path/to/repo" --show-history
# or
git-editor --repo-path "/path/to/repo" -s

3. Pick Specific Commits

git-editor --repo-path "/path/to/repo" --pick-specific-commits
# or
git-editor --repo-path "/path/to/repo" -p

Arguments

Option	Short	Description	Required
`--repo-path`		Path to the Git repository	Always
`--email`		Email address to associate with rewritten commits	Only for full rewrite
`--name`	`-n`	Name to associate with rewritten commits	Only for full rewrite
`--begin`	`-b`	Start date for commits (format: YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS)	Only for full rewrite
`--end`	`-e`	End date for commits (format: YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS)	Only for full rewrite
`--show-history`	`-s`	Show commit history with statistics	Optional
`--pick-specific-commits`	`-p`	Interactive mode to edit specific commits	Optional

Examples

# Full rewrite: Rewrite commits to occur between January 1 and January 7, 2023
git-editor --repo-path "/path/to/repo" --email "john.doe@example.com" --name "John Doe" --begin "2023-01-01 00:00:00" --end "2023-01-07 23:59:59"

# Show history: Display commit history with detailed statistics
git-editor --repo-path "/path/to/repo" -s

# Pick specific commits: Interactively select and edit individual commits
git-editor --repo-path "/path/to/repo" -p

# Using the Makefile (after editing the parameters)
make run

How It Works

Git Editor operates by:

Validating the provided repository path and Git environment
Generating a list of timestamps between the start and end dates
Creating a mapping between original commits and new commit timestamps
Rewriting the Git history while preserving parent-child relationships
Updating branch references to point to the new commit history

The tool ensures that commit order is maintained and distributes commits evenly across the specified time range.

Warning

This tool rewrites Git history. Always work on a separate branch or backup your repository before running Git Editor on important code bases.

Development

Project Structure

git-editor/
├── src/
│   ├── main.rs        # Entry point
│   ├── args.rs        # Command line argument handling
│   ├── datetime.rs    # Date and time functions
│   ├── validator.rs   # Input validation
│   ├── rewrite.rs     # Git history rewriting logic
│   ├── types.rs       # Type definitions
│   ├── heatmap.rs     # GitHub contribution data handling
│   └── utils/         # Utility functions
├── Cargo.toml         # Project dependencies
├── Dockerfile         # Docker configuration
└── Makefile           # Build automation

Testing

cargo test

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.

git-editor 1.1.0