# reword
Reword a commit message or rename a branch.
## Usage
```
git loom reword <target> [-m <message>]
```
### Arguments
| `<target>` | Commit hash, branch name, or short ID |
### Options
| `-m, --message <message>` | New commit message or branch name. Opens editor/prompt if omitted. |
## What It Does
### When Target is a Commit
Changes the commit message using git's native interactive rebase. All descendant commits are replayed to update their hashes.
- Works on any commit in history, including the root commit
- With `-m`: applies the new message non-interactively
- Without `-m`: opens the git editor with the current message
**What changes:** target commit gets a new message and hash; all descendant commits get new hashes.
**What stays the same:** commit content (files, diffs), topology, and branches outside the ancestry chain.
#### Commits that are already upstream
Rewording replays the commit onto the current upstream, which may have moved since you
wrote it. If everything the commit changes is already there, it has nothing left to
apply and loom refuses rather than rewrite something else:
```console
$ loom reword osy
# ✗ Commit `4783c1b` is redundant — the history below it already has its change
# › Nothing was rewritten. Run `loom update` if it landed upstream, or `loom drop 4783c1b -y` to remove it now
```
A redundant commit that is *not* the one you are rewording is dropped, and loom says so.
#### Conflicts
Every commit above the target gets a new hash, so any merge commit in the way has to be rebuilt instead of reused. A merge you originally resolved by hand will conflict again — a merge commit records the tree it produced, never the resolution that produced it. (With `rerere` enabled, git replays your recorded resolution, so the file has no conflict markers — the reword still pauses, and you stage the replayed resolution before `loom continue`.)
When that happens the reword pauses rather than throwing away the new message:
```bash
git loom reword osy -m "Fix authentication bug"
# ! Conflicts detected — resolve them with git, then run:
# `loom continue` to complete the reword
# `loom abort` to cancel and restore original state
git add shared.rs && git loom continue
# ✓ Updated commit message for `ab12cd3` (now `mqt` (e45f678))
```
With `rerere.autoUpdate` set too, git stages the replayed resolution, so there is nothing left to settle and the reword carries on by itself, saying what it took:
```bash
git loom reword osy -m "Fix authentication bug"
# ! `rerere` resolved the conflicts replaying `ab12cd3` — carried on with its recorded resolution
# ✓ Updated commit message for `ab12cd3` (now `mqt` (e45f678))
```
`git loom abort` restores the original message, HEAD, and every branch ref. See [continue](continue.md) and [abort](abort.md).
### When Target is a Branch
Renames the branch using `git branch -m`.
- With `-m`: renames non-interactively
- Without `-m`: interactive prompt showing current name as placeholder
## Target Resolution
The target is resolved in this order:
1. **Branch names** — exact match resolves to a branch (for renaming)
2. **Git references** — full/partial hashes, `HEAD`, etc. resolve to commits
3. **Short IDs** — branch short IDs resolve to branches, commit short IDs to commits
To reword the commit at a branch tip, use its commit hash or commit short ID (not the branch name, which would trigger a rename).
## Examples
### Reword a commit with editor
```bash
git loom reword osy
# Opens editor with current message
```
### Reword a commit directly
```bash
git loom reword osy -m "Fix authentication bug in login flow"
```
### Rename a branch interactively
```bash
git loom reword feature-a
# ? New branch name › feature-a
# User types: feature-authentication
```
### Rename a branch directly
```bash
git loom reword fa -m feature-authentication
```
### Rename to a hidden branch name
If the new name matches the configured hidden prefix (default: `local-`), *git-loom* prints a warning before the success message:
```bash
git loom reword feature-secrets -m local-secrets
# ! Branch `local-secrets` is hidden from status by default. Use `--all` to show it.
# ✓ Renamed branch `feature-secrets` to `local-secrets`
```
## Prerequisites
- Any git repository for commit rewording
- For short IDs: must be on a branch with upstream tracking configured
## Notes
- Uncommitted working tree changes are preserved automatically, and staged
changes come back staged