Advanced Git Techniques: Interactive Rebase, Bisect, Worktree, and Hook Automation

You're Only Using 20% of Git's Power

Most developers only use add, commit, push, pull, and merge on a daily basis. Git's real power lies in: precise history control, rapid bug location, parallel multi-tasking, and automated workflows.

---

1. Interactive Rebase: Reshaping Commit History

Basic Operation

git rebase -i HEAD~5

Opens an editor showing the last 5 commits:

pick a1b2c3f feat: add user list page
pick d4e5f6g fix: fix list sorting issue
pick h7i8j9k feat: add search functionality
pick l0m1n2o chore: update dependencies
pick p3q4r5s feat: add pagination component

Six Operations

Command	Purpose	Use Case
pick	Keep commit	Default
squash	Merge into previous commit	Combine multiple small fixes
fixup	Merge and discard message	Same as above, without keeping messages
reword	Modify commit message	Message has typos
edit	Pause and modify commit	Split or modify content
drop	Discard commit	Remove erroneous commits

Practical: Cleaning Up a Feature Branch

# Original commits
pick abc1234 feat: user module WIP
pick def5678 fix: fix null pointer
pick ghi9012 fix: fix type errors
pick jkl3456 feat: add search
pick mno7890 chore: format code

# Cleaned up
pick abc1234 feat: add user module
fixup def5678   # merge into abc1234
fixup ghi9012   # merge into abc1234
pick jkl3456 feat: add search functionality
drop mno7890   # discard formatting commit

Auto Fixup

# Create a fixup commit (tagging the target commit)
git commit --fixup=abc1234

# Auto-rebase, fixup commits will find their targets and merge
git rebase -i --autosquash

---

2. Git Bisect: Binary Search for Bug Introduction Points

When a bug appears but you don't know which commit introduced it, bisect uses binary search to quickly pinpoint it.

Manual Bisect

# Start binary search
git bisect start

# Mark current version as bad (has bug)
git bisect bad

# Mark known good version
git bisect good v2.0.0

# Git automatically checks out the middle version
# After testing, mark it
git bisect good   # or git bisect bad

# Repeat until the bug-introducing commit is found
# Git outputs: abc1234 is the first bad commit

# End the search
git bisect reset

Automated Bisect

# Use a script to auto-test each version
git bisect start HEAD v2.0.0
git bisect run npm test

# Or with a custom script
git bisect run ./scripts/test-bug.sh

#!/bin/bash
# scripts/test-bug.sh
npm run build
if curl -s http://localhost:3000/api/health | grep -q "ok"; then
  exit 0  # good
else
  exit 1  # bad
fi

Efficiency: 1000 commits only require 10 bisect steps (log₂(1000) ≈ 10).

---

3. Git Worktree: Working on Multiple Branches Simultaneously

The Problem

You're developing on feature/A when an urgent hotfix for hotfix/B comes in—you don't want to stash, and you don't want to create a new clone.

The Solution

# Create a worktree for the hotfix
git worktree add ../hotfix-B hotfix/B

# Work in the ../hotfix-B directory without affecting the current branch
cd ../hotfix-B
# Fix, commit, push
git add . && git commit -m "fix: urgent fix"
git push

# Return to original work
cd ../main-project
# Continue developing feature/A, completely unaffected

# Clean up the worktree
git worktree remove ../hotfix-B

Managing Worktrees

# List all worktrees
git worktree list

# Lock a worktree (prevent accidental deletion)
git worktree lock ../hotfix-B

# Unlock
git worktree unlock ../hotfix-B

Comparison	git stash	git worktree	git clone
Disk Usage	0	Diff files only	Full copy
Switch Cost	stash + checkout	cd to directory	cd to directory
Parallel Work	Not supported	Supported	Supported
Shares .git	Yes	Yes	No

---

4. Git Hooks: Automated Workflows

Client-Side Hooks

Hook	Trigger	Use Case
pre-commit	Before git commit	Code linting, formatting
prepare-commit-msg	Before editing commit message	Auto-add prefixes
commit-msg	After writing commit message	Validate message format
pre-push	Before git push	Run tests
post-checkout	After switching branches	Install dependencies

Server-Side Hooks

Hook	Trigger	Use Case
pre-receive	Before receiving push	Permission validation
update	Before each ref update	Branch protection
post-receive	After receiving push	Trigger CI/CD

Using Husky + lint-staged

npm install husky lint-staged --save-dev
npx husky init

// .husky/pre-commit
npx lint-staged

// package.json
{
  "lint-staged": {
    "*.{js,ts,tsx}": [
      "eslint --fix",
      "prettier --write"
    ],
    "*.css": [
      "stylelint --fix"
    ]
  }
}

commitlint for Commit Message Validation

npm install @commitlint/cli @commitlint/config-conventional --save-dev

// commitlint.config.js
module.exports = {
  extends: ['@commitlint/config-conventional'],
  rules: {
    'type-enum': [2, 'always', [
      'feat', 'fix', 'docs', 'style', 'refactor',
      'perf', 'test', 'build', 'ci', 'chore', 'revert',
    ]],
    'subject-max-length': [2, 'always', 100],
  },
};

# .husky/commit-msg
npx --no -- commitlint --edit $1

---

5. Git Stash Advanced Usage

Multiple Stashes

# Stash with a message
git stash push -m "WIP: user list search feature"

# List all stashes
git stash list
# stash@{0}: On feature/search: WIP: user list search feature
# stash@{1}: On feature/order: WIP: order detail page

# Apply a specific stash
git stash apply stash@{1}

# Partial stash
git stash push -m "stash CSS only" -- '**/*.css'

Create a Branch from Stash

git stash branch feature/search stash@{0}
# Creates a new branch and applies the stash—great for turning WIP into a formal branch

---

6. Git Log Advanced Queries

Searching Commit Content

# Search for commits containing a specific string
git log -S "function calculateTotal"

# Search for commits matching a regex
git log -G "calculate.*Total"

# Search history for a specific file
git log --follow -- src/utils/calc.ts

# View file change stats per commit
git log --stat

# View detailed diffs per commit
git log -p -- src/utils/calc.ts

Formatted Output

# Custom format
git log --format="%h %ad | %s%d [%an]" --date=short

# Output:
# a1b2c3f 2026-05-30 | feat: add search functionality (HEAD -> main) [John]
# d4e5f6g 2026-05-29 | fix: fix sorting issue [Jane]

View Branch Merge Graph

git log --graph --oneline --all --decorate

---

7. Git Reflog: The Time Machine

reflog records every movement of HEAD—even commits that were "deleted" can be recovered.

# View operation history
git reflog
# a1b2c3f HEAD@{0}: commit: feat: new feature
# d4e5f6g HEAD@{1}: rebase: continue rebasing
# h7i8j9k HEAD@{2}: reset: moving to HEAD~1
# l0m1n2o HEAD@{3}: commit: accidentally deleted commit

# Recover a deleted commit
git cherry-pick l0m1n2o

# Or go directly back to a previous state
git reset --hard HEAD@{3}

Retention period: Default 90 days (gc.reflogExpire), 30 days for unreferenced commits.

---

8. Useful Alias Configuration

git config --global alias.lg "log --graph --oneline --all --decorate"
git config --global alias.last "log -1 HEAD --stat"
git config --global alias.unstage "reset HEAD --"
git config --global alias.amend "commit --amend --no-edit"
git config --global alias.wip "commit -m 'WIP'"
git config --global alias.co checkout
git config --global alias.br branch
git config --global alias.st status

Usage: git lg, git last, git unstage file.ts, etc.