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Rewrite Git History

If you have multiple git profiles, you will eventually mistakenly push a commit from the wrong author. For example, if you have a work and personal git account, and you write a quick patch for a personal project and commit the code from your work account, your "collaborators" on Github will show your work account.

If you wish to fix this, you can use the steps below to rewrite Git history, replacing any reference to your work profile with your personal one.

Requirements

Steps

Clone the repository in a new directory using the --bare flag, i.e.: git clone --bare git@github.com:user/repo.git. This will create a local copy of your repository's HEAD refs; you will not see your code, but instead will see directories like branches/, tags/, etc. This is essentially the metadata for your repository, as well as the git history.

Run a command like the following, replacing the Old Name, old.email@example.com, New Name, and new.email@example.com with your old/new author:

Replace git author in history
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git filter-branch --env-filter '
if [ "$GIT_COMMITTER_NAME" = "Old Name" ] && [ "$GIT_COMMITTER_EMAIL" = "old.email@example.com" ]; then
    GIT_COMMITTER_NAME="New Name"
    GIT_COMMITTER_EMAIL="new.email@example.com"
    GIT_AUTHOR_NAME="New Name"
    GIT_AUTHOR_EMAIL="new.email@example.com"
fi
' --tag-name-filter cat -- --branches --tags

Clean your refs and ensure proper pruning:

Clean git refs
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git reflog expire --expire=now --all
git gc --prune=now

Finally, force-push your changes:

Force push git changes
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git push --force --all
git push --force --tags

Re-clone the repository, this time without --bare, and use git log --author="Old Name" to ensure all refs have been removed.