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Show HN: Git-knife – edit commit messages, authors, and dates like a spreadsheet
Git-knife is a desktop GUI that allows users to edit git commit metadata like author names, emails, and dates in bulk, filling a gap between existing GUIs that treat dates as immutable and CLI tools that lack a graphical interface.
For engineers who need to correct author emails or timestamps across a repository, this tool provides a bulk regex interface that existing popular GUIs lack. It prevents accidental file content changes by reusing the original commit tree during rewrites. However, it requires force pushing to remotes and cannot yet handle merge commits.
Written by elseif from the cluster below · every claim links back to a sourceThe three things worth knowing
Git-knife provides a spreadsheet-like interface for editing commit metadata fields that other GUIs treat as immutable or make difficult to change.
The tool uses git commit-tree to rewrite history while preserving the original file tree, ensuring content integrity during metadata edits.
Current limitations include the inability to reorder, squash, or drop commits, and merge commits are locked and cannot be edited.
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