I have the following commit history: HEAD HEAD~ HEAD~2 HEAD~3 git commit --amend modifies the current HEAD commit. But how do I modify HEAD~3?

 

To modify a commit that is not the most recent commit (i.e., not at HEAD), you can use an interactive rebase to change its content. Here's how you can modify the HEAD~3 commit using an example:

Assuming you have the following commit history:

css

A -- B -- C -- D (HEAD)

And you want to modify commit A (at HEAD~3):

1. Open your terminal or command prompt.

2. Navigate to the repository directory using the cd command.

3. Run the following command to initiate an interactive rebase:

sh

git rebase -i HEAD~4

In this case, HEAD~4 refers to the commit you want to modify (A).

4. An interactive rebase todo list will appear in your default text editor. It will list the commits to be rebased and their corresponding actions. Change the action from pick to edit for the commit you want to modify. Save and close the file.

5. Git will begin the rebase and stop at the commit you want to modify (A in this case).

6. Make your desired changes to the commit content.

7. Stage your changes using git add ..

8. Amend the commit using git commit --amend.

9. Continue the rebase using git rebase --continue.

Here's the sequence of commands:

sh

# Start interactive rebase to edit the commit
git rebase -i HEAD~4

# In the editor, change the action to "edit" for the commit you want to modify
# Save and close the editor

# Git will stop at the commit you want to modify
# Make changes and stage them
git add .

# Amend the commit
git commit --amend

# Continue the rebase
git rebase --continue

After completing these steps, the commit A (at HEAD~3) will be modified with your changes.

Keep in mind that modifying commit history can have implications, especially if the commits have been pushed to a remote repository. If others are working with the same repository, it's important to coordinate with them and communicate any changes to the commit history.