Rewrite author info in commit messages with git-filter-repo

by Jii
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git-filter-repo is a tool to rewrite GitHub repository commit history. It can be used to rewrite authors information on a commit.

mailmap

To use git filter-repo, you’ll need to prepare a mailmap file, which is used to replace your old author names and emails with the new ones. The syntax for the mailmap file is as follows:

Correct Name <correct@email.com> OLD NAME1 <old@email1.com>
Correct Name <correct@email.com> OLD NAME2 <old@email2.com>

Feel free to add as many OLD NAME and OLD EMAIL entries as necessary for multiple author names that need to be changed.

Jii Yoo <yjii@pm.me> John Doe <john@doe.com>
Jii Yoo <yjii@pm.me> John Doe <johndoe@example.com>
Jii Yoo <yjii@pm.me> Jane Doe <jane-doe@example.com>

git-filter-repo

Please note that you need a freshly cloned repository. If you are performing this on an existing repository, it’s advisable to re-clone it.

cd repo

# /repo
git filter-repo --mailmap your-mailmap

After completing the task, the origin remote will be automatically removed. To restore it, you will need to add the origin back to your repository using the following command:

repo/$ git remote add origin REPO-URL

mass shortcut

  • open repo on a browser to copy remote origin (SSH URL)
  • unarchive the repo if it is
  • rewrite Signed-off-by message
  • change authors using the mailmap
  • rebase all commits
$ gh repo view --web && gh repo unarchive && git-filter-repo --message-callback 'return re.sub(b"Signed-off-by: Jii Yoo <jiiyoo@tuta.io>\n",b"",message)' && git filter-repo --mailmap ../mailmap && git rebase --exec 'git commit --amend --no-edit -n -n --allow-empty' -i --root

$ gh repo unarchive && git-filter-repo --mailmap ../../mailmap && git rebase --exec 'git commit --amend --no-edit -n -n --allow-empty' -i --root
  • then
    • add remote origin
    • git force push -> gpf
    • if needed, archive the repo again