git-undo-index

A git checkout -- / git reset --hard HEAD replacement that stores changes in the reflog!

Build status

Why

This script is a replacement for git checkout -- and git reset --hard HEAD.

It undoes changes but keeps a reference to those changes in the git reflog. This provides a non-destructive way to revert local changes.

This script also attempts to preserve any staged changes just like git checkout --.

Anyone that's ever done either git checkout -- FILE or git reset --hard HEAD without first stashing or committing realizes that there is no way to recover those changes, this script tries to solve that problem.

Installing

sudo curl -sSL -o /usr/local/bin/git-undo-index https://raw.githubusercontent.com/weikinhuang/git-undo-index/master/git-undo-index
chmod +x /usr/local/bin/git-undo-index

Usage

git undo-index [<pathspec>...]

Alias

In .gitconfig

[alias]
    undo = undo-index

Example

echo TEST > TEST
echo DELFILE > DELFILE
git add DELFILE TEST
git commit -m"test commit"

echo FILE2 > FILE2
git add FILE2

echo 1 >> TEST
rm -f DELFILE
git undo-index .

---

The resulting git status

On branch master
Changes to be committed:
  (use "git reset HEAD <file>..." to unstage)

        new file:   FILE2

---

The git reflog

8b6584a HEAD@{0}: checkout: moving from __undo_20034_1472180962 to master
af417b7 HEAD@{1}: commit: Undoing changes for master: test commit on Fri Aug 26 03:09:22 UTC 2016

---

The reflog entry for git show HEAD@{1}

commit af417b7a8ab0b46ec5af0cf9d7aeb0472abcf455
Author: Test Runner <foo@example.com>
Date:   Fri Aug 26 03:09:22 2016 +0000

    Undoing changes for master: test commit on Fri Aug 26 03:09:22 UTC 2016

diff --git a/DELFILE b/DELFILE
deleted file mode 100644
index 9513480..0000000
--- a/DELFILE
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-DELFILE
diff --git a/TEST b/TEST
index 2a02d41..0f7c719 100644
--- a/TEST
+++ b/TEST
@@ -1 +1,2 @@
 TEST
+1

Developing

TODO