git undo 🥐 — a Git plugin that enables Ctrl+Z functionality 💫

1. git undo: one simple command to undo (almost) any Git operation:

git add .
git commit -m "oops, wrong files"
git undo                           # Back to before commit, files still staged
git undo                           # Back to before add, clean working directory

2. git back: undo navigation commands e.g. git checkout/switch:

# Assume we're on main
git switch feature-branch
git back # back to main
git back # back to feature-branch

3. git undo undo Undoed accidently? Undo it as well. (like Ctrl+Shift+Z)

git add .
git commit -m "oops, wrong files"
git undo                           # Back to before commit, files still staged
git undo undo                      # Back to commited again

4. git undo --dry-run: see what would be undone:

# Make some changes
git add file.txt
git undo --dry-run # shows hint to run "git restore --staged ."
git commit -m "test commit"
git undo --dry-run # shows hint to run "git reset --soft HEAD~1"

5. Debug options: git undo --verbose, git undo --log

Now you can use Git confidently, knowing any command is easily undoable.

Installation Options

One-liner (Recommended)

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/amberpixels/git-undo/main/install.sh | bash

Manual Installation (useful for development, debugging, troubleshooting)

git clone https://github.com/amberpixels/git-undo.git
cd git-undo
./install.sh

Requirements: Git, Go ≥ 1.21, Bash/Zsh

Suggestions for aliases

alias gu="git undo"
alias gub="git back"
alias guu="git undo undo"
alias gul="git undo --log | head"

Supported commands to be undo-ed:

Git Command	How it's undone	Notes
git add	git restore --staged <files> or git reset <files>	Unstages files. Uses git reset if no HEAD exists
git commit	git reset --soft HEAD~1	Keeps changes staged. Handles merge commits and tagged commits
git branch <name>	git branch -D <name>	Deletes the created branch
git checkout -b <name>	git branch -D <name>	Deletes branch created by checkout -b
git switch -c <name>	git branch -D <name>	Deletes branch created by switch -c
git switch <branch>	git switch -	Returns to previous branch
git merge <branch>	git reset --merge ORIG_HEAD	Handles both fast-forward and merge commits
git cherry-pick <commit>	git reset --hard HEAD~1	Removes cherry-picked commit
git revert <commit>	git reset --hard HEAD~1	Removes revert commit
git reset	git reset <previous-head>	Restores to previous HEAD position using reflog
git stash / git stash push	git stash pop	Pops and removes the stash
git rm <files>	git restore --source=HEAD --staged --worktree <files>	Restores removed files
git rm --cached <files>	git add <files>	Re-adds files to index
git mv <old> <new>	git mv <new> <old>	Reverses the move operation
git tag <name>	git tag -d <name>	Deletes the created tag
git restore --staged <files>	git add <files>	Re-stages the files

Not Yet Supported (Returns helpful error message):

Git Command	Reason
git checkout <branch>	Only checkout -b is supported (regular checkout navigation not undoable)
git clean	Cannot recover deleted untracked files (would need pre-operation backup)
git restore --worktree	Previous working tree state unknown
git restore --source=<ref>	Previous state from specific reference unknown
git stash pop/apply	Would need to re-stash, which is complex
Branch/tag deletion	Cannot restore deleted branches/tags (would need backup)

How It Works

After installation both shell hooks and git hooks are installed, that track any git command and send them to git-undo (a git plugin) binary. There git commands are categorized and stored in a tiny log file (.git/git-undo/commands). Later, when calling git undo it reads the log and decide if it's possible (and how) to undo previous command.

Examples

Undo a merge:

git merge feature-branch
git undo                 # resets --merge ORIG_HEAD

Undo adding specific files:

git add file1.js file2.js
git undo                 # unstages just those files

Undo branch creation:

git checkout -b new-feature
git undo                 # deletes branch, returns to previous

Self-Management

Get the version information:

git undo self version # same as git undo version

Update to latest version:

git undo self update

Uninstall:

git undo self uninstall

Contributing

Found a Git command that should be undoable? Open an issue or submit a PR!

License

MIT - see LICENSE file.

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Make Git worry-free! ⭐ Star this repo if git undo makes your development workflow better!