How to reset a git branch to a given previous commit and fix the detached HEAD

git

I needed to reset my branch to an earlier working state (commit) so I did:

git reset --hard c70e611

Now I see

HEAD detached at c70e611
nothing to commit, working directory clean

How to fix / understand / get around the detached head message and push so that c70e611 is now the latest commit I am using and represents the HEAD of the branch I am working in (not master).

Best Answer

HEAD detached at c70e611

This is because when you did the git reset --hard, you were not on any branch at that time. You had a detached HEAD, and that detached head got moved with the git reset --hard command, along with a rewrite of your working tree to that state.

If you want some branch foo to be c70611, then:

git checkout foo
git reset --hard c70611

If this is considered to be a good state to push to foo's upstream then just git push <remote-name> foo.

There is a more direct way to force foo to c70611 without checking it out to be the current branch. Namely, you can rewrite what foo points to using the git update-ref command.

Before doing any of the above, I would pause and try to see how I had ended up in a detached state without noticing. Perhaps it was an unfinished rebase or whatever. Step one is to review the last few entries in the git reflog to help jog your memory.

Related Solutions

Github adding a repository as a fork from an existing clone

You can do it all from your existing repository (no need to clone the fork into a new (local) repository, create your branch, copy your commits/changes, etc.).

Get your commits ready to be published.

Refine any existing local commits (e.g. with git commit --amend and/or git rebase --interactive).

Commit any of your uncommitted changes that you want to publish (I am not sure if you meant to imply that you have some commits on your local master and some uncommitted changes, or just some uncommitted changes; incidentally, uncommitted changes are not “on a branch”, they are strictly in your working tree).

Rename your master branch to give it the name you want for your “new branch”. This is not strictly necessary (you can push from any branch to any other branch), but it will probably reduce confusion in the long run if your local branch and the branch in your GitHub fork have the same name.
```
git branch -m master my-feature
```
Fork the upstream GitHub repository
(e.g.) github.com:UpstreamOwner/repostory_name.git as
(e.g.) github.com:YourUser/repository_name.git.

This is done on the GitHub website (or a “client” that uses the GitHub APIs), there are no local Git commands involved.
In your local repository (the one that was originally cloned from the upstream GitHub repository and has your changes in its master), add your fork repository as a remote:
```
git remote add -f github github.com:YourUser/repository_name.git
```
Push your branch to your fork repository on GitHub.
```
git push github my-feature
```
Optionally, rename the remotes so that your fork is known as “origin” and the upstream as “upstream”.
```
git remote rename origin upstream
git remote rename github origin
```
One reason to rename the remotes would be because you want to be able to use git push without specifying a repository (it defaults to “origin”).

Bash – Custom bash autocomplete for git breaks other git autocomplete features

You could use __git_complete (defined in git-autocompletion.bash) to install your own function, and have your function fall back to the original function. Possibly like this:

function _ptid_git_complete_()
{
  local line="${COMP_LINE}"                   # the entire line that is being completed

  # check that the commit option was passed to git 
  if [[ "$line" == "git commit " ]]; then 
    # get the PivotalTracker Id from the branch name
    ptid=`git branch | grep -e "^\*" | sed 's/^\* //g' | sed 's/\-/ /g' | awk '{ print $(NF) }'`
    nodigits=$(echo $ptid | sed 's/[[:digit:]]//g')

    if [ ! -z $nodigits ]; then
      : # do nothing
    else
      COMPREPLY=("-m \"[#$ptid]")
    fi
  else
    __git_main
  fi
}

__git_complete git _ptid_git_complete_

Best Answer

Related Solutions

Github adding a repository as a fork from an existing clone

Bash – Custom bash autocomplete for git breaks other git autocomplete features

Related Question