dev-git-rescue

Use git reflog to find the sha of the lost commit or branch tip, then restore it with git branch rescue/<name> <sha>. The reflog retains entries for roughly 90 days, covering bad resets, deleted branches, and botched rebases.

Run git rebase -i with GIT_SEQUENCE_EDITOR set to a non-interactive command such as cp <todo-file>, so the rebase executes unattended. For bulk mechanical rewrites across many commits, use git commit-tree plus git update-ref instead.

Use git revert <sha> when the bad commit is already pushed, since it creates a new inverse commit without rewriting shared history. Use git reset --soft HEAD~1 only for local commits, and git reset --hard only after git status confirms nothing would be lost.

Run git fsck --unreachable and grep for commit entries, then inspect candidates with git show to identify the dropped stash. Once found, you can restore it by referencing its sha.

git filter-branch is deprecated and fragile, particularly with stash refs. Prefer git rebase -i for reword/squash/reorder tasks, or git commit-tree with git update-ref for fully scripted bulk rewrites.

Compare tree hashes, not log output: git rev-parse <old>^{tree} equal to git rev-parse <new>^{tree} proves no content moved. A linear-looking log cannot reveal whether a commit was silently dropped.