Git Forensics & History Investigation FAQs

Question 1

Can this skill recover code I deleted but never committed?

Accepted Answer

No, git only tracks committed snapshots. Git Forensics can recover committed work that was lost due to resets or branch deletions via the reflog, but it cannot recover uncommitted changes that were never added to the git database.

Question 2

What is the difference between Pickaxe (-S) and Regex (-G) search?

Accepted Answer

Pickaxe search (-S) looks for commits where the total number of occurrences of a specific string changed, making it extremely fast. Regex search (-G) looks for commits where a changed line matches a pattern, offering more flexibility for complex searches.

Question 3

How does git bisect help with debugging?

Accepted Answer

Git bisect uses a binary search algorithm to narrow down the exact commit that introduced a bug. It automates the process of checking out versions, allowing you to find a needle in a haystack of thousands of commits in just a few steps.

Question 4

How far back can the reflog recover my work?

Accepted Answer

By default, git's reflog keeps unreachable entries for 30 days and reachable ones for 90 days. As long as your accidental reset or deletion occurred within this window, the Git Forensics skill can likely find and restore the lost commits.

Question 5

Does this skill work with repositories that have large refactoring commits?

Accepted Answer

Yes, it is designed to handle noise by supporting .git-blame-ignore-revs and using advanced blame flags (-w -M -C) to skip whitespace changes and detect code that was moved or copied rather than rewritten.

Git Forensics & History Investigation

Git Forensics & History Investigation

Key Features

Use Cases

Key Features

Use Cases