Git & GitHub Interview Question #56

How do you amend the most recent Git commit?

Undo & Recovery, Tags, Forks, Pull Requests & Code Review Mid-Level Intermediate

Quick Interview Answer

git commit --amend replaces the most recent commit with a new commit. It can be used to include newly staged changes or correct the latest commit message.

Detailed Explanation

git commit --amend replaces the most recent commit with a new commit. It can be used to include newly staged changes or correct the latest commit message.

Because amending changes the commit ID, it rewrites history. It is straightforward for a local unpublished commit, but amending a commit already shared with others requires coordination.

Code Example

# Add a forgotten file
git add README.md
git commit --amend --no-edit

# Change the latest message
git commit --amend -m "Correct commit message"