Git 2.54 ships git history (reword/split without touching working tree), config-based hooks, geometric repacking as default, and git log -L pickaxe compatibility.
Key Takeaways
git history reword <commit> rewrites a commit message in place, works on bare repos, no working tree or index involvement; git history split <commit> uses familiar add -p hunk interface.
Config-based hooks ([hook "name"] event = pre-commit command = ...) live in ~/.gitconfig or system config, support multiple hooks per event, and can be disabled per-repo with enabled = false.
Geometric repacking is now the default git maintenance run strategy, replacing the expensive all-into-one gc default with incremental pack consolidation.
git log -L now routes through standard diff machinery, making -S/-G pickaxe searches and --color-moved work with line-range history tracing for the first time.
git add -p gains hunk-decision history display (accepted/skipped) during J/K navigation and a --no-auto-advance flag to stay on a file after its last hunk.
Hacker News Comment Review
Commenters immediately recognized git history reword and git history split as direct analogues to Jujutsu’s jj describe and jj split, framing this as Git absorbing ergonomic ideas from its newer competitors.
Config-based hooks surfaced a persistent pain point: hooks don’t run on fresh clones for security reasons, leaving new contributors to submit unformatted PRs; discussion was open on whether the new system changes that dynamic.
Commenters noted that git-revise, a third-party tool, has offered similar targeted history rewriting (reword, cut) for years, raising the question of whether first-party support will displace it.
Notable Comments
@ajoberstar: Directly maps git history reword to jj describe and git history split to jj split, with links to both CLIs.
@charles_f: Points to git-revise as a prior art tool covering reword, move, and cut, still available for workflows git history won’t handle (merge commits).
@jinushaun: “Using git rebase -i just to fix a spelling error is overkill and doesn’t actually do what I want.”
