shiganluo/skill/git-history-rewriting

Claude Code and agent skill by shiganluo/skill

Trust tier 2
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Source check pending

Checking that the SKILL.md file is still in the repository.

Remove files/dirs from all git history with filter-repo.

Install

npx vskill@latest install shiganluo/skill/git-history-rewriting

SKILL.md

Git History Rewriting

Remove files, directories, secrets, or patterns from all git history using git-filter-repo (preferred) or BFG Repo-Cleaner.

When to Use

  • User asks to remove a file/directory from git history
  • Need to purge secrets, credentials, or large blobs from all commits
  • Cleaning up accidentally committed build artifacts, caches, or data files

Prerequisites

bash
pip install git-filter-repo
git filter-repo --version

1. Remove a Path from History

bash
# Remove a directory from all commits
git filter-repo --path modules/old_module --invert-paths --force
 
# Remove a specific file
git filter-repo --path src/secret.env --invert-paths --force
 
# Remove by glob pattern
git filter-repo --path-glob '*.bak' --invert-paths --force
 
# Remove multiple paths
git filter-repo --path dir1/ --path dir2/file.txt --invert-paths --force

2. Strip Large Files

bash
git filter-repo --strip-blobs-bigger-than 10M
git filter-repo --path data/ --invert-paths --strip-blobs-bigger-than 5M

3. Replace Text (e.g. secrets)

bash
echo 'AKIA12345==>REDACTED_SECRET' > /tmp/expressions.txt
git filter-repo --replace-text /tmp/expressions.txt

Post-Operation Checklist

After every filter-repo run:

bash
# 1. Re-add remotes (filter-repo removes them by design)
git remote add origin git@github.com:OWNER/REPO.git
 
# 2. Verify the path is gone
git log --all --oneline -- path/removed    # should return empty
 
# 3. Confirm clean state
git status
 
# 4. Force-push (history diverged)
git push --force origin main

Pitfalls

P1: already_ran blocks non-interactive runs

.git/filter-repo/already_ran causes interactive Y/N prompt → EOFError in agents.

bash
rm -f .git/filter-repo/already_ran
P2: origin remote removed by design

filter-repo strips all remotes. Always re-add after.

P3: Force-push required

git push --force needed. Coordinate with collaborators.

P4: Shallow clones

filter-repo requires full history:

bash
git fetch --unshallow

BFG Repo-Cleaner (Alternative)

bash
java -jar bfg.jar --delete-files secret.env repo.git
java -jar bfg.jar --strip-blobs-bigger-than 10M repo.git
cd repo.git && git reflog expire --expire=now --all && git gc --prune=now --aggressive

BFG requires bare clone; filter-repo works on both.

Security

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Quality evaluation

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Source

Popularity

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