git-dateswap

Change Git commit dates easily and interactively — one or many at a time.

Easily edit commit dates in a Git repository using text editor. Built on top of git-filter-repo, this tool helps you modify dates safely and quickly.

Features

• Change commit dates via your preferred text editor
• Supports recent N commits or the entire history
• Automatically rewrites the author and committer dates
• Simple and portable (Bash + Python + gum)

Usage

git-dateswap [OPTIONS]

Example

Edit the last 3 commits in TUI mode:

git-dateswap -c 3 --tui

Edit all commits and show debug info:

git-dateswap --all --debug

Run without restoring the Git remote:

git-dateswap --no-restore-remote

Options

Option	Description
-c, --commits N	Number of recent commits to edit
-a, --all	Edit all commits in the repository
-d, --debug	Print debug info
-t, --tui	Use the interactive TUI (via gum)
--no-restore-remote	Do not restore the origin remote after running git-filter-repo

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⚠️ Remote Removal by git-filter-repo

git-filter-repo intentionally removes the origin remote after rewriting history to prevent accidental git push --force. This is expected behavior.

However, git-dateswap will automatically re-add the origin remote (with the same URL) after the process, unless you pass the --no-restore-remote flag.

This makes it safer for local or personal use, while still allowing advanced users to disable it when necessary.

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🛠 Dependencies

• git-filter-repo
• gum (optional, for TUI mode)

The script will check for these tools and guide you through installation if needed.

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Installation

# Clone the repo
git clone https://github.com/paulocsb/git-dateswap.git
cd git-dateswap

# Make it executable
chmod +x git-dateswap

# (Optional) Add it to your $PATH
echo 'export PATH="$PATH:$(pwd)"' >> ~/.bashrc  # or ~/.zshrc
source ~/.bashrc  # or ~/.zshrc

📌 Note: You can place it anywhere in your PATH

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Example Workflow

# Edit last 5 commits in a text editor
git dateswap -c 5

# Edit all commits using the TUI
git dateswap --all --tui

# Push changes
git push --force

Notes

• Commit messages and hashes remain unchanged (except for the date).
• You’ll be prompted once to choose your editor. The preference is saved in ~/.dateswap-settings.

Uninstall

Just delete the script:

rm /<YOUR-PATH>/git-dateswap
rm ~/.dateswap-settings