GitHub - raine/git-surgeon: Git primitives for autonomous coding agents

Install · Commands · Examples · Changelog

git-surgeon gives AI agents surgical control over git changes without interactive prompts. Stage, unstage, or discard individual hunks. Commit hunks directly with line-range precision. Restructure history by splitting commits or folding fixes into earlier ones.

Check out jj-hunk-tool if you're using Jujutsu.

Why?

AI agents can't use interactive git commands like git add -p. When asked to commit changes separately, they resort to destructive workarounds:

❯ commit the changes separately

⏺ Bash(git diff internal/bot/listing_handler.go)
  ⎿  diff --git i/internal/bot/listing_handler.go ...
     ... +83 lines

⏺ Let me reset and make the changes in two separate commits.

⏺ Bash(git checkout internal/bot/listing_handler.go)   ← about to destroy changes
  ⎿  Interrupted

With git-surgeon, the agent can inspect hunks and commit them selectively:

❯ commit the changes separately

⏺ I'll commit these as separate changes using git-surgeon.

⏺ Skill(git-surgeon)
  ⎿  Successfully loaded skill

⏺ Bash(git-surgeon hunks)
  ⎿  ac34353 internal/bot/listing_handler.go (+6 -3)
     15baf94 internal/bot/listing_handler.go (+10 -2)
     ...

⏺ Bash(git-surgeon commit ac34353 15baf94 7c6ef9e -m "allow edit commands during attribute input")

⏺ Bash(git-surgeon commit 4eefac8 bbba931 -m "add logging for attribute prompts")

What agents can do with git-surgeon

Stage, unstage, or discard individual hunks by ID
Commit selected hunks in one step
Stage specific lines within a hunk, not just whole hunks (example)
Split commits that mix concerns into focused commits (example), even retroactively (example)
Fold existing commits into earlier commits (fold)
Fold staged changes into earlier commits (amend)
Squash, reword, and reorder commits
Selectively undo hunks from previous commits
Commit to another branch without checking it out

Quick start

1. Install

# Shell
curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/raine/git-surgeon/main/scripts/install.sh | bash

# Cargo
cargo install git-surgeon

# Homebrew
brew install raine/git-surgeon/git-surgeon

2. Install the agent skill

# Claude Code
git-surgeon install-skill --claude

# OpenCode
git-surgeon install-skill --opencode

# Codex
git-surgeon install-skill --codex

Alternatively, for Claude Code via the plugin marketplace:

claude plugin marketplace add raine/git-surgeon
claude plugin install git-surgeon@git-surgeon

3. Use it

Ask Claude Code to make granular commits. It will use git-surgeon automatically to stage individual hunks instead of entire files.

Commands

Command	Description
`hunks`	List hunks in the diff
`show`	Show full diff for a specific hunk
`stage`	Stage hunks by ID
`commit`	Stage hunks and commit in one step
`commit-to`	Commit hunks directly to another branch
`unstage`	Unstage hunks by ID
`discard`	Discard working tree changes for hunks
`fold`	Fold existing commits into an earlier commit
`amend`	Fold staged changes into an earlier commit
`reword`	Change the commit message of an existing commit
`squash`	Squash multiple commits into one
`undo`	Reverse-apply hunks from a commit
`split`	Split a commit into multiple commits by hunk selection
`move`	Move a commit to a different position in history
`update`	Update git-surgeon to the latest version

Picking the right folding command

You have...	Use
Staged changes	`git-surgeon amend <target>`
One existing commit, defaulting to HEAD	`git-surgeon fold <target>`
One or more named commits	`git-surgeon fold <target> --from <sha>`

`hunks`

Lists all hunks with their IDs, file paths, function context, change counts, and a preview of changed lines.

# List unstaged hunks
git-surgeon hunks

# List staged hunks
git-surgeon hunks --staged

# Filter to a specific file
git-surgeon hunks --file src/main.rs

# List hunks from a specific commit
git-surgeon hunks --commit HEAD
git-surgeon hunks --commit abc1234

# Show full diff with line numbers (useful for small commits)
git-surgeon hunks --commit abc1234 --full

# Show blame information for each line (which commit introduced it)
git-surgeon hunks --blame

Example output

a1b2c3d src/main.rs fn handle_request (+3 -1)
  -    let result = process(input);
  +    let result = match process(input) {
  +        Ok(v) => v,
  +        Err(e) => return Err(e),
  +    };

e4f5678 src/lib.rs (+1 -0)
  +use std::collections::HashMap;

Each line shows: <hunk-id> <file> [function context] (+additions -deletions)

Blamed output (--blame)

Use --blame to see which commit introduced each line:

a1b2c3d src/main.rs fn handle_request (+3 -1)
  8922b52  context line
  b538223 -deleted line
  0000000 +added line

Context and removed lines show the 7-char hash of the commit that introduced them
Added lines show 0000000 since they're uncommitted
For --commit diffs, added lines show the commit hash instead

`show`

Shows the full diff (header + all lines) for a single hunk. Each line is prefixed with a 1-based line number for use with --lines.

git-surgeon show a1b2c3d

# Show a hunk from a specific commit
git-surgeon show a1b2c3d --commit HEAD

Example output

@@ -1,4 +1,6 @@ fn main
1: context
2:-deleted line
3:+added line
4: context

Searches both unstaged and staged diffs when no --commit is specified.

`stage`

Stages one or more hunks by ID. Equivalent to selectively answering "y" in git add -p.

git-surgeon stage a1b2c3d
git-surgeon stage a1b2c3d e4f5678

# Stage only lines 5-30 of a hunk
git-surgeon stage a1b2c3d --lines 5-30

`commit`

Stages hunks and commits them in a single step. Equivalent to running stage followed by git commit. If the commit fails, the hunks are unstaged to restore the original state. Refuses to run if the index already contains staged changes.

git-surgeon commit a1b2c3d e4f5678 -m "add pagination"

# With inline line ranges
git-surgeon commit a1b2c3d:1-11 e4f5678 -m "add pagination"

`commit-to`

Commits hunks directly to another branch without checking it out. Useful in worktree setups where you want to commit changes to a branch that is checked out in a different worktree.

git-surgeon commit-to main a1b2c3d e4f5678 -m "fix typo in shared util"

# With inline line ranges
git-surgeon commit-to main a1b2c3d:1-11 e4f5678 -m "fix typo"

The command applies the selected hunks to the target branch's tree using git plumbing (no checkout required), creates a commit, and discards those hunks from the working tree. Refuses to run if the target is the current branch or the index has staged changes.

If the patch cannot be applied cleanly to the target branch (e.g., the file has diverged), the command fails without modifying anything.

`unstage`

Unstages one or more previously staged hunks, moving them back to the working tree.

git-surgeon unstage a1b2c3d
git-surgeon unstage a1b2c3d e4f5678

# Unstage only lines 5-30 of a hunk
git-surgeon unstage a1b2c3d --lines 5-30

`discard`

Discards working tree changes for specific hunks. This reverse-applies the hunks, effectively running git checkout -p non-interactively.

git-surgeon discard a1b2c3d

# Discard only lines 5-30 of a hunk
git-surgeon discard a1b2c3d --lines 5-30

Warning: This permanently removes uncommitted changes for the specified hunks.

`fold`

Folds one or more existing commits into an earlier commit, removing the source commits from history and merging their changes into the target. Intermediate commits are preserved. By default, folds HEAD into the target.

For folding staged changes instead, use amend.

# Fold HEAD into an earlier commit
git-surgeon fold abc1234

# Fold a specific commit (not HEAD) into an earlier one
git-surgeon fold abc1234 --from def5678

# Fold multiple commits into one target in a single pass
git-surgeon fold abc1234 --from def5678 aaa1111 bbb2222

Multiple --from values are folded in a single rebase, avoiding repeated history rewrites and SHA tracking. Commits are applied in their original chronological order regardless of the order given on the command line.

Uses a rebase internally. If a conflict occurs, the repo is left in the conflict state for manual resolution (git rebase --continue or git rebase --abort). Dirty working tree is autostashed and restored. Refuses to run when the index already has staged changes.

`amend`

Folds currently staged changes into an earlier commit. Uses git commit --amend for HEAD, or an autosquash rebase for older commits. Unstaged changes are preserved via --autostash.

For folding an existing commit instead, use fold.

# Stage some hunks, then amend an earlier commit
git-surgeon stage a1b2c3d
git-surgeon amend abc1234

# Amend HEAD (equivalent to git commit --amend --no-edit)
git-surgeon amend HEAD

If the rebase hits a conflict, the repo is left in the conflict state for manual resolution (git rebase --continue or git rebase --abort).

`reword`

Changes the commit message of an existing commit without modifying its content. Uses git commit --amend for HEAD, or an autosquash rebase for older commits.

# With subject + body
git-surgeon reword HEAD -m "subject" -m "body paragraph"

# Change an earlier commit's message
git-surgeon reword abc1234 -m "corrected message"

If the rebase hits a conflict, the repo is left in the conflict state for manual resolution (git rebase --continue or git rebase --abort).

`squash`

Combines commits from <commit> through HEAD into a single commit.

# Squash last 2 commits
git-surgeon squash HEAD~1 -m "combined feature"

# Squash last 3 commits with subject + body
git-surgeon squash HEAD~2 -m "Add user auth" -m "Implements JWT-based authentication."

# Squash from a specific commit
git-surgeon squash abc1234 -m "feature complete"

# Force squash even if range contains merge commits
git-surgeon squash HEAD~3 --force -m "squash with merges"

The target commit must be an ancestor of HEAD. If the range contains merge commits, use --force to flatten them into the squashed commit. Uncommitted changes are autostashed and restored after squashing. The author from the oldest commit is preserved by default; use --no-preserve-author to use the current user instead.

`undo`

Reverse-applies hunks from a specific commit onto the working tree. Useful for selectively reverting parts of a previous commit without reverting the entire commit.

# List hunks from the commit to find IDs
git-surgeon hunks --commit HEAD

# Undo specific hunks
git-surgeon undo a1b2c3d --from HEAD
git-surgeon undo a1b2c3d e4f5678 --from HEAD~3

# Undo only lines 2-10 of a hunk
git-surgeon undo a1b2c3d --from HEAD --lines 2-10

The changes appear as unstaged modifications in the working tree. Fails gracefully if context lines have changed since the commit (the patch no longer applies cleanly).

`split`

Splits an existing commit into multiple commits by selecting which hunks go into each new commit. Works on HEAD (direct reset) or earlier commits (via rebase).

# Split HEAD into two commits
git-surgeon split HEAD \
  --pick a1b2c3d e4f5678 -m "add pagination" \
  --rest-message "filter deleted users"

# With subject + body (multiple -m flags, like git commit)
git-surgeon split HEAD \
  --pick a1b2c3d -m "Add pagination" -m "Adds page and per_page params." \
  --rest-message "Other changes" --rest-message "Body paragraph."

# With line ranges (id:range inline syntax)
# Use commas for non-contiguous ranges
git-surgeon split abc1234 \
  --pick a1b2c3d:1-11,20-30 e4f5678 \
  -m "add pagination"

# Multiple splits (more than two commits)
git-surgeon split abc1234 \
  --pick a1b2c3d -m "add pagination" \
  --pick e4f5678 -m "filter deleted users" \
  --rest-message "remaining cleanup"

Each --pick group specifies hunk IDs (with optional :start-end line ranges) followed by -m/--message. Use multiple -m flags to add a commit body (joined with blank lines, like git commit). Remaining unpicked hunks are committed with --rest-message (defaults to the original commit message if omitted; supports multiple values for body).

Requires a clean working tree. For non-HEAD commits, uses interactive rebase with --autostash.

`move`

Moves a commit to a different position in history. Useful for reordering commits to group related changes together.

# Move a commit after another commit
git-surgeon move abc1234 --after def5678

# Move a commit before another commit
git-surgeon move abc1234 --before def5678

# Move a commit to the end of the branch
git-surgeon move abc1234 --to-end

Fails if the range between the source and target contains merge commits.

`update`

Updates git-surgeon to the latest GitHub release. Downloads the appropriate platform binary, verifies its SHA-256 checksum, and replaces the current executable.

git-surgeon update

If installed via Homebrew, use brew upgrade git-surgeon instead.

git-surgeon also checks for updates automatically in the background (once per 24 hours) and prints a notice when a newer version is available. Disable with GIT_SURGEON_NO_UPDATE_CHECK=1.

How hunk IDs work

IDs are 7-character hex strings derived from SHA-1 of the file path and hunk content (the actual +/-/context lines, excluding the @@ header). This means:

IDs are stable across line shifts — adding lines above a hunk doesn't change its ID
IDs are deterministic — the same content always produces the same ID
Collisions get a -2, -3 suffix (e.g., a1b2c3d-2)

Typical AI agent workflow

# 1. Agent makes changes to multiple files
# 2. Review what changed
git-surgeon hunks

# 3. Stage and commit hunks for feature A in one step
git-surgeon commit a1b2c3d e4f5678 -m "implement feature A"

# 4. Commit remaining hunks for feature B
git-surgeon commit f6g7h8i -m "implement feature B"

Examples

Splitting a hunk across commits

A file has two unrelated changes (pagination + soft-delete filtering) that git groups into a single hunk. The agent uses show to see line numbers, then --lines to stage only the pagination part:

❯ Commit the changes separately

⏺ Bash(git diff)
  ⎿  diff --git i/users.py w/users.py
     index c3c39df..24929a5 100644
     --- i/users.py
     +++ w/users.py
     @@ -1,13 +1,17 @@
      import json

     -def list_users(db):
     +def list_users(db, page=1, per_page=50):
          """Return all active users."""
     -    users = db.query("SELECT * FROM users WHERE active = 1")
     -    return users
     +    offset = (page - 1) * per_page
     +    users = db.query("SELECT * FROM users WHERE active = 1 LIMIT ? OFFSET ?", per_page, offset)
     +    total = db.query("SELECT COUNT(*) FROM users WHERE active = 1")[0]
     +    return {"users": users, "total": total, "page": page}

      def get_user(db, user_id):
          """Fetch a single user by ID."""
     -    user = db.query("SELECT * FROM users WHERE id = ?", user_id)
     +    user = db.query("SELECT * FROM users WHERE id = ? AND deleted_at IS NULL", user_id)
     +    if not user:
     +        return None
          return user

⏺ There are two logical changes here: pagination for list_users and
  soft-delete filtering + null handling for get_user. Let me commit them
  separately using git-surgeon.

⏺ Skill(git-surgeon)
  ⎿  Successfully loaded skill

⏺ Bash(git-surgeon hunks)
  ⎿  64ba255 users.py (+8 -4)
       -def list_users(db):
       +def list_users(db, page=1, per_page=50):
       -    users = db.query("SELECT * FROM users WHERE active = 1")
       ... (+8 more lines)

⏺ Only one hunk. Let me see the full diff with line numbers to split it.

⏺ Bash(git-surgeon show 64ba255)
  ⎿  @@ -1,13 +1,17 @@
      1: import json
      2:
      3:-def list_users(db):
      4:+def list_users(db, page=1, per_page=50):
     ... +15 lines (ctrl+o to expand)

⏺ Bash(git-surgeon stage 64ba255 --lines 1-11)
  ⎿  64ba255

⏺ Bash(git commit -m "add pagination to list_users")
  ⎿  [feature-users e81ede5] add pagination to list_users
      1 file changed, 5 insertions(+), 3 deletions(-)

⏺ Bash(git add users.py && git commit -m "filter soft-deleted users in get_user")
  ⎿  [feature-users de99d59] filter soft-deleted users in get_user
      1 file changed, 3 insertions(+), 1 deletion(-)

Splitting a commit that mixes concerns

A commit mixes three unrelated changes: logging, pagination, and active user filtering. The agent uses hunks --commit to see the changes, show --commit to examine line numbers, then split with line ranges to separate concerns:

❯ split the big pagination commit that mixes concerns into multiple commits

⏺ Skill(git-surgeon)
  ⎿  Successfully loaded skill

⏺ I'll help you split the pagination commit. Let me first look at the commit
  history to identify it, then examine its hunks.

⏺ Bash(git log --oneline -5)
  ⎿  dda5d0e Add readme
     945381f Add pagination, logging, and active user filtering
     386b2fe Initial app setup

⏺ Bash(git-surgeon hunks --commit 945381f --full)
  ⎿  a811273 config.py (+3 -1)
     1: DATABASE_URL = "sqlite:///app.db"
     2: SECRET_KEY = "dev-secret-key"
     … +76 lines (ctrl+o to expand)

⏺ I can see the commit mixes several concerns:
  1. Logging - LOG_LEVEL, LOG_FORMAT, logging imports, logger.info/warning calls
  2. Pagination - MAX_PAGE_SIZE, pagination logic in list_users
  3. Active user filtering - active field in User model and data, filtering in list_users

  Let me split this into three focused commits:

⏺ Bash(git-surgeon split 945381f \
        --pick a811273:4-6 8c1940f:2,5-6,34,37 \
        -m "Add logging infrastructure" \
        -m "Configure debug logging level and format, add request l…)
  ⎿  committed: Add logging infrastructure
     committed: Add active flag to users
     committed: Add pagination support

⏺ Done. Let me verify the split:

⏺ Bash(git log --oneline -5)
  ⎿  f5d7d3e Add readme
     ff73e29 Add pagination support
     d6d0a7b Add active flag to users
     … +2 lines (ctrl+o to expand)

⏺ The commit has been split into three focused commits:
  ┌─────────┬─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
  │ Commit  │                                         Description                                         │
  ├─────────┼─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
  │ 6f98f7e │ Add logging infrastructure - LOG_LEVEL, LOG_FORMAT config, logging imports and logger calls │
  ├─────────┼─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
  │ d6d0a7b │ Add active flag to users - active field in model/data, filtering logic                      │
  ├─────────┼─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
  │ ff73e29 │ Add pagination support - MAX_PAGE_SIZE config, page/per_page params, paginated response     │
  └─────────┴─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

✻ Sautéed for 35s

Splitting a commit retroactively

An agent commits two unrelated changes together. The user asks to separate them after the fact using split:

⏺ Bash(git add instance.rs mounts.rs && git commit -m "mount credentials to guest home and show mounts on VM creation")
  ⎿  [sandbox ddef0f1] mount credentials to guest home and show mounts on VM creation
      2 files changed, 30 insertions(+), 3 deletions(-)

⏺ Committed ddef0f1 on sandbox. Two changes:
  - Fixed credential mount to target guest home instead of host path
  - Added mount point output when creating a new VM

❯ commit them separately

⏺ Skill(git-surgeon)
  ⎿  Successfully loaded skill

⏺ Bash(git-surgeon hunks --commit HEAD)
  ⎿  2fc287e instance.rs fn ensure_vm_running (+15 -0)
       +            eprintln!("  Mounts:");
     … +13 more lines
     53c287a mounts.rs fn get_mounts (+3 -3)
       -    mount_path: host_home.join(".claude"),
       +    mount_path: PathBuf::from("/home/user.linux/.claude"),
     bdbda13 instance.rs fn create_vm (+12 -0)
       +    for mount in &mounts {
     … +10 more lines

⏺ Bash(git-surgeon split HEAD \
        --pick 53c287a bdbda13 -m "mount credentials to guest home directory" \
        --rest-message "show mount points when creating a new VM")
  ⎿  committed: mount credentials to guest home directory
     committed: show mount points when creating a new VM

Requirements

Git 2.0+
Rust (for building from source)

Related projects

workmux — Git worktrees + tmux windows for parallel AI agent workflows
claude-history — Search and view Claude Code conversation history with fzf
tmux-agent-usage — Display AI agent rate limit usage in your tmux status bar

推荐订阅源

Hacker News - Newest: "AI"

Why?

Quick start

1. Install

2. Install the agent skill

3. Use it

Commands

Picking the right folding command

`hunks`

Example output

Blamed output (--blame)

`show`

Example output

`stage`

`commit`

`commit-to`

`unstage`

`discard`

`fold`

`amend`

`reword`

`squash`

`undo`

`split`

`move`

`update`

How hunk IDs work

Typical AI agent workflow

Examples

Splitting a hunk across commits

Splitting a commit that mixes concerns

Splitting a commit retroactively

Requirements

Related projects