Re: [PATCH v5 0/4] history: add squash subcommand to fold a range

On 01/07/2026 14:47, Junio C Hamano wrote:

Phillip Wood [off-list ref] writes:

quoted

The reason we're introducing the history command is to experiment with
providing a better user interface for rewriting history without being
bound by the limitations of "git rebase". So I think it would entirely
appropriate to try a different format for the squash message here. If it
turns out to be a success then we can see if we want to use it in "git
rebase" as well.

Do we know concretely things that are bad in the current way "rebase
-i" works, so that we can experiment deviation from?

Yes - if you apply the way "rebase -i" works to multiple commits you can end up with a message template that has a screen full of commented lines between uncommitted parts of the message. See the example below from earlier in the thread. It is not so much of a problem in "rebase -i" because it only fixes up a single commit at a time so all the commented messages end up at the top of the buffer and at worst you have a few "# fixup! ..." or "# squash! ..." lines mixed in with the uncommitted text.

    # This is the combination of 4 commits
    # This is the first commit message
    Base subject

    Base body

    # This is the second commit message
    # Another subject

    # Another body

    # This is the third commit message
    # fixup! Base subject

    # This is the fourth commit message
    # amend! Another subject
    A better subject

    A better body

Thanks

Phillip