Amending the Author of the Last Three Commits

Amending the author of the last three commits in a Git repository involves rewriting the history of those commits. This can be done using an interactive rebase. It's important to note that rewriting history, especially commits that have already been pushed to a shared repository, can disrupt other users who may have based their work on these commits.

Step 1: Start an Interactive Rebase

You'll want to rebase the last three commits interactively. This means you'll modify commits starting from the fourth-last one to the present. Use the following command:

git rebase -i HEAD~3

This command will open an editor with a list of the last three commits.

Step 2: Mark Commits for Amending

In the editor that opens, you'll see the most recent commits listed like this:

pick e3a1b35 Commit message #3
pick 7ac9a67 Commit message #2
pick 4ed2fb8 Commit message #1

Change pick to edit for each of these commits, so you can amend them:

edit e3a1b35 Commit message #3
edit 7ac9a67 Commit message #2
edit 4ed2fb8 Commit message #1

Save and close the editor. Git will now pause the rebase process at each commit to allow you to amend it.

Step 3: Amend Each Commit

Git will stop at each commit you marked for editing. You can now amend the author with:

git commit --amend --author="New Author Name <email@example.com>"

Replace "New Author Name <email@example.com>" with the actual name and email address of the new author.

After amending the author, continue the rebase process with:

git rebase --continue

Git will stop at the next commit for you to amend. Repeat the git commit --amend --author="..." command and git rebase --continue until you have amended all three commits.

Step 4: Complete the Rebase

Once you have finished amending all the commits, the rebase will conclude. If you encounter any conflicts during the rebase, you'll need to resolve them manually and then use git rebase --continue to move on.

Step 5: Force Push the Changes (If Necessary)

If you have already pushed the original commits to a remote repository, you will need to force push the amended commits:

git push --force

Caution: Force pushing will overwrite the history on the remote. Coordinate with your team, as this can affect anyone else who has pulled the previous commits.

Summary

This method allows you to change the author information for the last three commits in your repository by using interactive rebase and amending each commit. Remember to proceed with caution when rewriting history that affects shared branches.