DmitryKoterov / git-grok

The only stacked commits (stacked PRs, stacked diff — you name it) solution for GitHub which really works.

Git-grok: stacked PRs and stacked diffs for GitHub

The only stacked commits (stacked PRs, stacked diffs — you name it) solution for GitHub which... well... actually works in 2022+.

One idempotent command to rule 'em all:

git grok

No arguments. No rules. No interactivity. We just don't need all of these.

Installation

git clone https://github.com/DmitryKoterov/git-grok.git
sudo ln -s $(pwd)/git-grok/git-grok /usr/local/bin/git-grok
brew install gh
gh auth login

Usage

cd your-repository

git pull --rebase
git grok

touch commit1
git add . && git commit -m "commit1"

git grok

touch commit2
git add . && git commit -m "commit2"
touch commit3
git add . && git commit -m "commit3"
touch commit4
git add . && git commit -m "commit4"

git grok
# as many times as you want

Example of a managed PR: #1

At any time you can modify a commit in the middle of the stack and rerun git grok to update all the PRs:

git rebase -i
git commit --amend
git rebase --continue

git grok

You can also reorder the commits freely in case the one in the middle got accepted earlier than the previous one. Just run git grok afterwards.

Forget branches and git push as a nightmare.

How to Merge

If your repository enforces code reviews on the main branch (so the only way to push there is through GitHub UI), the process is following.

You "Create a merge commit" or "Squash and merge" or "Rebase and merge" the 1st PR in the stack by clicking the button in GitHub UI (it will go to the main branch).

Then, after the PR is merged, GitHub is smart enough to update the base of the next PR in the stack to point to the main branch (hooray!). So you just switch to the 2nd PR in the stack and merge it.

Rinse.

Repeat.

Warning: pay attention to only merge (or rebase) into the main branch in GitHub UI. GitHub is smart, so it automatically changes the base of the next PR to main once its old branch is auto-deleted when you merge, but if you see something unusual, just rerun git pull --rebase && git grok

What if my GitHub Actions are slow, so they take minutes to execute?

(First of all, you'd better make them fast, because you're wasting the time/money of the entire company otherwise.)

But if you cannot (my condolences), and you want to use "Squash and merge" or "Rebase and merge" button with stacked PRs, I have bad news for you. When you merge a bottom PR in the stack using any of those two options (note: the 3rd option, "Create a merge commit", works fine), you'll have to wait until GitHub Actions finish running the checks for all other PRs above. It's a GitHub limitation.

There are 2 workarounds here though:

1. Recommended: use "Create a merge commit" option on the PR button. It doesn't have this problem with re-running GitHub Actions checks when some bottom PR gets merged.
2. If you don't want merge commits, and you ran git pull --rebase before git grok, and all GitHub Actions checks in all PRs have succeeded, and there are no other commits added on top of the main branch by someone else... then, you can merge the entire stack from your local machine with the following snippet:

   for c in $(git log --reverse --pretty=format:%h origin/main...HEAD); do
     git push origin $c:main
     sleep 5
   done
   

   Notice that "Squash and merge"/"Rebase and merge" button in GitHub UI won't work in this case still, because it amends the commit message implicitly, so it will still rerun the checks for the PRs above.