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How to change git author date

Author date is the timestamp attached to the person who wrote the change. If it is wrong — wrong timezone, drifted clock, or commits under the wrong identity — you can fix it across a branch with git-edit-date.

Author date vs committer date

Git stores two timestamps. Author date is when the work was written. Committer date is when the commit object was created. See author date vs commit date for the full difference.

Change author date with CSV

  1. Export: git-edit-date export -o commits.csv
  2. Edit author_date (RFC3339 with timezone). Optionally fix author_name and author_email in the same rows.
  3. Apply: git-edit-date apply -file=commits.csv
  4. If already pushed: git push --force-with-lease

Step-by-step: tutorial — edit the CSV. Tip commit only? change last commit date.

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