git-edit-date vs amend, rebase, filter-branch & filter-repo

There are several ways to change git commit dates. Here is an honest comparison to help you pick the right tool — from git commit --amend for one commit to CSV bulk edits for a whole branch.

Comparison table

	git-edit-date	git commit --amend	interactive rebase	filter-branch	filter-repo
Bulk edit dates	CSV in spreadsheet	Last commit only	One commit at a time	Shell env-filter script	Python callback script
Edit author email	Yes	Last commit only	Manual per commit	env-filter	mailmap / callback
Visual review before apply	Spreadsheet	No	No	No	No
Learning curve	Low	Low	Medium	High	Medium
Officially maintained	Active	Built into git	Built into git	Deprecated	Recommended replacement
Best for	Branch-level bulk fixes via CSV	Fix the tip commit only	1–3 recent commits	Legacy one-off scripts	Complex repo-wide migrations

When to use git-edit-date

You have many commits to fix on a single branch
You want to sort, filter, and review dates in Excel or LibreOffice
You need to change both author and committer dates with timezone offsets
You want a simple export → edit → apply workflow without writing shell scripts

When to use `git commit --amend`

Only the latest commit needs a date or author fix
You have not pushed yet, or you are fine rewriting just the tip
A one-liner is enough, for example GIT_AUTHOR_DATE=… GIT_COMMITTER_DATE=… git commit --amend --no-edit

Amend stops at one commit. If you need to fix dates across a branch, use the CSV tutorial instead of repeating amend or rebase stops.

When to use interactive rebase

Only the last commit (or very few) needs a date change
You are already in a rebase flow for squashing or reordering
You are comfortable with git rebase -i and amend commands

When to use filter-branch

You probably shouldn’t. Git officially deprecated filter-branch in favor of filter-repo. It remains in old tutorials and Stack Overflow answers, but the env-filter syntax is error-prone for date rewrites.

When to use filter-repo

Entire repository history needs restructuring
You are removing secrets, splitting repos, or doing large-scale author remapping
Performance and safety matter more than spreadsheet convenience

For complex cases, filter-repo is the right modern tool. git-edit-date wins when you want a spreadsheet and a quick branch-level fix.

Try git-edit-date

curl -LO https://giteditdate.com/git-edit-date_amd64.deb
sudo dpkg -i git-edit-date_amd64.deb
git-edit-date export -o commits.csv

Step-by-step: tutorial · Guides: blog · Common questions: FAQ · Commands: docs