Lab: handle git trouble

Pick the right recovery move — rebase, conflicts, revert vs reset, bisect.

Lab · optionalFundamentalsIntermediate10 min

Recommended first

Finding a bad commit with git bisect

By the end of this lesson you will be able to:

Choose between revert and reset by context
Recognise and handle a merge conflict
Reach for bisect to localise a regression

Optional scenario lab. Git trouble is calm when you know the move. Practice picking it — then try the commands in a scratch repo to make them muscle memory.

Scenarios: getting out of git trouble

1.
You need to undo a commit that teammates have already pulled. Safest choice?
git reset --hardgit revertForce-push over itDelete the branch
2.
Mid-merge, a file now contains <<<<<<< HEAD and >>>>>>> markers. What are they?
Corruption — re-clone the repoGit showing a conflict for you to resolveA syntax error in your codeA virus
3.
Something worked last week and is broken now, somewhere in 200 commits. Best tool to find the culprit?
Read all 200 commits by handgit bisectgit stashgit clone
4.
You want a clean, linear history on your own branch that you haven't pushed yet. Reasonable move?
Rebase your branch onto the latest mainRebase commits everyone already pulledNever use branchesForce-push to main

Recovery is a skill, not a panic. You can now undo, resolve, and hunt regressions deliberately.

Finished reading? Mark it complete to track your progress.

Finding a bad commit with git bisect

Binary-search your history to pinpoint exactly when a bug appeared.

Build and release pipelines

How code gets from your machine to production, reliably and repeatably.