How to Rebase Local Branch onto Remote Master in Git

To rebase your local branch RB onto the latest version of remote_repo’s master branch, you’ll need to run the following sequence of Git commands: git fetch to get the latest changes, git checkout RB to switch to your branch, git rebase origin/master to rebase onto the remote master, and git push --force-with-lease origin RB to push your rebased branch.

Contents

• Why Rebase Onto Remote Master?
• Step-by-Step Command Sequence
• Alternative Approaches
• Handling Merge Conflicts
• Best Practices and Warnings
• Complete Example Walkthrough

Why Rebase Onto Remote Master?

Rebasing your local branch onto the remote master branch is essential for maintaining a clean, linear project history. When you work on a feature branch while other team members continue pushing to master, your branch can fall behind and potentially create complex merge conflicts. As the official Git documentation explains, rebasing “allows you to integrate the latest changes from the master branch into your feature branch, creating a linear history.”

This process ensures that:

• Your feature branch always contains the latest changes from master
• When you eventually merge, the history remains clean and linear
• You can identify and resolve conflicts early rather than during the final merge

Step-by-Step Command Sequence

Here’s the exact sequence of commands to rebase your local branch RB onto remote_repo’s master branch:

# 1. Fetch the latest changes from the remote repository
git fetch remote_repo

# 2. Switch to your local branch
git checkout RB

# 3. Rebase your branch onto the latest remote master
git rebase remote_repo/master

# 4. Push your rebased branch to the remote
git push --force-with-lease remote_repo RB

Breaking down each command:

1. git fetch remote_repo - This command retrieves all the latest commits from the remote repository without modifying your local files. It’s the safe way to update your view of the remote branches.

2. git checkout RB - This switches your working directory to your feature branch where you’ve been making your commits.

3. git rebase remote_repo/master - This is the core command that rebases your branch. It takes all your commits on the RB branch and reapplies them on top of the latest remote_repo/master commits.

4. git push --force-with-lease remote_repo RB - This pushes your rebased branch to the remote repository. The --force-with-lease flag is safer than --force because it prevents you from accidentally overwriting someone else’s work.

Important: According to the Git documentation, “Often, you’ll do this to make sure your commits apply cleanly on a remote branch — perhaps in a project to which you’re trying to contribute but that you don’t maintain.”

Alternative Approaches

Combined Command Approach

Some developers prefer a more streamlined approach using git pull --rebase:

git checkout RB
git pull --rebase remote_repo master
git push --force-with-lease remote_repo RB

As Stack Overflow contributors note, “Where as git pull --rebase origin master is combination of both these commands. I would suggest to use separate commands which gives a bit of more control especially when you’re new to rebasing.”

Interactive Rebasing

For more control over your commits during rebase:

git checkout RB
git rebase -i remote_repo/master

This opens an interactive session where you can edit, squash, or reorder commits before applying them to the new base.

Handling Merge Conflicts

During the rebase process, you may encounter merge conflicts. Here’s how to handle them:

1. When conflicts occur, Git will pause the rebase and show you which files have conflicts.

2. Resolve the conflicts in your text editor or IDE:

   bash

   # Edit the conflicting files
   git status  # See which files still need resolution
   

3. Mark conflicts as resolved:

   bash

   git add <resolved-file>  # Add the resolved file
   

4. Continue the rebase:

   bash

   git rebase --continue
   

5. If you need to abort the rebase due to conflicts:

   bash

   git rebase --abort
   

As W3Docs explains, “After resolving the conflicts and adding the changes to the staging area, you must run git rebase with the --continue option.”

Best Practices and Warnings

Force Push Considerations

Never use git push --force without understanding the consequences. The --force-with-lease flag is much safer:

# Preferred safe approach
git push --force-with-lease remote_repo RB

# Avoid this unless you're absolutely certain
git push --force remote_repo RB

As noted in the Red Hat Developer article, “Don’t use the --force flag, even in that situation. Use --force-with-lease for the rare case where you do end up with a remote change during the rebase.”

Communication with Team

Rebasing rewrites commit history, which can affect other team members if they’ve based work on your branch. Always communicate with your team before force-pushing a rebased branch.

Only Rebase Local Branches

The golden rule of Git: Never rebase branches that other people are actively working on. Rebasing is safe for local branches that haven’t been shared, but dangerous for shared branches.

Complete Example Walkthrough

Let’s walk through a complete example with your specific scenario:

# Clone the repository (if not already done)
git clone remote_repo_url
cd project_directory

# Create and switch to your feature branch
git checkout -b RB

# Make some commits (example)
echo "New feature implementation" >> feature.txt
git add feature.txt
git commit -m "Add initial feature implementation"

# Meanwhile, other team members push to master...
# Now it's time to rebase

# Step 1: Fetch latest changes
git fetch remote_repo

# Step 2: Switch to your branch
git checkout RB

# Step 3: Rebase onto remote master
git rebase remote_repo/master

# Step 4: Push the rebased branch
git push --force-with-lease remote_repo RB

# Verify the result
git log --oneline  # Should show your commits on top of latest master

As Delft Stack demonstrates, “This comprehensive tutorial guides you through the steps of rebasing your Git branch to a remote master branch. Learn how to use git fetch, git rebase, and git push commands effectively.”

Sources

1. Git - Rebasing - Official Documentation
2. How to rebase local branch onto remote master - Stack Overflow
3. How To Rebase a Local Branch Onto a Remote Master in Git - GeeksforGeeks
4. How to Rebase Git Branch | Delft Stack
5. Drop git pull for fetch and rebase - Red Hat Developer
6. How to Rebase Git Branch (with 3 steps) | W3Docs

Conclusion

Rebasing your local branch onto a remote master branch is a fundamental Git workflow that keeps your feature branch up-to-date with the latest project changes. Remember these key points:

1. Always fetch latest changes with git fetch remote_repo before rebasing
2. Use git rebase remote_repo/master to apply your commits on top of the latest master
3. Prefer git push --force-with-lease over git push --force for safety
4. Be prepared to resolve merge conflicts during the rebase process
5. Only rebase branches that haven’t been shared with other team members

By following this process, you’ll maintain a clean, linear project history and make future merges much simpler. If you’re new to rebasing, consider practicing on a test repository first to become comfortable with the workflow.