git-bisect - Linux

Overview

git-bisect assists in identifying the first potentially buggy commit in a Git repository. It’s particularly useful for tracking down the root of a regression or bug.

Syntax

git bisect [<options>] start <bad> <good>

Parameters

• start: The starting point of the search (defaults to current branch tip)
• bad: The commit known to be buggy
• good: The commit known to be correct

Options/Flags

• –no-checkout: Don’t check out commits during bisection
• –guess: Make an initial guess on the first bad commit
• –skip: Skip checking specific commits
• –skip-merge: Skip checking merge commits
• –debug: Print additional debugging information
• –all: Bisect all commits instead of just the interval

Examples

Basic usage:

git bisect start v1.0 v1.1

With options:

git bisect --no-checkout --skip merge-commit start v0.9 v1.0

Troubleshooting:

Issue: Bisect gets stuck on a merge commit

Solution: Use --skip-merge option or manually bisect the merge commit.

Integration

With git-log:

git log --follow --format="  %h" | git bisect skip ^

With scripts:

#!/bin/sh
git bisect start master release-1.0
while git bisect run ./test-script; do
  git bisect good
done

Related Commands

• git-blame: Traces the origin of each line of code
• git-tag: Marks commits with descriptive names for easier tracking
• git bisect documentation