git-edit-date vs 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.

Comparison table

	git-edit-date	interactive rebase	filter-branch	filter-repo
Bulk edit dates	CSV in spreadsheet	One commit at a time	Shell env-filter script	Python callback script
Edit author email	Yes	Manual per commit	env-filter	mailmap / callback
Visual review before apply	Spreadsheet	No	No	No
Learning curve	Low	Medium	High	Medium
Officially maintained	Active	Built into git	Deprecated	Recommended replacement
Best for	Branch-level bulk fixes via CSV	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 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 · Common questions: FAQ · Commands: docs