Re: git rename/moved status unreliable in ruby

From: Johannes Sixt <j6t@kdbg.org>
Date: May 2, 2026, 07:25 UTC
Message-ID: <157dd2e5-ce64-4654-a66a-86a552c7c9f1@kdbg.org>
In-Reply-To: <026b84f4-7052-4d5b-a9ae-c2487569d1ee@gmail.com>

Am 01.05.26 um 17:30 schrieb Phillip Wood:

Show 7 quoted lines

> Rename detection is based on how similar the two files are. Looking at
> the example you linked to below you're changing a file that looks like
> 
> ...
> 
> Which means that git sees that every line has changed because the
> indentation has changed.

That's correct, of course, but...

> If you want git to realize that the file has
> been renamed you could move it in one commit and then add modify it in
> the next commit.

... this is a fallacy. Splitting into two commits helps only certain cases, in particular, when the commit that moves the files is compared to an earlier commit, such as `git log` does. However, if a commit after the change is compared to a commit before the move, the rename is still not detected.

-- Hannes