Add daily email for 2024-12-12

Local merging and squashing

source/_daily_emails/2024-12-12.md

@@ -0,0 +1,51 @@
+---
+title: Local merging and squashing
+date: 2024-12-12
+permalink: daily/2024/12/12/local-squashing
+tags:
+  - software-development
+  - git
+cta: ~
+snippet: |
+  If you want to squash all the commits on your Git branch locally without rebasing, there is a way!
+---
+
+Because [I do trunk-based development][0], I typically don't create branches in Git.
+
+If I do, I usually want to keep the commit messages, but there are some situations where I want to squash everything into a single commit with a simple message.
+
+Typically, I'd do this using a rebase command like `git rebase -i main` and get an output like this, showing the commits:
+
+```plain
+pick d21fafc Remove encrypted disk configuration
+pick ffc1296 Update mount location for media directories
+pick 58f645e Add multigrep from TJ's video
+pick bbd5052 Revert "Remove encrypted disk configuration"
+pick 8280c49 Show more generations on boot
+pick d3b0c48 Revert "Add encrypted media drive"
+pick 8cdc6a5 Add paperless-ngx
+pick 73d801d Add Nick Janetakis' `notes` script
+pick 99b6e3b Set options for text files
+```
+
+I can change `pick` to `squash` or `fixup` and decide what to do for each commit.
+
+`squash` combines the commit with the previous one, including the commit messages.
+
+`fixup` uses the previous commit message and discards the current one.
+
+Once the file is saved, the rebase is performed and the actions are executed.
+
+## There is another way
+
+If you don't want any of the commit messages, you can also use `git merge --squash`.
+
+This will automatically squash all the commits - ready for you to run `git commit` and provide the final message.
+
+There's no option to merge or combine the previous messages, though.
+
+If you want to do that, you can still use the rebase approach.
+
+If not, use `git merge --squash`.
+
+[0]: {{site.url}}/archive/2022/09/20/why-like-trunk-based-development