Git - Ken Muse

Storing Data in Git Objects With Notes

Thu, 15 Jan 2026 00:00:00 -0500

Learn how to use Git notes to attach metadata like build results or review comments to commits without rewriting history or breaking signatures.

Why Your Perforce Branch History Is Missing in Git

Thu, 08 Jan 2026 00:00:00 -0500

Your Perforce branch history vanishes in Git because Git has no place to store it -- here's why and how to help your team adapt.

Understanding How Git Merges Work

Fri, 02 Jan 2026 00:00:00 -0500

Demystifying Git merges -- from merge commits and fast-forwards to rebases and cherry-picks. Learn what's really happening under the hood.

Understanding How Git Stores Data

Mon, 29 Dec 2025 00:00:00 -0500

A deep dive into Git's internal storage model -- how blobs, trees, and commits work together to track your code's history without a traditional database.

How I Avoided Shai-Hulud's Second Coming (Part 2)

Fri, 28 Nov 2025 00:00:00 -0500

How signed commits and repository protections completed my defense against the Shai-Hulud supply chain attack.

The Hidden Danger in Git Ref Names

Fri, 31 Oct 2025 00:00:00 -0400

A Halloween lesson: how a weaponized Git branch name let attackers inject code via a GitHub expression and the simple steps you can take to block it.

Speed Up Git Clones With Local References

Fri, 03 Oct 2025 00:00:00 -0400

Discover how to optimize Git clones by using references to share repository data and Git LFS objects across multiple systems.

Using Git Worktrees for Concurrent Development

Fri, 08 Aug 2025 00:00:00 -0400

Discover Git worktrees and learn how you can work with multiple branches simultaneously without stashing or committing incomplete code.

How to Dynamically Authenticate With Git

Tue, 06 May 2025 00:00:00 -0400

Discover practical techniques for dynamically authenticating with Git using environment variables or secret vaults to retrieve user credentials.

How Does Git Authentication Work?

Sat, 03 May 2025 00:00:00 -0400

Discover the intricacies of Git authentication, how it works, and how to configure credential helpers to allow fine-grained control over authentication.

Retrieving Properties From a Gitsigned Commit

Wed, 16 Apr 2025 00:00:00 -0400

Learn how to extract and validate signed Git commits using the Gitsign certificates and OpenSSL to enhance your software supply chain security.

Using Gitsign for Keyless Git Commit Signing

Sat, 12 Apr 2025 00:00:00 -0400

Use Gitsign and GitHub Actions for keyless Git commit signing to enhance supply chain security and ensure code provenance without managing private keys.

The Secret Life of Git Large File Storage

Sat, 25 Jan 2025 00:00:00 -0500

Uncover the hidden secrets and inner workings of Git LFS! Learn the tricks behind how it uses native Git extensibility features to manage your large files.

Migrating Git With An LFS Configuration File

Sat, 18 Jan 2025 00:00:00 -0500

Learn how to configure Git LFS endpoints and to safely migrate repositories that are using .lfsconfig to manage the storage location.

Exploring The Three Flavors of GitOps

Sat, 14 Dec 2024 00:00:00 -0500

Discover the world of GitOps, where Git becomes your source of truth for deployments and learn the three models for defining your GitOps practices.

Migrating Submodules That Use Large File Storage (LFS)

Sat, 09 Nov 2024 00:00:00 -0500

When repositories are migrated, it's easy to break the links to the submodules. In this post, learn why it happens, how to avoid it, and how to fix it.

The Ultimate Tips for Working With Large Git Monorepos

Sat, 03 Aug 2024 00:00:00 -0400

Large codebases are difficult, but there are ways to improve the experience. Learn some of the key settings and best practices for handling large Git monorepos.

Troubleshooting Git Authentication

Fri, 16 Feb 2024 00:00:00 -0500

Whether you're dealing with bad credentials or connectivity issues, there are a few tricks with Git that can make it easier to understand what's happening.

Automatic SSH Commit Signing With 1Password

Fri, 10 Nov 2023 00:00:00 -0500

Learn how to automate SSH commit signing with 1Password and dotfiles to enable others to verify the authenticity of your Git commits.

Automatic SSH Commit Signing With Dotfiles

Thu, 19 Oct 2023 00:00:00 -0400

I previously talked about how dotfiles can improve the development experience. By automating the processing of setting up your environment, you are free to focus on more important things. One of the more mundane tasks for developers is setting up commit signing and verification. By doing this, others can verify that you are the author of a specific commit. It just requires some setup, especially if you want automatic support in your dev containers. For these examples, I’m going to use SSH-based commit signing. It’s a common approach, and it doesn’t require sharing a private key between environments.

Shared Commits and GitHub Checks

Thu, 21 Sep 2023 00:00:00 -0400

Using a pull request to merge the same commit to multiple branches causes GitHub Checks and validations to fail. Learn the technique needed to fix this issue.

Why You Should (Not) Prefer Monorepos For Git

Fri, 23 Jun 2023 00:00:00 -0400

Monorepos are often seen as the simple solution to complex collaboration and code management problems. Like with most quick fixes, the devil's in the details.

Dubious Ownership With Static Web Apps

Thu, 11 May 2023 00:00:00 -0400

Git's safe directory configuration helps to protect users, but it can create challenges. This is especially true when using Hugo with Azure Static Web Sites.

The Life of a Commit After Git Squash

Fri, 31 Mar 2023 00:00:00 -0400

Explore what happens to files in Git after squashing a set of commits that have a tag applied to them. What happens to the commits and the tag may surprise you!

Using Git SSH From Docker With a Local Proxy

Thu, 22 Dec 2022 00:00:00 -0500

Learn the dev container trick for accessing a host port to create a proxy SSH connection to a Git server.

SSH and Multiple Git Credentials

Thu, 15 Dec 2022 00:00:00 -0500

Learn a trick for using SSH to connect to multiple GitHub environments and Git hosts with minimal effort.

Comparing GitHub Commit Signing Options

Fri, 07 Oct 2022 00:00:00 -0400

I recently had an interesting discussion where we tried to explore some of the ways you can sign commits in Git and GitHub. If you’re not familiar with the functionality, Git provides mechanisms for signing commits and tags to ensure authorship. By default, Git trusts that the user name and email that you provide to git config is legitimate. For many organizations, that may be perfectly acceptable. If only limited people have access to the repository, this is often enough.

Marking Workspaces Safe with Dotfiles

Thu, 18 Aug 2022 00:00:00 -0400

There's a great way to use dotfiles to eliminate the "detected dubious ownership in repository" message in every dev container automatically.

Avoiding Dubious Ownership in Dev Containers

Thu, 11 Aug 2022 00:00:00 -0400

Getting the message "detected dubious ownership in repository" in your dev container? Learn how to eliminate this error.

Creating a .gitattributes Without Committing

Wed, 06 Jul 2022 00:00:00 -0400

Did you know that you can specify file handling in Git without committing a .gitattributes file? Learn how to configure a Git repo without a commit.

What Is The .gitattributes File?

Wed, 29 Jun 2022 00:00:00 -0400

Sometimes you see the file in a project. It’s just sitting there, somehow influencing Git. But what is .gitattributes? In short, it is a basic text document that associates attributes and behaviors with specific file types. At its most basic, it configures how files matching certain patterns (usually file extensions) are handled. Common scnearios include configuring how the line feeds are handled, whether the document is treated as a binary (non-diffable), and providing special processing before a commit or after checkout.

Creating a .gitignore Without Committing

Thu, 23 Jun 2022 00:00:00 -0400

Did you know that you can ignore files and folders in Git without committing a .gitignore file? Learn a trick for working with Git more effectively.

Git Line Staging & Patch Editing

Wed, 23 Feb 2022 00:00:00 -0500

Tired of committing entire files in Git? Learn how to use the interactive staging feature to commit only the lines you want.

Using Git Line Staging to Commit Parts of Files

Fri, 18 Feb 2022 00:00:00 -0500

Tired of committing entire files in Git? Learn how to use the interactive staging feature to commit only the lines you want.

Configuring Git's Text Editor

Fri, 11 Feb 2022 00:00:00 -0500

Learn how to configure Git to use your favorite text editor for commit messages, diffs, and merges.