If your pull request history looks like a Jackson Pollock painting then rebasing is the neat freak you need. This guide walks through a safe workflow for rebasing a GitHub feature branch so your commit graph looks intentional and not like a caffeine fueled merge mess.

Quick steps to rebase a feature branch

Here is the short version for people who like to live dangerously but not recklessly. Each command is safe when used as shown.

1. Fetch remote refs to get the latest state

   git fetch origin

2. Switch to your feature branch so you do not rebase the wrong thing

   git checkout feature-branch

3. Rebase your branch onto the updated target branch, for example main

   git rebase origin/main

4. When conflicts happen fix them then stage and continue

   git add path/to/file
   git rebase --continue

5. If the rebase is a disaster return to the previous state

   git rebase --abort

6. Push the rewritten branch back to GitHub safely

   git push --force-with-lease origin feature-branch

Why fetch first and not guess

git fetch origin updates your local refs so you rebase onto the real latest main. Skipping this step is like assuming your coworker did not push a last minute fix while you were debugging. Do not assume. Fetch.

Handling conflicts without panic

Rebasing replays your commits on top of the target branch which can reveal merge conflicts. This is good because you want to resolve issues now and not later in a surprise review.

• Open the conflicted files and look for conflict markers
• Decide which changes to keep or combine them by hand
• Stage the resolved files with git add
• Run git rebase --continue until no more conflicts remain

If you realize you made a mistake and want to abort everything use git rebase --abort which restores your branch to the pre rebase state. Take a breath and try again with a clearer head.

Pushing rewritten history without blowing things up

Because rebasing rewrites commits you need to force push to update the remote branch. Use this safer form to avoid stomping on someone else work.

git push --force-with-lease origin feature-branch

The --force-with-lease option refuses to overwrite remote changes that happened since you last fetched. It is a small safety net that prevents accidental mid air collisions.

When to rebase and when to avoid it

Rebase for local branches or short lived feature branches. Avoid rebasing branches that others have based work on unless that team enjoys unexpected surprises and angry emails.

Good rule of thumb

• Rebase when you want a linear, tidy history
• Prefer merges for long lived shared branches to keep history predictable

Troubleshooting and tips

• If you see unexpected commits after a rebase check git log and confirm you rebased onto the right target branch
• Use git status to track where you are during a rebase session
• Keep changes small and frequent to make conflict resolution easier
• Always prefer git push --force-with-lease over a plain force push for a little workplace harmony

Follow these steps when you want clean pull requests and a readable commit history. Rebasing is not magical but done right it makes your project history look like someone was actually in control.