Bisect

Find the buggy commit with binary search using bisect.

What Is Git Bisect?

git bisect uses binary search to find the commit that introduced a bug. First, mark a commit containing the bug as bad and an older commit without the bug as good. Git divides the commits between them so you can test each selected revision.

git bisect start
git bisect bad
git bisect good abc1234

This method helps locate faulty changes faster in long commit histories.

Exercise Start a Bisect Search

Start a bisect process to find the faulty commit. First open the search, mark the current commit as bad, and mark commit abc1234 as good.

Show example solution

git bisect start
git bisect bad
git bisect good abc1234

Exercise Find the Faulty Commit with Binary Search

Assume that you test each commit selected by Git during the bisect process. Run git bisect bad if the test contains the bug, or git bisect good if it does not. When Git identifies the faulty commit, finish the search and return to the normal working state.

Show example solution

git bisect bad
git bisect good
git bisect reset

Test yourself

Which command marks an older commit that you know does not contain the bug?
- git bisect good
- git bisect bad
- git bisect reset
- git bisect start
Show answer

git bisect good — <code>git bisect good</code> indicates that the tested commit does not contain the bug.

Mark the Faulty Revision

git bisect start
git bisect bad
____

Show answer

git bisect start
git bisect bad
bad

Bisect Commands

git bisect start

Starts the search process
git bisect good

Marks a good commit
git bisect bad

Marks a bad commit
git bisect reset

Returns to the normal state

Next lesson: Submodule

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