如何删除旧commits？保留代码且起始提交为2年前版本

Got it, let's break this down clearly. You've got a 5-year-old project, and you want to strip out all commits older than 2 years, make the 2-year-old version your first commit in the new history, and keep your current code exactly as it is. Here are two solid approaches depending on your needs:

Approach 1: Keep Commits From the Last 2 Years (Trim Only Older History) #

This method preserves all commits made in the last 2 years, but deletes everything before that, making the 2-year-old state your initial commit.

• First, back up your repo!
  Always do this before rewriting history—you don't want to lose work. Clone a copy to a safe location:

  git clone your-repository-url project-backup
  

• Find the hash of your 2-year-old commit
  Run this command to locate the most recent commit that's older than 2 years (this will be the starting point of your new history):

  git log --before="2 years ago" --oneline | tail -1
  

  Note down the commit hash (let's call it <OLD_COMMIT_HASH>).

• Rewrite history to remove older commits
  Use interactive rebase from the root of your history to drop all commits before <OLD_COMMIT_HASH>:

  git rebase -i --root <OLD_COMMIT_HASH>
  

  A text editor will open listing all commits from the start. For every commit before <OLD_COMMIT_HASH>, change the word pick to drop. Save and close the editor.

  If you hit conflicts during rebase, resolve them, then run git rebase --continue until it finishes.

• Push the rewritten history to remote
  Since you've rewritten history, you'll need to force-push. First, make sure no one else is working on the branch:

  git push -f origin main  # Replace "main" with your branch name if needed
  

Approach 2: Simplify to Two Commits (2-Year-Old State + Current Code) #

If you don't need the intermediate commits from the last 2 years and just want a clean history with two points (the 2-year-old baseline and your current code), use this method:

• Backup your repo (same as the first step above—don't skip this!)

• Find the 2-year-old commit hash (same as the second step above, get <OLD_COMMIT_HASH>)

• Create a new branch based on the 2-year-old commit

  git checkout -b clean-history <OLD_COMMIT_HASH>
  

• Overwrite with your current code
  Pull all files from your main branch into this new branch:

  git checkout main -- .
  

• Commit the current code
  Stage all changes and commit with a clear message:

  git add -A
  git commit -m "Preserve current code, base history on 2-year-old version"
  

• Update your remote repo
  Set this new branch as the default on your remote platform (GitHub/GitLab/etc.), then force-push:

  git push -f origin clean-history
  

Important Notes #

• Communicate with your team: If others are working on this repo, make sure everyone knows you're rewriting history—they'll need to rebase their local branches or clone the updated repo.
• Tags and branches: If you have tags or other branches pointing to old commits, you'll need to update or delete them to avoid confusion.

内容的提问来源于stack exchange，提问作者cianos