git-relink

git relink

git-relink is a command designed to repair a Git repository after data corruption on the disk. Specifically, it iterates through the pack files and loose objects in the repository, attempting to fix hash collisions by rewriting the object names. This is a drastic measure to be taken only when a repository is severely damaged and other recovery methods, such as git fsck, have failed to fully repair the data.

It essentially tries to re-hash all the objects in the Git repository, renaming them if necessary to resolve hash collisions that might have occurred due to data corruption. This is a low-level operation intended to recover as much of the repository history as possible, even if some data loss is unavoidable. Use with extreme caution.

This command modifies the object database directly and can potentially introduce more corruption if not used carefully. Always back up the repository before running git relink. It can lead to data loss.

git relink should only be used as a last resort when all other Git repair tools have failed to fix the repository. It's intended for situations where severe disk corruption has led to hash collisions in the object database.

Running git relink can change the SHA-1 hashes of objects in the repository. This will invalidate any existing references (branches, tags, remotes) that point to the old hashes. After running git relink, you will need to update all references to point to the new hashes. Additionally, remote repositories will likely need to be re-cloned, as their history will no longer match the repaired repository.

git fsck(1), git prune(1), git gc(1)