git-utimes

git utimes

git utimes sets each tracked file's mtime to the timestamp of the last commit that modified it. Git intentionally stores no timestamps in the index — every checkout writes files with the time of the operation — and this command reverses that for tooling that depends on file dates (Make, find, sitemap generators, archive tools).The command walks all tracked paths in the working tree and runs touch -t with the matching commit time, so subsequent make-style "modified since" comparisons match the commit history rather than the moment the repo was cloned.

Part of git-extras. Affects only tracked files; ignored and untracked paths keep their current mtime. Will invalidate any incremental build cache that fingerprints by mtime — re-run after each rebuild rather than once per workday. Submodule contents are not touched.

git utimes is part of git-extras, addressing the common issue that git doesn't preserve file modification times.

touch(1), git-log(1)