retarget - Git Productivity Toolkit

gx retarget moves a branch from one parent to another using git rebase --onto, updates the stack config, pushes the result, and optionally retargets the GitHub PR.

Usage

gx retarget [branch] <new-target> [flags]

Arguments

Argument	Description
`branch`	Branch to retarget (default: current branch)
`new-target`	New base branch to rebase onto

If only one argument is provided, it is treated as the new target and the current branch is retarget.

Flags

Flag	Description
`--dry-run`	Show what would happen without making changes

What Happens

Fetches the latest from remote
Rebases the branch onto the new target using git rebase --onto origin/<new-target> <old-parent-head> <branch>
Pushes with --force-with-lease
Updates the stack config to record the new parent
Retargets the PR via gh pr edit <branch> --base <new-target> (if gh is available)

Examples

$ gx retarget develop

Retargeting feature/auth onto develop...

  Old parent: main
  New parent: develop

Retarget feature/auth onto develop? [y/N] y

  Fetching latest from remote...
  Rebasing feature/auth onto origin/develop (using --onto)...
OK Rebased and pushed feature/auth
  Stack config updated: feature/auth -> develop (was: main)
OK PR for feature/auth automatically retargeted to develop

$ gx retarget feature/tests feature/auth

$ gx retarget develop --dry-run

Retargeting feature/auth onto develop...

  Old parent: main
  New parent: develop

DRY RUN. No changes will be made

  Would retarget feature/auth:
    Current parent: main
    New parent:     develop

  Steps:
    1. Fetch remote
    2. Run: git rebase --onto origin/develop <old-parent-sha> feature/auth
    3. Push with --force-with-lease
    4. Update stack config
    5. Attempt PR retarget via gh CLI

Auto PR Retarget

If the GitHub CLI (gh) is installed and authenticated, gx automatically runs:

gh pr edit <branch> --base <new-target>

If this succeeds, you see OK PR for <branch> automatically retargeted to <new-target>. If it fails (no PR exists, or gh is not available), gx prints a reminder: WARN Remember to retarget the PR for <branch> to <new-target>.

Safety Guards

gx retarget blocks if the working tree is dirty (uncommitted changes). You must commit or stash your changes before retargeting:

$ gx retarget develop
ERROR Working tree is dirty. Commit or stash your changes before retargeting.

Conflict Handling

If a rebase conflict occurs during retargeting:

ERROR Rebase conflict encountered

  Conflicting files:
    src/auth.go

  To resolve:
    1. Fix the conflicts
    2. Run: git add . && git rebase --continue
    3. Run: gx retarget feature/auth develop

Details

If the branch is already based on the new target, gx prints > <branch> is already based on <target>. Nothing to do.
If no saved parent exists in the stack config, gx falls back to using the merge base and prints a warning
The rebase uses origin/<new-target> when the remote branch exists, ensuring you rebase onto the latest remote state
Uses the stored parent_head SHA as the old base for --onto, which is more reliable than using the branch name when branches have been rebased

​Usage

​Arguments

​Flags

​What Happens

​Examples

​Auto PR Retarget

​Safety Guards

​Conflict Handling