git-workshop/01-essentials/05-cherry-pick

Module 05: Cherry-Pick

Learning Objectives

By the end of this module, you will:

• Understand what cherry-picking is and how it works
• Know when to use cherry-pick vs merge
• Apply specific commits from one branch to another
• Understand common use cases for cherry-picking
• Learn how cherry-pick creates new commits with different hashes

Setup

Create the challenge environment:

.\setup.ps1

This creates a repository with a development branch containing both bug fixes and experimental features.

Overview

Cherry-pick allows you to copy specific commits from one branch to another. Unlike merging (which brings ALL commits), cherry-pick lets you be surgical about exactly which changes you want to apply.

Think of it like picking cherries from a tree - you select only the ripe ones you want, leaving the rest behind.

Why Use Cherry-Pick?

• Selective deployment - Apply critical bug fixes without merging unfinished features
• Hotfixes - Quickly move a fix from development to production
• Backporting - Apply fixes to older release branches
• Wrong branch - Move commits you accidentally made on the wrong branch
• Duplicate commits - Apply the same fix across multiple branches

Your Task

The Scenario

You're working on a project where:

• The main branch is stable and in production
• The development branch has new features being tested
• Development has critical bug fixes that need to go to production NOW
• But development also has experimental features that aren't ready yet

You need to cherry-pick ONLY the bug fixes to main, leaving the experimental features behind.

Part 1: Explore the Development Branch

First, see what commits are on the development branch:

cd challenge

# First let's see what files are in the current branch and notice that there is a file security.py
ls

# View all commits on development branch
git log --oneline --graph

# View the full commit graph for all branches
git log --oneline --graph --all

Study the commits:

• Look for commits with "Fix" in the message (these are bug fixes)
• Look for commits with "experimental" or "beta" (these should stay on development)
• Note the commit hashes (the 7-character codes like abc1234)

Inspect specific commits:

# See what files a commit changed
git show <commit-hash>

# Example:
# git show abc1234

You should see:

• 2 commits that fix bugs (security and performance)
• 2 commits that add experimental features

Part 2: Switch to Main Branch

Before cherry-picking, you need to be on the target branch (main):

# Switch to main branch
git switch main

# Verify you're on main
git branch

# See what files exist. Notice that we no longer have a security.py file
ls

The * should be next to main.

Check what's currently on main:

# See main's commits
git log --oneline

Main should only have the initial app and README - no bug fixes yet, no experimental features.

Part 3: Cherry-Pick the Bug Fixes

Now copy the bug fix commits from development to main:

1. Find the security fix commit hash by looking at your earlier git log --oneline --graph --all

   • Look for a commit message like "Fix security vulnerability in input validation"
   • Note its hash (first 7 characters)

2. Cherry-pick the security fix:

   git cherry-pick <security-fix-hash>
   ls # we now have the security.py file!
   
   # Example if the hash is abc1234:
   # git cherry-pick abc1234
   

3. Verify it worked: Check that security.py, with ls or check your file explorer in VSCode, now exists and check that the commit has been added to the main branch with git log --oneline --graph --all

4. Find the performance fix commit hash

   • Look for "Fix performance issue with data caching"
   • Note its hash

5. Cherry-pick the performance fix:

   git cherry-pick <performance-fix-hash>
   ls  # we now have the cache.py file!
   

6. Verify both fixes are now on main:

   # You should see both security.py and cache.py
   ls
   
   # View the graph showing both branches
   git log --oneline --graph --all
   

Part 4: Verify Your Solution

Check that you completed the challenge correctly:

# From inside the module directory
.\verify.ps1

The verification checks:

• ✅ You're on the main branch
• ✅ Security fix is applied to main
• ✅ Performance fix is applied to main
• ✅ Experimental features are NOT on main
• ✅ Development branch still has all commits

Understanding Cherry-Pick

What Actually Happens?

When you cherry-pick a commit, Git:

1. Looks at what changed in that specific commit
2. Applies those same changes to your current branch
3. Creates a NEW commit with those changes

Before cherry-pick:

development:  A---B---C---D
             /
main:       E---F

After: git switch main && git cherry-pick C

development:  A---B---C---D
             /
main:       E---F---C'

Notice:

• C' is a NEW commit (different hash than original C)
• Original C still exists on development
• Main now has the changes from C, but not B or D

Cherry-Pick vs Merge

Merge brings everything:

git switch main
git merge development
# Result: A, B, C, and D all come to main

Cherry-pick is selective:

git switch main
git cherry-pick C
# Result: Only C comes to main (as C')

Important: New Commits, New Hashes

Cherry-picked commits are COPIES, not moves:

• Original commit stays on source branch
• New commit created on target branch
• Different commit hash (because different parent)
• Same changes, same message, different identity

Key Commands

Viewing Commits

# See commits on another branch
git log branch-name --oneline

# See what a specific commit changed
git show <commit-hash>

# See commit graph
git log --oneline --graph --all

# See only commit message (not changes)
git log --oneline

Cherry-Picking

# Cherry-pick a single commit
git cherry-pick <commit-hash>

# Cherry-pick multiple commits (in order)
git cherry-pick <hash1> <hash2> <hash3>

# Cherry-pick a range of commits
git cherry-pick <start-hash>..<end-hash>

# Abort a cherry-pick if something goes wrong
git cherry-pick --abort

After Cherry-Pick

# Verify the commit was added
git log --oneline

# See what files changed
git show HEAD

# Compare branches
git log main..development --oneline

Common Workflows

Hotfix to Production

Critical bug found in production:

# You're on feature-new-ui branch
# You just committed a critical security fix

git log --oneline
# Note the hash of your fix commit

# Switch to production branch
git switch production

# Apply just that fix
git cherry-pick <fix-commit-hash>

# Deploy to production
# Your fix is live, but new UI stays in development

Backporting to Old Versions

# You fixed a bug on main
git switch main
git log --oneline
# Note the fix commit hash

# Apply to older release branch
git switch release-2.5
git cherry-pick <fix-commit-hash>

# Apply to even older release
git switch release-2.0
git cherry-pick <fix-commit-hash>

# Same fix now on three branches!

Troubleshooting

"I can't remember the commit hash!"

# See commits on the source branch
git log development --oneline

# Search for specific text in commit messages
git log development --oneline --grep="security"

# See recent commits with more detail
git log development --oneline -n 10

"I cherry-picked in the wrong order!"

Order matters! If commit B depends on commit A, cherry-pick A first:

# Wrong order might cause issues
git cherry-pick B  # Might fail if it needs changes from A

# Correct order
git cherry-pick A
git cherry-pick B

"How do I see what will change before cherry-picking?"

# See what changes are in a commit
git show <commit-hash>

# Compare your current branch with a commit
git diff HEAD <commit-hash>

Tips for Success

💡 Copy the commit hashes - Write them down before switching branches
💡 Cherry-pick oldest first - Apply commits in chronological order
💡 Check your branch - Always verify you're on the target branch first with git branch
💡 Verify after each pick - Run git log --oneline to confirm it worked
💡 Use the graph - git log --oneline --graph --all shows the full picture
💡 Original stays put - Cherry-pick copies, doesn't move commits

What You've Learned

After completing this module, you understand:

• ✅ Cherry-pick copies specific commits between branches
• ✅ git cherry-pick <hash> applies a commit to current branch
• ✅ Cherry-picked commits get new hashes but same changes
• ✅ Use cherry-pick for selective deployment of changes
• ✅ Cherry-pick is different from merge (selective vs all)
• ✅ Original commit stays on source branch

Next Steps

Ready to continue? Cherry-pick is a powerful tool for selective change management. Next modules will cover more advanced Git operations.

To start over:

.\reset.ps1

Need help? Run git status to see what Git suggests, or git log --oneline --graph --all to see the full picture!