commit-rewriter 0.2: rewriting commit messages from the browser

Developer Simon Willison released version 0.2 of commit-rewriter on 24 September 2026. The project is a Python web app that runs locally and edits commit messages in a Git repository through a browser interface instead of the command line.

What the tool does

commit-rewriter is started against a repository, either with an explicit path or from the current working directory. By default it works with the latest 100 commits reachable from the local branch that was checked out when the server started, and serves its interface on 127.0.0.1:8000; the port can be changed with the -p/--port flag. The package is published on PyPI, so it can be run with uvx or installed with pip and uv tool install.

New in 0.2: branches beyond the default

Version 0.2 adds support for branches other than the default branch, a request opened as issue #3 in the repository. A branch is selected with the --branch flag, for example: uvx commit-rewriter --branch other. Before this release the tool only handled the branch checked out at startup, which in most projects means main or master.

Editing in the browser, with a backup branch

Each commit appears as a card with its hash, author and timestamp, plus an editable text area holding the current message. A toolbar tracks pending edits and offers Discard drafts and Rewrite commit messages buttons, while a search box filters by message, author or hash and an Edited only checkbox hides untouched commits. A sidebar lists recent commit messages with short hashes, and every card can show the full formatted diff.

When the edits are applied, the tool first creates a branch that backs up the repository before touching its history. That detail matters, because rewriting commit messages changes commit hashes. The project is open source under the Apache 2.0 license.