> ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://smallsharpsoftwaretools.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Split Changes into Multiple Commits When working on a project, you might make several changes before you commit. However, these changes might relate to different features or bug fixes. For example, you might change a file to fix a bug, but you might see something else in the file that bugs you, so you fix it while you're there. Committing all changes at once can lead to a messy, hard-to-understand commit history or a more complex code review process. Git lets you selectively stage parts of your changes instead of adding the whole file. Using this feature, you'll get a cleaner history with smaller units of work for peers to review, as well as a chance to deal with any out-of-scope work you still want to keep but commit elsewhere. In this tutorial, you'll explore this feature by creating a small HTML project and staging your changes interactively. ## What You Need Git installed on your local machine. ## Creating a Git project To start, create a new directory and initialize a Git repository: ```command mkdir interactive-commit-demo cd interactive-commit-demo git init ``` Then create a basic HTML file called `index.html`: ```html Interactive Commit Demo

Welcome to My Website

This is a paragraph.

``` Add and commit the file to your repository: ```command git add index.html git commit -m "Initial commit with basic HTML structure" ``` Now make two distinct changes to the file; change the title and add a new paragraph to the body of the page: ```html Interactive Commit Tutorial

Welcome to My Website

This is a paragraph.

This is a new paragraph we'll commit separately.

``` You made two changes to this file, but putting them in the same commit might not be best. For example, the paragraph may be a change you can get approved quickly, but the page's title might need approval by SEO experts, and you don't want it to block the publication of the paragraph. ## Adding Lines Interactively with `git add -p` Use Git's Interactive mode to add only the lines you need. Run the following command to start an interactive commit: ```command git add -p ``` You'll see the patch on the screen: ```diff diff --git a/index.html b/index.html index 7b6e59a..0d63f4e 100644 --- a/index.html +++ b/index.html @@ -3,10 +3,11 @@ - Interactive Commit Demo + Interactive Commit Tutorial

Welcome to My Website

This is a paragraph.

+

This is a new paragraph we'll commit separately.

(1/1) Stage this hunk [y,n,q,a,d,s,e,?]? ``` Press `s` to split the patch into separate pieces. The screen updates to show just the title change: ```diff Split into 2 hunks. @@ -3,8 +3,8 @@ - Interactive Commit Demo + Interactive Commit Tutorial

Welcome to My Website

This is a paragraph.

(1/2) Stage this hunk [y,n,q,a,d,j,J,g,/,e,?]? ``` Now press `y` to stage the title change. The next change appears, which is the change to the paragraph: ```diff @@ -7,6 +7,7 @@

Welcome to My Website

This is a paragraph.

+

This is a new paragraph we'll commit separately.

(2/2) Stage this hunk [y,n,q,a,d,K,g,/,e,?]? ``` Press `n` to skip this change for now. You'll return to your prompt. Use the `git status` command, and you'll see that there are staged changes as well as unstaged changes: ```output On branch main Changes to be committed: (use "git restore --staged ..." to unstage) modified: index.html Changes not staged for commit: (use "git add ..." to update what will be committed) (use "git restore ..." to discard changes in working directory) modified: index.html ``` Commit the title: ```command git commit -m "update title" ``` You'll see one line added and one line deleted, representing the title you changed: ```output [main 41d01ad] update title 1 file changed, 1 insertion(+), 1 deletion(-) ``` Now, use the same process again to add the paragraph change. Execute the following command: ```command git add -p ``` This time, the paragraph change patch appears: ```diff diff --git a/index.html b/index.html index e0059db..0d63f4e 100644 --- a/index.html +++ b/index.html @@ -8,5 +8,6 @@

Welcome to My Website

This is a paragraph.

+

This is a new paragraph we'll commit separately.

(1/1) Stage this hunk [y,n,q,a,d,e,?]? ``` Press `y` to stage the change. When you return to your prompt, commit the change: ```command git commit -m "add paragraph" ``` Verify your commits with `git log`: ```command git log --oneline ``` You'll see your initial commit along with the two additional ones you made: ```output bb403d9 (HEAD -> main) add paragraph 41d01ad update title aaa6f92 Initial commit with basic HTML structure ``` Using this approach, you were able to split the changes you made to a single file into two separate commits. Sometimes, the lines may be too close together to use the automatic split feature, but you can manually edit the patch information. Consult the [Git documentation on editing patches](https://git-scm.com/docs/git-add#_interactive_mode) for more. ## Conclusion Splitting your changes into multiple commits gives you fine-grained control and lets you maintain a cleaner, more logical commit history, making your project easier to understand and manage.