How to “rename” a file in Git after already having moved it with bash/mv

Question

I often rename files with the mv system command, forgetting to use git mv in order to keep the file history:

~/gitproj $ mv myfile.foo newname.foo

When I realize it before a commit, the only way I know to fix it is to do the following:

~/gitproj $ mv newname.foo myfile.foo        # Coming back to the old name
~/gitproj $ git mv myfile.foo newname.foo    # Moving forth again, but with git

Is there a better way to do it, like only giving to git the info that the file was moved?

It would be something like that:

~/gitproj $ git mv --cached myfile.foo newname.foo   # a pseudo git command

Edit:

As AndreasGrapentin wrote:

git add .

let git (auto)detect all the files which were renamed, even if they were modified. But this command adds the whole directory to the index...

Is there a way, even in a lower level, to change this info only for one file?

Answer 1

Since the effect of git mv is nothing more or less than the sequence

mv myfile.foo newname.foo
git rm --cached myfile.foo
git add newname.foo

anyway, you can simply supply the remaining two operations

git rm --cached myfile.foo
git add newname.foo

to finish the move. However, that does not save you a single command from your move-back-then-git-move workaround.

Afaik, these two commands cannot be bundled via a git alias: You need to supply two names to two different commands, and that is incompatible with alias substitution. So, if you absolutely want to be able to do this with a single command, you either need to write a shell script or function. With a shell script, you can then alias it in your ~/.gitconfig if you absolutely want to call it as a git command, but I really wouldn't bother if I were you.