# Git filter-branch

So today I noticed my git repository was taking too much disk space and discovered it was due to bundler caching gems. 
At first I thought I'd just remove `vendor/cache` directory it be done with it. But that's not how git works, is it?

That's how I came across `git filter-branch`.

The following command will remove the `vendor/cache` directory and all its references throughout your repository history.

`git filter-branch --force --index-filter "git rm --cached --ignore-unmatch -r vendor/cache"`

## Undoing it

And, should you realise you shouldn't have done that, git is also there for you. Whenever you use `filter-branch`, git creates a backup of the previous state for you at `.git/refs/original/refs/heads/NAME_OF_YOUR_BRANCH`.
Meaning all you have to do is run:

`git reset --hard refs/original/refs/heads/NAME_OF_YOUR_BRANCH`

You're welcome ;)