Restoring File Modification Times After Git Checkout

When files are checked out from git, their modification time (mtime) is set to the checkout time rather than their original modification time. This affects features that rely on file modification times, such as "updated since" search filters.

Solution: git-restore-mtime

The git-restore-mtime tool restores file modification times based on git commit history.

Installation

# Ubuntu/Debian
sudo apt install git-restore-mtime

# macOS (via Homebrew)
brew install git-restore-mtime

# pip (cross-platform)
pip install git-restore-mtime

Usage

After checking out a repository or branch:

git restore-mtime

Example: Bash Function

git.restore_modification_mtime () {
    echo.func "${@}";
    local dir="${1:-${PWD:?}}";
    git -C ${dir:?} restore-mtime || {
        echo.yellow "Failed to restore modification time.";
        return 1
    }
}

When to Use

• After git clone
• After git checkout (switching branches)
• After git pull (if files were modified)
• Before using Thorg's "updated since" search filters

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Backlinks

• updated