# git add -p

Hacker Approved page: https://hackerapproved.com/p/git-add-p/

11 people recommended git add -p in Hacker News comments, 2 had mixed feelings and 4 criticized it, November 2025 to October 2026. It was recommended in 6 of 12 months, in 7 threads. It meets the Hacker Approved badge rule.

**Verdict:** Lets you stage parts of a file interactively, so commits hold only the changes you choose. Critics say it handles files with many unrelated changes poorly.

Summary written by Claude from 16 comments.

## Why people recommend it

- Stage selected hunks, skip the rest (2 comments in the sample): "Ends up being a super quick way of staging a whole bunch of work and avoiding staging other" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49103787)) "Being able to select only pieces of a file to add to a specific commit is so great." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49054177))
- Review changes before committing (2 comments in the sample): "It's another moment to review my changes and it saves me from having to type out the names of the files I've changed." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46263772)) "Essentially, it's a first pass staging area you can review what you did. beautiful." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46263611))

## What people warn about

- Splitting hunks is tedious (2 comments in the sample): "As anyone who's ever tried to split a days worth of work apart with `git add -p` is well aware." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49188215)) "I find splitting hunks a pain." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49103604))

## Other version control features people recommend

- [Git worktree](https://hackerapproved.com/p/git-worktrees/): 46 recommend, 10 mixed, 19 criticize
- [git rebase](https://hackerapproved.com/p/git-rebase/): 21 recommend, 2 mixed, 11 criticize
- [git rerere](https://hackerapproved.com/p/git-rerere/): 16 recommend, 2 mixed, 4 criticize
- [Git notes](https://hackerapproved.com/p/git-notes/): 10 recommend, 1 mixed, 2 criticize

## The badge

A product earns the Hacker Approved badge when at least 10 people recommend it, recommenders outnumber critics at least 2 to 1 (mixed feelings count toward neither side), it was recommended in at least 4 of the 12 months and in at least 5 different threads, and no single thread supplies more than half of the people who recommend it. Health and money products are never badged.

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "git add -p", https://hackerapproved.com/p/git-add-p/ (11 recommend, 2 mixed, 4 criticize; Hacker News comments, November 2025 to October 2026).

Counts updated 2 Nov 2026, with data through October 31, 2026.