Git extension - What is Grey icon?

Question

I use git replace to truncate the git history.

$ git replace 4c9f81eb5b7a331d1d0f8edcac24e8a69fdd3353 70b8267e3a67ddb4ba56ff92 7dc3871f8a96d1e2

However git create new strange commit with grey color as follow:

What is it? How to remove it completely?

Answer 1

It is replace refs

• git replace -l will show all replace refs
• git replace -d ref-hash will remove the replace refs

Answer 2

It seems like a sub-module of your existing repo has been created, learn more about it from the given bellow link.

http://git-scm.com/book/en/Git-Tools-Submodules

More stack overflow references in bellow threads:

1. What does a grey icon in remote GitHub mean

2. What is this grey git icon?