Git cheatsheet

In

Configure tooling

Configure user information for all local repositories

  • Set the name you want attached to your commit transactions
    1
    git config --global user.name "[name]"
  • Set the email you want attached to your commit transactions
    1
    git config --global user.email "[email address]"
  • Enable helpful colorization of command line output
    1
    git config --global color.ui auto

Create repositories

Start a new repository or obtain one from an existing URL

  • Creates a new local repository with the specified name
    1
    git init [project-name]
  • Downloads a project and its entire version history
    1
    git clone [url]

Make changes

Review edits and craft a commit transaction

  • Lists all new or modified files to be committed
    1
    git status
  • Snapshots the file in preparation for versioning
    1
    git add [file]
  • Unstages the file, but preserve its contents
    1
    git reset [file]
  • Shows file differences not yet staged
    1
    git diff
  • Shows file differences between staging and the last file version
    1
    git diff --staged
  • Records file snapshots permanently in version history
    1
    git commit -m "[descriptive message]"
  • Add more changes and change message
    1
    git commit --amend -m "added file and changed message to this"
  • Revert a commit in a new commit
    1
    git revert commit-id

Group changes

Name a series of commits and combine completed efforts

  • Lists all local branches in the current repository
    1
    git branch
  • Creates a new branch
    1
    git branch [branch-name]
  • Switches to the specified branch and updates the working directory
    1
    git checkout [branch-name]
  • Combines the specified branch’s history into the current branch
    1
    git merge [branch]
  • Deletes the specified branch
    1
    git branch -d [branch-name]

Synchronize changes

Register a repository bookmark and exchange version history

  • Downloads all history from the repository bookmark
    1
    git fetch [bookmark]
  • Combines bookmark’s branch into current local branch
    1
    git merge [bookmark]/[branch]
  • Uploads all local branch commits to GitHub
    1
    git push [alias] [branch]
  • Downloads bookmark history and incorporates changes
    1
    git pull

Refactor filenames

Relocate and remove versioned files

  • Deletes the file from the working directory and stages the deletion
    1
    git rm [file]
  • Removes the file from version control but preserves the file locally
    1
    git rm --cached [file]
  • Changes the file name and prepares it for commit
    1
    git mv [file-original] [file-renamed]

Save fragments

Shelve and restore incomplete changes

  • Temporarily stores all modified tracked files
    1
    git stash
  • Lists all stashed changesets
    1
    git stash list
  • Restores the most recently stashed files
    1
    2
    3
    git stash pop
    # or either
    git stash apply
  • Discards the most recently stashed changeset
    1
    git stash drop

Supress tracking

Exclude temporary files and paths

  • a text file named .gitignore supresses accidental versioning of filesand path matching the specified patterns
    1
    2
    3
    *.log
    build/
    temp-*
  • list all the ignored files in this project
    1
    git ls-files --other --ignored --exclude-standard

Redo commits

Erase mistakes and craft replacement history

  • Undoes all commits after [commit], preserving changes locally
    1
    git reset [commit]
  • Discards all history and changes back to the specified commit
    1
    git reset --hard [commit]
  • Remove new/untracked files and directories
    1
    git clean -f

Review history

Browse and inspect the evolution of project files

  • Lists version history for the current branch
    1
    git log
  • Lists version history for a file, including renames
    1
    git log --follow [file]
  • Shows content differences between two branches
    1
    git diff [first-branch]...[second-branch]
  • Outputs metadata and content changes of the specific commit
    1
    git show [commit]