Daily Git Commands

These commands cover most use cases in Git.

1. Getting Started

git init – Initialize a new Git repository.
git clone <url> – Clone a repository into a new directory.

2. Configuration

git config – Configure user details, preferences, etc.
- git config --global user.name "<name>" – Set user name.
- git config --global user.email "<email>" – Set user email.
- git config --list – List all Git configurations.

3. Basic Snapshotting

Staging and Commit

git add <file> – Add file to the staging area.
git add . – Add all changes to the staging area.
git commit -m "<message>" – Commit changes with a message.
git commit --amend – Edit the last commit.

Viewing Changes

git status – Check the status of files in the working directory.
git diff – Show changes in unstaged files.
git diff --staged – Show changes in staged files.

4. Branching and Merging

Branch Management

git branch – List branches.
git branch <name> – Create a new branch.
git branch -d <name> – Delete a branch.
git branch -D <name> – Force-delete a branch.

Switching Branches

git switch <branch> – Switch to another branch.
git checkout <branch> – Legacy command to switch branches.

Merging

git merge <branch> – Merge a branch into the current branch.

Rebasing

git rebase <branch> – Reapply commits on top of another base branch.

5. Remote Repositories

git remote add <name> <url> – Add a remote repository.
git remote -v – List remote repositories.
git fetch <remote> – Download objects and refs from a remote.
git pull – Fetch and integrate changes from a remote repository.
git push – Push changes to a remote repository.
git push -u <remote> <branch> – Push and set upstream tracking.

6. Inspection and Comparison

git log – Show commit history.
git log --oneline – Display a concise log view.
git show <commit> – Show details about a specific commit.
git blame <file> – Show who made changes to each line of a file.
git diff <commit1> <commit2> – Compare two commits.

7. Undoing Changes

git restore <file> – Discard changes in the working directory.
git restore --staged <file> – Unstage a file.
git reset <commit> – Reset current HEAD to a specified commit.
git reset --hard <commit> – Reset and delete all changes.

8. Stashing

git stash – Save changes for later.
git stash list – List all stashes.
git stash pop – Apply and remove the most recent stash.
git stash drop – Remove a specific stash.

9. Tagging

git tag – List tags.
git tag <name> – Create a new tag.
git tag -d <name> – Delete a tag.
git push <remote> <tag> – Push a tag to a remote repository.

10. Collaboration

git cherry-pick <commit> – Apply a specific commit to the current branch.
git rebase --onto – Apply commits elsewhere.
git pull --rebase – Fetch and reapply local changes after fetching.

11. Debugging

git bisect – Perform binary search to find a buggy commit.
git fsck – Check the repository for errors.

12. Advanced

git reflog – Show a log of all references.
git filter-branch – Rewrite history (deprecated, use filters or git replace).
git cherry – Show commits that are not yet merged.

13. Archive and Export

git archive – Create a tarball of the repository.

14. Help

git help <command> – Display help for a specific Git command.
git --version – Display the current Git version.

This list covers most commands you’ll need in day-to-day Git usage.

Last modified: 29 December 2024