git

What it does

How to write it

git COMMAND [OPTIONS] [ARGS]

Main parts

Daily commands

clone URL

Copy a remote repository.

status

What changed, what is staged.

add FILE / add -p

Stage changes (by parts with -p).

commit -m MSG

Save a commit.

log --oneline --graph

Show history.

diff [--staged]

Show changes.

switch -c BRANCH / switch BRANCH

Create / change branch.

pull / fetch / push

Get / send changes.

merge BRANCH

Join a branch into the current one.

rebase BRANCH

Replay your commits on top of another branch.

restore FILE / restore --staged FILE

Undo changes / unstage.

revert COMMIT

New commit that undoes an old one (safe on shared branches).

reset --soft|--hard COMMIT

Move the branch (hard deletes work!).

stash / stash pop

Put work aside and bring it back.

tag -s v1.4.0

Make a (signed) tag.

blame FILE / bisect

Who changed a line / find the bad commit.

remote -v / remote add NAME URL

Manage remotes.

cherry-pick COMMIT

Copy one commit to this branch.

Most used

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$ run as a normal user# run as root (or with sudo)

1. 1Set up your identity and signing

   $git config --global user.name "s0sta"
   $git config --global user.email "76218642+s0sta@users.noreply.github.com"
   $git config --global gpg.format ssh
   $git config --global user.signingkey ~/.ssh/id_ed25519.pub
   $git config --global commit.gpgsign true

2. 2Start work on a feature branch

   $git clone git@github.com:s0sta/platform.git && cd platform
   $git switch -c feat/add-health-check
   $vim app/health.py
   $git add -p
   $git commit -m "Add /health endpoint"
   $git push -u origin feat/add-health-check

3. 3See what happened

   $git status
   $git log --oneline --graph --decorate -15
   $git diff main...feat/add-health-check --stat

4. 4Update your branch with main

   $git fetch origin
   $git rebase origin/main
   $git push --force-with-lease

5. 5Undo safely

   $git restore app/config.py
   $git restore --staged app/config.py
   $git revert 3f2a91c
   $git commit --amend -m "Better message"

6. 6Put work aside

   $git stash push -m "half done"
   $git switch main && git pull
   $git switch - && git stash pop

7. 7Tag a release

   $git tag -s v1.4.0 -m "Shop 1.4.0"
   $git push origin v1.4.0
   $git tag -v v1.4.0

8. 8Find the commit that broke something

   $git bisect start
   $git bisect bad HEAD
   $git bisect good v1.3.0
   $git bisect reset

9. 9Remove a secret that was committed

   $git rm --cached .env && echo ".env" >> .gitignore
   $git commit -m "Remove .env from repo"

   The secret is still in the history: rotate it first, then clean history with git filter-repo.

10. 10Stop secrets before they are committed

    $cat .git/hooks/pre-commit
    #!/bin/sh
    exec gitleaks protect --staged --redact
    $chmod +x .git/hooks/pre-commit

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Files

~/.gitconfig

Your global settings.

.git/

The repository data.

.gitignore

Files Git should not track.

.git/hooks/

Local hooks (pre-commit, commit-msg).

Exit codes