Git Cheatsheet

Git is a distributed version control system for tracking changes in source code during software development. It enables collaboration, branching, merging, and history tracking.

• Distributed: Every user has a full copy of the repository
• Fast, reliable, and widely used in open source and enterprise
• Supports non-linear workflows (branches, merges)

• Git: Version control tool (local and remote repositories)
• GitHub/GitLab: Hosting platforms for Git repositories
• Enable collaboration, code review, CI/CD, issue tracking

• Install Git from git-scm.com
• Available for Windows, macOS, Linux

# Windows: Download installer from website
# macOS (Homebrew):
brew install git
# Ubuntu/Debian:
sudo apt update && sudo apt install git

• Set user name and email (required for commits)
• Configure editor, colors, aliases, etc.

git config --global user.name "Your Name"
git config --global user.email "you@example.com"
git config --global core.editor "code --wait"
git config --list

• Working Directory: Your local files
• Staging Area (Index): Files marked for commit
• Repository: Committed history (local or remote)

• Creates a new, empty Git repository in the current directory
• Creates a .git folder to track version history

git init

• Download a remote repository to your local machine
• Creates a directory with all files and history

git clone https://github.com/user/repo.git

• Show the state of the working directory and staging area
• See which files are modified, staged, or untracked

git status

• Stage changes for the next commit
• Can add individual files or all changes

git add file.txt
# Add all changes
git add .

• Record staged changes to the repository
• Each commit has a unique ID and message

git commit -m "Describe your changes"

• Show commit history for the repository
• Includes commit IDs, authors, dates, and messages

git log
# One line per commit
git log --oneline

• Show changes between working directory, staging area, and last commit
• Use --staged to see staged changes

git diff
# Show staged changes
git diff --staged

• Branches allow parallel development and experimentation
• Each branch is an independent line of development

git branch

• Create a new branch: git branch branchname
• Switch branches: git checkout branchname or git switch branchname

git branch feature-x
git checkout feature-x
# Or (Git 2.23+)
git switch feature-x

• Combine changes from one branch into another
• Fast-forward and 3-way merges

git checkout main
git merge feature-x

• Conflicts occur when changes overlap between branches
• Manually edit files to resolve, then add and commit

# After conflict, edit files, then:
git add conflicted-file.txt
git commit

• Reapply commits from one branch onto another
• Creates a linear history (no merge commits)

git checkout feature-x
git rebase main

• Delete a branch after merging or if no longer needed
• -d (safe delete), -D (force delete)

git branch -d feature-x
# Force delete
git branch -D feature-x

• Temporarily save uncommitted changes
• Useful for switching branches without committing

git stash
# List stashes
git stash list
# Apply latest stash
git stash apply

• Restore file(s) in working directory to last committed state
• git restore (modern), git checkout (legacy)

git restore file.txt
# Or (older)
git checkout -- file.txt

• git reset: Move HEAD and optionally modify index/working directory
• git revert: Create a new commit that undoes changes

# Undo last commit (keep changes)
git reset --soft HEAD~1
# Undo last commit (discard changes)
git reset --hard HEAD~1
# Revert a commit (safe for shared repos)
git revert <commit-hash>

• Connect local repository to remote servers (GitHub, GitLab, etc.)
• List, add, and remove remotes

git remote add origin https://github.com/user/repo.git
git remote -v

• Upload local commits to a remote repository
• Specify remote and branch

git push origin main

• Fetch and merge changes from a remote repository
• Keep your local branch up to date

git pull origin main

• Download new commits and branches from remote, but don’t merge
• Review changes before integrating

git fetch origin

• Fork: Copy a repository to your own account (GitHub/GitLab)
• Pull Request (PR): Propose changes to the original repo
• Used for open source collaboration and code review

• Mark specific commits as important (e.g., v1.0.0)
• Useful for releases and versioning

git tag v1.0.0
git tag
# Push tags to remote
git push origin v1.0.0

• Exclude files/folders from version control
• Common for build artifacts, secrets, dependencies

# Example .gitignore
node_modules/
.env
*.log
/dist

• Create shortcuts for frequently used commands
• Set in global config

git config --global alias.co checkout
git config --global alias.br branch
git config --global alias.cm "commit -m"

• Customize log output for better readability
• --oneline, --graph, --decorate

git log --oneline --graph --decorate --all

• Scripts that run automatically on certain Git events
• Examples: pre-commit, pre-push, post-merge
• Located in .git/hooks/ directory

• Feature Branch Workflow: Create a branch for each feature, merge to main when done.
• Git Flow Workflow: Use main, develop, feature, release, and hotfix branches for structured releases.
• Forking Workflow: Fork repo, work in your copy, submit pull requests to original.

(Above: Feature Branch & Git Flow simplified. Forking workflow: fork → clone → branch → PR.)