Simple git references

A list of a few commonly used git commands.

Getting help

• git help command or git command --help: Show help for a command

Repository creation

• git init: Create a repository in the current directory
• git clone url: Clone a remote repository into a subdirectory

File operations

• git add [dir] [file1] [file2]: Add file or files in directory recursively
• git rm path: Remove file from the working tree
  • -f: Force deletion of file(s) from disk
• git mv path destination: Move file or directory to new location
  • -f: Overwrite existing destination files
• git checkout [rev] file: Restore file from current branch or revision
  • -f: Overwrite uncommitted local changes

Working tree

• git status -s: Show status of the working tree
• git diff [path]: Show diff of changes in the working tree
• git diff HEAD path: Show diff of stages and unstaged changes
• git diff --cached --stat: Show diff of staged changes
• git add path: Stage file for commit
• git reset HEAD path: Unstage file for commit
• git commit [-m 'msg']: Commit file that has been staged
  • -a: Automatically stage all modified files
  • --amend: Replace last commit for a new one
• git reset --soft HEAD^: Undo commit and keep changes in the workingtree
• git reset --head HEAD^: Reset the working tree to the last commit
• git clean: Clean unknown files from the working tree
• git revert [rev]: Reverse commit specified by

Examining history

• git log [path]: View commit log, optionally for specific path
  • ^branch: View commit log without branch
• git log: [from [...to]]: View commit log for a given revision range
  • --stat: List diffstat for each revision
  • --oneline --graph --decorate: Show recent commits with decoration
• git blame [file]: Show who authored each line
• git ls-files: List all files in the index
• git whatchanged: Show logs with difference

Remote repositories

• git fetch [repo]: Fetch changes from a remote repository
• git pull [repo]: Fetch and merge changes from a remote repo
• git push [repo] [branch]: Push changes to a remote repository
• git remote: List remote repositories
• git remote add remote url: Add remote to list of tracked repositories

Branches

• git checkout branch: Switch working tree to branch
  • -b branch: Create branch before switching to it
• git branch: List local branches
  • -d branch: Delete the branch
• git branch -f branch rev: Overwrite existing branch start from revision
• git merge branch: Merge changes from branch to actual branch
• git mergetool: Working through conflicted files

Exporting and importing

• git apply - < file: Apply patch from stdin
• git format-patch from [...to]: Format a patch with log message and diffstat
• git archive rev > file: Export snapshot of revision to file
  • --prefix=dir/: Nest all files in the snapshot in directory
  • --format=[tar/zip]: Specify archive format to use, tar or zip

Tags

• git tag name [revision]: Create tag for a given revision
  • -s: Sign tag with your private key using GPG
  • -l [pattern]: List tags, optionally matching pattern

File status flags

• Modified: File has been modified
• Copy-edit: File has been copied and modified
• Rename-edit: File has been renamed and modified
• Added: File has been added
• Deleted: File has been deleted
• Unmerged: File has conflicts after a merge

Configuring

• git config --global user.name 'name'
• git config --global user.email 'name@email.com'

Use Git as a magic time machine

git reflog
# you will see a list of every thing you've
# done in git, across all branches!
# each one has an index HEAD@{index}
# find the one before you broke everything
git reset HEAD@{index}
# magic time machine

Make the last commit including the new changes

# make your change
git add . # or add individual files
git commit --amend --no-edit
# now your last commit contains that change!
# WARNING: never amend public commits

Change message of the last commit

git commit --amend
# follow prompts to change the commit message

Saving when committed to the wrong branch

git checkout name-of-the-correct-branch
# grab the last commit to master
git cherry-pick master
# delete it from master
git checkout master
git reset HEAD~ --hard

Undo a change to a file

# find a hash for a commit before the file was changed
git log
# use the arrow keys to scroll up and down in history
# once you've found your commit, save the hash
git checkout [saved hash] -- path/to/file
# the old version of the file will be in your index
git commit -m "Wow, you don't have to copy-paste to undo"

References

1. Git cheat sheet

2. Oh Shit, Git!?!