Quick reference tables
Setup & config
| Command | What it does |
|---|---|
git config --global user.name "Name" | Set your commit name |
git config --global user.email "[email protected]" | Set your commit email |
git config --global init.defaultBranch main | Set default branch to main |
git config --global core.editor "code --wait" | Set VS Code as default editor |
git config --list | Show all config values |
Creating & cloning
| Command | What it does |
|---|---|
git init | Initialize a repo in current directory |
git init my-project | Initialize in a new folder |
git clone <url> | Clone a remote repo |
git clone <url> my-folder | Clone into a specific folder name |
git clone --depth 1 <url> | Shallow clone (latest commit only) |
Staging & committing
| Command | What it does |
|---|---|
git status | Show working tree status |
git add file.js | Stage a specific file |
git add . | Stage all changes in current directory |
git add -p | Stage changes interactively (chunk by chunk) |
git commit -m "message" | Commit with a message |
git commit --amend | Edit the last commit (message or files) |
git commit --amend --no-edit | Add staged files to last commit, keep message |
Branching
| Command | What it does |
|---|---|
git branch | List local branches |
git branch -a | List all branches (local + remote) |
git branch feature | Create a new branch |
git switch feature | Switch to a branch |
git switch -c feature | Create and switch in one step |
git branch -d feature | Delete a branch (safe — merged only) |
git branch -D feature | Force delete a branch |
git branch -m old new | Rename a branch |
Merging & rebasing
| Command | What it does |
|---|---|
git merge feature | Merge feature into current branch |
git merge --no-ff feature | Merge with a merge commit (no fast-forward) |
git merge --squash feature | Squash all commits into one before merging |
git rebase main | Rebase current branch onto main |
git rebase -i HEAD~3 | Interactive rebase — edit last 3 commits |
git rebase --abort | Cancel a rebase in progress |
git rebase --continue | Continue after resolving conflicts |
Stashing
| Command | What it does |
|---|---|
git stash | Stash current changes |
git stash push -m "message" | Stash with a description |
git stash list | List all stashes |
git stash pop | Apply most recent stash and remove it |
git stash apply stash@{2} | Apply a specific stash, keep it in list |
git stash drop stash@{0} | Delete a stash |
git stash clear | Delete all stashes |
Undoing changes
| Command | What it does |
|---|---|
git restore file.js | Discard unstaged changes to a file |
git restore --staged file.js | Unstage a file (keep changes) |
git reset HEAD~1 | Undo last commit, keep changes staged |
git reset --soft HEAD~1 | Undo last commit, keep changes staged |
git reset --mixed HEAD~1 | Undo last commit, unstage changes |
git reset --hard HEAD~1 | Undo last commit, discard all changes |
git revert <commit> | Create a new commit that undoes a commit |
git clean -fd | Delete untracked files and directories |
Remotes
| Command | What it does |
|---|---|
git remote -v | List remotes with URLs |
git remote add origin <url> | Add a remote |
git remote set-url origin <url> | Change remote URL |
git fetch | Download changes, don’t merge |
git fetch --all | Fetch all remotes |
git pull | Fetch and merge |
git pull --rebase | Fetch and rebase instead of merge |
git push | Push current branch to remote |
git push -u origin main | Push and set upstream tracking |
git push --force-with-lease | Force push safely (fails if remote changed) |
git push origin --delete feature | Delete a remote branch |
Inspecting & log
| Command | What it does |
|---|---|
git log | Full commit history |
git log --oneline | Compact one-line history |
git log --oneline --graph | Branching history as ASCII graph |
git log -p | Show diffs for each commit |
git log --author="Name" | Filter by author |
git log --since="2 weeks ago" | Filter by date |
git diff | Show unstaged changes |
git diff --staged | Show staged changes |
git diff main..feature | Compare two branches |
git show <commit> | Show a specific commit |
git blame file.js | Show who changed each line |
Tags
| Command | What it does |
|---|---|
git tag | List all tags |
git tag v1.0.0 | Create a lightweight tag |
git tag -a v1.0.0 -m "Release" | Create an annotated tag |
git push --tags | Push all tags to remote |
git push origin v1.0.0 | Push a specific tag |
Want to go deeper on one of the most underrated Git features? Read Git Worktree: Work on Two Branches at the Same Time.
Detailed sections
The everyday workflow
git status # see what's changed
git add . # stage everything
git commit -m "feat: add login" # commit
git push # push to remoteOr stage only specific changes:
git add -p # review and stage chunk by chunk
git commit -m "fix: edge case in auth"Branching workflow
git switch main # start from main
git pull # get latest
git switch -c feature/login # create and switch to feature branch
# do your work...
git add .
git commit -m "feat: add login form"
git push -u origin feature/login
# open a PR, get it merged, then clean up:
git switch main
git pull
git branch -d feature/loginFixing the last commit
# Wrong message?
git commit --amend
# Forgot to add a file?
git add forgotten-file.js
git commit --amend --no-editOnly amend commits that haven’t been pushed. If already pushed, use git revert instead.
Undoing things safely
Unstaged changes you don’t want:
git restore file.jsA file you staged by mistake:
git restore --staged file.jsA commit that hasn’t been pushed:
git reset --soft HEAD~1 # undo commit, keep staged
git reset HEAD~1 # undo commit, unstage changes
git reset --hard HEAD~1 # undo commit, discard everythingA commit that’s already pushed (use revert — it’s safe):
git revert <commit-hash> # creates a new undo commit
git pushInteractive rebase — clean up before merging
git rebase -i HEAD~4 # open editor for last 4 commitsIn the editor, change pick to:
r— reword: edit commit messages— squash: merge into previous commitf— fixup: squash silently (discard message)d— drop: delete this commit
Resolving merge conflicts
When Git reports conflicts:
# Open conflicting files, look for conflict markers:
# <<<<<<< HEAD
# your changes
# =======
# their changes
# >>>>>>> feature
# Edit the file to keep what you want, then:
git add resolved-file.js
git commit # or git rebase --continue if rebasingUseful aliases
Add these to ~/.gitconfig:
[alias]
st = status
co = switch
lg = log --oneline --graph --all
undo = reset HEAD~1
staged = diff --stagedThen use: git lg, git st, git undo.
Related Reading.
Cheatsheet 7 min read
SSH & GPG Cheat Sheet: Keys, Tunnels & Signed Commits
Complete SSH and GPG reference — key generation, ssh-agent, config file aliases, port forwarding, database tunneling, GPG signing, and signed git commits.
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Git Worktree: Work on Two Branches at the Same Time
Stop stashing mid-feature to fix a hotfix. Git worktree lets you check out multiple branches into separate folders from the same repo — with real scenarios and examples.
Vishnu Damwala
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I Deleted My Code with git reset --hard. git reflog Saved It.
True story: running git reset --hard on the wrong branch wiped a week of work. Here is how git reflog recovered it all — and the guardrails I set up after.
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