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Danish Saleem
Danish Saleem

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GIT CHEATSHEET

Git is the free and open-source distributed version control system that's responsible for everything GitHub related that happens locally on your computer.

This cheat sheet features the most important and commonly used Git commands for easy reference.

SETUP

Configuring user information used across all local repositories

git config --global user.name "[firstname lastname]"
Set a name that is identifiable for credit when reviewing version history
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git config --global user.email "[valid-email]"
Set an email address that will be associated with each history marker
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git config --global color.ui auto
Set automatic command line coloring for Git for easy reviewing
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SETUP & INIT

Configuring user information, initializing and cloning repositories

git init
Initialize an existing directory as a Git repository
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git clone [url]
Retrieve an entire repository from a hosted location via URL
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STAGE & SNAPSHOT

Working with snapshots and the Git staging area

git status
Show modified files in the working directory, staged for your next commit
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git add [file]
Add a file as it looks now to your next commit (stage
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git reset [file]
Unstaged a file while retaining the changes in the working directory
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git diff
Diff of what is changed but not staged
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git diff --staged
Diff of what is staged but not yet committed
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git commit -m “[descriptive message]”
Commit your staged content as a new commit snapshot
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BRANCH & MERGE

Isolating work in branches, changing context, and integrating changes

git branch
List your branches. a * will appear next to the currently active branch
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git branch [branch-name]
Create a new branch at the current commit
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git checkout
Switch to another branch and check it out in your working directory
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git merge [branch]
Merge the specified branch’s history into the current one
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git log
Show all commits in the current branch’s history
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INSPECT & COMPARE

Examining logs, diffs, and object information

git log
Show the commit history for the currently active branch
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git log branchB..branchA
Show the commits on branch A that are not on branch B
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git log --follow [file]
Show the commits that changed file(s), even across renames
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git diff branch B...branch A
Show the diff between what is in branch A that is not in branch B
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git show [SHA]
Show any object in Git in human-readable format
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TRACKING PATH CHANGES

Versioning file removes and path changes

git rm [file]
Delete the file from the project and stage the removal for commit
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git mv [existing-path] [new-path]
Change an existing file path and stage the move
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git log --stat -M
Show all commit logs with an indication of any paths that moved
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IGNORING PATTERNS

Preventing unintentional staging or committing of files

logs/
*.notes
pattern*/
Save a file with desired patterns as .gitignore with either direct string
matches or wildcard globs.
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git config --global core.excludesfile [file]
System-wide ignore pattern for all local repositories
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SHARE & UPDATE

Retrieving updates from another repository and updating local repos

git remote add [alias] [url]
Add a git URL as an alias
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git fetch [alias]
Fetch down all the branches from that Git remote
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git merge [alias]/[branch]
Merge a remote branch into your current branch to bring it up to date
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git push [alias] [branch]
Transmit local branch commits to the remote repository branch
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git pull
Fetch and merge any commits from the tracking remote branch
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REWRITE HISTORY

Rewriting branches, updating commits, and clearing history

git rebase [branch]
Apply any commits of the current branch ahead of the specified one
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git reset --hard [commit]
Clear staging area, rewrite working tree from the specified commit
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TEMPORARY COMMITS

Temporarily store modified, tracked files to change branches

git stash
Save modified and staged changes
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git stash list
List stack-order of stashed file changes
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git stash pop
Write working from the top of the stash stack
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git stash drop
Discard the changes from the top of the stash stack
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Top comments (6)

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Mark Vassilevskiy

Hey! I've found your article very useful and would like to offer you cooperation. We've over 50k per week and also, we're building Projects/Startups in different directions. You can add me at Discord: MarkFusion#2903

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Shili Mrawen

super thanks

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miladtehrany profile image
Milad Tehrany

Very useful, thanks

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shamolmojumder profile image
Shamol Mojumder

Very helpful

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Danish Saleem

Okay sure I'll write about git tag