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
git config --global user.email "[valid-email]"
Set an email address that will be associated with each history marker
git config --global color.ui auto
Set automatic command line coloring for Git for easy reviewing
SETUP & INIT
Configuring user information, initializing and cloning repositories
git init
Initialize an existing directory as a Git repository
git clone [url]
Retrieve an entire repository from a hosted location via URL
STAGE & SNAPSHOT
Working with snapshots and the Git staging area
git status
Show modified files in the working directory, staged for your next commit
git add [file]
Add a file as it looks now to your next commit (stage
git reset [file]
Unstaged a file while retaining the changes in the working directory
git diff
Diff of what is changed but not staged
git diff --staged
Diff of what is staged but not yet committed
git commit -m “[descriptive message]”
Commit your staged content as a new commit snapshot
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
git branch [branch-name]
Create a new branch at the current commit
git checkout
Switch to another branch and check it out in your working directory
git merge [branch]
Merge the specified branch’s history into the current one
git log
Show all commits in the current branch’s history
INSPECT & COMPARE
Examining logs, diffs, and object information
git log
Show the commit history for the currently active branch
git log branchB..branchA
Show the commits on branch A that are not on branch B
git log --follow [file]
Show the commits that changed file(s), even across renames
git diff branch B...branch A
Show the diff between what is in branch A that is not in branch B
git show [SHA]
Show any object in Git in human-readable format
TRACKING PATH CHANGES
Versioning file removes and path changes
git rm [file]
Delete the file from the project and stage the removal for commit
git mv [existing-path] [new-path]
Change an existing file path and stage the move
git log --stat -M
Show all commit logs with an indication of any paths that moved
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.
git config --global core.excludesfile [file]
System-wide ignore pattern for all local repositories
SHARE & UPDATE
Retrieving updates from another repository and updating local repos
git remote add [alias] [url]
Add a git URL as an alias
git fetch [alias]
Fetch down all the branches from that Git remote
git merge [alias]/[branch]
Merge a remote branch into your current branch to bring it up to date
git push [alias] [branch]
Transmit local branch commits to the remote repository branch
git pull
Fetch and merge any commits from the tracking remote branch
REWRITE HISTORY
Rewriting branches, updating commits, and clearing history
git rebase [branch]
Apply any commits of the current branch ahead of the specified one
git reset --hard [commit]
Clear staging area, rewrite working tree from the specified commit
TEMPORARY COMMITS
Temporarily store modified, tracked files to change branches
git stash
Save modified and staged changes
git stash list
List stack-order of stashed file changes
git stash pop
Write working from the top of the stash stack
git stash drop
Discard the changes from the top of the stash stack
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