Git Cheat Sheet

1. Setup

Configuring global information

• git config —global user.name “[firstname lastname]”
  Sets your name for all commits, so you get credit when viewing version history.

• git config —global user.email “[valid-email]”
  Sets your email address to be used in commit history.

2. Stage & Snapshot

Working with Snapshots and the Git Staging Area

• git status
  Shows the modified files in your working directory and which files are staged for the next commit.

• git add [file]
  Adds a file to the staging area (getting it ready for the next commit).

• git reset [file]
  Removes a file from the staging area but keeps the changes in the working directory.

• git diff
  Shows the changes in your working directory that are not yet staged.

• git diff —staged
  Shows the changes that are staged but not yet committed.

• git commit -m “[descriptive message]”
  Commits your staged changes with a descriptive message.

3. Branch & Merge

Isolating Work in Branches and Merging Changes

• git branch
  Lists all your branches. The current branch will have an asterisk * next to it.

• git branch [branch-name]
  Creates a new branch based on your current branch.

• git checkout [branch-name]
  Switches to the specified branch and updates your working directory.

• git merge [branch-name]
  Merges the specified branch’s history into the current branch.

4. Setup & Init

Configuring User Information, Initializing, and Cloning Repositories

• git init
  Initializes an existing directory as a Git repository.

• git clone [url]
  Retrieves an entire repository from a hosted location via URL.

5. Inspect & Compare

Examining Logs, Diffs, and Object Information

• git log
  Shows the commit history for the currently active branch.

• git log branchB..branchA
  Shows the commits on branchA that are not on branchB.

• git log —follow [file]
  Shows the commits that changed a file, even across renames.

• git diff branchB...branchA
  Shows the diff of what is in branchA that is not in branchB.

• git show [SHA]
  Shows any object in Git in a human-readable format.

6. Share & Update

Retrieving Updates from Another Repository and Updating Local Repos

• git remote add [alias] [url]
  Adds a Git URL as an alias.

• git fetch [alias]
  Fetches all branches from that Git remote.

• git merge [alias]/[branch]
  Merges a remote branch into your current branch to bring it up to date.

• git push [alias] [branch]
  Transmits local branch commits to the remote repository branch.

• git pull
  Fetches and merges any commits from the tracking remote branch.

7. Tracking Path Changes

Versioning File Removals and Path Changes

• git rm [file]
  Deletes the file from the project and stages the removal for commit.

• git mv [existing-path] [new-path]
  Changes an existing file path and stages the move.

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