Git cheat sheet

Creating Snapshots

Initializing a repository

git init

Staging files

git add file1.js                      # Stages a single file

git add file1.js file2.js          # Stages multiple files

git add *.js                            # Stages with a pattern

git add .                                  # Stages the current directory and all its content

Viewing the status

git status              # Full status

git status -s          # Short status

Committing the staged files

git commit -m “Message”         # Commits with a one-line message

git commit                                 # Opens the default editor to type a long message

Skipping the staging area

git commit -am “Message”

Removing files

git rm file1.js                        # Removes from working directory and staging area 

git rm --cached file1.js         # Removes from staging area only

Renaming or moving files

git mv file1.js file1.txt

Viewing the staged/unstaged changes

git diff                                # Shows unstaged changes

git diff --staged                 # Shows staged changes

git diff --cached                 # Same as the above

Viewing the history

git log                                       # Full history

git log --oneline                        # Summary

git log --oneline --graph          # Summary with graph

 
git log --reverse                       # Lists the commits from the oldest to the newest

Viewing a commit

git show 921a2ff                   # Shows the given commit

git show HEAD                    # Shows the last commit

git show HEAD~2                # Two steps before the last commit

git show HEAD:file.js          # Shows the version of file.js stored in the last commit

Unstaging files (undoing git add)

git restore --staged file.js          # Copies the last version of file.js from repo to index

Discarding local changes

git restore file.js                    # Copies file.js from index to working directory 

git restore file1.js file2.js      # Restores multiple files in working directory

git restore .                             # Discards all local changes (except untracked files) 

git clean -fd                            # Removes all untracked files

Restoring an earlier version of a file

git restore --source=HEAD~2 file.js

Browsing History

Viewing the history

git log --stat                  # Shows the list of modified files

git log --patch                # Shows the actual changes (patches)

Filtering the history

git log -3                                          # Shows the last 3 entries 

git log --author=“monowar”

git log --before=“2020-08-17” 

git log --after=“one week ago”

git log --grep=“GUI”                      # Commits with “GUI” in their message

git log -S“GUI”                               # Commits with “GUI” in their patches 

git log hash1..hash2                         # Range of commits

git log file.txt                                    # Commits that touched file.txt

Formatting the log output

git log --pretty=format:”%an committed %H”

Creating an alias

git config --global alias.lg “log --oneline"

Viewing a commit

git show HEAD~2

git show HEAD~2:file1.txt              # Shows the version of file stored in this commit

Comparing commits

git diff HEAD~2 HEAD                     # Shows the changes between two commits 

git diff HEAD~2 HEAD file.txt         # Changes to file.txt only

Checking out a commit

git checkout dad47ed              # Checks out the given commit 

git checkout master                   # Checks out the master branch

Finding a bad commit

git bisect start

git bisect bad                       # Marks the current commit as a bad commit 

git bisect good ca49180     # Marks the given commit as a good commit 

git bisect reset                     # Terminates the bisect session

Finding contributors

git shortlog

Viewing the history of a file

git log file.txt                       # Shows the commits that touched file.txt

git log --stat file.txt              # Shows statistics (the number of changes) for file.txt 

git log --patch file.txt          # Shows the patches (changes) applied to file.txt

Finding the author of lines

git blame file.txt                  # Shows the author of each line in file.txt

Tagging

git tag v1.0                               # Tags the last commit as v1.0 

git tag v1.0 5e7a828              # Tags an earlier commit

git tag                                      # Lists all the tags

git tag -d v1.0                          # Deletes the given tag

Branching & Merging

Managing branches

git branch bugfix                  # Creates a new branch called bugfix 

git checkout bugfix              # Switches to the bugfix branch

git switch bugfix                  # Same as the above 

git switch -C bugfix              # Creates and switches

git branch -d bugfix             # Deletes the bugfix branch

Comparing branches

git log master..bugfix              # Lists the commits in the bugfix branch not in master 

git diff master..bugfix              # Shows the summary of changes

Stashing

git stash push -m “New tax rules”      # Creates a new stash 

git stash list                              # Lists all the stashes

git stash show stash@{1}      # Shows the given stash

git stash show 1                      # shortcut for stash@{1}

git stash apply 1                      # Applies the given stash to the working dir

git stash drop 1                         # Deletes the given stash

git stash clear                          # Deletes all the stashes

Merging

git merge bugfix                      # Merges the bugfix branch into the current branch 

git merge --no-ff bugfix          # Creates a merge commit even if FF is possible

git merge --squash bugfix        # Performs a squash merge

git merge --abort                      # Aborts the merge

Viewing the merged branches

git branch --merged                  # Shows the merged branches 

git branch --no-merged            # Shows the unmerged branches

Rebasing

git rebase master                  # Changes the base of the current branch

Cherry picking

git cherry-pick dad47ed             # Applies the given commit on the current branch

Collaboration

Cloning a repository

git clone url

Syncing with remotes

git fetch origin master              # Fetches master from origin 

git fetch origin                          # Fetches all objects from origin

git fetch                                      # Shortcut for “git fetch origin”

git pull                                        # Fetch + merge

git push origin master                  # Pushes master to origin

git push                                        # Shortcut for “git push origin master”

Sharing tags

git push origin v1.0                      # Pushes tag v1.0 to origin 

git push origin —delete v1.0

Sharing branches

git branch -r                            # Shows remote tracking branches

git branch -vv                         # Shows local & remote tracking branches 

git push -u origin bugfix         # Pushes bugfix to origin

git push -d origin bugfix          # Removes bugfix from origin

Managing remotes

git remote                                     # Shows remote repos

git remote add upstream url # Adds a new remote called upstream 

git remote rm upstream # Remotes upstream

Rewriting History

 

Undoing commits

git reset --soft HEAD^                  # Removes the last commit, keeps changed staged 

git reset --mixed HEAD^              # Unstages the changes as well

git reset --hard HEAD^                  # Discards local changes

Reverting commits

git revert 72856ea                      # Reverts the given commit

git revert HEAD~3..                  # Reverts the last three commits 

git revert --no-commit HEAD~3..

Recovering lost commits

git reflog                                   # Shows the history of HEAD

git reflog show bugfix              # Shows the history of bugfix pointer

Amending the last commit

git commit --amend

Interactive rebasing

git rebase -i HEAD~5