Cheatsheet: Tips and Tricks for using Git

Git Tips and Tricks.md

Cheatsheet: Tips and Tricks for using Git

Table of Contents

• Lots of Git Tips
• Repositories
• Stash
• Commits
• Tags
• Branches
• Stage
• Config
• Log
• Reset/Undo
• Submodules
• Other
• Git Workflows

Lots of Git Tips

• https://makandracards.com/makandra/5531-git-move-a-commit-between-repositories
• https://blog.prototypr.io/git-for-beginners-12-commands-you-need-to-know-e084cce9cc94
• https://flaviocopes.com/git-cheat-sheet/
• https://github.blog/2015-06-08-how-to-undo-almost-anything-with-git/
• https://docs.github.com/en/search-github/searching-on-github/searching-issues-and-pull-requests

Repositories

Shallow clone (quick)

git clone https://github.com/username/reponame.git --branch branchname --single-branch --depth 1

Un-shallow

Revert shallow clone into full clone.

git fetch --unshallow
git config remote.origin.fetch "+refs/heads/*:refs/remotes/origin/*"
git fetch origin

Remote Repositories

List remotes

git remote -v

How to Set an Upstream Without Push

git branch --set-upstream-to origin/my_branch
git branch -u origin/my_branch

How to Rename a Remote

git remote rename upstream origin

Add a remote

git remote add upstream https://github.com/username/reponame.git

Change URL of existing remote

git remote set-url origin new.git.url/reponame.git

List all branches on remote repository

git remote show origin

Stash

Stash specific files (as of Git 2.13)

git stash push -- [filepaths]
- or -
git stash push -m "message" [filepath]

Stash hunks of lines interactively

git stash -p

Stash with custom message

git stash save "Your custom message"

See recent stash:

git stash show -p
git stash show -p stash@{0}

git stash list
git stash show -p stash@{1}

git stash drop

Recover dropped stash in Git

https://gist.github.com/joseluisq/7f0f1402f05c45bac10814a9e38f81bf

git fsck --no-reflog | awk '/dangling commit/ {print $3}'
git stash apply SHA1_OF_STASH
OR
git branch recovered SHA1_OF_STASH

Commits

Move a commit between repositories

Create patch (mailbox) file (optionally for one specific file):

git checkout sourceBranch
git format-patch -1 SHA1_OF_COMMIT~..SHA1_OF_COMMIT [path/to/file.js]

Apply patch (mailbox) file:

cd toDifferentRepo
git checkout targetBranch
git am pathToPatchFile.patch

Note that the new commit will have a different hash than the original. If you want the hash to remain the same, use git cherry-pick instead.

Squash, re-order, etc

git rebase --interactive HEAD~3

Update last commit message:

git commit --amend -m "New commit message"

Update last committed code (note: not a good idea if others are also working on same repo):

git add .
git commit --amend --no-edit

Can alternatively use this to interactively pick-out files and hunks of lines to be added: git add -p

Show last commit

git show    (shows diff)

Show changes in a specific commit

git show commitID       or       git diff commitID^!

Modify author / date of last commit

Specify a different author for last commit.

git commit -m "msg" --author "John Smith <johnsmith@example.com>"
git commit --amend --reset-author

Change date of last commit.

git commit --amend --date="Wed Feb 16 14:00 2011 +0100" --no-edit
git commit --amend --date=now --no-edit

Tags

Create tag/Set tag

git tag YOUR_TAG_NAME
git tag -f YOUR_TAG_NAME

Pull tags

git fetch origin --tags

Push tag

git tag origin YOUR_TAG_NAME
git push --tags origin

Delete tag

git tag -d YOUR_TAG_NAME
git push --delete origin YOUR_TAG_NAME

Delete ALL tags.

Remote command to delete all tags is first, followed by the command for local tags.

In Linux:

git ls-remote --tags --refs origin | cut -f2 | xargs git push origin --delete
git tag | xargs git tag -d

In Windows PowerShell (remote tags must all exist locally:

git tag | foreach-object -process { git push origin --delete $_ }
git tag | foreach-object -process { git tag -d $_ }  

In Windows Batch:

FOR /f "tokens=*" %a in ('git tag') DO git push origin --delete %a
FOR /f "tokens=*" %a in ('git ls-remote --tags --refs origin') DO git push origin --delete %a

Branches

Checkout a remote branch and create a new local branch with tracking

git checkout -b <newbranch> origin/<branch>
git switch <branch>

or

git checkout --track origin/<branch>

Checkout branch interactively selecting hunks of lines of code

git checkout -p HEAD~

Set tracking for a local branch

git branch -u origin/<branch>

List local and remote branches

git branch -l
git branch -r
git branch -a

Update Branch

https://www.atlassian.com/git/tutorials/merging-vs-rebasing

git pull origin <branch>
git cherry-pick origin/<branch or hash or tag>
git merge origin <branch>

Incorporate upstream changes into branch, moving extra commits to the tip of the branch after synchronising it with the changes from the central repository.

git pull --rebase origin master

Integrating feature/patch/patch from a remote branch - 2 step process:

 git fetch <remote-git-url> <branch or sha>
 git cherry-pick FETCH_HEAD

Rename a branch

git branch -m <NewBranchName>

Compare two branches

git diff branch1..branch2

Delete a local branch

git branch -D <branch>

Delete a remote branch

git push upstream --delete <branch>

Retrieve updates without applying them.

git fetch origin

Push update to remote creating branch if it doesn't already exist.

git push origin HEAD

Push update to a remote different branch

git push origin HEAD:other_branch_name

Set default upstream.

git push -u origin <branch>

Resolving Merge Conflicts

Edit files and then... git add git rebase --continue or get rebase --abort

Stage

git status
git status -uno # Don't show untracked files.
git diff

Show diff with staged files:

git diff --cache [filename]

You can also use git diff to compare the stash with any branch.

git diff stash@{0} master

Remove directory or file from a staged files

git checkout – <file/folder>

Remove directory or file from unstaged files

(just delete the directory or file)

Config

git config --global user.name "Full Name"
git config --global user.email "email@address.tld"
git config --global log.date iso
git config --global color.ui true

Store credentials so you are not prompted again

git config --global credential.helper store

Store credentials for this session only

git config --global credential.helper cache

Set a timeout for credentials

git config --global credential.helper 'cache --timeout=600'

View current configuation

git config --local --list
git config --global --list
git config --system --list

Ignore chmod differences (useful for Windows/Linux)

git config --global core.fileMode false

Log

git log --oneline
git log --author=partofnane
git log --grep=partofmessage
git log --graph --oneline --decorate

Show commits on one line with users and dates

git log --pretty=format:"%h%x09%an%x09%ad%x09%s"

Show last commit

git log --oneline -1  (shows last log)

Show list of ahead commits

git cherry -v
git log origin/master..HEAD
git log --stat origin/master..HEAD
git log master --not --remotes --oneline

Show list of files that changed

git log --name-status

List commits for a specific file

git log --follow -- <filename>
git log --follow -p -- <filename>

Show list of branch heads

git show-ref --heads

List of contributors

git shortlog -s -n

Git Tree

git log --graph --oneline --decorate --all

Show project history and use it to recover almost anything.

git reflog
git reset HEAD@{1}

Reset/Undo

Switch back to previous branch

git checkout --

Restore the file status (undo git add)

git reset --

Revert files from the index (revert files)

git checkout --

Undo "git add" (remove from stage without loosing changes)

git reset HEAD <fileToUnstage>

Undo one or more "git commit" resetting changes

git reset --hard HEAD~
git reset --hard HEAD~5

Undo one or more "git commit" without loosing changes

git reset --soft HEAD~
git reset --soft HEAD~5

Undo one or more "git commit" after git push

Same as undo one or more commits but add a push (note: not a good idea if others are also working on same repo): git push origin HEAD -f

Remove file from repository without deleting it locally.

git rm -r --cached file.name

Undo git reset

git reset 'HEAD@{1}'

Reset to tag instead of branch

git reset --hard YOUR_TAG_NAME

Revert - The Anti-commit

git revert <sha hash>

Submodules

List submodules

git submodules

Add to submodules (.gitmodules)

git submodule add remoteURL destinationFolder

Install submodules

git submodule update --init --recursive .

Get path of all submodules

git config --file .gitmodules --get-regexp path | awk '{ print $2 }'

Update submodules

git submodule update --remote

Remove submodules

git submodule deinit submoduleFolder
git rm submoduleFoder

Other

Get git to prompt for credentials

git config --global credential.github.com.useHttpPath true

Stop tracking a file but keep it (like a "git remove", opposite of git add)

git rm --cached <filename>
git rm -r --cached <filenpath>

Find something in your repo

git grep "regex"

Git Workflows

• https://www.atlassian.com/git/tutorials/comparing-workflows
• https://nvie.com/posts/a-successful-git-branching-model/
• https://buddy.works/blog/5-types-of-git-workflows
• https://proandroiddev.com/how-to-set-up-an-efficient-development-workflow-with-git-and-ci-cd-5e8916f6bece

Git Workflow: Rebase

git checkout master
git pull
git checkout feature-branch
git rebase master
git mergetool
git rebase --continue
git rebase --abort
git push -f

Git Workflow: Create local repository

git init
git remote add <remote> --track origin/<branch>
git add .
git commit -m "Initial commit"
git push origin HEAD

git clone https://github.com/username/repo.git <TargetFolder>

Git Workflow: Make changes to repository

git clone <url>
cd (change directory)
git checkout -b <branch-name>
git status

Make your changes

git status
git diff
git add .
git status
git commit -m "Commit message"
git push

Merge changes from GitHub

git checkout master
git pull
git status