An overview of Git, with commands and workflows

Git Cheatsheet.md

Git

Setup

List your current config:

git config --list

Set a config option:

git config <name> <value>

Pass the --global option to set the config globally, not just in current git repo.

Initial setup:

git config --global user.name "<value>"   # Your name
git config --global user.email "<value>"  # Your email associated with github.com
git config --global core.editor "<value>" # I would use vim

Theory

Resetting is destructive. Reverting is non-destructive.

git pull is performing two commands: git fetch and git merge FETCH_HEAD

Commands

add       # adds files to staging, a '.' will match everything
    -u    # update flag, try this when git status shows deleted files

branch    # alone, it lists all branches, with a value it will create a new branch
    -m    # rename a branch
    -d    # delete a branch
    -D    # force delete

checkout  # switch branches
    -b    # create a new branch, and switch to it
    
commit    # commit changes to repo
    --amend   # a small change that is not worthy of its own commit
    --no-edit # don't edit the commit message when ammending a commit

config    # sets git configs
    --global  # set a config option globally
    core.fileMode [true|false]  # set file permissions tracking
    color.ui [true|false]       # turns on/off colours

clean     # removes untracked changes
    -f    # files
    -d    # directories

log       # shows the commit history
    --oneline   # shows one line per commit (good for scoping out a quick sha1 value)
    --stat      # abbreviated stats
    -p          # full changelog
    -n<number>  # only shows last <number> of commits
  
reflog    # log of ref updates (checkout, reset, commit, merge)

diff
    <branch>..<other_branch>    # diff two branches
    --name-status               # just show file names of diff files
    --cached                    # show diff log of change in working directory
    
ls-files  # shows non-git files
    --ignored --exclude-standard --others   # .gitignore'd files
    --exclude-standard --others             # untracked files

remote    # lists remotes
    -v    # more detailed info on remotes
    add <name>      # add a new remote (tyically 'origin')
    set-url <name>  # change the url of a remote (if you've moved the repo)
    rename <old> <new>  # rename the name of a remote
    rm <name>       # remove a remote
    update          # grabs the remote's branches
  
reset     # destructive method of changing HEAD
    HEAD ~<n>   # moves the HEAD back <n> commits
    --hard      # discards any changes
  
revert    # reverts a commit, non-destructive
    <sha1>      # commit to revert

push    # push changes to remote
    -u <remote> --all   # pushes up the repo and its refs for the first time
    -u <remote> --tags  # pushes up any tags
    -u <remote> <branch>  # creates a branch on the remote repo and sets the upstream
    <remote> --delete <branch>  # deletes a branch

pull    # pulls changes from remote

rm      # removes from the index
    --cached <file|directory>
    -r    # recursive

## Tips

Woops I just commited, but there's an untracked file

Simply add it to the stage (git add .) and use the --amend flag while commiting again – git commit --amend

Woops I'm working in the wrong branch

Put the changes in to stash and then apply that stash to the different branch.

git stash
git checkout <whatever>
git stash apply

Woops I just stashed something, then stashed again - how can I apply a previous stash?

You can get a list of all your stashes:

git stash list

From the list, you can use:

git stash apply stash@{1}

Or simply, twice:

git stash pop

Do I really have to write git push <remote> <branch> each time?

No, you can set the upstream for each branch so it will automatically go to the right place.

git checkout a-branch
git push -u origin a-branch
# then in future you can just 'git push'

Add to staging and commit at the same time

Any currently tracked files can be added at commit time with the -a flag.

git commit -am "Watch out for untracked files though, they wont be added"

Go to a particular commit

You can checkout to a specific commit you have made previously in a type of sandbox mode. Any changes you make here will be destroyed when you reattach the head. If you want to save the changes you must create a new branch.

git checkout <sha1>

Global .gitignore

If you have commonly ignored files across your projects, you can create a global .gitignore file in your home (~/) folder. An example would be:

# ~/.gitignore

DS_Store

This would mean that those pesky files that OS X creates for you in all your directories wont clutter your repo. Remember, you need to add this file in the global git config like so:

git config --global core.excludesfile ~/.gitignore