Important Git Commands

Today, Git is the most popular version control in the world (over 70% of developers use it). This makes Git one of the essential tools for development. This article lists the important (essential) Git commands to know: git config, git init, git clone, git add, git restore, git commit, git diff, git reset, git status, git rm, git log, git show, git tag, git branch, git checkout, git merge, git remote, git push, git pull, git stash. This list is just a reference and of course you need to learn Git in depth.

Commands

Below we will give a brief description of each command followed by examples.

git config

The git config command is a function that is used to set Git configuration values on a global or local project leve

Sets user name
$ git config --global user.name "[name]"
Sets user email
$ git config --global user.email "[email address]"
Enables helpful colorization of command line output.
$ git config --global color.ui auto
Shows your configuration
$ git config --list

Example

# set user name
[jmare@bigboss ~]$ git config --global user.name "samuel kokou"

# set user email
[jmare@bigboss ~]$ git config --global user.email "samuel@kokou.com"

# color setting
[jmare@bigboss ~]$ git config --global color.ui auto

# List config
[jmare@bigboss ~]$ git config --list
user.name=samuel kokou
user.email=samuel@kokou.com
color.status=auto
color.branch=auto
color.interactive=auto
color.diff=auto
color.ui=auto
merge.conflictstyle=diff3
core.editor=vim

git init

The git init command is used when starting a new repository. It turns an existing directory into a git repository. The command must be executed in the target directory.

$ git init

Example

[jmare@bigboss test]$ git init
Initialized empty Git repository in /home/jmare/Documents/test/.git/

git clone

The git clone command downloads an existing Git repository from the server to your local computer.

$ git clone

Example

[jmare@bigboss git]$ git clone https://github.com/jememare/dotfiles.git
Cloning into 'dotfiles'...
remote: Enumerating objects: 1147, done.
remote: Counting objects: 100% (368/368), done.
remote: Compressing objects: 100% (233/233), done.
remote: Total 1147 (delta 146), reused 265 (delta 91), pack-reused 779
Receiving objects: 100% (1147/1147), 40.44 MiB | 35.85 MiB/s, done.
Resolving deltas: 100% (551/551), done.

git add

The git add command adds new or changed files in your working directory to the Git staging area.

Stages all changes in for the next commit.
$ git add
Stages all changes in for the next commit.
$ git add
Begins an interactive staging session that lets you choose portions of a file to add to the next commit.
$ git add -p

Example

# Check the working directory with git status
[jmare@bigboss dotfiles]$ git status 
On branch master
Your branch is up to date with 'origin/master'.

Untracked files:
  (use "git add <file>..." to include in what will be committed)
        newfile.txt

nothing added to commit but untracked files present (use "git add" to track)

# Add newfile.txt to staging area
[jmare@bigboss dotfiles]$ git add newfile.txt 

# Check that newfile.txt is in the staging area
[jmare@bigboss dotfiles]$ git status 
On branch master
Your branch is up to date with 'origin/master'.

Changes to be committed:
  (use "git restore --staged <file>..." to unstage)
        new file:   newfile.txt

git restore

The git restore command helps to unstage or even discard uncommitted local changes.

$ git restore

Example

# Check files in the staging area
[jmare@bigboss dotfiles]$ git status 
On branch master
Your branch is ahead of 'origin/master' by 1 commit.
  (use "git push" to publish your local commits)

Changes not staged for commit:
  (use "git add <file>..." to update what will be committed)
  (use "git restore <file>..." to discard changes in working directory)
        modified:   README.md
        modified:   newfile.txt

Untracked files:
  (use "git add <file>..." to include in what will be committed)
        newd/

no changes added to commit (use "git add" and/or "git commit -a")

# Unstage README.md and newfile.txt
[jmare@bigboss dotfiles]$ git restore README.md newfile.txt

# Check if git status that the README.md and newfile.txt changes are removed
[jmare@bigboss dotfiles]$ git status 
On branch master
Your branch is ahead of 'origin/master' by 1 commit.
  (use "git push" to publish your local commits)

Untracked files:
  (use "git add <file>..." to include in what will be committed)
        newd/

nothing added to commit but untracked files present (use "git add" to track)

git commit

The git commit command is used to save your changes to the local repository.

Saves currently staged files.
$ git commit -m "message"
Saves all currently changed files.
$ git commit -m -a "message"
Rewrites the very last commit with any currently changes and/or a new commit message.
$ git commit --amend -m "new message"

Example

# Check stage files
[jmare@bigboss dotfiles]$ git status 
On branch master
Your branch is up to date with 'origin/master'.

Changes to be committed:
  (use "git restore --staged <file>..." to unstage)
        new file:   newfile.txt

# Save the stage files
[jmare@bigboss dotfiles]$ git commit -m "add new file for demo."
[master a360547] add new file for demo.
 1 file changed, 0 insertions(+), 0 deletions(-)
 create mode 100644 newfile.txt

git diff

git diff command is used in git to track the difference between the changes made on files

Shows the difference on all tracked files
$ git diff
Shows the difference on a given file
$ git diff

Example

[jmare@bigboss dotfiles]$ git diff README.md
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 764a4f5..8f2e030 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 # Developement Environnement Configuration
+Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum.
 
 ![screenshot](images/Screenshot01.png)

git reset

The git reset current HEAD to the specified state.

Undoes the last commit and put the changes in the working directoy.
$ git reset --soft HEAD~1
Undoes the last commit and lose the changes.
$ git reset --hard HEAD~1
Undoes all commits that came after the one you specified.
$ git reset --hard <object>

Example

[jmare@bigboss dotfiles]$ git reset --hard HEAD~1
HEAD is now at 99c73d4 start using lua for nvim - experimental

git status

The git status command displays the state of the working directory and the staging area. It lets you see which changes have been staged, which haven't, and which files aren't being tracked by Git. Status output does not show you any information regarding the committed project history.

$ git status

Example

[jmare@bigboss portfolio]$ git status 
On branch deuxieme
Changes not staged for commit:
  (use "git add/rm <file>..." to update what will be committed)
  (use "git restore <file>..." to discard changes in working directory)
        modified:   components/blog/blogPinned.module.css
        modified:   components/picture/picture.js
        modified:   components/slide/slideshow.module.css
        deleted:    content/blogs/important_git_command.md
        modified:   content/blogs/javascript_closure.md
        deleted:    content/blogs/javascript_promise.md
        deleted:    content/blogs/measure_unity_in_css.md
        modified:   pages/blogs/post/[slug].js
        modified:   styles/blogs.module.css

Untracked files:
  (use "git add <file>..." to include in what will be committed)
        content/blogs/css_units_best_practices.md
        content/blogs/important_git_commands.md
        content/blogs/recaptcha_v3_with_nextjs.md
        lib/importBlogsPosts.js
        public/admin/

no changes added to commit (use "git add" and/or "git commit -a")

git rm

The git rm command helps you to remove files from a Git repository.

Removes file from Git repository and from the filesystem.
$ git rm <file>
Removes file from Git repository, but not from the filesystem.
$ git rm <file> --cached

Example

[jmare@bigboss dotfiles]$ git rm newfile.txt 
rm 'newfile.txt'

git log

The git log command helps to view the commit history.

$ git log

Example

[jmare@bigboss dotfiles]$ git log
commit 392925bbdd027354c3622237f9107ca2d2aab529 (HEAD -> master)
Author: Jeme Mare <jememare@gmail.com>
Date:   Thu Aug 5 11:32:59 2021 -0400

    add new file

commit 99c73d41bf3ff48e662d5ca7340d28e84a3d71df (origin/master, origin/HEAD)
Author: Jeme Mare <jememare@gmail.com>
Date:   Sun Aug 1 21:30:02 2021 -0400

    start using lua for nvim - experimental

commit 7facfdaccf0fae2a337007ee2773cc8f1e0cf740
Author: Jeme Mare <jememare@gmail.com>
Date:   Sun Aug 1 21:21:23 2021 -0400

    reorganize file system to use stow

commit 28180fca569d83ba7d2506a017bcf0a56561d7b0
Author: Jeme Mare <jememare@gmail.com>
Date:   Sun Aug 1 20:42:21 2021 -0400

git show

The git show command shows the metadata and content changes of the specified commit.

$ git show <SHA>

Example

[jmare@bigboss dotfiles]$ git show 2448e291b99b15de02b26f2d7e8ad43f840d386d
commit 2448e291b99b15de02b26f2d7e8ad43f840d386d
Author: Jeme Mare <jememare@gmail.com>
Date:   Fri Jul 30 17:30:22 2021 -0400

    change terminal setting

diff --git a/tmux.conf b/tmux.conf
index d42fad7..eecf17f 100644
--- a/tmux.conf
+++ b/tmux.conf
@@ -16,7 +16,8 @@ bind -n M-l select-pane -R
 
 # Color
 set -g default-terminal "screen-256color"
-set -ga terminal-overrides ",*256col*:Tc"
+# set -ga terminal-overrides ",*256col*:Tc"
+set-option -sa terminal-overrides ',alacritty:RGB'
 
 # copy mode
 set-window-option -g mode-keys vi
@@ -71,3 +72,5 @@ set-option -g status-right "#[fg=colour239, bg=colour237, nobold, nounderscore,
 
 set-window-option -g window-status-current-format "#[fg=colour237, bg=colour214, nobold, noitalics, nounderscore]#[fg=colour239, bg=colour214] #I #[fg=colour239, bg=colour214, bold] #W #[fg=colour214, bg=colour237, nobold, noitalics, nounderscore]"
 set-window-option -g window-status-format "#[fg=colour237,bg=colour239,noitalics]#[fg=colour223,bg=colour239] #I #[fg=colour223, bg=colour239] #W #[fg=colour239, bg=colour237, noitalics]"
+

git tag

The git tag command lets you create, list and delete tags.

Creates a new lightweight tag
$ git tag <tagname>
Creates a new annotated tag
$ git tag -a <tagname>
Lists tags
$ git tag
Deletes tag
$ git tag -d <tagname>

Example

# create a lightweight tag v1.4-lw
[jmare@bigboss dotfiles]$ git tag v1.4-lw

# list all tags
[jmare@bigboss dotfiles]$ git tag
v1.4-lw

# delete the tag v1.4-lw
[jmare@bigboss dotfiles]$ git tag -d v1.4-lw 
Deleted tag 'v1.4-lw' (was 392925b)

git branch

The git branch command lets you create, list, rename, and delete branches.

Lists all of the branches in your repository. This is synonymous with git branch --list.
$ git branch
Creates a new branch called ＜branch＞. This does not check out the new branch.
$ git branch <branch-name>
Deletes the specified branch. This is a “safe” operation in that Git prevents you from deleting the branch if it has unmerged changes.
$ git branch -d <branch-name>
Forces delete the specified branch, even if it has unmerged changes.
$ git branch -D <branch-name>
Renames the current branch.
$ git branch -m <branch>

Example

# Create a new branch name new
[jmare@bigboss dotfiles]$ git branch new

# List all branches
[jmare@bigboss dotfiles]$ git branch 
* master
  new
  
# Create another branch name old
[jmare@bigboss dotfiles]$ git branch old

# List again all branches
[jmare@bigboss dotfiles]$ git branch 
* master
  new
  old
  
# Delete the branch old
[jmare@bigboss dotfiles]$ git branch -d old 
Deleted branch old (was 392925b).

# List all branches to check if old branch is deleted
[jmare@bigboss dotfiles]$ git branch 
* master
  new

git checkout

The git checkout command can switch the currently active branch.

Switch the currently active branch
$ git checkout <branch-name>
Creates a new local branch and directly switches to it.
$ git checkout -b <new-branch-name>

Example

[jmare@bigboss dotfiles]$ git checkout -b clone
Switched to a new branch 'clone'

git merge

The git merge command merges the specified branch’s history into the current branch.

$ git merge [branch name]

Example

[jmare@bigboss dotfiles]$ git merge new
Merge made by the 'recursive' strategy.
 newd/file.txt | 1 +
 newfile.txt   | 4 ++++
 2 files changed, 5 insertions(+)
 create mode 100644 newd/file.txt
 create mode 100644 newfile.txt

git remote

The git remote command helps you to manage connections to remote repositories.

Lists the remote connections you have to other repositories.
$ git remote -v
Creates a new connection to a remote repository.
$ git remote add <name> <url>
Removes the connection to the remote repository.
$ git remote rm <name>
Rename a remote connection
$ git remote rename <old-name> <new-name>

Example

[jmare@bigboss dotfiles]$ git remote -v
origin  https://github.com/jememare/dotfiles.git (fetch)
origin  https://github.com/jememare/dotfiles.git (push)

git push

The git push command uploads all local branch commits to the corresponding remote branch.

$ git push

Example

[jmare@bigboss huddle-landing-page]$ git push origin master
Username for 'https://github.com': jememare
Password for 'https://jememare@github.com': 
Enumerating objects: 7, done.
Counting objects: 100% (7/7), done.
Delta compression using up to 4 threads
Compressing objects: 100% (4/4), done.
Writing objects: 100% (4/4), 6.25 KiB | 3.13 MiB/s, done.
Total 4 (delta 3), reused 0 (delta 0), pack-reused 0
remote: Resolving deltas: 100% (3/3), completed with 3 local objects.
remote: 
remote: 
To https://github.com/jememare/huddle-landing-page.git
   b088d36..f6f1666  master -> master

git pull

The git pull command is used to download and integrate remote changes.

$ git pull

Example

[jmare@bigboss dotfiles]$ git pull
warning: Pulling without specifying how to reconcile divergent branches is
discouraged. You can squelch this message by running one of the following
commands sometime before your next pull:

  git config pull.rebase false  # merge (the default strategy)
  git config pull.rebase true   # rebase
  git config pull.ff only       # fast-forward only

You can replace "git config" with "git config --global" to set a default
preference for all repositories. You can also pass --rebase, --no-rebase,
or --ff-only on the command line to override the configured default per
invocation.

remote: Enumerating objects: 36, done.
remote: Counting objects: 100% (36/36), done.
remote: Compressing objects: 100% (15/15), done.
remote: Total 34 (delta 6), reused 34 (delta 6), pack-reused 0
Unpacking objects: 100% (34/34), 5.07 KiB | 1.69 MiB/s, done.
From https://github.com/jememare/dotfiles
   99c73d4..13bdf57  master     -> origin/master
Updating 99c73d4..13bdf57
Fast-forward
 {systemd => settings}/alert_battery/.config/systemd/user/alert-battery.service   | 0
 {systemd => settings}/alert_battery/.config/systemd/user/alert-battery.timer     | 0
 settings/stow/.stowrc                                                            | 2 ++
 {settings_alt/nvimlua => settings/w_o_nvimlua}/.config/nvim/colors/gruvbuddy.vim | 0
 {settings_alt/nvimlua => settings/w_o_nvimlua}/.config/nvim/init.lua             | 2 ++
 {settings_alt/nvimlua => settings/w_o_nvimlua}/.config/nvim/lua/gruvbuddy.lua    | 0
 {settings_alt/nvimlua => settings/w_o_nvimlua}/.config/nvim/plugin/lsp.lua       | 0
 {settings_alt/nvimlua => settings/w_o_nvimlua}/.config/nvim/plugin/lualine.lua   | 0
 {systemd => settings}/wallpaper/.config/systemd/user/wallpaper.service           | 0
 {systemd => settings}/wallpaper/.config/systemd/user/wallpaper.timer             | 0
 10 files changed, 4 insertions(+)
 rename {systemd => settings}/alert_battery/.config/systemd/user/alert-battery.service (100%)
 rename {systemd => settings}/alert_battery/.config/systemd/user/alert-battery.timer (100%)
 create mode 100644 settings/stow/.stowrc
 rename {settings_alt/nvimlua => settings/w_o_nvimlua}/.config/nvim/colors/gruvbuddy.vim (100%)
 rename {settings_alt/nvimlua => settings/w_o_nvimlua}/.config/nvim/init.lua (98%)
 rename {settings_alt/nvimlua => settings/w_o_nvimlua}/.config/nvim/lua/gruvbuddy.lua (100%)
 rename {settings_alt/nvimlua => settings/w_o_nvimlua}/.config/nvim/plugin/lsp.lua (100%)
 rename {settings_alt/nvimlua => settings/w_o_nvimlua}/.config/nvim/plugin/lualine.lua (100%)
 rename {systemd => settings}/wallpaper/.config/systemd/user/wallpaper.service (100%)
 rename {systemd => settings}/wallpaper/.config/systemd/user/wallpaper.timer (100%)

git stash

The git stash command takes your uncommitted changes, saves them away for later use, and then reverts them from your working copy.

Temporarily stores all the modified tracked files.
$ git stash
Restores the most recently stashed files.
$ git stash pop
Lists all stashed changesets.
$ git stash list
discards the most recently stashed changeset.
$ git stash drop

Example

# Check repo status
[jmare@bigboss dotfiles]$ git status 
On branch clone
Changes not staged for commit:
  (use "git add <file>..." to update what will be committed)
  (use "git restore <file>..." to discard changes in working directory)
        modified:   newfile.txt

Untracked files:
  (use "git add <file>..." to include in what will be committed)
        newd/

no changes added to commit (use "git add" and/or "git commit -a")

# Store all the modified tracked files
[jmare@bigboss dotfiles]$ git stash 
Saved working directory and index state WIP on clone: 392925b add new file

# Check status again and notice that modified tracked files are gone
[jmare@bigboss dotfiles]$ git status 
On branch clone
Untracked files:
  (use "git add <file>..." to include in what will be committed)
        newd/

nothing added to commit but untracked files present (use "git add" to track)

# Restore the save tracked files
[jmare@bigboss dotfiles]$ git stash pop
On branch clone
Changes not staged for commit:
  (use "git add <file>..." to update what will be committed)
  (use "git restore <file>..." to discard changes in working directory)
        modified:   newfile.txt

Untracked files:
  (use "git add <file>..." to include in what will be committed)
        newd/

no changes added to commit (use "git add" and/or "git commit -a")
Dropped refs/stash@{0} (0b35a8f42debdd3fde9b88c71cd775e08b0ad0be)

If you want to learn Git in depth, you can check out this free book.

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Important Git Commands

Commands

git config

git init

git clone

git add

git restore

git commit

git diff

git reset

git status

git rm

git log

git show

git tag

git branch

git checkout

git merge

git remote

git push

git pull

git stash