Git reference

This page is a quick reference for the Git commands taught in the earlier lessons.

Create a repository

git init

Check the repository state

git status

Stage files for the next commit

git add README.md
git add .

Record a commit

git commit -m "Describe the change"

If the repository uses Conventional Commits, the message may look like:

git commit -m "feat: add login form"
git commit -m "fix: correct button disabled state"

Sign a commit

git commit -S -m "Signed commit message"

-S signs the commit cryptographically. For this to work, Git must be configured with a signing key. See the signing lesson for setup.

Enable automatic signing

git config --global commit.gpgSign true

Once enabled, every commit is signed without needing -S explicitly.

Verify a signature locally

git log --show-signature -1

This shows the signature details for the most recent commit.

Inspect changed content

git diff
git diff --staged

Inspect history

git log
git log --oneline

Switch to an existing branch

git switch main

Create a branch and switch to it

git switch -c feature-branch

Merge a finished branch

git switch main
git merge feature-branch

Undo a commit by creating a revert commit

git revert HEAD
git revert abc1234

git revert creates a new commit that undoes the changes from a previous commit.

This is safe for shared history because it adds to the history rather than rewriting it.

Undo recent local commits

git reset HEAD~1

This moves the current branch back one commit, keeping the changes in your working tree as unstaged modifications.

Use git reset --soft HEAD~1 to keep the changes staged instead.

Discard uncommitted changes

git restore file.txt
git restore .

git restore replaces the working tree files with the last committed version.

Use git restore --staged file.txt to unstage a file without discarding the changes.

View commit history with branches

git log --oneline --graph --all

This shows a compact, visual representation of all branches and how they relate:

* abc1234 (HEAD -> feature) Add new feature
| * def5678 (main) Fix bug in login
|/
* ghi9012 Initial commit

Apply a specific commit from another branch

git cherry-pick abc1234

git cherry-pick takes the changes from one commit and applies them as a new commit on the current branch.

This is useful when you need one specific fix from another branch without merging the entire branch.

Create and manage tags

git tag v1.0.0
git tag -a v1.0.0 -m "Version 1.0.0"

Tags mark specific points in history, commonly used for releases. Lightweight tags (git tag) just label a commit. Annotated tags (git tag -a) store additional metadata including the tagger and message.

Work with remote repositories

git remote -v
git remote add origin https://github.com/user/repo.git

git remote manages references to remote repositories. The name origin is the default name for the remote you cloned from.

Using GitHub CLI for auth and setup

gh auth login          # authenticate interactively, handles SSH key setup
gh repo create         # create a GitHub remote and push existing local commits
gh auth status         # check current authentication status

GitHub CLI (gh) simplifies authentication, SSH key setup, and remote configuration in one interactive command. See the connecting lesson for details.