Git is an essential tool for version control, enabling developers to track changes, collaborate on projects, and maintain a history of their codebase. Whether you're a beginner or an experienced developer, having a handy reference for Git commands can be incredibly useful. This comprehensive cheatsheet covers a wide range of Git commands to help you master version control.
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Basic Commands
| Command |
Description |
git init |
Initializes a new Git repository. |
git clone [url] |
Clones a repository into a new directory. |
git config --global user.name "[name]" |
Sets the name for the global Git configuration. |
git config --global user.email "[email]" |
Sets the email for the global Git configuration. |
git status |
Shows the working tree status. |
git add [file] |
Adds a file to the staging area. |
git add . |
Adds all files to the staging area. |
git commit -m "[message]" |
Commits the staged changes with a message. |
git commit -a |
Commits all changes in tracked files. |
Viewing Changes
| Command |
Description |
git diff |
Shows changes between commits, commit and working tree, etc. |
git diff --staged |
Shows changes between the staging area and the last commit. |
Undoing Changes
| Command |
Description |
git reset [file] |
Unstages a file while retaining the changes in the working directory. |
git reset --hard |
Resets the working directory and staging area to the last commit. |
git reset --soft [commit] |
Resets the staging area to the specified commit. |
Viewing History
| Command |
Description |
git log |
Shows the commit logs. |
git log --oneline |
Shows the commit logs in one line per commit. |
git log --graph |
Shows a graphical representation of the commit history. |
git log -p |
Shows the patch (differences) introduced in each commit. |
Branching and Merging
| Command |
Description |
git branch |
Lists all branches in the repository. |
git branch [branch-name] |
Creates a new branch. |
git checkout [branch-name] |
Switches to the specified branch. |
git checkout -b [branch-name] |
Creates and switches to a new branch. |
git merge [branch-name] |
Merges the specified branch into the current branch. |
git branch -d [branch-name] |
Deletes the specified branch. |
git branch -D [branch-name] |
Forcefully deletes the specified branch. |
Stashing
| Command |
Description |
git stash |
Stashes the changes in a dirty working directory. |
git stash list |
Lists all stashes. |
git stash apply |
Applies the changes from a stash. |
git stash drop |
Deletes a stash from the list of stashes. |
Remote Repositories
| Command |
Description |
git remote add [alias] [url] |
Adds a new remote repository. |
git remote -v |
Lists all remote repositories. |
git fetch [alias] |
Fetches changes from the remote repository. |
git pull [alias] [branch] |
Pulls changes from the remote repository and merges them into the current branch. |
git push [alias] [branch] |
Pushes changes to the remote repository. |
Tagging
| Command |
Description |
git tag [tag-name] |
Creates a new tag. |
git tag -d [tag-name] |
Deletes the specified tag. |
git show [tag-name] |
Shows details about the specified tag. |
Rebasing and Cherry-Picking
| Command |
Description |
git rebase [branch] |
Reapplies commits on top of another base tip. |
git cherry-pick [commit] |
Applies the changes from the specified commit. |
Additional Commands
| Command |
Description |
git rm [file] |
Removes a file from the working directory and the staging area. |
git mv [old-filename] [new-filename] |
Renames a file and stages the change. |
git bisect start |
Starts the bisecting process to find a commit that introduced a bug. |
git bisect bad |
Marks the current commit as bad during the bisecting process. |
git bisect good [commit] |
Marks the specified commit as good during the bisecting process. |
git blame [file] |
Shows what revision and author last modified each line of a file. |
git archive --format=zip --output=[file.zip] [commit] |
Creates an archive of the repository at the specified commit. |
git cherry [upstream] [branch] |
Lists commits not merged upstream. |
git clean -fd |
Removes untracked files and directories from the working directory. |
git reflog |
Shows the reference logs of changes to the tips of branches. |
git show [commit] |
Shows various types of objects. |
git describe --tags |
Describes a commit using the most recent tag reachable from it. |
git shortlog |
Summarizes git log output. |
git gc |
Runs a garbage collection on the repository. |
git fsck |
Verifies the integrity of the repository. |
git remote rename [old-name] [new-name] |
Renames a remote repository. |
git remote remove [name] |
Removes a remote repository. |
git tag -a [tag-name] -m "[message]" |
Creates an annotated tag. |
git notes |
Adds or inspects object notes. |
git submodule add [url] [path] |
Adds a new submodule. |
git submodule init |
Initializes submodules in the repository. |
git submodule update |
Updates all submodules to the latest commit. |
git revert [commit] |
Reverts changes from a specific commit. |
git config --global alias.[alias-name] [command] |
Creates an alias for a Git command. |
git archive [branch] --format=zip --output=[archive.zip] |
Creates an archive of the branch as a zip file. |
git commit --amend |
Amends the most recent commit. |
git pull --rebase |
Pulls changes from the remote repository and applies them on top of local commits. |
git log --pretty=format:"%h - %an, %ar : %s" |
Formats the log output. |
git diff --name-only |
Shows only the names of changed files. |
git diff --cached |
Shows changes between the index and the last commit. |
git grep [text] |
Searches for text in the repository. |
git whatchanged |
Shows logs with file status. |
git instaweb |
Instantly browses the working repository in gitweb. |
git format-patch [start-commit] |
Creates patch files starting from the specified commit. |
git apply [patch-file] |
Applies a patch file to the repository. |
git bundle create [file] [branch] |
Bundles a branch into a single file. |
git bundle verify [file] |
Verifies the bundle file. |
git bundle list-heads [file] |
Lists references in a bundle file. |
git bundle unbundle [file] |
Unbundles a file into the repository. |
git rerere |
Reuses recorded resolution of conflicted merges. |
git prune |
Removes unreachable objects from the repository. |
git filter-branch --tree-filter [command] [branch] |
Filters the branch history using a command. |
git checkout --orphan [branch-name] |
Creates a new orphan branch. |
git svn |
Interacts with Subversion repositories. |
git blame -C |
Shows changes that were copied from another file. |
git blame -L [start,end] [file] |
Blames a range of lines in a file. |
git blame --reverse |
Finds the revision that modified each line in a file. |
This cheatsheet includes both basic and advanced Git commands to cover all your version control needs. Whether you're initializing a new repository, branching, merging, or dealing with remote repositories, these commands will help you manage your code efficiently.
Happy coding!
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