This repository contains projects/tasks on linux done by Ekrika Kenewenemor at Alx SE programme.

Git Cheat Sheet – 50 Git Commands for SE

How to check your Git configuration:

The command below returns a list of information about your git configuration including user name and email:

  • git config -l

How to setup your Git username:

With the command below you can configure your user name:

  • git config --global user.name "Dan"

How to setup your Git user email:

This command lets you setup the user email address you'll use in your commits.

How to cache your login credentials in Git:

You can store login credentials in the cache so you don't have to type them in each time. Just use this command:

  • git config --global credential.helper cache

How to initialize a Git repo:

Everything starts from here. The first step is to initialize a new Git repo locally in your project root. You can do so with the command below:

  • git init

How to add a file to the staging area in Git:

The command below will add a file to the staging area. Just replace filename_here with the name of the file you want to add to the staging area.

  • git add filename_here

How to add all files in the staging area in Git:

If you want to add all files in your project to the staging area, you can use a wildcard . and every file will be added for you.

  • git add .

How to add only certain files to the staging area in Git:

With the asterisk in the command below, you can add all files starting with 'fil' in the staging area.

  • git add fil*

How to check a repository's status in Git:

This command will show the status of the current repository including staged, unstaged, and untracked files.

  • git status

How to commit changes in the editor in Git:

This command will open a text editor in the terminal where you can write a full commit message. A commit message is made up of a short summary of changes, an empty line, and a full description of the changes after it.

  • git commit

How to commit changes with a message in Git:

You can add a commit message without opening the editor. This command lets you only specify a short summary for your commit message.

  • git commit -m "your commit message here"

How to commit changes (and skip the staging area) in Git:

You can add and commit tracked files with a single command by using the -a and -m options.

  • git commit -a -m"your commit message here"

How to see your commit history in Git:

This command shows the commit history for the current repository:

  • git log

How to see your commit history including changes in Git:

This command shows the commit's history including all files and their changes:

  • git log -p

How to see a specific commit in Git:

This command shows a specific commit. Replace commit-id with the id of the commit that you find in the commit log after the word commit.

  • git show commit-id

How to see log stats in Git:

This command will cause the Git log to show some statistics about the changes in each commit, including line(s) changed and file names.

  • git log --stat

How to see changes made before committing them using "diff" in Git:

You can pass a file as a parameter to only see changes on a specific file. git diff shows only unstaged changes by default. We can call diff with the --staged flag to see any staged changes.

  • git diff
  • git diff all_checks.py
  • git diff --staged

How to see changes using "git add -p":

This command opens a prompt and asks if you want to stage changes or not, and includes other options.

  • git add -p

How to remove tracked files from the current working tree in Git:

This command expects a commit message to explain why the file was deleted.

  • git rm filename

How to rename files in Git:

This command stages the changes, then it expects a commit message.

  • git mv oldfile newfile

How to ignore files in Git:

Create a .gitignore file and commit it.

How to revert unstaged changes in Git:

  • git checkout filename

How to revert staged changes in Git:

You can use the -p option flag to specify the changes you want to reset.

  • git reset HEAD filename
  • git reset HEAD -p

How to amend the most recent commit in Git:

git commit --amend allows you to modify and add changes to the most recent commit.

  • git commit --amend !!Note!!: fixing up a local commit with amend is great and you can push it to a shared repository after you've fixed it. But you should avoid amending commits that have already been made public.

How to rollback the last commit in Git:

git revert will create a new commit that is the opposite of everything in the given commit. We can revert the latest commit by using the head alias like this:

  • git revert HEAD

How to rollback an old commit in Git:

You can revert an old commit using its commit id. This opens the editor so you can add a commit message.

  • git revert comit_id_here

How to create a new branch in Git:

By default, you have one branch, the main branch. With this command, you can create a new branch. Git won't switch to it automatically – you will need to do it manually with the next command.

  • git branch branch_name

How to switch to a newly created branch in Git:

When you want to use a different or a newly created branch you can use this command:

  • git checkout branch_name

How to list branches in Git:

You can view all created branches using the git branch command. It will show a list of all branches and mark the current branch with an asterisk and highlight it in green.

  • git branch

How to create a branch in Git and switch to it immediately:

In a single command, you can create and switch to a new branch right away.

  • git checkout -b branch_name

How to delete a branch in Git:

When you are done working with a branch and have merged it, you can delete it using the command below:

  • git branch -d branch_name

How to merge two branches in Git:

To merge the history of the branch you are currently in with the branch_name, you will need to use the command below: git merge branch_name

How to show the commit log as a graph in Git:

We can use --graph to get the commit log to show as a graph. Also, --oneline will limit commit messages to a single line.

  • git log --graph --oneline

How to show the commit log as a graph of all branches in Git:

Does the same as the command above, but for all branches.

  • git log --graph --oneline --all

How to abort a conflicting merge in Git:

If you want to throw a merge away and start over, you can run the following command:

  • git merge --abort

How to add a remote repository in Git:

This command adds a remote repository to your local repository (just replace https://repo_here with your remote repo URL).

  • git add remote https://repo_here

How to see remote URLs in Git:

You can see all remote repositories for your local repository with this command:

  • git remote -v

How to get more info about a remote repo in Git:

Just replace origin with the name of the remote obtained by running the git remote -v command.

  • git remote show origin

How to push changes to a remote repo in Git:

When all your work is ready to be saved on a remote repository, you can push all changes using the command below:

  • git push

How to pull changes from a remote repo in Git:

If other team members are working on your repository, you can retrieve the latest changes made to the remote repository with the command below:

  • git pull

How to check remote branches that Git is tracking:

This command shows the name of all remote branches that Git is tracking for the current repository:

  • git branch -r

How to fetch remote repo changes in Git:

This command will download the changes from a remote repo but will not perform a merge on your local branch (as git pull does that instead).

  • git fetch

How to check the current commits log of a remote repo in Git

Commit after commit, Git builds up a log. You can find out the remote repository log by using this command:

  • git log origin/main

How to merge a remote repo with your local repo in Git:

If the remote repository has changes you want to merge with your local, then this command will do that for you:

  • git log origin/main

How to get the contents of remote branches in Git without automatically merging:

This lets you update the remote without merging any content into the local branches. You can call git merge or git checkout to do the merge.

  • git remote update

How to push a new branch to a remote repo in Git:

If you want to push a branch to a remote repository you can use the command below. Just remember to add -u to create the branch upstream:

  • git push -u origin branch_name

How to remove a remote branch in Git:

If you no longer need a remote branch you can remove it using the command below:

  • git push --delete origin branch_name_here

How to use Git rebase:

You can transfer completed work from one branch to another using git rebase.

  • git rebase branch_name_here

Git Rebase can get really messy if you don't do it properly. Before using this command I suggest that you re-read the official documentation

How to run rebase interactively in Git:

You can run git rebase interactively using the -i flag. It will open the editor and present a set of commands you can use.

  • git rebase -i master

p, pick = use commit

r, reword = use commit, but edit the commit message

e, edit = use commit, but stop for amending

s, squash = use commit, but meld into previous commit

f, fixup = like "squash", but discard this commit's log message

x, exec = run command (the rest of the line) using shell

d, drop = remove commit

How to force a push request in Git:

This command will force a push request. This is usually fine for pull request branches because nobody else should have cloned them. But this isn't something that you want to do with public repos.

  • git push -f

Connect with me:

node_finder https://www.linkedin.com/in/kenewenemor-ekrika/ ekrikakenny@gmail.com