10 Essential Git & GitHub Tips to Boost Your Daily Productivity

Keyboard shortcuts on GitHub

t : Open fuzzy file‑name search on any source‑code browsing page.

w : Filter branches on a repository’s home page.

? : Show all available shortcuts for the current page.

URL modifiers

Append ?w=1 to any diff URL to collapse whitespace and improve readability.

Use master@{time}..master (e.g., master@{1.day.ago}..master) to filter commits by a time range.

Add ?author=github_handle to a compare URL to view commits by a specific author.

Diff and patch formats

Appending .diff or .patch to a compare, merge‑request, or comment URL returns the raw diff or patch text, useful for offline review or applying patches.

Email replies

You can comment directly on GitHub notification emails; GitHub processes these comments correctly, saving time navigating the web UI.

Linking to specific lines

Click a line number or select multiple lines with SHIFT on a file view; the URL updates to reference those lines, making it easy to share precise code snippets.

Mentioning users

Use @username in pull requests, issues, or comments to automatically subscribe the mentioned user to all subsequent notifications.

Automatic linking

SHA hashes and issue numbers (e.g., #1) are auto‑linked in comments. You can also link to other repositories using user/repo@sha1 or user/repo#1.

Useful Git commands

git log -p FILE

– Show patch history for a specific file. git log -S'PATTERN' – Search commit history for changes containing a pattern. git add -p – Interactively stage or unstage hunks. git rm --cached FILE – Remove a file from the repository history without deleting the local copy. git log ..BRANCH – List commits on a non‑HEAD branch. git branch --merged / git branch --no-merged – Show merged or unmerged branches. git branch --contains SHA – List branches containing a specific commit. git status -s – Show a concise status output. git reflog – Display the local operation history. git shortlog -sn – List contributors by commit count.

Hub command‑line tool

Hub extends Git with GitHub integration. For example, hub pull-request creates a pull request directly from the terminal. Documentation: https://github.com/defunkt/hub#commands

Summary

Mastering these Git and GitHub shortcuts and commands can significantly improve efficiency in version‑control workflows.