Essential Git Commands Every Developer Should Know

Common Git Commands

Create SSH Key

ssh-keygen -t rsa -C "[email protected]"

Configure User Information

git config --global user.name "Your Name"
git config --global user.email "[email protected]"

Repository Operations

Create a new Git repository in the current directory

git init

Initialize a new repository in a specific directory

git init [project-name]

Clone a repository and its full history

git clone [url]

Add / Remove Files

Add specified files to the staging area

git add [file1] [file2] ...

Add a directory (including subdirectories) to the staging area

git add [dir]

Add all files in the current directory to the staging area

git add .

Interactively select changes to stage

git add -p

Remove files from the working tree and stage the deletion

git rm [file1] [file2] ...

Stop tracking a file while keeping it in the working tree

git rm --cached [file]

Rename a file and stage the rename

git mv [file-original] [file-renamed]

Commit Changes

Commit staged changes with a message

git commit -m [message]

Commit all changes in the working tree directly to the repository

git commit -a

Show diff information during commit

git commit -v

Amend the previous commit (useful for fixing the commit message)

git commit --amend -m [message]

Amend the previous commit and include new changes

git commit --amend [file1] [file2] ...

View Information

Show changed files

git status

Show commit history of the current branch

git log

Show commit history with file change statistics

git log --stat

Search commit history by keyword

git log -S [keyword]

Show commits containing a specific keyword in their messages

git log [tag] HEAD --grep feature

Show the history of a specific file, following renames

git log --follow [file]

Show diffs for a specific file

git log -p [file]

Show the last five commits

git log -5 --pretty --oneline

List contributors sorted by number of commits

git shortlog -sn

Show who modified a file and when

git blame [file]

Show differences between the working tree and the index

git diff

Show differences between the index and the last commit

git diff --cached [file]

Show differences between the working tree and the latest commit on the current branch

git diff HEAD

Show differences between two branches

git diff [first-branch]...[second-branch]

Branch Management

List all local branches

git branch

List all remote branches

git branch -r

List all local and remote branches

git branch -a

Create a new branch (stays on current branch)

git branch [branch-name]

Create and switch to a new branch

git checkout -b [branch]

Create a branch pointing to a specific commit

git branch [branch] [commit]

Set up a tracking relationship with a remote branch

git branch --track [branch] [remote-branch]

Switch to a branch and update the working tree

git checkout [branch-name]

Switch back to the previous branch

git checkout -

Set upstream for a branch

git branch --set-upstream [branch] [remote-branch]

Merge a branch into the current branch

git merge [branch]

Cherry-pick a specific commit

git cherry-pick [commit]

Delete a local branch

git branch -d [branch-name]

Delete a remote branch

git push origin --delete [branch-name]

Tag Management

List all tags

git tag

Create a tag on the current commit

git tag [tag]

Create a tag on a specific commit

git tag [tag] [commit]

Delete a local tag

git tag -d [tag]

Delete a remote tag

git push origin :refs/tags/[tagName]

Show tag information

git show [tag]

Push a specific tag

git push [remote] [tag]

Push all tags

git push [remote] --tags

Create a branch from a tag

git checkout -b [branch] [tag]

Remote Synchronization

Fetch all changes from a remote

git fetch [remote]

Show all configured remotes

git remote -v

Show details of a specific remote

git remote show [remote]

Add a new remote repository

git remote add [shortname] [url]

Pull changes from a remote branch and merge

git pull [remote] [branch]

Force pull allowing unrelated histories

git pull origin master --allow-unrelated-histories

Push a local branch to a remote

git push [remote] [branch]

Force push the current branch

git push [remote] --force

Push all branches

git push [remote] --all

Undo Operations

Restore a file from the index to the working tree

git checkout [file]

Restore a file from a specific commit

git checkout [commit] [file]

Restore all files from the index

git checkout .

Reset a file in the index to the last commit (working tree unchanged)

git reset [file]

Reset index and working tree to the last commit

git reset --hard

Reset current branch to a specific commit (index reset)

git reset [commit]

Hard reset current branch to a specific commit (index and working tree reset)

git reset --hard [commit]

Keep local changes while resetting to a commit

git reset --keep [commit]

Revert a commit by creating a new commit that undoes its changes

git revert [commit]

Stash uncommitted changes and later reapply them

git stash
git stash pop

.gitignore Configuration

Pattern syntax:

Leading slash (/) denotes a directory. Asterisk (*) matches multiple characters. Question mark (?) matches a single character. Square brackets [] define a character set. Exclamation mark (!) negates a pattern (track the file).

Rules are evaluated top‑to‑bottom; earlier broader rules can override later ones.

Examples:

(1) fd1/* – ignore everything under any fd1 directory.

(2) /fd1/* – ignore only the fd1 directory at the repository root.

(3)

*
! .gitignore
! /fw/bin/
! /fw/sf/

– ignore all files except the .gitignore file and the specified directories.