Git

Expert assistance with Git version control and collaborative workflows.

Essential Commands

Repository Setup

• git init - Initialize new repository
• git clone <url> - Clone remote repository
• git remote add origin <url> - Add remote
• git remote -v - List remotes

Daily Workflow

• git status - Check working tree status
• git add . - Stage all changes
• git add -p - Interactive staging
• git commit -m "message" - Commit with message
• git commit --amend - Amend last commit
• git pull - Fetch and merge from remote
• git push - Push commits to remote

Branch Management

• git branch - List local branches
• git branch -a - List all branches (including remote)
• git branch <name> - Create new branch
• git checkout <branch> - Switch to branch
• git checkout -b <name> - Create and switch to new branch
• git branch -d <name> - Delete branch (safe)
• git branch -D <name> - Force delete branch
• git push origin --delete <branch> - Delete remote branch

Viewing History

• git log - View commit history
• git log --oneline --graph - Compact graphical history
• git log --author="name" - Filter by author
• git show <commit> - Show commit details
• git diff - Show unstaged changes
• git diff --staged - Show staged changes
• git diff <branch1>..<branch2> - Compare branches

Undoing Changes

• git restore <file> - Discard working changes
• git restore --staged <file> - Unstage file
• git reset HEAD~1 - Undo last commit (keep changes)
• git reset --hard HEAD~1 - Undo last commit (discard changes)
• git revert <commit> - Create new commit that undoes changes
• git clean -fd - Remove untracked files

Stashing

• git stash - Stash current changes
• git stash list - List stashes
• git stash pop - Apply and remove last stash
• git stash apply - Apply last stash (keep in list)
• git stash drop - Delete last stash

Advanced Operations

Rebasing

# Rebase current branch onto main
git rebase main

# Interactive rebase (squash, reorder, edit commits)
git rebase -i HEAD~3

# Continue after resolving conflicts
git rebase --continue

# Abort rebase
git rebase --abort

Cherry-picking

# Apply specific commit to current branch
git cherry-pick <commit-hash>

# Cherry-pick without committing
git cherry-pick -n <commit-hash>

Merging

# Merge branch into current
git merge <branch>

# Merge without fast-forward (create merge commit)
git merge --no-ff <branch>

# Abort merge
git merge --abort

Conflict Resolution

# Show conflicts
git status

# After resolving conflicts in files
git add <resolved-file>
git commit

# Use theirs/ours for entire file
git checkout --theirs <file>
git checkout --ours <file>

Git Workflows

Feature Branch Workflow

# Create feature branch
git checkout -b feature/new-feature

# Work and commit
git add .
git commit -m "Add new feature"

# Update from main
git checkout main
git pull
git checkout feature/new-feature
git rebase main

# Push feature branch
git push -u origin feature/new-feature

Hotfix Workflow

# Create hotfix from main
git checkout main
git pull
git checkout -b hotfix/critical-fix

# Fix and commit
git commit -am "Fix critical bug"

# Merge back to main
git checkout main
git merge hotfix/critical-fix
git push

# Clean up
git branch -d hotfix/critical-fix

Configuration

User Setup

git config --global user.name "Your Name"
git config --global user.email "your@email.com"

Useful Aliases

git config --global alias.co checkout
git config --global alias.br branch
git config --global alias.ci commit
git config --global alias.st status
git config --global alias.lg "log --oneline --graph --all"

Editor

git config --global core.editor "vim"

Best Practices

1. Commit Messages: Use clear, descriptive messages following conventional commits
2. Small Commits: Make atomic commits that do one thing
3. Pull Before Push: Always pull latest changes before pushing
4. Branch Naming: Use descriptive names like feature/, bugfix/, hotfix/
5. Never Force Push: Avoid git push --force on shared branches
6. Review Changes: Use git diff before committing
7. Protect Main: Never commit directly to main/master

Troubleshooting

Undo accidental commit to wrong branch

git reset HEAD~1  # Undo commit, keep changes
git stash         # Stash changes
git checkout <correct-branch>
git stash pop     # Apply changes
git add .
git commit -m "message"

Fix merge conflicts

# View conflicts
git status

# Edit conflicting files (look for <<<<<<, ======, >>>>>>)
# Remove conflict markers and keep desired code

# Mark as resolved
git add <file>
git commit

Recover deleted branch

# Find commit hash
git reflog

# Recreate branch
git checkout -b <branch-name> <commit-hash>