Git Cheat Sheet
Cheatsheet of commands to use when working with git. This is a quick reference for the commands that are most commonly used when working with Git.
A description of what each command does if executed, is provided under each command. Definitions of common terms are located below
Commands
git init
Creates a new repository in the current directory.
git branch
Lists all of the branches that are in the current branch.
git add .
Stages all of the files (both untracked and tracked) for commit in the current and subirectories.
git add -u
Stages all of the previously commited files in the current and subdirectories.
git commit -m "MESSAGE"
Commits (saves) the changes made to files, removal of files from the repo, and addition of files to the repo. MESSAGE should be replaced with a details of the changes made since the last commit.
git clone REPOURL
Makes a copy of the repository from Github to your local computer. This allows for changes to be made from your local computer. REPOURL should be replaced with the URL from the remote repository.
git status
Shows the current branch, files that have added but not committed, files that have been removed but not committed, files that have not been staged for committing.
git rm FILENAME
Removes files from the repository. If removing directories, "-r" option needs to be used. Replace FILENAME with the name of the actual file(s).
git diff --cached COMMITHASH
Shows the changes that have been made between a previous commit and the files pending commitment. If no files have been staged for commit, then this command will not return any output.
COMMITHASH should be replaced with the unique identifer of a previous commit.
git diff --cached $(git log | head -1 | awk '{print $2}')
Performs the same command above, but automatically gets the latest commit from the git log command.
git diff $(git log | head -1 | awk '{print $2}') $(git log | head -7 | tail -1 | awk '{print $2}')
Shows the changes between the latest commit and the previous commit by pulling the commit hash from git log command. This command will only work on Unix or Linux based systems.
git log
Shows the commit history. This include the commit message, date, time, author, and commit ID (or hash).
git clean
Removes files that are not being tracked.
git push origin BRANCH
Pushes files from the origin branch to the git server that hosts the repository. BRANCH should be replaced with the name of the branch, although it does not have to be specified. if BRANCH is not entered, then the current branch will be pushed.
git pull origin BRANCH
Pulls the latest version of the branch from your git server. BRANCH should be replaced with the name of the branch, although it does not have to be specified.
git ls-files --deleted -z | xargs -0 git rm
Deletes the local files that have already been removed from the git repo.
git branch | grep -v master | xargs git branch -D
Deletes all of the local branches except master. Useful for when multiple remote branches have been removed and you need to remove the local corresponding branches.
Definitions
branch
A version of code in the repository. Changes to the code are normally done in another branch and then merged into the master branch of the repository.
clone
To make a copy of the repository from the central repository (server) to the local machine.
commit
A commit is a revision (create, update, or delete), made to one or more files. This is the equivalent of taking a snapshot of the files that have changed since the previous snapshot that was taken.
fetch
To get the latest versions of all the branches and update local references of those branches.
fork
Makes a copy of repo that is owned by somebody else and allows you to make changes to the code without making changes to the original repo.
issue
Issues are used to track bugs, features or enhancements for a project. In some systems, this is referred to as a "ticket" or "change request".
merge
Combines changes from two branches into a single branch.
pull
To get the latest code from the central repository (server) to your local machine.
push
To send the code from your local machine to the central repository (server).