Git summary and recommended reading.

git-usage.md

Git Usage

Summary of common Git commands and syntax, documentation, and recommended reading to gain a general understanding of Git usage.

0. Common commands and syntax:

INITialize a new empty local repository [in the <target-directory>], and add the REMOTE tracked repository:

• git init [<target-directory>]
• git remote add <remote-name> <remote-repository>

Or CLONE a <remote-repository> [checking out a specific <branch> other than master] [into the <target-directory>]:

• git clone [-b <branch>] <remote-repository> [<target-directory>]

CONFIGure a name and email address:

• git config [--local|--global] user.name "UserName"
• git config [--local|--global] user.email "[email protected]"

List existing BRANCHes, [including those in the remote repository]:

• git branch [-a]

CHECKOUT or switch the working copy to a <branch>:

• git checkout <branch>

List existing REMOTE tracked repositories:

• git remote

FETCH updates to the current branch from the remote repository, without merging:

• git fetch

PULL updates to the current branch from the remote repository, merging new commits into the working copy:

• git pull

ADD all new/modified files and stage them to be committed:

• git add -A

ADD specific new/modified files and stage them to be committed:

• git add <file> [<file>...]

MOVE (or rename) a <file> to a <new-file>:

• git mv <file> <new-file>

REMOVE (delete) a <file>:

• git rm <file>

Recursively REMOVE (delete) a <directory>:

• git rm -r <directory>

Check the STATUS of the working copy:

• git status

DIFF [staged] changes [to a specific <file>]:

• git diff [--staged] [<file>]

COMMIT staged changes:

• git commit -m "summary" [-m "details"]

Show commit LOGs:

• git log

TAG the working copy, using the specified <tag-name>:

• git tag -a <tag-name> -m "message"

PUSH commits on the current branch to the remote repository:

• git push

Create a BRANCH of the working copy, using the specified <branch-name>:

• git branch <branch-name>
• git checkout <branch-name>
• git push --set-upstream origin <branch-name>

MERGE the <source-branch> into the <destination-branch>:

• git checkout <source-branch>
• git pull
• git checkout <destination-branch>
• git merge --no-commit <source-branch>
• git commit -m "message"
• git push

1. Version control basics: About Version Control

2. Git basics: Git Basics

3. Getting a Git Repository

Initialize a new empty repository (https://git-scm.com/docs/git-init):

git init [<target-directory>]

Clone an existing remote repository to work on it locally (https://git-scm.com/docs/git-clone):

git clone [--verbose] [--branch <branch-name>] <remote-repository-url> [<target-directory>]
git clone [-v]        [-b       <branch-name>] <remote-repository-url> [<target-directory>]

• If --branch is omitted and --no-checkout|-n is not specified, the default branch (typically master) will be checked out automatically.
• If no --origin is specified, the remote repository will be tracked using the default name of origin.
• If <target-directory> is omitted, a new directory with the name of the remote repository will be created within the current working directory.

Configure a username and email address (https://git-scm.com/docs/git-config):

git config [--local|--global] user.name "UserName"
git config [--local|--global] user.email "[email protected]"

• Tip: use --global to use the same account on all your repositories, or --local to use a specific account on just this repository.

List available branches in the repository (https://git-scm.com/docs/git-branch):

git branch [--verbose [--verbose]] [--list] [--all]
git branch [-v|-vv]                         [-a]

• If --all is omitted, only local branches will be shown.

Check out a branch to work on locally (https://git-scm.com/docs/git-checkout):

git checkout <branch-name>

4. Pulling and pushing remote repositories: Working with Remotes

Show remote tracked repositories (https://git-scm.com/docs/git-remote):

git remote [--verbose] [show]
git remote [-v]        [show]

Add a remote tracked repository (https://git-scm.com/docs/git-remote):

git remote add <remote-name> <remote-repository>

• The remote repository will be tracked using the specified <remote-name> (typically origin).

Fetch updates from the remote repository without merging them into your local working copy (https://git-scm.com/docs/git-fetch):

git fetch [--verbose] [<remote-repository> [<branch>]]
git fetch [-v]        [<remote-repository> [<branch>]]

• If <branch> is omitted, the currently-checked-out branch will be fetched.
• If <remote-repository> is omitted, the currently-configured remote repository (usually tracked by the name origin) will be pulled from.

Pull updates from the remote repository and merge them into your local working copy (https://git-scm.com/docs/git-pull):

git pull [--verbose] [<remote-repository> [<branch>]]
git pull [-v]

• If <branch> is omitted, the currently-checked-out branch will be pulled and merged.
• If <remote-repository> is omitted, the currently-configured remote repository (usually tracked by the name origin) will be pulled from.

Push committed changes on the current branch from your local working copy to the remote repository (https://git-scm.com/docs/git-push):

git push [--verbose] [<remote-repository> [<branch>]]
git push [-v]

• If <branch> is omitted, the currently-checked-out branch will be pushed.
• If <remote-repository> is omitted, the currently-configured remote repository (usually tracked by the name origin) will be pushed to.

5. Adding, moving, removing, ignoring, diffing, staging and committing files in your local repository: Recording Changes to the Repository

Ignore files (https://git-scm.com/docs/gitignore):

Add path-specs to .gitignore file.

Stage new/changed files to be committed (https://git-scm.com/docs/git-add):

git add [--verbose] <path-spec> [<path-spec>...]
git add [-v]        <path-spec> [<path-spec>...]

Stage all new/changed files within the repository directory and subdirectories (https://git-scm.com/docs/git-add):

git add [--verbose] --all
git add [-v]        -A

Move/rename a file (https://git-scm.com/docs/git-mv):

git mv [--verbose] <source-file> <destination-file>
git mv [-v]        <source-file> <destination-file>

Remove/delete a file (https://git-scm.com/docs/git-rm):

git rm <file>

Recursively remove/delete a directory (https://git-scm.com/docs/git-rm):

git rm -r <directory>

Show the current status of added/modified/moved/renamed/removed/staged files (https://git-scm.com/docs/git-status):

git status

• If the --verbose or -v option is added, it will show a diff of staged files.

Show modifications to files (https://git-scm.com/docs/git-diff):

git diff [--staged|--cached] [<file>]

• If --staged and --cached are omitted, only the differences for un-staged files will be shown.
• If --staged or --cached is specified, only the differences for staged files will be shown.
• If <file> is omitted, the differences for all files will be shown (according to whether --staged|cached is specified).

Commit staged files to the local repository (https://git-scm.com/docs/git-commit):

git commit [--verbose] --message="summary" [--message="details"]
git commit [-v]        -m "summary"        [-m "details]

Show commit logs (https://git-scm.com/docs/git-log):

git log

6. Tagging

Create a tag of the current code in the currently-checked-out branch (https://git-scm.com/docs/git-tag):

git tag [--annotate] <tagname> [<checksum>] [--message="tag message"]
git tag [-a]         <tagname> [<checksum>] [-m "tag message"]

• Specify part of the checksum to tag a specific previous commit.
• Omit both -a and -m to create a lightweight tag instead of an annotated tag.

7. Branching: Branches in a Nutshell

Create a branch from the current code in the currently-checked-out branch (https://git-scm.com/docs/git-branch):

git branch [--verbose [--verbose]] <branch-name>
git branch [-v|-vv]                <branch-name>

List available branches in the repository (https://git-scm.com/docs/git-branch):

git branch [--verbose [--verbose]] [--list] [--all]
git branch [-v|-vv]                         [-a]

• If --all is omitted, only local branches will be shown.

Check out a branch to work on locally (https://git-scm.com/docs/git-checkout):

git checkout <branch-name>

8. Merging: Basic Branching and Merging

Check out the source branch (https://git-scm.com/docs/git-checkout):

NOTE: The source branch must exist locally, so the simplest way to do that is to check it out.

git checkout <source-branch>

Make sure the source branch is up to date (https://git-scm.com/docs/git-pull):

git pull [--verbose] [<remote-repository> [<branch>]]
git pull [-v]

• If <branch> is omitted, the currently-checked-out branch will be pulled and merged.
• If <remote-repository> is omitted, the currently-configured remote repository (usually tracked by the name origin) will be pulled from.

Check out the destination branch, into which the merge will be made (https://git-scm.com/docs/git-checkout):

git checkout <destination-branch>

Merge the source branch into the currently-checked-out working code (https://git-scm.com/docs/git-merge):

git merge [--verbose] [--no-commit|-m "message"] <source-branch>
git merge [-v]        [--no-commit|-m "message"] <source-branch>

• If --no-commit is omitted, the merge will be automatically committed if successful.

Show the current status of added/modified/moved/renamed/removed/staged files (https://git-scm.com/docs/git-status):

git status

• If the --verbose|-v option is added, it will show a diff of staged files.

Show modifications to files (https://git-scm.com/docs/git-diff):

git diff [--staged|cached] [<file>]

• If --staged and --cached are omitted, only the differences for un-staged files will be shown.
• If --staged or --cached is specified, only the differences for staged files will be shown.
• If <file> is omitted, the differences for all files will be shown (according to whether --staged|cached is specified).

Commit staged files to the local repository (https://git-scm.com/docs/git-commit):

git commit [--verbose] --message="commit message"
git commit [-v]        -m "commit message"

Push committed changes on the current branch from your local working copy to the remote repository (https://git-scm.com/docs/git-push):

git push [--verbose] [<remote-repository> [<destination-branch>]]
git push [-v]

• If <destination-branch> is omitted, the currently-checked-out branch will be pushed.
• If <remote-repository> is omitted, the currently-configured remote repository (usually tracked by the name origin) will be pushed to.