Git
Cheatsheet

# Set your identity (required for commits)
git config --global user.name "Kenneth Nweke"
git config --global user.email "[email protected]"

# Set default branch name to main
git config --global init.defaultBranch main

# Set default editor
git config --global core.editor "code --wait"   # VS Code
git config --global core.editor "vim"           # Vim

# Set line ending handling
git config --global core.autocrlf input         # macOS/Linux
git config --global core.autocrlf true          # Windows

# Useful aliases
git config --global alias.st status
git config --global alias.co checkout
git config --global alias.br branch
git config --global alias.lg "log --oneline --graph --all"

# View all config
git config --list
git config --global --list

# Initialise a new repo
git init                            # create .git in current dir
git init my-project                 # create new dir + init

# Clone an existing repo
git clone https://github.com/user/repo.git
git clone https://github.com/user/repo.git my-folder  # rename
git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/user/repo.git  # shallow clone

# Check status
git status                          # what's changed / staged
git status -s                       # short format

# Stage changes
git add file.txt                    # stage specific file
git add .                           # stage all changes
git add -p                          # interactively stage hunks

# Commit
git commit -m "feat: add login page"
git commit -am "fix: correct typo"  # stage tracked files + commit
git commit --amend                  # edit last commit
git commit --amend --no-edit        # amend without changing message

# Push
git push                            # push to tracked remote
git push origin main                # push branch to remote
git push -u origin main             # set upstream and push
git push --force-with-lease         # safe force push

# List branches
git branch                          # local branches
git branch -r                       # remote branches
git branch -a                       # all branches
git branch -v                       # with last commit

# Create & switch
git checkout -b feature/login       # create + switch (classic)
git switch -c feature/login         # create + switch (modern)
git switch main                     # switch branch
git checkout main                   # switch branch (classic)

# Rename & delete
git branch -m old-name new-name     # rename branch
git branch -d feature/login         # delete (safe — merged only)
git branch -D feature/login         # force delete
git push origin --delete feature/login  # delete remote branch

# Merge
git merge feature/login             # merge into current branch
git merge --no-ff feature/login     # always create merge commit
git merge --squash feature/login    # squash into single commit
git merge --abort                   # abort conflicting merge

# Rebase
git rebase main                     # rebase current branch onto main
git rebase -i HEAD~3                # interactive rebase last 3 commits
git rebase --abort                  # abort rebase
git rebase --continue               # continue after resolving conflicts

# Stash workflow
git stash                           # stash all uncommitted changes
git stash push -m "WIP: login form" # stash with message
git stash list                      # view all stashes
git stash pop                       # apply latest stash + drop it
git stash apply stash@{2}           # apply specific stash
git stash drop stash@{0}            # delete stash
git stash clear                     # delete all stashes

# Cherry-pick (apply specific commit to current branch)
git cherry-pick abc1234

# git log
git log                             # full history
git log --oneline                   # compact one line per commit
git log --oneline --graph --all     # visual branch graph
git log --oneline -10               # last 10 commits
git log --author="Kenneth"          # filter by author
git log --since="2 weeks ago"       # filter by date
git log -- file.txt                 # history of specific file
git log --stat                      # show files changed per commit
git log --follow file.txt           # track file through renames

# git diff
git diff                            # unstaged changes
git diff --staged                   # staged vs last commit
git diff main..feature              # diff between branches
git diff abc1234 def5678            # diff between commits

# Show specific commit
git show abc1234                    # show commit details + diff
git show HEAD                       # show latest commit
git show HEAD~2:file.txt            # show file contents 2 commits ago

# Find when a bug was introduced
git bisect start
git bisect bad                      # current commit is buggy
git bisect good abc1234             # this commit was good
git bisect reset                    # end bisect

# View remotes
git remote -v                       # list remotes with URLs
git remote show origin              # detailed info about origin

# Add / rename / remove remotes
git remote add origin https://github.com/user/repo.git
git remote rename origin upstream
git remote remove upstream
git remote set-url origin https://github.com/user/new-repo.git

# Fetch vs Pull
git fetch                           # download changes WITHOUT merging
git fetch origin                    # fetch from origin
git pull                            # fetch + merge (or rebase)
git pull --rebase                   # fetch + rebase (cleaner history)
git pull origin main                # pull specific branch

# Push
git push origin main
git push --all origin               # push all branches
git push origin v1.0.0              # push a tag
git push --tags                     # push all tags

# Tags
git tag                             # list all tags
git tag v1.0.0                      # lightweight tag
git tag -a v1.0.0 -m "Release 1.0" # annotated tag
git tag -a v1.0.0 abc1234          # tag a specific commit
git tag -d v1.0.0                   # delete local tag
git push origin --tags              # push all tags

# .gitignore — ignore files from tracking
# Create: echo "node_modules/" >> .gitignore
*.log           # ignore all .log files
node_modules/   # ignore directory
.env            # ignore env file
*.pyc           # ignore Python bytecode
.DS_Store       # ignore macOS files

# Useful one-liners
git shortlog -sn                    # commit count by author
git log --all --full-history -- "**file.txt" # find deleted file
git grep "TODO"                     # search in tracked files
git count-objects -vH               # repo size