GitHub Cheat-Sheet

• Creating Snapshots

  Initializing a repository

    git init
  

  Staging files

    git add file1.js			# Stages a single file
    git add file1.js file2.js		# Stages multiple files
    git add *.js				# Stages with a pattern
    git add .				# Stages the current directory and all its content
  

  Viewing the status

    git status				# Full status
    git status -s				# Short status
  

  Committing the staged files

    git commit -m “Message”		# Commits with a one-line message
    git commit				# Opens the default editor to type a long message
  

  Skipping the staging area

    git commit -am “Message”
  

  Removing files

    git rm file1.js			# Removes from working directory and staging area
    git rm --cached file1.js		# Removes from staging area only
  

  Renaming or moving files

    git mv file1.js file1.txt
  

  Viewing the staged/unstaged changes

    git diff				# Shows unstaged changes
    git diff --staged			# Shows staged changes
    git diff --cached			# Same as the above
  

  Viewing the history

    git log				# Full history
    git log --oneline			# Summary
    git log --reverse			# Lists the commits from the oldest to the newest
  

  Viewing a commit

    git show 921a2ff			# Shows the given commit
    git show HEAD				# Shows the last commit
    git show HEAD~2			# Two steps before the last commit
    git show HEAD:file.js			# Shows the version of file.js stored in the last commit
  

  Unstaging files (undoing git add)

    git restore --staged file.js		# Copies the last version of file.js from repo to index
  

  Discarding local changes

    git restore file.js			# Copies file.js from index to working directory
    git restore file1.js file2.js		# Restores multiple files in working directory
    git restore .				# Discards all local changes (except untracked files
    git clean -fd				# Removes all untracked files
  

  Restoring an earlier version of a file

    git restore --source=HEAD~2 file.js
  

• Browsing History

  Viewing the history

    git log --stat			# Shows the list of modified files
    git log --patch			# Shows the actual changes (patches)
  

  Filtering the history

    git log -3				# Shows the last 3 entries
    git log --author=“Saboya”
    git log --before=“2020-07-21”
    git log --after=“one week ago”
    git log --grep=“GUI”			# Commits with “GUI” in their message
    git log -S“GUI”			# Commits with “GUI” in their patches
    git log hash1..hash2			# Range of commits
    git log file.txt			# Commits that touched file.txt
  

  Formatting the log output

    git log --pretty=format:”%an committed %H”
  

  Creating an alias

    git config --global alias.lg “log --oneline"
  

  Viewing a commit

    git show HEAD~2
    git show HEAD~2:file1.txt		# Shows the version of file stored in this commit
  

  Comparing commits

    git diff HEAD~2 HEAD			# Shows the changes between two commits
    git diff HEAD~2 HEAD file.txt		# Changes to file.txt only
  

  Checking out a commit

    git checkout dad47e			# Checks out the given commit
    git checkout master			# Checks out the master branch
  

  Finding a bad commit

    git bisect start
    git bisect bad			# Marks the current commit as a bad commit
    git bisect good ca49180		# Marks the given commit as a good commit
    git bisect reset			# Terminates the bisect session
  

  Finding contributors

    git shortlog
  

  Viewing the history of a file

    git log file.txt			# Shows the commits that touched file.txt
    git log --stat file.txt		# Shows statistics (the number of changes) for file.txt
    git log --patch file.txt		# Shows the patches (changes) applied to file.txt  
  

  Finding the author of lines

    git blame file.txt			# Shows the author of each line in file.txt  
  

  Tagging

    git tag v1.0				# Tags the last commit as v1.0
    git tag v1.0 5e7a828			# Tags an earlier commit
    git tag				# Lists all the tags
    git tag -d v1.0			# Deletes the given tag
  

• Branching & Merging

  Managing branches

    git branch bugfix			# Creates a new branch called bugfix
    git checkout bugfix			# Switches to the bugfix branch
    git switch bugfix			# Same as the above
    git switch -C bugfix			# Creates and switches
    git branch -d bugfix			# Deletes the bugfix branch
  

  Comparing branches

    git log master..bugfix		# Lists the commits in the bugfix branch not in master
    git diff master..bugfix		# Shows the summary of changes
  

  Stashing

    git stash push -m “New tax rules”	# Creates a new stash
    git stash list			# Lists all the stashes
    git stash show stash@{1}		# Shows the given stash
    git stash show 1			# shortcut for stash@{1}
    git stash apply 1			# Applies the given stash to the working dir
    git stash drop 1			# Deletes the given stash
    git stash clear			# Deletes all the stashes
  

  Merging

    git merge bugfix			# Merges the bugfix  branch into the current branch
    git merge --no-ff bugfix		# Creates a merge commit even if FF is possible
    git merge --squash bugfix		# Performs a squash merge
    git merge --abort			# Aborts the merge
  

  Viewing the merged branches

    git branch --merged			# Shows the merged branches
    git branch --no-merged		# Shows the unmerged branches
  

  Rebasing

    git rebase master			# Changes the base of the current branch
  

  Cherry picking

    git cherry-pick dad47ed		# Applies the given commit on the current branch