Git Cheat Sheet

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Git Configuration

Command	Description
git config --global user.name "Your Name"	Sets the author name for all future commits.
git config --global user.email "mole@cool"	Sets the author email for all future commits.
git config --global core.editor "nano"	Sets the default Git text editor to nano
git config --list	Lists all current configuration settings.

Essential Git

Command	Description
git init	Creates a new empty repository in the current folder.
git status	Summarizes the current state of the working tree and staging area.
git log	Shows all commits in reverse chronological order (most recent first).
git add	Stages one or more files.
git commit	Records changes in staging area in a new commit.
git commit -m "message"	Shortcut to simultaneously commit and specify the commit message.
git diff	Shows differences in files between working tree and HEAD.
git diff --cached	Shows differences in files between staging area and HEAD.
git diff COMMIT_ID	Show differences in files between HEAD and a specific commit.
git checkout COMMIT_ID	Temporarily reverts the repository to the state of a specific commit.
git checkout master	Restores working tree when in DETACHED HEAD state.

Git Branches

Command	Description
git branch	Lists existing branches.
git branch BRANCH	Creates a new branch BRANCH from the current HEAD.
git checkout BRANCH	Switches to the specified branch.
git checkout -b BRANCH	Creates a new branch and switches to it from the current HEAD.
git merge BRANCH	Merges commits of BRANCH onto the history of the current branch.
git branch -D BRANCH	Deletes branch BRANCH and its associated history.

GitHub

Command	Description
git clone URL DIR	Clones (downloads) a repository from URL into a new directory DIR.
git remote -v	Lists all remote repositories associated with the current repository.
git remote add NAME URL	Adds a remote repository NAME pointing to URL.
git remote rm NAME	Removes NAME from the list of tracked repositories.
git push NAME BRANCH	Copies commits of the current branch onto branch BRANCH of NAME.
git pull NAME BRANCH	Merges commits of branch BRANCH of NAME onto the current branch.

Undoing Changes

Command	Description
git checkout -- FILE	Discards changes to a specific file in the working tree.
git reset HEAD FILE	Unstages a specific file (opposite of git add) but retains changes.
git reset HEAD	Unstages all currently staged files.
git reset --hard HEAD	Erases all changes, reverting the repository to the state of HEAD.

Glossary

Term	Description
branch	A self-contained collection of commits that represent a line of development.
commit	A single point in the Git repository history.
HEAD	The commit at the tip of a branch or the most recent version of the repository.
remote	A repository hosted elsewhere, often on the cloud.
repository	The collection of all files, changes (commits), and branches.
staging area	All the files and changes added to the staging area but not yet committed.
working tree	All files and changes not yet added to the staging area.

Credits

This cheat sheet was created by @janash, @joaorodrigues, and @vhchavez and is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.