cd /news/developer-tools/git-cli-cheatsheet · home topics developer-tools article
[ARTICLE · art-9366] src=gist.github.com ↗ pub= topic=developer-tools verified=true sentiment=· neutral

Git CLI Cheatsheet

This article provides a comprehensive Git command-line interface (CLI) cheatsheet, listing essential commands for tasks such as initialization, staging, committing, branching, merging, and stashing. It also includes links to external resources for beginners, pro tips, and official cheat sheets. The guide covers both basic and advanced operations, including resetting changes, rebasing, and managing untracked files.

read6 min views16 publishedOct 3, 2013
  • Related Setup: https://gist.github.com/hofmannsven/6814278
- Related Pro Tips: https://ochronus.com/git-tips-from-the-trenches/
- Interactive Beginners Tutorial: http://try.github.io/
- Git Cheatsheet by GitHub: https://services.github.com/on-demand/downloads/github-git-cheat-sheet/

Press minus + shift + s and return to chop/fold long lines! Show folder content: ls -la Do not put (external) dependencies in version control! See where Git is located: which git Get the version of Git: git --version Create an alias (shortcut) for git status : git config --global alias.st status Help: git help Initialize Git: git init Get everything ready to commit: git add . Get custom file ready to commit: git add index.html Commit changes: git commit -m "Message" Commit changes with title and description: git commit -m "Title" -m "Description..." Add and commit in one step: git commit -am "Message" Remove files from Git: git rm index.html Update all changes: git add -u Remove file but do not track anymore: git rm --cached index.html Move or rename files: git mv index.html dir/index_new.html Undo modifications (restore files from latest commited version):

git checkout -- index.html
Restore file from a custom commit (in current branch):
git checkout 6eb715d -- index.html

Go back to commit: git revert 073791e7dd71b90daa853b2c5acc2c925f02dbc6 Soft reset (move HEAD only; neither staging nor working dir is changed): git reset --soft 073791e7dd71b90daa853b2c5acc2c925f02dbc6 Undo latest commit: git reset --soft HEAD~ Mixed reset (move HEAD and change staging to match repo; does not affect working dir): git reset --mixed 073791e7dd71b90daa853b2c5acc2c925f02dbc6 Hard reset (move HEAD and change staging dir and working dir to match repo): git reset --hard 073791e7dd71b90daa853b2c5acc2c925f02dbc6 Hard reset of a single file (@ is short for HEAD

):
git checkout @ -- index.html
Test-Delete untracked files:

git clean -n Delete untracked files (not staging): git clean -f Unstage (undo adds): git reset HEAD index.html

Update most recent commit (also update the commit message):
git commit --amend -m "New Message"

Show branches: git branch Create branch: git branch branchname Change to branch: git checkout branchname Create and change to new branch: git checkout -b branchname Rename branch: git branch -m branchname new_branchname or: git branch --move branchname new_branchname Show all completely merged branches with current branch:

git branch --merged
Delete merged branch (only possible if not HEAD):

git branch -d branchname or: git branch --delete branchname Delete not merged branch: git branch -D branch_to_delete True merge (fast forward): git merge branchname

Merge to master (only if fast forward):
git merge --ff-only branchname
Merge to master (force a new commit):
git merge --no-ff branchname
Stop merge (in case of conflicts):
git merge --abort
Stop merge (in case of conflicts):
git reset --merge
// prior to v1.7.4

Undo local merge that hasn't been pushed yet: git reset --hard origin/master Merge only one specific commit: git cherry-pick 073791e7 Rebase: git checkout branchname » git rebase master or: git merge master branchname (The rebase moves all of the commits in master onto the tip of branchname .) Cancel rebase: git rebase --abort Squash multiple commits into one: git rebase -i HEAD~3

(source)
Squash-merge a feature branch (as one commit):
git merge --squash branchname
(commit afterwards)

Put in stash: git stash save "Message" Show stash: git stash list Show stash stats: git stash show stash@{0} Show stash changes:

git stash show -p stash@{0}
Use custom stash item and drop it:
git stash pop stash@{0}
Use custom stash item and do not drop it:
git stash apply stash@{0}
Use custom stash item and index:
git stash apply --index

Create branch from stash: git stash branch new_branch Delete custom stash item: git stash drop stash@{0} Delete complete stash: git stash clear About: https://help.github.com/articles/ignoring-files Useful templates: https://github.com/github/gitignore Add or edit gitignore: nano .gitignore Track empty dir: touch dir/.gitkeep Show commits: git log

Show oneline-summary of commits:
git log --oneline
Show oneline-summary of commits with full SHA-1:
git log --format=oneline

Show oneline-summary of the last three commits: git log --oneline -3 Show only custom commits:

git log --author="Sven"
git log --grep="Message"
git log --until=2013-01-01
git log --since=2013-01-01

Show only custom data of commit:

git log --format=short
git log --format=full
git log --format=fuller
git log --format=email
git log --format=raw

Show changes: git log -p Show every commit since special commit for custom file only: git log 6eb715d.. index.html Show changes of every commit since special commit for custom file only: git log -p 6eb715d.. index.html Show stats and summary of commits: git log --stat --summary Show history of commits as graph: git log --graph Show history of commits as graph-summary: git log --oneline --graph --all --decorate Shows commits where the given string was added or removed: git log -S 'assertInvalid' -- src/Illuminate/Testing/TestResponse.php (If assertInvalid only appears once in the git history of src/Illuminate/Testing/TestResponse.php file, it means that once it was introduced, it wasn't removed or added back, hence only one commit is shown in the results.) Compare modified files: git diff Compare modified files and highlight changes only: git diff --color-words index.html Compare modified files within the staging area: git diff --staged Compare branches: git diff master..branchname Compare branches like above: git diff --color-words master..branchname^ Compare commits: git diff 6eb715d git diff 6eb715d..HEAD git diff 6eb715d..537a09f Compare commits of file: git diff 6eb715d index.html git diff 6eb715d..537a09f index.html Compare without caring about spaces: git diff -b 6eb715d..HEAD or: git diff --ignore-space-change 6eb715d..HEAD Compare without caring about all spaces: git diff -w 6eb715d..HEAD or: git diff --ignore-all-space 6eb715d..HEAD Useful comparings: git diff --stat --summary 6eb715d..HEAD Blame: git blame -L10,+1 index.html Show all released versions: git tag Show all released versions with comments: git tag -l -n1 Create release version: git tag v1.0.0 Create release version with comment: git tag -a v1.0.0 -m 'Message' Checkout a specific release version: git checkout v1.0.0 Show remote: git remote Show remote details: git remote -v Add remote upstream from GitHub project: git remote add upstream https://github.com/user/project.git Add remote upstream from existing empty project on server: git remote add upstream ssh://root@123.123.123.123/path/to/repository/.git Fetch: git fetch upstream Fetch a custom branch: git fetch upstream branchname:local_branchname Merge fetched commits: git merge upstream/master Remove origin: git remote rm origin Show remote branches: git branch -r Show all branches (remote and local): git branch -a Create and checkout branch from a remote branch: git checkout -b local_branchname upstream/remote_branchname Compare: git diff origin/master..master

Push (set default with -u
):

git push -u origin master Push: git push origin master Force-Push: `git push origin master --force Pull: git pull Pull specific branch: git pull origin branchname Fetch a pull request on GitHub by its ID and create a new branch: git fetch upstream pull/ID/head:new-pr-branch Clone to localhost: git clone https://github.com/user/project.git or: git clone ssh://user@domain.com/~/dir/.git Clone to localhost folder: git clone https://github.com/user/project.git ~/dir/folder Clone specific branch to localhost: git clone -b branchname https://github.com/user/project.git Clone with token authentication (in CI environment): git clone https://oauth2:<token>@gitlab.com/username/repo.git Delete remote branch (push nothing): git push origin :branchname or:

git push origin --delete branchname
Create a zip-archive: git archive --format zip --output filename.zip master
Export/write custom log to a file: git log --author=sven --all > log.txt

Ignore files that have already been committed to a Git repository: http://stackoverflow.com/a/1139797/1815847 Hide Git on the web via .htaccess : RedirectMatch 404 /.git

(more info here: http://stackoverflow.com/a/17916515/1815847)
Website: https://git-lfs.github.com/
Install: brew install git-lfs

Track .psd files: git lfs track ".psd" (init, add, commit and push as written above)

── more in #developer-tools 4 stories · sorted by recency
── more on @git 3 stories trending now
sponsored brought to you by zahid.host 4,200+ EU-deployed projects
reading about agents? ship yours in a single git push.

Run your AI side-project on zahid.host

EU-based hosting, git-push deploys, automatic HTTPS, no cold starts. Free tier with a custom domain — perfect for shipping the agent you just read about.

$git push zahid main
Live at https://your-agent.zahid.host
Get free account → Pricing
from €0/mo · no card required
LIVE [news/git-cli-cheatsheet] indexed:0 read:6min 2013-10-03 ·