Git Reminder

Initialize a repository

To initialize an existing repository enter the following command inside the repository.

git init

To create a new folder and initialize a new repository inside it enter the following command into the terminal. The new folder will be created inside the current folder.

git init <new folder name>

Check the current status of your repository

Get a list of all the files inside your repository

ls

Get a level up from your repository

cd ..

Check the status of your repository

git status

Unstage files or discard changes

To unstage a file:

git reset HEAD <file_name>

To unstage only one previous change:

get reset HEAD^1

or to unstage a file:

git restore --staged <file-name>

To discard changes:

git restore <file_name>

or

git checkout --<file_name>

Rename or move files

Rename a file in Git:

git mv <old_file_name> <new_file_name>

Move a file in other folder.

⚠ NOTE: File and folder must be in one folder.

git mv <file_name> <target_folder_name>

Create file

Create an empty file

touch <file_name>

Create a file with some text inside

echo <text> >> <file_name>

Delete a file or a folder

Delete a file

rm <file_name>

Delete a folder

rm -rf <folder_name>

Get the story of your commits

git log

To get all the commits history in one line:

git log --oneline

To get decorated onliner commit history:

git log --oneline --graph --decorate --all

To exit from the Story of commits mode press “q”.

To get all the commits of a specific file:

git log --<file_name>

Find difference between commits

Find difference between an arbitrary and the last commit:

git diff <arbitrary_commit_number> HEAD

Work with branches

Check your existing branches first

git branch -a

Create a new branch

git branch my_new_branch

Switch to a new branch

git checkout my_new_branch

Create a new branch and switch to it simultaneously

git checkout -b <new_branch_name>

Rename your branch:

git branch -m <old_name_branch> <new_name_branch>

Delete your branch:

git branch -d <name_of_your_branch>

Merge your side branch into main branch. You must be on your main branch for that.

git merge <name_of_your_branch>

Merge your branch with “no fast-forward” flag to clearly see the branch in log

git merge --no-ff

Rebase process

Rebase your branch

git rebase <branch_name>

If you have changes made in both local and global branches simultaneosly, then use such commands

git fetch

git pull --rebase

Reflog command

The “git reflog” command in Git is used to display a log of reference updates in your repository. It shows a list of previous states of your branches and other references, such as HEAD, that have been updated in the local repository.

The term “reflog” stands for “reference log.” It keeps a record of all the changes made to the tips of branches or other references, including commits that are no longer reachable from any branch.

git reflog

The result of git reflog command looks like this.