Git Cheatsheet

Git Cheatsheet

Quick Reference
Setup and Configuration
Basic Git Commands
Branching and Merging
Remote Repositories
Advanced Operations
Conflict Resolution
Troubleshooting
Git Hooks and Automation
Best Practices

Quick Reference

Most Common Commands

## Check status
git status

## Stage all changes
git add .

## Commit with message
git commit -m "Your message"

## View history
git log --oneline

## Switch branches
git checkout branch-name
git switch branch-name  # newer syntax

## Create and switch to new branch
git checkout -b new-branch
git switch -c new-branch  # newer syntax

## Push to remote
git push origin branch-name

## Pull from remote
git pull origin branch-name

## Clone repository
git clone https://github.com/user/repo.git

Emergency Commands

## Undo last commit (keep changes)
git reset --soft HEAD~1

## Undo last commit (discard changes)
git reset --hard HEAD~1

## Undo last commit (create new commit that undoes changes)
git revert HEAD

## Discard local changes
git checkout -- file-name

## Return to last commit (detached HEAD)
git checkout HEAD~1

Setup and Configuration

Initial Setup

## Install Git (Ubuntu/Debian)
sudo apt-get install git

## Install Git (macOS)
brew install git

## Windows: Download from git-scm.com

Configuration

## Set global identity
git config --global user.name "Your Name"
git config --global user.email "your.email@example.com"

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

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

## View configuration
git config --list
git config --list --global

## View specific config
git config user.name
git config user.email

## Unset a config
git config --unset user.name
git config --global --unset user.name

## Set up line ending handling (Windows)
git config --global core.autocrlf true

## Set up line ending handling (macOS/Linux)
git config --global core.autocrlf input

SSH Setup for GitHub

## Generate SSH key
ssh-keygen -t ed25519 -C "your.email@example.com"

## Add to SSH agent
eval "$(ssh-agent -s)"
ssh-add ~/.ssh/id_ed25519

## Copy public key to clipboard
## macOS:
pbcopy < ~/.ssh/id_ed25519.pub
## Linux:
xclip -sel clip < ~/.ssh/id_ed25519.pub

## Test connection
ssh -T git@github.com

Basic Git Commands

Repository Management

## Initialize new repository
git init

## Clone repository
git clone https://github.com/user/repo.git
git clone https://github.com/user/repo.git my-folder

## Clone specific branch
git clone -b develop https://github.com/user/repo.git

## Clone with shallow history
git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/user/repo.git

File Operations

## Add files to staging
git add filename.txt
git add *.py
git add .                 # All files
git add -A               # All files (including deletions)
git add -p              # Interactive staging

## Remove files
git rm filename.txt
git rm --cached filename.txt  # Remove from Git but keep locally

## Move/rename files
git mv old-name.txt new-name.txt

## Check status
git status
git status -s           # Short format
git status -sb          # Short format with branch info

Commit Operations

## Basic commit
git commit -m "Commit message"

## Add and commit in one step
git commit -am "Message"  # Only for modified files, not new

## Commit with detailed message
git commit

## Amend last commit
git commit --amend
git commit --amend -m "New message"

## Amend without changing message
git commit --amend --no-edit

## Skip pre-commit hooks
git commit --no-verify -m "Message"

## Add signed-off-by line
git commit -s -m "Message"

Viewing History

## Basic log
git log

## Compact format
git log --oneline

## With graph
git log --graph --oneline --all

## Show specific number of commits
git log -5
git log --since="2 weeks ago"
git log --since="2023-01-01"
git log --until="2023-12-31"

## Filter by author
git log --author="Sarah"
git log --author="Sarah\Alex"

## Search in commit messages
git log --grep="fix"
git log --grep="fix" --oneline

## Show file changes over time
git log --follow filename.txt
git log -p filename.txt     # Show diff for file
git log --stat filename.txt # Show statistics

## Show who changed each line
git blame filename.txt
git blame -L 10,20 filename.txt  # Blame lines 10-20

## Pretty formats
git log --pretty=format:"%h - %an, %ar : %s"
git log --pretty=format:"%C(yellow)%h%Creset - %C(auto)%ad%s%Creset"

Comparing Changes

## Show unstaged changes
git diff

## Show staged changes
git diff --staged
git diff --cached

## Compare branches
git diff branch1 branch2
git diff main..feature-branch

## Show file differences
git diff HEAD~1 HEAD filename.txt

## Show word differences
git diff --word-diff

## Show statistics
git diff --stat

Branching and Merging

Branch Management

## List branches
git branch              # Local branches
git branch -r          # Remote branches
git branch -a          # All branches

## Create branch
git branch feature-branch

## Create and switch to new branch
git checkout -b feature-branch
git switch -c feature-branch  # newer syntax

## Switch branches
git checkout feature-branch
git switch feature-branch     # newer syntax

## Switch to previous branch
git checkout -
git switch -                  # newer syntax

## Rename branch
git branch -m old-name new-name
git branch -m new-name        # Rename current branch

## Delete branch
git branch -d feature-branch          # Delete local branch
git branch -D feature-branch          # Force delete
git push origin --delete feature-branch # Delete remote branch

## Set up tracking
git branch --set-upstream-to=origin/main main
git branch --set-upstream-to=upstream/main main

Merging

## Merge branch into current branch
git merge feature-branch

## Merge without fast-forward (creates merge commit)
git merge --no-ff feature-branch

## Merge with strategy option
git merge -s recursive -X ours feature-branch
git merge -s recursive -X theirs feature-branch

## Merge with message
git merge feature-branch -m "Merge feature branch"

## Merge specific commit
git cherry-pick <commit-hash>

Rebasing

## Rebase current branch on top of main
git rebase main

## Interactive rebase
git rebase -i HEAD~3    # Rebase last 3 commits
git rebase -i main      # Rebase on main

## Interactive rebase options:
## p, pick    = use commit
## r, reword  = use commit, but edit message
## e, edit    = use commit, but stop for amending
## s, squash  = use commit, but meld into previous
## f, fixup   = like "squash", but discard message
## x, exec    = run command (the rest of the line) using shell

## Continue rebase after resolving conflicts
git rebase --continue

## Abort rebase
git rebase --abort

## Skip current commit
git rebase --skip

## Rebase onto different branch
git rebase --onto main feature-branch

## Rebase with autosquash
git rebase -i --autosquash main

Cherry-picking

## Apply specific commit
git cherry-pick <commit-hash>

## Apply range of commits
git cherry-pick <commit-hash1>..<commit-hash2>

## Apply without making commit
git cherry-pick --no-commit <commit-hash>

## Cherry-pick multiple commits
git cherry-pick <commit-hash1> <commit-hash2>

Remote Repositories

Remote Management

## Add remote
git remote add origin https://github.com/user/repo.git
git remote add upstream https://github.com/original/repo.git

## View remotes
git remote -v

## Rename remote
git remote rename origin upstream

## Remove remote
git remote remove upstream

## Change remote URL
git remote set-url origin git@github.com:user/repo.git

## Get remote information
git remote show origin

Pushing and Pulling

## Push to remote branch
git push origin main
git push origin feature-branch

## Set upstream tracking
git push -u origin feature-branch

## Push all branches
git push --all

## Push tags
git push --tags
git push origin v1.0.0

## Push force (be careful!)
git push --force
git push --force-with-lease  # Safer force push

## Delete remote branch
git push origin --delete feature-branch

## Push after rebasing
git push --force-with-origin main

Fetching and Pulling

## Fetch from remote
git fetch origin
git fetch upstream

## Fetch all remotes
git fetch --all

## Fetch and prune deleted branches
git fetch --prune origin

## Fetch specific branch
git fetch origin feature-branch

## Pull changes
git pull origin main
git pull --rebase origin main  # Pull with rebase

## Pull with rebase instead of merge
git config --global pull.rebase true

Cloning

## Clone repository
git clone https://github.com/user/repo.git

## Clone to specific directory
git clone https://github.com/user/repo.git my-project

## Clone specific branch
git clone -b develop https://github.com/user/repo.git

## Clone with shallow history
git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/user/repo.git

## Clone and recurse submodules
git clone --recursive https://github.com/user/repo.git

Advanced Operations

Stashing

## Stash changes
git stash
git stash save "Work in progress"

## List stashes
git stash list

## Apply stash
git stash pop          # Apply and remove from stash
git stash apply        # Apply but keep in stash
git stash apply stash@{2}  # Apply specific stash

## Show stash diff
git stash show
git stash show -p      # Show patch

## Create branch from stash
git stash branch new-feature

## Drop stash
git stash drop
git stash drop stash@{1}

## Clear all stashes
git stash clear

Tagging

## Create annotated tag (recommended)
git tag -a v1.0.0 -m "Release version 1.0.0"

## Create lightweight tag
git tag v1.0.0

## Tag specific commit
git tag -a v0.9.0 <commit-hash> -m "Beta version"

## List tags
git tag
git tag -l "v1.*"

## Show tag information
git show v1.0.0

## Push tags to remote
git push origin --tags
git push origin v1.0.0

## Delete tag locally
git tag -d v0.9.0

## Delete tag from remote
git push origin --delete v0.9.0

Submodules

## Add submodule
git submodule add https://github.com/user/repo.git

## Clone repository with submodules
git clone --recursive https://github.com/user/repo.git

## Initialize submodules after cloning
git submodule update --init --recursive

## Update submodules
git submodule update --remote

## Remove submodule
git submodule deinit path/to/submodule
git rm path/to/submodule

Reflog

## View reflog
git reflog
git reflog show HEAD

## Show reflog for specific branch
git reflog show branch-name

## Recover lost commit
git reflog
git checkout <commit-hash-from-reflog>
git checkout -b rescue-branch

## Clean up reflog
git reflog expire --expire=now --all

Conflict Resolution

Basic Conflict Resolution

## During merge/rebase, conflicts will be marked in files:
## <<<<<<< HEAD
## =======
## >>>>>>> feature-branch

## Check conflicted files
git status

## After resolving conflicts:
git add <resolved-files>
git commit  # for merge
git rebase --continue  # for rebase

## Abort merge
git merge --abort

## Abort rebase
git rebase --abort

Conflict Resolution Tools

## Use merge tool
git mergetool

## Available merge tools:
## vim, emacs, tortoisemerge, kdiff3, opendiff, etc.

## Configure merge tool
git config --global merge.tool vimdiff

## Use diff tool to compare
git difftool

Common Conflict Resolution Strategies

## Keep our changes (current branch)
git checkout --ours <file>

## Keep their changes (incoming branch)
git checkout --theirs <file>

## Keep both (manual merge required)
git checkout --conflict=merge <file>

## For rebase conflicts
git checkout --ours .    # Keep our changes
git checkout --theirs .  # Keep their changes

Troubleshooting

Detached HEAD

## You are in 'detached HEAD' state
git status  # Shows "detached HEAD"

## Solutions:
## 1. Go back to a branch
git checkout main

## 2. Create a new branch from current state
git checkout -b new-branch

## 3. Return to previous location
git checkout -

Resetting and Reverting

## Soft reset (keep changes staged)
git reset --soft HEAD~1

## Mixed reset (keep changes in working directory)
git reset HEAD~1
git reset --mixed HEAD~1

## Hard reset (discard all changes)
git reset --hard HEAD~1

## Revert commit (safe undo)
git revert <commit-hash>

## Revert multiple commits
git revert <commit-hash1>..<commit-hash2>

## Revert without committing
git revert --no-commit <commit-hash>

Cleaning Repository

## Remove untracked files
git clean -f      # Remove files
git clean -fd     # Remove files and directories

## Remove unignored files
git clean -fx

## Interactive clean
git clean -i

## Remove ignored files
git clean -fX

Large Files

## Find large files
find . -type f -exec du -h {} +  sort -rh  head -20

## Check file size in Git
git ls-tree -r --long HEAD

## Remove file from history (BFG)
java -jar bfg.jar --delete-files "*.large" repo.git

## Remove file with filter-branch
git filter-branch --force --index-filter \
  'git rm --cached --ignore-unmatch path/to/file' \
  --prune-empty --tag-name-filter cat -- --all

Permission Issues

## Fix file permissions
git config --global core.filemode false

## Check file mode changes
git diff --summary

## If you have permission errors, reset file modes
git ls-files -s  awk '{print $1, $4}'  while read mode file; do
  echo "$file"  xargs chmod $mode
done

Authentication Issues

## Clear cached credentials
git config --global --unset credential.helper
git config --global credential.helper cache

## Use personal access token instead of password
git remote set-url origin https://username:token@github.com/username/repo.git

## Switch to SSH
git remote set-url origin git@github.com:username/repo.git

Git Hooks and Automation

Pre-commit Hook

## Create pre-commit hook
cat > .git/hooks/pre-commit << 'EOF'
#!/bin/sh
## Run tests before commit
npm test
if [ $? -ne 0 ]; then
    echo "Tests failed. Commit aborted."
    exit 1
fi
EOF

chmod +x .git/hooks/pre-commit

Commit-msg Hook

## Create commit-msg hook
cat > .git/hooks/commit-msg << 'EOF'
#!/bin/sh
## Enforce commit message format
commit_regex='^(featfixdocsstylerefactortestchore)(\(.+\))?: .{1,50}'

if ! grep -qE "$commit_regex" "$1"; then
    echo "Invalid commit message format!"
    echo "Format: type(scope): description"
    echo "Types: feat, fix, docs, style, refactor, test, chore"
    exit 1
fi
EOF

chmod +x .git/hooks/commit-msg

Pre-push Hook

## Create pre-push hook
cat > .git/hooks/pre-push << 'EOF'
#!/bin/sh
## Run tests and linting before push
echo "Running tests..."
npm test
if [ $? -ne 0 ]; then
    echo "Tests failed. Push aborted."
    exit 1
fi

echo "Running linter..."
npm run lint
if [ $? -ne 0 ]; then
    echo "Linting failed. Push aborted."
    exit 1
fi
EOF

chmod +x .git/hooks/pre-push

Best Practices

Commit Messages

## Good commit messages
git commit -m "feat: add user authentication system"
git commit -m "fix: resolve null pointer exception in login"
git commit -m "docs: update API documentation"
git commit -m "refactor: simplify user validation logic"
git commit -m "test: add unit tests for user service"
git commit -m "chore: update dependencies to latest versions"

## Bad commit messages
git commit -m "fixed stuff"
git commit -m "update"
git commit -m "asdfasdf"

Commit Message Format

type(scope): subject

body (optional)

footer (optional)

Types:
- feat: New feature
- fix: Bug fix
- docs: Documentation changes
- style: Code style changes (formatting, etc.)
- refactor: Code refactoring
- test: Adding or updating tests
- chore: Build process or auxiliary tool changes

Examples:
feat(auth): add JWT token validation
fix(api): handle empty user profile data
docs(readme): add installation instructions

.gitignore Examples

## Python
__pycache__/
*.py[cod]
*$py.class
*.so
.Python
env/
venv/
ENV/
*.egg-info/
dist/
build/

## JavaScript
node_modules/
npm-debug.log*
yarn-debug.log*
.yarn-integrity
.env.local
.env.development.local
.env.test.local
.env.production.local

## IDE
.vscode/
.idea/
*.swp
*.swo
*~

## OS
.DS_Store
.DS_Store?
._*
.Spotlight-V100
.Trashes
ehthumbs.db
Thumbs.db

## Environment
.env
.env.local
.env.development.local
.env.test.local
.env.production.local

Branch Naming Conventions

## Feature branches
feature/user-authentication
feature/weather-api-integration
feature/dashboard-redesign

## Bug fixes
bugfix/login-crash
bugfix/memory-leak
bugfix/cross-browser-compatibility

## Hotfixes
hotfix/security-vulnerability
hotfix/payment-processing-error
hotfix/database-connection

## Releases
release/v1.0.0
release/v2.1.0
release/2023-q4

Useful Aliases

## Add useful aliases
git config --global alias.st status
git config --global alias.co checkout
git config --global alias.br branch
git config --global alias.ci commit
git config --global alias.unstage 'reset HEAD --'
git config --global alias.last 'log -1 HEAD'
git config --global alias.visual '!gitk'

## Advanced aliases
git config --global alias.lg "log --color --graph --pretty=format:'%Cred%h%Creset -%C(yellow)%d%Creset %s %Cgreen(%cr) %C(bold blue)<%an>%Creset' --abbrev-commit"
git config --global alias.cm "commit -m"
git config --global alias.ca "commit --amend"
git config --global alias.dc "diff --cached"
git config --global alias.ls "log --pretty=format:'%C(yellow)%h%Cred%d\\ %Creset%s%Cblue\\ [%cn]' --decorate"

Daily Git Workflow

## Start of day
git checkout main
git pull origin main
git checkout -b feature/my-new-feature

## Work on feature
git add .
git commit -m "feat: add new functionality"
git push origin feature/my-new-feature

## Before creating PR
git rebase main  # Keep history clean
git log --oneline  # Review changes

## After PR merge
git checkout main
git pull origin main
git branch -d feature/my-new-feature

Quick Command Reference by Task

When I want to...

## Start a new project
git init && git add . && git commit -m "Initial commit"

## See what I've changed
git status
git diff
git diff --staged

## Undo my last commit
git reset --soft HEAD~1

## Undo my last commit completely
git reset --hard HEAD~1

## See my commit history
git log --oneline --graph --all

## Create a new branch
git checkout -b new-branch
git switch -c new-branch  # newer syntax

## Switch to another branch
git checkout branch-name
git switch branch-name  # newer syntax

## Merge a branch
git checkout main
git merge branch-name

## Fix a merge conflict
git status
## Edit files to resolve conflicts
git add .
git commit

## See what changed between two branches
git log --oneline branch1..branch2
git diff branch1..branch2

## Get latest changes from remote
git fetch origin
git pull origin main

## Share my changes
git push origin branch-name

## Stash my work temporarily
git stash
git stash save "message"
git stash pop

## Use a previous version of a file
git checkout HEAD~1 -- filename.txt

## See who changed a line
git blame filename.txt

## Find which commit introduced a bug
git bisect start
git bisect bad
git bisect good <commit-hash>

Emergency Procedures

Repository Recovery

## If everything goes wrong
git reflog  # Shows all your moves
git reset --hard HEAD@{number}  # Go back to previous state

## If you deleted a branch
git reflog
git checkout -b recovered-branch <commit-hash>

## If you lost commits
git fsck --full
git log --walk-reflogs

## Start over completely (careful!)
rm -rf .git
git init
git add .
git commit -m "Start over"

Fixing Mistakes

## Changed my mind about the last commit
git commit --amend

## Committed to wrong branch
git branch new-branch
git reset --hard HEAD~1
git checkout new-branch

## Need to move commits to another branch
git branch new-feature
git reset --hard HEAD~3
git checkout new-feature

## Want to undo a commit but keep the changes
git reset HEAD~1  # Moves branch pointer back

Remember: Git is very forgiving! Most mistakes can be undone with the right commands. The key is to stay calm and use the appropriate Git commands to recover your work.

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Git Cheatsheet

Quick Reference
Setup and Configuration
Basic Git Commands
Branching and Merging
Remote Repositories
Advanced Operations
Conflict Resolution
Troubleshooting
Git Hooks and Automation
Best Practices

Quick Reference

Most Common Commands

## Check status
git status

## Stage all changes
git add .

## Commit with message
git commit -m "Your message"

## View history
git log --oneline

## Switch branches
git checkout branch-name
git switch branch-name  # newer syntax

## Create and switch to new branch
git checkout -b new-branch
git switch -c new-branch  # newer syntax

## Push to remote
git push origin branch-name

## Pull from remote
git pull origin branch-name

## Clone repository
git clone https://github.com/user/repo.git

Emergency Commands

## Undo last commit (keep changes)
git reset --soft HEAD~1

## Undo last commit (discard changes)
git reset --hard HEAD~1

## Undo last commit (create new commit that undoes changes)
git revert HEAD

## Discard local changes
git checkout -- file-name

## Return to last commit (detached HEAD)
git checkout HEAD~1

Setup and Configuration

Initial Setup

## Install Git (Ubuntu/Debian)
sudo apt-get install git

## Install Git (macOS)
brew install git

## Windows: Download from git-scm.com

Configuration

## Set global identity
git config --global user.name "Your Name"
git config --global user.email "your.email@example.com"

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

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

## View configuration
git config --list
git config --list --global

## View specific config
git config user.name
git config user.email

## Unset a config
git config --unset user.name
git config --global --unset user.name

## Set up line ending handling (Windows)
git config --global core.autocrlf true

## Set up line ending handling (macOS/Linux)
git config --global core.autocrlf input

SSH Setup for GitHub

## Generate SSH key
ssh-keygen -t ed25519 -C "your.email@example.com"

## Add to SSH agent
eval "$(ssh-agent -s)"
ssh-add ~/.ssh/id_ed25519

## Copy public key to clipboard
## macOS:
pbcopy < ~/.ssh/id_ed25519.pub
## Linux:
xclip -sel clip < ~/.ssh/id_ed25519.pub

## Test connection
ssh -T git@github.com

Basic Git Commands

Repository Management

## Initialize new repository
git init

## Clone repository
git clone https://github.com/user/repo.git
git clone https://github.com/user/repo.git my-folder

## Clone specific branch
git clone -b develop https://github.com/user/repo.git

## Clone with shallow history
git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/user/repo.git

File Operations

## Add files to staging
git add filename.txt
git add *.py
git add .                 # All files
git add -A               # All files (including deletions)
git add -p              # Interactive staging

## Remove files
git rm filename.txt
git rm --cached filename.txt  # Remove from Git but keep locally

## Move/rename files
git mv old-name.txt new-name.txt

## Check status
git status
git status -s           # Short format
git status -sb          # Short format with branch info

Commit Operations

## Basic commit
git commit -m "Commit message"

## Add and commit in one step
git commit -am "Message"  # Only for modified files, not new

## Commit with detailed message
git commit

## Amend last commit
git commit --amend
git commit --amend -m "New message"

## Amend without changing message
git commit --amend --no-edit

## Skip pre-commit hooks
git commit --no-verify -m "Message"

## Add signed-off-by line
git commit -s -m "Message"

Viewing History

## Basic log
git log

## Compact format
git log --oneline

## With graph
git log --graph --oneline --all

## Show specific number of commits
git log -5
git log --since="2 weeks ago"
git log --since="2023-01-01"
git log --until="2023-12-31"

## Filter by author
git log --author="Sarah"
git log --author="Sarah\Alex"

## Search in commit messages
git log --grep="fix"
git log --grep="fix" --oneline

## Show file changes over time
git log --follow filename.txt
git log -p filename.txt     # Show diff for file
git log --stat filename.txt # Show statistics

## Show who changed each line
git blame filename.txt
git blame -L 10,20 filename.txt  # Blame lines 10-20

## Pretty formats
git log --pretty=format:"%h - %an, %ar : %s"
git log --pretty=format:"%C(yellow)%h%Creset - %C(auto)%ad%s%Creset"

Comparing Changes

## Show unstaged changes
git diff

## Show staged changes
git diff --staged
git diff --cached

## Compare branches
git diff branch1 branch2
git diff main..feature-branch

## Show file differences
git diff HEAD~1 HEAD filename.txt

## Show word differences
git diff --word-diff

## Show statistics
git diff --stat

Branching and Merging

Branch Management

## List branches
git branch              # Local branches
git branch -r          # Remote branches
git branch -a          # All branches

## Create branch
git branch feature-branch

## Create and switch to new branch
git checkout -b feature-branch
git switch -c feature-branch  # newer syntax

## Switch branches
git checkout feature-branch
git switch feature-branch     # newer syntax

## Switch to previous branch
git checkout -
git switch -                  # newer syntax

## Rename branch
git branch -m old-name new-name
git branch -m new-name        # Rename current branch

## Delete branch
git branch -d feature-branch          # Delete local branch
git branch -D feature-branch          # Force delete
git push origin --delete feature-branch # Delete remote branch

## Set up tracking
git branch --set-upstream-to=origin/main main
git branch --set-upstream-to=upstream/main main

Merging

## Merge branch into current branch
git merge feature-branch

## Merge without fast-forward (creates merge commit)
git merge --no-ff feature-branch

## Merge with strategy option
git merge -s recursive -X ours feature-branch
git merge -s recursive -X theirs feature-branch

## Merge with message
git merge feature-branch -m "Merge feature branch"

## Merge specific commit
git cherry-pick <commit-hash>

Rebasing

## Rebase current branch on top of main
git rebase main

## Interactive rebase
git rebase -i HEAD~3    # Rebase last 3 commits
git rebase -i main      # Rebase on main

## Interactive rebase options:
## p, pick    = use commit
## r, reword  = use commit, but edit message
## e, edit    = use commit, but stop for amending
## s, squash  = use commit, but meld into previous
## f, fixup   = like "squash", but discard message
## x, exec    = run command (the rest of the line) using shell

## Continue rebase after resolving conflicts
git rebase --continue

## Abort rebase
git rebase --abort

## Skip current commit
git rebase --skip

## Rebase onto different branch
git rebase --onto main feature-branch

## Rebase with autosquash
git rebase -i --autosquash main

Cherry-picking

## Apply specific commit
git cherry-pick <commit-hash>

## Apply range of commits
git cherry-pick <commit-hash1>..<commit-hash2>

## Apply without making commit
git cherry-pick --no-commit <commit-hash>

## Cherry-pick multiple commits
git cherry-pick <commit-hash1> <commit-hash2>

Remote Repositories

Remote Management

## Add remote
git remote add origin https://github.com/user/repo.git
git remote add upstream https://github.com/original/repo.git

## View remotes
git remote -v

## Rename remote
git remote rename origin upstream

## Remove remote
git remote remove upstream

## Change remote URL
git remote set-url origin git@github.com:user/repo.git

## Get remote information
git remote show origin

Pushing and Pulling

## Push to remote branch
git push origin main
git push origin feature-branch

## Set upstream tracking
git push -u origin feature-branch

## Push all branches
git push --all

## Push tags
git push --tags
git push origin v1.0.0

## Push force (be careful!)
git push --force
git push --force-with-lease  # Safer force push

## Delete remote branch
git push origin --delete feature-branch

## Push after rebasing
git push --force-with-origin main

Fetching and Pulling

## Fetch from remote
git fetch origin
git fetch upstream

## Fetch all remotes
git fetch --all

## Fetch and prune deleted branches
git fetch --prune origin

## Fetch specific branch
git fetch origin feature-branch

## Pull changes
git pull origin main
git pull --rebase origin main  # Pull with rebase

## Pull with rebase instead of merge
git config --global pull.rebase true

Cloning

## Clone repository
git clone https://github.com/user/repo.git

## Clone to specific directory
git clone https://github.com/user/repo.git my-project

## Clone specific branch
git clone -b develop https://github.com/user/repo.git

## Clone with shallow history
git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/user/repo.git

## Clone and recurse submodules
git clone --recursive https://github.com/user/repo.git

Advanced Operations

Stashing

## Stash changes
git stash
git stash save "Work in progress"

## List stashes
git stash list

## Apply stash
git stash pop          # Apply and remove from stash
git stash apply        # Apply but keep in stash
git stash apply stash@{2}  # Apply specific stash

## Show stash diff
git stash show
git stash show -p      # Show patch

## Create branch from stash
git stash branch new-feature

## Drop stash
git stash drop
git stash drop stash@{1}

## Clear all stashes
git stash clear

Tagging

## Create annotated tag (recommended)
git tag -a v1.0.0 -m "Release version 1.0.0"

## Create lightweight tag
git tag v1.0.0

## Tag specific commit
git tag -a v0.9.0 <commit-hash> -m "Beta version"

## List tags
git tag
git tag -l "v1.*"

## Show tag information
git show v1.0.0

## Push tags to remote
git push origin --tags
git push origin v1.0.0

## Delete tag locally
git tag -d v0.9.0

## Delete tag from remote
git push origin --delete v0.9.0

Submodules

## Add submodule
git submodule add https://github.com/user/repo.git

## Clone repository with submodules
git clone --recursive https://github.com/user/repo.git

## Initialize submodules after cloning
git submodule update --init --recursive

## Update submodules
git submodule update --remote

## Remove submodule
git submodule deinit path/to/submodule
git rm path/to/submodule

Reflog

## View reflog
git reflog
git reflog show HEAD

## Show reflog for specific branch
git reflog show branch-name

## Recover lost commit
git reflog
git checkout <commit-hash-from-reflog>
git checkout -b rescue-branch

## Clean up reflog
git reflog expire --expire=now --all

Conflict Resolution

Basic Conflict Resolution

## During merge/rebase, conflicts will be marked in files:
## <<<<<<< HEAD
## =======
## >>>>>>> feature-branch

## Check conflicted files
git status

## After resolving conflicts:
git add <resolved-files>
git commit  # for merge
git rebase --continue  # for rebase

## Abort merge
git merge --abort

## Abort rebase
git rebase --abort

Conflict Resolution Tools

## Use merge tool
git mergetool

## Available merge tools:
## vim, emacs, tortoisemerge, kdiff3, opendiff, etc.

## Configure merge tool
git config --global merge.tool vimdiff

## Use diff tool to compare
git difftool

Common Conflict Resolution Strategies

## Keep our changes (current branch)
git checkout --ours <file>

## Keep their changes (incoming branch)
git checkout --theirs <file>

## Keep both (manual merge required)
git checkout --conflict=merge <file>

## For rebase conflicts
git checkout --ours .    # Keep our changes
git checkout --theirs .  # Keep their changes

Troubleshooting

Detached HEAD

## You are in 'detached HEAD' state
git status  # Shows "detached HEAD"

## Solutions:
## 1. Go back to a branch
git checkout main

## 2. Create a new branch from current state
git checkout -b new-branch

## 3. Return to previous location
git checkout -

Resetting and Reverting

## Soft reset (keep changes staged)
git reset --soft HEAD~1

## Mixed reset (keep changes in working directory)
git reset HEAD~1
git reset --mixed HEAD~1

## Hard reset (discard all changes)
git reset --hard HEAD~1

## Revert commit (safe undo)
git revert <commit-hash>

## Revert multiple commits
git revert <commit-hash1>..<commit-hash2>

## Revert without committing
git revert --no-commit <commit-hash>

Cleaning Repository

## Remove untracked files
git clean -f      # Remove files
git clean -fd     # Remove files and directories

## Remove unignored files
git clean -fx

## Interactive clean
git clean -i

## Remove ignored files
git clean -fX

Large Files

## Find large files
find . -type f -exec du -h {} +  sort -rh  head -20

## Check file size in Git
git ls-tree -r --long HEAD

## Remove file from history (BFG)
java -jar bfg.jar --delete-files "*.large" repo.git

## Remove file with filter-branch
git filter-branch --force --index-filter \
  'git rm --cached --ignore-unmatch path/to/file' \
  --prune-empty --tag-name-filter cat -- --all

Permission Issues

## Fix file permissions
git config --global core.filemode false

## Check file mode changes
git diff --summary

## If you have permission errors, reset file modes
git ls-files -s  awk '{print $1, $4}'  while read mode file; do
  echo "$file"  xargs chmod $mode
done

Authentication Issues

## Clear cached credentials
git config --global --unset credential.helper
git config --global credential.helper cache

## Use personal access token instead of password
git remote set-url origin https://username:token@github.com/username/repo.git

## Switch to SSH
git remote set-url origin git@github.com:username/repo.git

Git Hooks and Automation

Pre-commit Hook

## Create pre-commit hook
cat > .git/hooks/pre-commit << 'EOF'
#!/bin/sh
## Run tests before commit
npm test
if [ $? -ne 0 ]; then
    echo "Tests failed. Commit aborted."
    exit 1
fi
EOF

chmod +x .git/hooks/pre-commit

Commit-msg Hook

## Create commit-msg hook
cat > .git/hooks/commit-msg << 'EOF'
#!/bin/sh
## Enforce commit message format
commit_regex='^(featfixdocsstylerefactortestchore)(\(.+\))?: .{1,50}'

if ! grep -qE "$commit_regex" "$1"; then
    echo "Invalid commit message format!"
    echo "Format: type(scope): description"
    echo "Types: feat, fix, docs, style, refactor, test, chore"
    exit 1
fi
EOF

chmod +x .git/hooks/commit-msg

Pre-push Hook

## Create pre-push hook
cat > .git/hooks/pre-push << 'EOF'
#!/bin/sh
## Run tests and linting before push
echo "Running tests..."
npm test
if [ $? -ne 0 ]; then
    echo "Tests failed. Push aborted."
    exit 1
fi

echo "Running linter..."
npm run lint
if [ $? -ne 0 ]; then
    echo "Linting failed. Push aborted."
    exit 1
fi
EOF

chmod +x .git/hooks/pre-push

Best Practices

Commit Messages

## Good commit messages
git commit -m "feat: add user authentication system"
git commit -m "fix: resolve null pointer exception in login"
git commit -m "docs: update API documentation"
git commit -m "refactor: simplify user validation logic"
git commit -m "test: add unit tests for user service"
git commit -m "chore: update dependencies to latest versions"

## Bad commit messages
git commit -m "fixed stuff"
git commit -m "update"
git commit -m "asdfasdf"

Commit Message Format

type(scope): subject

body (optional)

footer (optional)

Types:
- feat: New feature
- fix: Bug fix
- docs: Documentation changes
- style: Code style changes (formatting, etc.)
- refactor: Code refactoring
- test: Adding or updating tests
- chore: Build process or auxiliary tool changes

Examples:
feat(auth): add JWT token validation
fix(api): handle empty user profile data
docs(readme): add installation instructions

.gitignore Examples

## Python
__pycache__/
*.py[cod]
*$py.class
*.so
.Python
env/
venv/
ENV/
*.egg-info/
dist/
build/

## JavaScript
node_modules/
npm-debug.log*
yarn-debug.log*
.yarn-integrity
.env.local
.env.development.local
.env.test.local
.env.production.local

## IDE
.vscode/
.idea/
*.swp
*.swo
*~

## OS
.DS_Store
.DS_Store?
._*
.Spotlight-V100
.Trashes
ehthumbs.db
Thumbs.db

## Environment
.env
.env.local
.env.development.local
.env.test.local
.env.production.local

Branch Naming Conventions

## Feature branches
feature/user-authentication
feature/weather-api-integration
feature/dashboard-redesign

## Bug fixes
bugfix/login-crash
bugfix/memory-leak
bugfix/cross-browser-compatibility

## Hotfixes
hotfix/security-vulnerability
hotfix/payment-processing-error
hotfix/database-connection

## Releases
release/v1.0.0
release/v2.1.0
release/2023-q4

Useful Aliases

## Add useful aliases
git config --global alias.st status
git config --global alias.co checkout
git config --global alias.br branch
git config --global alias.ci commit
git config --global alias.unstage 'reset HEAD --'
git config --global alias.last 'log -1 HEAD'
git config --global alias.visual '!gitk'

## Advanced aliases
git config --global alias.lg "log --color --graph --pretty=format:'%Cred%h%Creset -%C(yellow)%d%Creset %s %Cgreen(%cr) %C(bold blue)<%an>%Creset' --abbrev-commit"
git config --global alias.cm "commit -m"
git config --global alias.ca "commit --amend"
git config --global alias.dc "diff --cached"
git config --global alias.ls "log --pretty=format:'%C(yellow)%h%Cred%d\\ %Creset%s%Cblue\\ [%cn]' --decorate"

Daily Git Workflow

## Start of day
git checkout main
git pull origin main
git checkout -b feature/my-new-feature

## Work on feature
git add .
git commit -m "feat: add new functionality"
git push origin feature/my-new-feature

## Before creating PR
git rebase main  # Keep history clean
git log --oneline  # Review changes

## After PR merge
git checkout main
git pull origin main
git branch -d feature/my-new-feature

Quick Command Reference by Task

When I want to...

## Start a new project
git init && git add . && git commit -m "Initial commit"

## See what I've changed
git status
git diff
git diff --staged

## Undo my last commit
git reset --soft HEAD~1

## Undo my last commit completely
git reset --hard HEAD~1

## See my commit history
git log --oneline --graph --all

## Create a new branch
git checkout -b new-branch
git switch -c new-branch  # newer syntax

## Switch to another branch
git checkout branch-name
git switch branch-name  # newer syntax

## Merge a branch
git checkout main
git merge branch-name

## Fix a merge conflict
git status
## Edit files to resolve conflicts
git add .
git commit

## See what changed between two branches
git log --oneline branch1..branch2
git diff branch1..branch2

## Get latest changes from remote
git fetch origin
git pull origin main

## Share my changes
git push origin branch-name

## Stash my work temporarily
git stash
git stash save "message"
git stash pop

## Use a previous version of a file
git checkout HEAD~1 -- filename.txt

## See who changed a line
git blame filename.txt

## Find which commit introduced a bug
git bisect start
git bisect bad
git bisect good <commit-hash>

Emergency Procedures

Repository Recovery

## If everything goes wrong
git reflog  # Shows all your moves
git reset --hard HEAD@{number}  # Go back to previous state

## If you deleted a branch
git reflog
git checkout -b recovered-branch <commit-hash>

## If you lost commits
git fsck --full
git log --walk-reflogs

## Start over completely (careful!)
rm -rf .git
git init
git add .
git commit -m "Start over"

Fixing Mistakes

## Changed my mind about the last commit
git commit --amend

## Committed to wrong branch
git branch new-branch
git reset --hard HEAD~1
git checkout new-branch

## Need to move commits to another branch
git branch new-feature
git reset --hard HEAD~3
git checkout new-feature

## Want to undo a commit but keep the changes
git reset HEAD~1  # Moves branch pointer back

Remember: Git is very forgiving! Most mistakes can be undone with the right commands. The key is to stay calm and use the appropriate Git commands to recover your work.

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Python Foundations

Git Cheatsheet

Table of Contents

Quick Reference

Most Common Commands

Emergency Commands

Setup and Configuration

Initial Setup

Configuration

SSH Setup for GitHub

Basic Git Commands

Repository Management

File Operations

Commit Operations

Viewing History

Comparing Changes

Branching and Merging

Branch Management

Merging

Rebasing

Cherry-picking

Remote Repositories

Remote Management

Pushing and Pulling

Fetching and Pulling

Cloning

Advanced Operations

Stashing

Tagging

Submodules

Reflog

Conflict Resolution

Basic Conflict Resolution

Conflict Resolution Tools

Common Conflict Resolution Strategies

Troubleshooting

Detached HEAD

Resetting and Reverting

Cleaning Repository

Large Files

Permission Issues

Authentication Issues

Git Hooks and Automation

Pre-commit Hook

Commit-msg Hook

Pre-push Hook

Best Practices

Commit Messages

Commit Message Format

.gitignore Examples

Branch Naming Conventions

Useful Aliases

Daily Git Workflow

Quick Command Reference by Task

When I want to...

Emergency Procedures

Repository Recovery

Fixing Mistakes

Finished this lesson?

Python Foundations

Git Cheatsheet

Git Cheatsheet

Table of Contents

Quick Reference

Most Common Commands

Emergency Commands

Setup and Configuration

Initial Setup

Configuration

SSH Setup for GitHub

Basic Git Commands

Repository Management

File Operations

Commit Operations

Viewing History

Comparing Changes

Branching and Merging

Branch Management

Merging