Git Cheatsheet

Quick reference for everyday Git commands and workflows.

Setup

# Identity
git config --global user.name "Your Name"
git config --global user.email "[email protected]"

# Default editor and branch
git config --global core.editor vim
git config --global init.defaultBranch main

# Aliases
git config --global alias.st status
git config --global alias.co checkout
git config --global alias.lg "log --oneline --graph --decorate"

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

Basics

# Initialize / Clone
git init
git clone <url>
git clone <url> my-folder
git clone --depth 1 <url>   # Shallow clone

# Status & Diff
git status
git diff                     # Unstaged changes
git diff --staged            # Staged changes
git diff main..feature       # Between branches

# Stage & Commit
git add <file>
git add .
git add -p                   # Interactive patch
git commit -m "message"
git commit --amend           # Edit last commit (local only!)

Branches

# Create / Switch
git branch feature/login
git checkout feature/login
git checkout -b feature/login   # Create and switch
git switch -c feature/login     # Modern syntax

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

# Rename / Delete
git branch -m old-name new-name
git branch -d feature/login     # Safe delete
git branch -D feature/login     # Force delete

# Track remote branch
git checkout --track origin/feature

Remote

# Remote management
git remote -v
git remote add origin <url>
git remote rename origin upstream
git remote remove origin
git remote set-url origin <new-url>

# Fetch / Pull / Push
git fetch origin
git fetch --all
git pull                     # fetch + merge
git pull --rebase            # fetch + rebase
git push origin main
git push -u origin feature   # Set upstream
git push --force-with-lease  # Safer than --force

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

Merge & Rebase

# Merge
git merge feature/login
git merge --no-ff feature/login  # Always create merge commit
git merge --squash feature       # Squash into one commit
git merge --abort                # Cancel in-progress merge

# Rebase
git rebase main                  # Rebase current onto main
git rebase -i HEAD~3             # Interactive rebase (last 3)
git rebase --abort
git rebase --continue            # After resolving conflicts

# Cherry-pick
git cherry-pick <commit-hash>
git cherry-pick abc123..def456   # Range

History & Log

# Log
git log
git log --oneline --graph --all
git log -n 10                    # Last 10 commits
git log --author="Name"
git log --since="2024-01-01"
git log --grep="fix:"            # Search commit messages
git log -S "functionName"        # Search code changes
git log -- path/to/file          # History of file

# Show
git show <commit>
git show <commit>:path/to/file   # File at commit

# Blame
git blame path/to/file
git blame -L 10,20 file          # Lines 10-20

Undo

# Unstage
git restore --staged <file>
git reset HEAD <file>           # Same effect

# Discard changes (working dir)
git restore <file>
git checkout -- <file>          # Old syntax

# Revert a commit (safe — creates new commit)
git revert <commit>
git revert HEAD

# Reset (moves HEAD — rewrites history!)
git reset --soft HEAD~1    # Keep changes staged
git reset --mixed HEAD~1   # Keep changes unstaged
git reset --hard HEAD~1    # Discard changes completely

# Recover deleted file
git checkout HEAD -- deleted-file.txt

Stash

# Stash changes
git stash
git stash push -m "WIP: login form"
git stash push -u              # Include untracked files

# List stashes
git stash list

# Apply stash
git stash pop                  # Apply + remove
git stash apply stash@{0}      # Apply, keep stash
git stash drop stash@{0}       # Remove stash

# Stash specific files
git stash push -m "partial" src/auth.py

# Create branch from stash
git stash branch feature/new stash@{0}

Search

# Search in files (current state)
git grep "searchterm"
git grep -n "pattern"          # With line numbers
git grep -l "pattern"          # Files only
git grep "pattern" -- "*.py"   # Specific files

# Find commit that introduced a bug (bisect)
git bisect start
git bisect bad                 # Current commit is bad
git bisect good v1.0.0         # v1.0.0 was good
# Test, then mark:
git bisect good    # or: git bisect bad
git bisect reset   # Done

# Find lost commits
git reflog
git fsck --lost-found

Git Workflows

Feature Branch Workflow

# 1. Always start from updated main
git checkout main
git pull origin main

# 2. Create feature branch
git checkout -b feature/user-authentication

# 3. Work and commit often
git add -p
git commit -m "feat: add JWT token validation"
git commit -m "feat: add refresh token endpoint"

# 4. Keep branch up to date with main
git fetch origin
git rebase origin/main

# 5. Push and create PR
git push -u origin feature/user-authentication

# 6. After PR merged — clean up
git checkout main
git pull origin main
git branch -d feature/user-authentication
git push origin --delete feature/user-authentication

Conventional Commits

# Format: <type>[optional scope]: <description>

feat: add user login endpoint
fix: resolve token expiration bug
docs: update API documentation
style: format code with black
refactor: extract auth middleware
test: add unit tests for login service
chore: update dependencies
ci: add GitHub Actions workflow
perf: optimize database query with index
revert: revert "feat: add experimental feature"

# With scope
feat(auth): add OAuth2 Google login
fix(api): handle empty request body
test(auth): add integration tests for JWT

# Breaking change
feat!: change API response format
feat(api)!: remove deprecated /v1 endpoints

Resolving Merge Conflicts

# When a conflict occurs during merge/rebase:

# 1. See conflicted files
git status

# 2. Edit files — look for conflict markers:
# <<<<<<< HEAD
# Your changes
# =======
# Incoming changes
# >>>>>>> feature/branch

# 3. After resolving — mark as resolved
git add <resolved-file>

# 4. Continue
git merge --continue    # or:
git rebase --continue

# Use a merge tool
git mergetool            # Opens configured tool
git mergetool --tool=vimdiff

.gitignore Patterns

# .gitignore

# OS files
.DS_Store
Thumbs.db

# IDE
.idea/
.vscode/
*.swp

# Secrets — never commit!
.env
.env.local
*.pem
*.key
secrets.yml

# Build artifacts
dist/
build/
*.egg-info/
__pycache__/
*.pyc
*.class

# Dependencies
node_modules/
vendor/
.venv/

# Logs
*.log
logs/

# Test coverage
.coverage
htmlcov/
.pytest_cache/

# Terraform
*.tfstate
*.tfstate.backup
.terraform/

Useful Git Aliases

[alias]
    # Short status
    st = status -sb

    # Pretty log
    lg = log --oneline --graph --decorate --all
    ll = log --pretty=format:"%C(yellow)%h%Creset %C(bold blue)%an%Creset %C(green)%ar%Creset %s"

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

    # Show aliases
    aliases = config --get-regexp alias

    # Stash shortcuts
    save = stash push
    pop = stash pop

    # List contributors
    contributors = shortlog --summary --numbered --no-merges

    # Show files changed in last commit
    changed = diff HEAD~1 HEAD --name-only

    # Find branches containing commit
    find-branch = branch -a --contains

💡 Tip: Add git config --global pull.rebase true to always rebase instead of merge when pulling. Keeps history linear and clean.

⚠️ Golden Rules:

Never --force push to main or shared branches — use --force-with-lease at minimum
Never commit .env files or secrets — rotate them if you do
Always git pull --rebase before pushing to avoid unnecessary merge commits

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