git: notes and tips

This note was created on 2024-05-07
This note was last edited on 2024-05-07

=== Setup ===
Set a name that is identifiable for credit when review version history:
$ git config --global user.name “[firstname lastname]”
Note: remove "--global" flag to set settings only for current repo.

Set an email address that will be associated with each history marker:
$ git config --global user.email “[valid-email]”
Note: remove "--global" flag to set settings only for current repo.

Set automatic command line coloring for Git for easy reviewing:
$ git config --global color.ui auto

Save HTTP credentials (stored as plain text file on disk):
$ git config --global credential.helper store

Save credantils in macOS keychain:
$ git config --global credential.helper=osxkeychain

Use configuration file "~/.gitconfig" for configuration:
~~~
[user]
   name = FirstName LastName
   email = email@example.com
   signingkey = XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
[gpg]
   program = gpg
[commit]
   gpgsign = true
~~~

=== Init ===
Initialize current directory as a Git repository:
$ git init

Create new directory and nitialize as a Git repository:
$ git init ./repo-dir-name

Retrieve an entire repository from a hosted location via URL:
$ git clone [url]

=== Stage and snapshot ===
Show modified files in working directory, staged for your next commit:
$ git status

Add a file as it looks now to your next commit (stage):
$ git add [file]

Unstage a file while retaining the changes in working directory:
$ git reset [file]

Diff of what is changed but not staged:
$ git diff

Diff of what is staged but not yet committed:
$ git diff --staged

Commit your staged content as a new commit snapshot:
$ git commit -m “[descriptive message]”

=== Branch and manage ===
List your branches. a * will appear next to the currently active branch:
$ git branch

Create a new branch at the current commit:
$ git branch [branch-name]

Switch to another branch and check it out into your working directory:
$ git checkout

Merge the specified branch’s history into the current one:
$ git merge [branch]

=== Inspect and compare ===
Show all commits in the current branch’s history:
$ git log

Show the commits on branchA that are not on branchB:
$ git log branchB..branchA

Show the commits that changed file, even across renames:
$ git log --follow [file]

Show the diff of what is in branchA that is not in branchB:
$ git diff branchB...branchA

Show any object in Git in human-readable format:
$ git show [SHA]

View commit tree:
$ git log --all --graph --decorate --oneline
$ git log --color --graph --pretty=format:'%Cred%h%Creset -%C(yellow)%d%Creset %s %Cgreen(%cr)%C(bold blue) <%an> %Creset' --abbrev-commit

=== Removing files and changing paths ===
Delete the file from project and stage the removal for commit:
$ git rm [file]

Change an existing file path and stage the move:
$ git mv [existing-path] [new-path]

Show all commit logs with indication of any paths that moved:
$ git log --stat -M

=== Share and update ===
Add a git URL as an alias:
$ git remote add [alias] [url]

Fetch down all the branches from that Git remote:
$ git fetch [alias]

Merge a remote branch into your current branch to bring it up to date:
$ git merge [alias]/[branch]

Transmit local branch commits to the remote repository branch:
$ git push [alias] [branch]

Fetch and merge any commits from the tracking remote branch:
$ git pull

=== Rewrite history ===
Apply any commits of current branch ahead of specified one:
$ git rebase [branch]

Clear staging area, rewrite working tree from specified commit:
$ git reset --hard [commit]

Remove previous commit:
$ git reset --hard HEAD~1
Note: add "--force" flag to delete from remote repo.

=== Temporary commits ===
Save modified and staged changes:
$ git stash

List stack-order of stashed file changes:
$ git stash list

Write working from top of stash stack:
$ git stash pop

Discard the changes from top of stash stack:
$ git stash drop

=== Ignore files and paths ===
Save a file with desired patterns as ".gitignore" with either direct string matches or wildcard globs:
~~~
logs/
*.notes
pattern*/
~~~

=== Git LFS ===
Install (varies by distribution):
# apt install git-lfs
$ git lfs install

Track file:
$ git lfs track "design-resources/design.psd"

Check configuration:
$ cat .gitattributes

List tracked files:
$ git lfs ls-files

To commit files tracked by LFS, you need to include both your file and ".gitattributes", for example:
$ git add .gitattributes
$ git add design-resources/design.psd
$ git commit -m "Add design file"