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GitHub - git-tips/tips: Most commonly used git tips and tricks.

Collection of git-tips, want to add your tips? Checkout contributing.md

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Tools:

📖 Read the interactive GitBook documentation here!

P.S: All these commands are tested on git version 2.7.4 (Apple Git-66).

Table of Contents

Basic Operations

List of all files till a commit

git ls-tree --name-only -r <commit-ish>

Quickly switch to the previous branch

Alternatives:

Delete remote branch

git push origin --delete <remote_branchname>

Alternatives:

git push origin :<remote_branchname>
git branch -dr <remote/branch>

Delete remote tag

git push origin :refs/tags/<tag-name>

Undo local changes with the content in index(staging)

git checkout -- <file_name>

Reword the previous commit message

See commit history for just the current branch

Amend author.

git commit --amend --author='Author Name <email@address.com>'

Stage parts of a changed file, instead of the entire file

Pick commits across branches using cherry-pick

git checkout <branch-name> && git cherry-pick <commit-ish>

Grab a single file from a stash

git checkout <stash@{n}> -- <file_path>

Alternatives:

git checkout stash@{0} -- <file_path>

Create new working tree from a repository (git 2.5)

git worktree add -b <branch-name> <path> <start-point>

Create new working tree from HEAD state

git worktree add --detach <path> HEAD

Show all commits in the current branch yet to be merged to master

Alternatives:

git cherry -v master <branch-to-be-merged>

Modify previous commit without modifying the commit message

git add --all && git commit --amend --no-edit

Prunes references to remove branches that have been deleted in the remote.

Alternatives:

Retrieve the commit hash of the initial revision.

 git rev-list --reverse HEAD | head -1

Alternatives:

git rev-list --max-parents=0 HEAD
git log --pretty=oneline | tail -1 | cut -c 1-40
git log --pretty=oneline --reverse | head -1 | cut -c 1-40

Import from a bundle

git clone repo.bundle <repo-dir> -b <branch-name>

Ignore one file on commit (e.g. Changelog).

git update-index --assume-unchanged Changelog; git commit -a; git update-index --no-assume-unchanged Changelog

Fetch pull request by ID to a local branch

git fetch origin pull/<id>/head:<branch-name>

Alternatives:

git pull origin pull/<id>/head:<branch-name>

Restore deleted file.

git checkout <deleting_commit> -- <file_path>

Restore file to a specific commit-hash

git checkout <commit-ish> -- <file_path>

Marks your commit as a fix of a previous commit.

git commit --fixup <SHA-1>

Skip staging area during commit.

git commit --only <file_path>

Interactive staging.

Status of ignored files.

Checkout a new branch without any history

git checkout --orphan <branch_name>

Find guilty with binary search

git bisect start                    # Search start 
git bisect bad                      # Set point to bad commit 
git bisect good v2.6.13-rc2         # Set point to good commit|tag 
git bisect bad                      # Say current state is bad 
git bisect good                     # Say current state is good 
git bisect reset                    # Finish search

Bypass pre-commit and commit-msg githooks

Clone a single branch

git clone -b <branch-name> --single-branch https://github.com/user/repo.git

Create and switch new branch

git checkout -b <branch-name>

Alternatives:

git branch <branch-name> && git checkout <branch-name>
git switch -c <branch-name>

Show all local branches ordered by recent commits

git for-each-ref --sort=-committerdate --format='%(refname:short)' refs/heads/

Clone a shallow copy of a repository

git clone https://github.com/user/repo.git --depth 1

Force push to Remote Repository

git push -f <remote-name> <branch-name>

Group commits by authors and title

Forced push but still ensure you don't overwrite other's work

git push --force-with-lease <remote-name> <branch-name>

Number of commits in a branch

git rev-list --count <branch-name>

Add object notes

git notes add -m 'Note on the previous commit....'

Apply commit from another repository

git --git-dir=<source-dir>/.git format-patch -k -1 --stdout <SHA1> | git am -3 -k

Specific fetch reference

git fetch origin master:refs/remotes/origin/mymaster

Generates a summary of pending changes

git request-pull v1.0 https://git.ko.xz/project master:for-linus

Show git status short

git status --short --branch

Checkout a commit prior to a day ago

git checkout master@{yesterday}

Push the current branch to the same name on the remote repository

Push a new local branch to remote repository and track

git push -u origin <branch_name>

Update a submodule to the latest commit

cd <path-to-submodule>
git pull origin <branch>
cd <root-of-your-main-project>
git add <path-to-submodule>
git commit -m "submodule updated"

Duplicating a repository

git clone --bare https://github.com/exampleuser/old-repository.git

git push --mirror https://github.com/exampleuser/new-repository.git

Branching

List all branches that are already merged into master

git branch --merged master

Remove branches that have already been merged with master

git branch --merged master | grep -v '^\*' | xargs -n 1 git branch -d

Alternatives:

git branch --merged master | grep -v '^\*\|  master' | xargs -n 1 git branch -d # will not delete master if master is not checked out

List all branches and their upstreams, as well as last commit on branch

Track upstream branch

git branch -u origin/mybranch

Delete local branch

git branch -d <local_branchname>

Get list of all local and remote branches

Get only remote branches

Find out branches containing commit-hash

git branch -a --contains <commit-ish>

Alternatives:

git branch --contains <commit-ish>

Rename a branch

git branch -m <new-branch-name>

Alternatives:

git branch -m [<old-branch-name>] <new-branch-name>

Archive the master branch

git archive master --format=zip --output=master.zip

Delete local branches that has been squash and merged in the remote.

git branch -vv | grep ': gone]' | awk '{print $1}' | xargs git branch -D

Export a branch with history to a file.

git bundle create <file> <branch-name>

Get the name of current branch.

git rev-parse --abbrev-ref HEAD

Show the most recent tag on the current branch.

git describe --tags --abbrev=0

List all branch is WIP

git checkout master && git branch --no-merged

Preformatted patch file.

git format-patch -M upstream..topic

Switch to a branch (modern alternative to checkout)

Alternatives:

git switch -c <new-branch-name>

Log and History

Show helpful guides that come with Git

Search change by content

git log -S'<a term in the source>'

Show changes over time for specific file

List all the conflicted files

git diff --name-only --diff-filter=U

List of all files changed in a commit

git diff-tree --no-commit-id --name-only -r <commit-ish>

Unstaged changes since last commit

Changes staged for commit

Alternatives:

Show both staged and unstaged changes

What changed since two weeks?

git log --no-merges --raw --since='2 weeks ago'

Alternatives:

git whatchanged --since='2 weeks ago'

See all commits made since forking from master

git log --no-merges --stat --reverse master..

Show all tracked files

Show all untracked files

Show all ignored files

git ls-files --others -i --exclude-standard

Visualize the version tree.

git log --pretty=oneline --graph --decorate --all

Alternatives:

git log --graph --pretty=format:'%C(auto) %h | %s | %an | %ar%d'

Visualize the tree including commits that are only referenced from reflogs

git log --graph --decorate --oneline $(git rev-list --walk-reflogs --all)

Show inline word diff.

Show changes using common diff tools.

git difftool [-t <tool>] <commit1> <commit2> <path>

Commits in Branch1 that are not in Branch2

List n last commits

Alternatives:

Open all conflicted files in an editor.

git diff --name-only | uniq | xargs $EDITOR

View the GPG signatures in the commit log

Extract file from another branch.

git show <branch_name>:<file_name>

List only the root and merge commits.

List commits and changes to a specific file (even through renaming)

git log --follow -p -- <file_path>

Search Commit log across all branches for given text

git log --all --grep='<given-text>'

Get first commit in a branch (from master)

git log --oneline master..<branch-name> | tail -1

Alternatives:

git log --reverse master..<branch-name> | head -6

Show the author, time and last revision made to each line of a given file

Show how many lines does an author contribute

git log --author='_Your_Name_Here_' --pretty=tformat: --numstat | gawk '{ add += $1; subs += $2; loc += $1 - $2 } END { printf "added lines: %s removed lines: %s total lines: %s
", add, subs, loc }' -

Alternatives:

git log --author='_Your_Name_Here_' --pretty=tformat: --numstat | awk '{ add += $1; subs += $2; loc += $1 - $2 } END { printf "added lines: %s, removed lines: %s, total lines: %s
", add, subs, loc }' - # on Mac OSX

Show all the git-notes

List unpushed git commits

git log --branches --not --remotes

Alternatives:

Add everything, but whitespace changes

git diff --ignore-all-space | git apply --cached

blame on certain range

git blame -L <start>,<end>

Show a Git logical variable.

Get the repo name.

git rev-parse --show-toplevel

logs between date range

git log --since='FEB 1 2017' --until='FEB 14 2017'

Exclude author from logs

git log --perl-regexp --author='^((?!excluded-author-regex).*)$'

View expanded details of changes in last commit

Visualize each position of HEAD in the last 30 days

Merging and Rebasing

Rebases 'feature' to 'master' and merges it in to master

git rebase master feature && git checkout master && git merge -

Stash changes before rebasing

Squash fixup commits normal commits.

git rebase -i --autosquash

Change previous two commits with an interactive rebase.

git rebase --interactive HEAD~2

Find common ancestor of two branches

git merge-base <branch-name> <other-branch-name>

Change a branch base

git rebase --onto <new_base> <old_base>

Miscellaneous

Everyday Git in twenty commands or so

Untrack files without deleting

git rm --cached <file_path>

Alternatives:

git rm --cached -r <directory_path>

Don’t consider changes for tracked file.

git update-index --assume-unchanged <file_name>

Check if the change was a part of a release.

git name-rev --name-only <SHA-1>

List ignored files.

Count unpacked number of objects and their disk consumption.

git count-objects --human-readable

Prune all unreachable objects from the object database.

git gc --prune=now --aggressive

Instantly browse your working repository in gitweb.

git instaweb [--local] [--httpd=<httpd>] [--port=<port>] [--browser=<browser>]

Find lines matching the pattern (regex or string) in tracked files

git grep --heading --line-number 'foo bar'

Backup untracked files.

git ls-files --others -i --exclude-standard | xargs zip untracked.zip

Send a collection of patches as emails

git send-email [<options>] <file|directory>…

git send-email [<options>] <format-patch options>

Remotes

Changing a remote's URL

git remote set-url origin <URL>

Get list of all remote references

Alternatives:

Adding Remote name

git remote add <remote-nickname> <remote-url>

List all currently configured remotes

List references in a remote repository

git ls-remote git://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/git/git.git

Refresh the list of remote branches

git remote update origin --prune

Setup and Config

Remove sensitive data from history, after a push

git filter-branch --force --index-filter 'git rm --cached --ignore-unmatch <path-to-your-file>' --prune-empty --tag-name-filter cat -- --all && git push origin --force --all

Reset author, after author has been changed in the global config.

git commit --amend --reset-author --no-edit

Get git bash completion

curl -L http://git.io/vfhol > ~/.git-completion.bash && echo '[ -f ~/.git-completion.bash ] && . ~/.git-completion.bash' >> ~/.bashrc

Git Aliases

git config --global alias.<handle> <command> 
git config --global alias.st status

Always rebase instead of merge on pull.

git config --global pull.rebase true

Alternatives:

#git < 1.7.9
git config --global branch.autosetuprebase always

List all the alias and configs.

Make git case sensitive.

git config --global core.ignorecase false

Add custom editors.

git config --global core.editor '$EDITOR'

Auto correct typos.

git config --global help.autocorrect 1

Reuse recorded resolution, record and reuse previous conflicts resolutions.

git config --global rerere.enabled 1

Remove entry in the global config.

git config --global --unset <entry-name>

Ignore file mode changes on commits

git config core.fileMode false

Turn off git colored terminal output

git config --global color.ui false

Specific color settings

git config --global <specific command e.g branch, diff> <true, false or always>

Alias: git undo

git config --global alias.undo '!f() { git reset --hard $(git rev-parse --abbrev-ref HEAD)@{${1-1}}; }; f'

Edit [local/global] git config

git config [--global] --edit

List all git aliases

git config -l | grep alias | sed 's/^alias\.//g'

Alternatives:

git config -l | grep alias | cut -d '.' -f 2

Use SSH instead of HTTPs for remotes

git config --global url.'git@github.com:'.insteadOf 'https://github.com/'

Prevent auto replacing LF with CRLF

git config --global core.autocrlf false

Edit config for each level

git config --edit --system

git config --edit --global

git config --edit --local

Stashing

Saving current state of tracked files without committing

Alternatives:

Saving current state of unstaged changes to tracked files

Alternatives:

git stash push --keep-index

Saving current state including untracked files

Alternatives:

git stash push --include-untracked

Saving current state with message

git stash push -m <message>

Alternatives:

git stash push --message <message>

Saving current state of all files (ignored, untracked, and tracked)

Alternatives:

Show list of all saved stashes

Show the contents of any stash in patch form

git stash show -p <stash@{n}>

Apply any stash without deleting from the stashed list

git stash apply <stash@{n}>

Apply last stashed state and delete it from stashed list

Alternatives:

git stash apply stash@{0} && git stash drop stash@{0}

Delete all stored stashes

Alternatives:

git stash drop <stash@{n}>

Submodules and Subtrees

Update all the submodules

git submodule foreach git pull

Alternatives:

git submodule update --init --recursive
git submodule update --remote

Deploying git tracked subfolder to gh-pages

git subtree push --prefix subfolder_name origin gh-pages

Alternatives:

git subtree push --prefix subfolder_name origin branch_name

Adding a project to repo using subtree

git subtree add --prefix=<directory_name>/<project_name> --squash git@github.com:<username>/<project_name>.git master

Get latest changes in your repo for a linked project using subtree

git subtree pull --prefix=<directory_name>/<project_name> --squash git@github.com:<username>/<project_name>.git master

Tagging

Create local tag

Delete local tag

Undoing Changes

Sync with remote, overwrite local changes

git fetch origin && git reset --hard origin/master && git clean -f -d

Git reset first commit

Reset: preserve uncommitted local changes

git reset --keep <commit>

Revert: Undo a commit by creating a new commit

Reset: Discard commits, advised for private branch

Before deleting untracked files/directory, do a dry run to get the list of these files/directories

Forcefully remove untracked files

Forcefully remove untracked directory

Undo assume-unchanged.

git update-index --no-assume-unchanged <file_name>

Clean the files from .gitignore.

Dry run. (any command that supports dry-run flag should do.)

Unstaging Staged file

git reset HEAD <file-name>

Revert: Reverting an entire merge

git revert -m 1 <commit-ish>

Restore file (modern alternative to reset/checkout --)

Alternatives:

git restore --staged <file-name>