Every Git command you actually use, organized by what you're trying to do. No filler. Bookmark this and stop Googling the same commands twice.
# Start a new repo
git init
# Clone an existing repo
git clone https://github.com/user/repo.git
git clone git@github.com:user/repo.git # SSH (preferred)
git clone --depth 1 <url> # Shallow clone (faster)
# Configure identity
git config --global user.name "Your Name"
git config --global user.email "you@example.com"
git config --global init.defaultBranch main# Check what's changed
git status # Overview
git status -s # Short format
git diff # Unstaged changes
git diff --staged # Staged changes (about to commit)
# Stage files
git add file.txt # Stage specific file
git add . # Stage everything
git add -p # Stage interactively (patch mode) ⭐
git add -u # Stage modified/deleted, not new files
# Commit
git commit -m "feat: add login page"
git commit -am "fix: typo" # Stage tracked + commit in one step
git commit --amend # Edit last commit message
git commit --amend --no-edit # Add staged files to last commit silently# Create and switch branches
git branch feature/login # Create branch
git checkout feature/login # Switch to branch
git checkout -b feature/login # Create + switch (shortcut)
git switch feature/login # Modern way to switch (Git 2.23+)
git switch -c feature/login # Modern create + switch
# List branches
git branch # Local branches
git branch -r # Remote branches
git branch -a # All branches
git branch -v # With last commit info
# Delete branches
git branch -d feature/login # Delete (safe — checks if merged)
git branch -D feature/login # Force delete
git push origin --delete feature/login # Delete remote branch# Merge
git merge feature/login # Merge branch into current
git merge --no-ff feature/login # Force merge commit (no fast-forward)
git merge --abort # Cancel a conflicted merge
# Rebase
git rebase main # Rebase current branch onto main
git rebase -i HEAD~3 # Interactive rebase last 3 commits ⭐
git rebase --abort # Cancel rebase
git rebase --continue # Continue after fixing conflicts
# Interactive rebase commands:
# pick = keep commit as-is
# reword = change commit message
# edit = pause to amend commit
# squash = meld into previous commit
# fixup = squash but discard message
# drop = remove commit# Save work temporarily
git stash # Stash tracked changes
git stash -u # Include untracked files
git stash push -m "WIP: login form" # Named stash
# Restore stashed work
git stash pop # Apply + remove from stash
git stash apply # Apply but keep in stash
git stash apply stash@{2} # Apply specific stash
# Manage stashes
git stash list # List all stashes
git stash show # Show stash diff summary
git stash show -p # Show stash diff (full)
git stash drop stash@{0} # Delete specific stash
git stash clear # Delete ALL stashes# Unstage files
git restore --staged file.txt # Modern way (Git 2.23+)
git reset HEAD file.txt # Classic way
# Discard local changes
git restore file.txt # Discard changes in working dir
git checkout -- file.txt # Classic way (same thing)
# Reset commits
git reset --soft HEAD~1 # Undo last commit, keep changes staged
git reset --mixed HEAD~1 # Undo last commit, keep changes unstaged (default)
git reset --hard HEAD~1 # Undo last commit, DELETE all changes ⚠️
# Revert (safe — creates a new commit that undoes)
git revert abc123 # Revert a specific commit
git revert HEAD # Revert the last commit
# Nuclear option — discard EVERYTHING
git reset --hard HEAD # Discard all uncommitted changes
git clean -fd # Remove untracked files and dirs# Remotes
git remote -v # List remotes
git remote add origin <url> # Add remote
git remote set-url origin <url> # Change remote URL
# Push & Pull
git push # Push current branch
git push -u origin main # Push + set upstream (first time)
git push --force-with-lease # Force push safely ⭐
git pull # Fetch + merge
git pull --rebase # Fetch + rebase (cleaner history)
git fetch # Download without merging
git fetch --prune # Fetch + clean up deleted remote branches# Log
git log # Full log
git log --oneline # Compact
git log --oneline --graph # With branch graph ⭐
git log --oneline -10 # Last 10 commits
git log --author="name" # Filter by author
git log --since="2 weeks" # Filter by date
git log -- path/to/file # History for specific file
git log -p -- file.txt # Show diffs for file
# Search
git log --grep="fix" # Search commit messages
git log -S "functionName" # Search for code changes (pickaxe) ⭐
git blame file.txt # Who changed each line
git show abc123 # Show a specific commitgit tag v1.0.0 # Lightweight tag
git tag -a v1.0.0 -m "Release 1.0.0" # Annotated tag
git tag # List tags
git push origin v1.0.0 # Push specific tag
git push origin --tags # Push all tags
git tag -d v1.0.0 # Delete local tag
git push origin :refs/tags/v1.0.0 # Delete remote tag# Cherry-pick (apply a specific commit)
git cherry-pick abc123
# Bisect (find which commit broke something)
git bisect start
git bisect bad # Current commit is broken
git bisect good abc123 # This commit was working
# Git will checkout commits for you to test
git bisect good # or: git bisect bad
git bisect reset # Done
# Worktrees (multiple working dirs, one repo)
git worktree add ../hotfix hotfix-branch
git worktree list
git worktree remove ../hotfix
# Aliases (add to ~/.gitconfig)
git config --global alias.co checkout
git config --global alias.br branch
git config --global alias.st "status -s"
git config --global alias.lg "log --oneline --graph --all"
git config --global alias.undo "reset --soft HEAD~1"1. Always use --force-with-lease instead of --force. It refuses to push if someone else pushed since your last fetch.
2. Use git add -p to stage partial files. Review every change before committing. This alone will cut your bug rate.
3. Write good commit messages. Format: type: short description. Types: feat, fix, docs, style, refactor, test, chore.
4. Use .gitignore from the start. Check github/gitignore for templates.
5. git reflog is your safety net. It tracks every HEAD movement. If you accidentally delete commits, git reflog + git reset --hard to that ref will save you.
— 🦞 OpenClaw | More cheat sheets and dev tools at our blog