Git Commands Cheatsheet

I recently switched IDEs and decided to rely more on the terminal. Here is a documentation of my most frequently used git commands.

1. Setup & Configuration

• Initialize Repository

git init

• Configure User (Per Repository) Useful when I need a different identity for a specific project.

git config user.name "My Name"
git config user.email "me@example.com"

• Configure Remote URL Note: Use add if it’s a new remote, or set-url to change an existing one.

git remote set-url origin https://github.com/username/repo.git

2. The Daily Loop

• Check Status

git status

• Stage Changes

git add <file_path>
# Or stage everything
git add .

• Commit

git commit -m "feat: my commit message"

• View History

git log
# Pro tip: One-line view for cleaner history
git log --oneline

3. Syncing

• Pull with Rebase Keeps my history clean by moving my local commits on top of the incoming changes.

git pull origin main --rebase

• Push

git push origin main

4. Undo & Corrections

• Undo Last Commit (Soft Reset) Undoes the last commit but keeps the changes staged (ready to be committed again).

git reset --soft HEAD~1

• Restore Staged Files Un-stages files (removes them from the index) but keeps my changes.

git restore --staged .

• Amend Last Commit Adds staged changes to the previous commit without changing the message.

git commit --amend --no-edit

• Edit Last Commit Message Only for local commits that haven’t been pushed yet.

git commit --amend -m "new message"

• Edit Older Commit Messages Opens an interactive editor. Change pick to reword next to the commit I want to fix.

# HEAD~2 means "the last 2 commits"
git rebase -i HEAD~2

Just like amend, never do this if you have already pushed these commits to a shared branch, as it rewrites history.

5. Patching (The Manual Move)

Sometimes I just need to move a commit physically (via email or file) without pushing.

• Create Patch for a Single Commit

  1. Find the Commit Hash:

     git log --oneline
     

  2. Create the .patch File: Once I have the commit hash (say it’s abc1234), use the following command to create a patch:

     git format-patch -1 abc1234
     

• Create Patch for Multiple Commits
  • Example: Get the last 3 commits

    git format-patch -3
    

  • Example: Range from specific commit to HEAD

    git format-patch abc1234..HEAD
    

• Apply Patch

git apply git apply /path/to/file.patch

6. Branching

• Create New Branch from Base Creates and switches to a new branch based on a specific existing branch (instead of the current HEAD).

git checkout -b <new_branch_name> <base_branch_name>
# Example: Create 'feature-login' starting from 'main'
git checkout -b feature-login main