Git Cheat Sheet

Reads or sets Git configuration options at three levels: system, user (global) or repository (local).

git config --global user.name "John Doe"
git config --global user.email "john.doe@example.com"

Defines how Git stores HTTPS credentials so it doesn't ask for a password on every push.

git config --global credential.helper manager

Sets a global .gitignore that applies to every repository.

git config --global core.excludesfile ~/.gitignore_global

Creates a new Git repository in the current directory.

git init
git init --initial-branch=main meu-projeto

Copies a remote repository to the local machine, including the full history.

git clone https://github.com/user/repo.git

Shows the state of the working directory and the staging area: what is modified, staged or untracked.

git status

Moves changes from the working directory to the staging area, ready for the next commit.

git add src/components/Button.tsx
git add .

Records the staged content as a new commit in the local repository with a message.

git commit -m "feat: adiciona git cheat sheet"

Restores files: takes them out of staging or discards changes in the working directory.

git restore --staged file.txt
git restore file.txt

Removes files from the repository (and optionally from disk).

git rm secret.env

Renames or moves a tracked file, equivalent to mv + git add + git rm.

git mv old.tsx new.tsx

Lists, creates, renames or deletes branches.

git branch
git branch feature/login

Legacy command to switch branches or restore files. Today git switch and git restore are recommended.

git checkout main
git checkout -b feature/x

Modern replacement for checkout, dedicated to switching branches.

git switch main
git switch -c feature/login

Merges changes from another branch into the current one, creating a merge commit when needed.

git switch main
git merge feature/login

Reapplies the commits of the current branch on top of another base, rewriting history.

git switch feature
git rebase main

Applies a specific commit from another branch onto the current one.

git cherry-pick a1b2c3d

Opens a graphical tool to resolve merge conflicts.

git mergetool --tool=meld

Manages the repository's remotes (origin, upstream, etc).

git remote -v

Downloads commits and refs from the remote without integrating them into the local branch.

git fetch origin

Equivalent to git fetch followed by git merge (or rebase) on the current branch.

git pull origin main

Sends local commits to the remote.

git push -u origin feature/login

Saves uncommitted changes onto a temporary stack to clean the working directory.

git stash push -m "WIP login"

Manipulating the stash stack.

git stash list
git stash pop

Creates, lists, deletes or verifies tags. Tags mark points in history (releases).

git tag -a v1.2.0 -m "Release 1.2"

Returns a readable name based on the closest tag.

git describe --tags --always --dirty

Shows the commit history with flexible filters and formatting.

git log --oneline --graph --decorate --all

Shows the contents of a commit, tag or object.

git show HEAD
git show a1b2c3d:src/file.tsx

Shows differences between working dir, staging, commits or branches.

git diff
git diff --cached
git diff main feature

Shows who changed each line of a file and in which commit.

git blame -L 10,30 file.tsx

Summary grouped by author (useful for release notes).

git shortlog -sne

Local history of everything HEAD has touched. A lifesaver for recovering lost commits.

git reflog
git reset --hard HEAD@{2}

Moves HEAD to another commit, optionally altering staging and the working dir.

git reset --soft HEAD~1
git reset --mixed HEAD~1
git reset --hard HEAD~1

Creates a new commit that undoes the changes of another. Safe on shared branches.

git revert a1b2c3d

Deletes untracked files from the working directory. Destructive operation.

git clean -nfd

Adds a repository as a submodule inside the current one.

git submodule add -b main https://github.com/user/lib.git vendor/lib

Initializes and downloads submodules defined in .gitmodules.

git submodule update --init --recursive

Inspect status, run a command in each submodule, or deactivate one.

git submodule foreach 'git pull origin main'

Create an executable file under .git/hooks/ named after the event (pre-commit, pre-push, commit-msg, post-merge, etc).

printf '#!/bin/sh\nnpm run lint\n' > .git/hooks/pre-commit
chmod +x .git/hooks/pre-commit

Defines a shared hooks directory (versionable, outside .git).

git config core.hooksPath .githooks

JS tool that versions hooks in package.json and installs them automatically.

npx husky init
echo "npm test" > .husky/pre-commit

Skips the pre-commit and commit-msg hooks (use sparingly).

git commit --no-verify -m "hotfix"

Binary search through history to find the commit that introduced a bug.

git bisect start
git bisect bad HEAD
git bisect good v1.0
git bisect reset

Creates multiple working directories tied to the same .git, allowing you to work on several branches in parallel.

git worktree add ../proj-hotfix hotfix/urgente

Rewrites history: combine, reorder, edit or drop commits.

git rebase -i HEAD~5
# pick    a1b2 feat: x
# squash  c3d4 fix typo
# reword  e5f6 chore: y
# drop    g7h8 wip

Bulk history rewriter, modern replacement for git filter-branch. Useful to remove sensitive files.

git filter-repo --path secrets.env --invert-paths

Creates a tarball or zip of a ref's contents, without .git.

git archive --format=zip --prefix=app/ -o release.zip v1.0

Packs commits into a single file that can be transferred offline.

git bundle create repo.bundle --all
git clone repo.bundle nova-pasta

Resolves a reference into a full SHA, short SHA or name.

git rev-parse HEAD
git rev-parse --abbrev-ref HEAD
git rev-parse --short HEAD

Inspects Git objects (blobs, trees, commits, tags).

git cat-file -p HEAD
git cat-file -t a1b2c3d

Lists tracked files (ls-files) or the contents of a tree (ls-tree).

git ls-files
git ls-tree -r HEAD --name-only

Maintenance: garbage collection, integrity checks, pruning loose objects.

git gc --aggressive --prune=now
git fsck --full

Lets you keep only a subset of the tree locally, useful for large monorepos.

git sparse-checkout init --cone
git sparse-checkout set apps/web libs/ui

Adds notes to commits without changing their SHA.

git notes add -m "reviewed by QA" HEAD