tips

Most commonly used git tips and tricks.

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git-tips

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

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Tools:

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

Everyday Git in twenty commands or so

git help everyday

Show helpful guides that come with Git

git help -g

Search change by content

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

Show changes over time for specific file

git log -p <file_name>

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

Sync with remote, overwrite local changes

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

List of all files till a commit

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

Git reset first commit

git update-ref -d HEAD

Reset: preserve uncommitted local changes

git reset --keep <commit>

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

git diff

Changes staged for commit

git diff --cached

Alternatives:

git diff --staged

Show both staged and unstaged changes

git diff HEAD

List all branches that are already merged into master

git branch --merged master

Quickly switch to the previous branch

git checkout -

Alternatives:

git checkout @{-1}

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

git branch -vv

Track upstream branch

git branch -u origin/mybranch

Delete local branch

git branch -d <local_branchname>

Delete remote branch

git push origin --delete <remote_branchname>

Alternatives:

git push origin :<remote_branchname>

git branch -dr <remote/branch>

Create local tag

git tag <tag-name>

Delete local tag

git tag -d <tag-name>

Delete remote tag

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

Undo local changes with the content in index(staging)

git checkout -- <file_name>

Revert: Undo a commit by creating a new commit

git revert <commit-ish>

Reset: Discard commits, advised for private branch

git reset <commit-ish>

Reword the previous commit message

git commit -v --amend

See commit history for just the current branch

git cherry -v master

Amend author.

git commit --amend --author='Author Name <[email protected]>'

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

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

Changing a remote’s URL

git remote set-url origin <URL>

Get list of all remote references

git remote

Alternatives:

git remote show

Get list of all local and remote branches

git branch -a

Get only remote branches

git branch -r

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

git add -p

Get git bash completion

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

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..

Pick commits across branches using cherry-pick

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

Find out branches containing commit-hash

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

Alternatives:

git branch --contains <commit-ish>

Git Aliases

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

Saving current state of tracked files without commiting

git stash

Alternatives:

git stash push

Saving current state of unstaged changes to tracked files

git stash -k

Alternatives:

git stash --keep-index

git stash push --keep-index

Saving current state including untracked files

git stash -u

Alternatives:

git stash push -u

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)

git stash -a

Alternatives:

git stash --all

git stash push --all

Show list of all saved stashes

git stash list

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

git stash pop

Alternatives:

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

Delete all stored stashes

git stash clear

Alternatives:

git stash drop <stash@{n}>

Grab a single file from a stash

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

Alternatives:

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

Show all tracked files

git ls-files -t

Show all untracked files

git ls-files --others

Show all ignored files

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

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

Untrack files without deleting

git rm --cached <file_path>

Alternatives:

git rm --cached -r <directory_path>

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

git clean -n

Forcefully remove untracked files

git clean -f

Forcefully remove untracked directory

git clean -f -d

Update all the submodules

git submodule foreach git pull

Alternatives:

git submodule update --init --recursive

git submodule update --remote

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

git cherry -v master

Alternatives:

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

Rename a branch

git branch -m <new-branch-name>

Alternatives:

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

Rebases ‘feature’ to ‘master’ and merges it in to master

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

Archive the master branch

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

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.

git fetch -p

Alternatives:

git remote prune origin

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

git branch -vv | grep ': gone]' | awk '{print <!-- @doxie.inject start -->}' | xargs git branch -D

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

Visualize the version tree.

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

Alternatives:

gitk --all

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)

Deploying git tracked subfolder to gh-pages

git subtree push --prefix subfolder_name origin gh-pages

Adding a project to repo using subtree

git subtree add --prefix=<directory_name>/<project_name> --squash [email protected]:<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 [email protected]:<username>/<project_name>.git master

Export a branch with history to a file.

git bundle create <file> <branch-name>

Import from a bundle

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

Get the name of current branch.

git rev-parse --abbrev-ref HEAD

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

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

Stash changes before rebasing

git rebase --autostash

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>

Show the most recent tag on the current branch.

git describe --tags --abbrev=0

Show inline word diff.

git diff --word-diff

Show changes using common diff tools.

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

Don’t consider changes for tracked file.

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

Undo assume-unchanged.

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

Clean the files from .gitignore.

git clean -X -f

Restore deleted file.

git checkout <deleting_commit> -- <file_path>

Restore file to a specific commit-hash

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

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.

git config --list

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

Check if the change was a part of a release.

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

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

git clean -fd --dry-run

Marks your commit as a fix of a previous commit.

git commit --fixup <SHA-1>

Squash fixup commits normal commits.

git rebase -i --autosquash

Skip staging area during commit.

git commit --only <file_path>

Interactive staging.

git add -i

List ignored files.

git check-ignore *

Status of ignored files.

git status --ignored

Commits in Branch1 that are not in Branch2

git log Branch1 ^Branch2

List n last commits

git log -<n>

Alternatives:

git log -n <n>

Reuse recorded resolution, record and reuse previous conflicts resolutions.

git config --global rerere.enabled 1

Open all conflicted files in an editor.

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

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>]

View the GPG signatures in the commit log

git log --show-signature

Remove entry in the global config.

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

Checkout a new branch without any history

git checkout --orphan <branch_name>

Extract file from another branch.

git show <branch_name>:<file_name>

List only the root and merge commits.

git log --first-parent

Change previous two commits with an interactive rebase.

git rebase --interactive HEAD~2

List all branch is WIP

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

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

git commit --no-verify

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

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

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>

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>

Show all local branches ordered by recent commits

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

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

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

Clone a shallow copy of a repository

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

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

Unstaging Staged file

git reset HEAD <file-name>

Force push to Remote Repository

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

Adding Remote name

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

List all currently configured remotes

git remote -v

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

git blame <file-name>

Group commits by authors and title

git shortlog

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

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

Show how many lines does an author contribute

git log --author='_Your_Name_Here_' --pretty=tformat: --numstat | gawk '{ add += <!-- @doxie.inject start -->; subs += <!-- @doxie.inject end -->; loc += <!-- @doxie.inject start --> - <!-- @doxie.inject end --> } 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 += <!-- @doxie.inject start -->; subs += <!-- @doxie.inject end -->; loc += <!-- @doxie.inject start --> - <!-- @doxie.inject end --> } END { printf "added lines: %s, removed lines: %s, total lines: %s
", add, subs, loc }' - # on Mac OSX

Revert: Reverting an entire merge

git revert -m 1 <commit-ish>

Number of commits in a branch

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

Alias: git undo

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

Add object notes

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

Show all the git-notes

git log --show-notes='*'

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

Find common ancestor of two branches

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

List unpushed git commits

git log --branches --not --remotes

Alternatives:

git log @{u}..

git cherry -v

Add everything, but whitespace changes

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

Edit [local/global] git config

git config [--global] --edit

blame on certain range

git blame -L <start>,<end>

Show a Git logical variable.

git var -l | <variable>

Preformatted patch file.

git format-patch -M upstream..topic

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).*)

Generates a summary of pending changes

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

List references in a remote repository

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

Backup untracked files.

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

List all git aliases

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

Alternatives:

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

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

git push origin HEAD

Push a new local branch to remote repository and track

git push -u origin <branch_name>

Change a branch base

git rebase --onto <new_base> <old_base>

Use SSH instead of HTTPs for remotes

git config --global url.'[email protected]:'.insteadOf 'https://github.com/'

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"

Prevent auto replacing LF with CRLF

git config --global core.autocrlf false