Git command line Cheat Sheet#

Warning

🚧 Under construction 🚧

This cheat sheet covers essential Git commands for daily workflows using GitLab and GitHub. Works on Linux, macOS, and Windows (bash/Miniforge).

There are other wasy to use git, including:

  • VSCode editor git integration (works really well!)

  • Specific software tools like GitHub Desktop (works really well but clunky for gitlab..).

Setup#

# Set your name and email (used in commits)
git config --global user.name "Your Name"
git config --global user.email "you@example.com"

# Check configuration
git config --list

Explanation: Configure Git identity so commits are labeled correctly.

Starting a Repository#

# Initialize a new Git repository
git init

# Clone an existing repository
git clone https://gitlab.com/username/repo.git
git clone https://github.com/username/repo.git

Explanation: init creates a new repo locally. clone copies an existing remote repo.

Checking Repository Status#

# See changes and untracked files
git status

# Show the last few commits
git log --oneline --graph --decorate

Explanation: status shows what’s staged, modified, or untracked. log shows commit history in a compact visual format.

Basic Workflow#

# Stage changes
git add <file>        # Stage a single file
git add .             # Stage all changes

# Commit changes
git commit -m "Commit message describing the changes"

# Amend last commit (if you forgot something)
git commit --amend -m "Updated commit message"

Explanation: Staging (add) selects files to commit. commit saves them locally. --amend edits the last commit if needed.

Branching#

# List branches
git branch

# Create a new branch
git checkout -b feature-branch

# Switch branch
git checkout main

# Delete a local branch
git branch -d feature-branch

Explanation: Branches let you work on features separately. checkout -b creates and switches in one step.

Updating & Merging#

# Pull latest changes from remote
git pull origin main

# Merge another branch into current branch
git merge feature-branch

Explanation: pull fetches updates and merges them. merge combines changes from another branch into your current branch.

Working with Remote Repositories#

# Show remote URLs
git remote -v

# Add a remote (if not already present)
git remote add origin https://gitlab.com/username/repo.git

# Push changes
git push origin main          # Push main branch
git push -u origin feature-branch  # Push new branch and track it

# Delete remote branch
git push origin --delete feature-branch

Explanation: remote commands manage connections to servers. push uploads commits. -u sets upstream tracking for future pushes/pulls.

Undoing Changes#

# Discard changes in working directory
git checkout -- <file>

# Unstage changes
git reset <file>

# Reset to last commit (dangerous, discard commits)
git reset --hard HEAD

Explanation: Undo mistakes in working files (checkout), staged files (reset), or commits (reset --hard).

Stashing#

# Save changes temporarily
git stash

# Apply stashed changes
git stash apply

# List stashes
git stash list

Explanation: Temporarily save changes without committing. Useful to switch branches without losing work.

Tips for GitLab/GitHub#

  • Merge Requests / Pull Requests: Create feature branches, push them, open MR/PR on web interface.

  • SSH vs HTTPS: SSH keys avoid typing passwords for every push/pull.

  • Avoid pushing secrets: .gitignore excludes local config or large files.

  • Interactive staging: git add -p lets you stage specific changes, not whole files.

End of Git Cheat Sheet

Setup (continued: SSH keys for remote)#

# Generate a new SSH key (if you don't have one)
ssh-keygen -t ed25519 -C "you@example.com"
# Default location is usually fine (~/.ssh/id_ed25519)

# Start the SSH agent
eval "$(ssh-agent -s)"

# Add your SSH key to the agent
ssh-add ~/.ssh/id_ed25519

# Display your public key (copy this to GitLab/GitHub)
cat ~/.ssh/id_ed25519.pub

Explanation:

  1. ssh-keygen creates a new key pair.

  2. ssh-agent runs in the background to manage keys.

  3. ssh-add loads your key into the agent.

  4. cat ...pub prints your public key to copy into your GitLab/GitHub account (Settings → SSH Keys).

Tip: After adding the key, test the connection:

# Test GitHub
ssh -T git@github.com

# Test GitLab
ssh -T git@gitlab.com

You should get a success message like:

“Hi username! You’ve successfully authenticated…”