Git Tips

git-tips¶

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

Tools:¶

git-tip - A handy CLI to make optimum use of these tips. (Here in Docker container)

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

Edit [local/global] git config

Everyday Git in twenty commands or so¶

git help everyday

Show helpful guides that come with Git¶

git help -g

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>

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@address.com>'

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

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 git@github.com:<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 git@github.com:<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.'git@github.com:'.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

Git Tips

git-tips¶

Tools:¶

Everyday Git in twenty commands or so¶

Show helpful guides that come with Git¶

Show changes over time for specific file¶

Remove sensitive data from history, after a push¶

Sync with remote, overwrite local changes¶

List of all files till a commit¶

Git reset first commit¶

Reset: preserve uncommitted local changes¶

List all the conflicted files¶

List of all files changed in a commit¶

Unstaged changes since last commit¶

Changes staged for commit¶

Show both staged and unstaged changes¶

List all branches that are already merged into master¶

Quickly switch to the previous branch¶

Remove branches that have already been merged with master¶

List all branches and their upstreams, as well as last commit on branch¶

Track upstream branch¶

Delete local branch¶

Delete remote branch¶

Create local tag¶

Delete local tag¶

Delete remote tag¶

Revert: Undo a commit by creating a new commit¶

Reset: Discard commits, advised for private branch¶

Reword the previous commit message¶

See commit history for just the current branch¶

Amend author.¶

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

Changing a remote's URL¶

Get list of all remote references¶

Get list of all local and remote branches¶

Get only remote branches¶

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

Get git bash completion¶

What changed since two weeks?¶

See all commits made since forking from master¶

Pick commits across branches using cherry-pick¶

Find out branches containing commit-hash¶

Git Aliases¶

Saving current state of tracked files without commiting¶

Saving current state of unstaged changes to tracked files¶

Saving current state including untracked files¶

Saving current state with message¶

Saving current state of all files (ignored, untracked, and tracked)¶

Show list of all saved stashes¶

Apply any stash without deleting from the stashed list¶

Apply last stashed state and delete it from stashed list¶

Delete all stored stashes¶

Grab a single file from a stash¶

Show all tracked files¶

Show all untracked files¶

Show all ignored files¶

Create new working tree from a repository (git 2.5)¶

Create new working tree from HEAD state¶

Untrack files without deleting¶

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

Forcefully remove untracked files¶

Forcefully remove untracked directory¶

Update all the submodules¶

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

Rename a branch¶

Rebases 'feature' to 'master' and merges it in to master¶

Archive the master branch¶

Modify previous commit without modifying the commit message¶

Prunes references to remove branches that have been deleted in the remote.¶

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

Retrieve the commit hash of the initial revision.¶

Visualize the version tree.¶

Visualize the tree including commits that are only referenced from reflogs¶

Deploying git tracked subfolder to gh-pages¶

Adding a project to repo using subtree¶

Get latest changes in your repo for a linked project using subtree¶

Export a branch with history to a file.¶

Import from a bundle¶

Get the name of current branch.¶

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

Archive the `master` branch¶

Clean the files from `.gitignore`.¶