Git Commands

A list of Git commands I frequently used.

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Example of uploading a local repository to remote server.

1. Initialize a local repository:

   git init

2. Change the branch name to match the branch name on GitHub or error will occur

   git branch -m master main

3. Staged files

   git add .

   • Staging specific files

     git add <file1> <file 2> <file 3>

   • Unstaging specific files

     git reset <file1> <file 2> <file 3>

   • Unstaging all files

     git reset

4. Check does files staged correctly

   git status

5. Commit Files

   git commit -m "<your message here>"

6. Check if in the right branch

   git branch

7. Connect to remote server (origin = remote name)

   git remote add origin <GitHub repository url>

8. Check if connect to the correct remote server

   git remote -v

9. Always pull before push (origin = remote name, main = local branch)

   git pull origin main

   • If the files on remote are incosistent with local repository (Example: there is a README.md on remote server that local repository does not have)

     git pull origin main --allow-unrelated-histories

10. Push to remote server (origin = remote name, main = local branch)

    git push origin main

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Other useful commands

• Clone a repository from remote server

   git clone <GitHub repository url>

• Create new branch

   git branch <Branch name>

• Switch new branch

   git checkout <Branch name>

• Push a new branch that is not yet exists in the remote server (origin = remote name)

   git push -u origin <branch-name>

• Merge branch

  1. fetch latest changes from remote server

        git fetch

  2. switch to target branch you want to merge into (ex: main)

        git checkout main

  3. merge you source branch(ex: Development) into the target branch

        git merge Development

  • if merge conflicts occurs, you have to resolve the conflicts first, then stage and commit all the files (Development = source branch , main = target branch)

      git add .
      git commit -m "Merge <source-branch> into <target-branch>"

  4. push to remote server (origin = remote server , main = local target branch)

        git push origin main

• Review commit histories

   git log

  • Review n commit histories

     git log -n <count>

• Undo(Revert to) last commit

  • First, undo the last commit using the command line:

    git reset --hard HEAD~1

  • then, force push the branch to the remote repository(make sure to have the '+' before branch name):

    git push origin +<BranchName>

• Review file differences between local directory and staged area

   git diff <File name>

• Review file differences between staged area and remote server

   git diff --staged <File name>

• Ignore certain files/directories in local repository to be push to remote repository

  1. create a .gitignore in local repository directory and open it

   touch .gitignore

   vi .gitignore

  2. add files/directories to be ignored, and save it (esc -> :wq)
     • 
  3. finally push .gitignore to remote repository

• Undo an accidental deleted files/directories after git pull request

  1. Use git reflog to track all changes

   git reflog

  2. switch to the desired Head index ( n = desired index)

   git checkout HEAD@{n}

• How to merge branch excluding certain files

  1. For example if I want to merge Development in main branch, first Merge Development into main Without Committing:

     git merge Development --no-commit --no-ff

  2. Reset the Files You Don't Want to Include:
     • If you want to exclude test1.js, test2.js, package.json, and package-lock.json:

     git reset HEAD test1.js test2.js package.json package-lock.json

  3. Remove these files from the working directory:

     git checkout -- test1.js test2.js package.json package-lock.json

  4. Commit and Finish the Merge:

     git commit -m "Merged Development into main, excluding tests and package files"

  5. Push Changes to the Remote Repository:

     git push origin main