Doro Git Essentials

---

name: doro-git-essentials description: Essential Git commands and workflows for version control, branching, and collaboration. version: 1.0.0 homepage: https://git-scm.com/ metadata: {"clawdbot":{"emoji":"🌳","requires":{"bins":["git"]}}}

---

Git Essentials

Essential Git commands for version control and collaboration.

Initial Setup

# Configure user
git config --global user.name "Your Name"
git config --global user.email "your@email.com"
Initialize repository
git init
Clone repository
git clone https://github.com/user/repo.git
git clone https://github.com/user/repo.git custom-name

Basic Workflow

Staging and committing

# Check status
git status
Add files to staging
git add file.txt
git add .
git add -A  # All changes including deletions
Commit changes
git commit -m "Commit message"
Add and commit in one step
git commit -am "Message"
Amend last commit
git commit --amend -m "New message"
git commit --amend --no-edit  # Keep message

Viewing changes

# Show unstaged changes
git diff
Show staged changes
git diff --staged
Show changes in specific file
git diff file.txt
Show changes between commits
git diff commit1 commit2

Branching & Merging

Branch management

# List branches
git branch
git branch -a  # Include remote branches
Create branch
git branch feature-name
Switch branch
git checkout feature-name
git switch feature-name  # Modern alternative
Create and switch
git checkout -b feature-name
git switch -c feature-name
Delete branch
git branch -d branch-name
git branch -D branch-name  # Force delete
Rename branch
git branch -m old-name new-name

Merging

# Merge branch into current
git merge feature-name
Merge with no fast-forward
git merge --no-ff feature-name
Abort merge
git merge --abort
Show merge conflicts
git diff --name-only --diff-filter=U

Remote Operations

Managing remotes

# List remotes
git remote -v
Add remote
git remote add origin https://github.com/user/repo.git
Change remote URL
git remote set-url origin https://github.com/user/new-repo.git
Remove remote
git remote remove origin

Syncing with remote

# Fetch from remote
git fetch origin
Pull changes (fetch + merge)
git pull
Pull with rebase
git pull --rebase
Push changes
git push
Push new branch
git push -u origin branch-name
Force push (careful!)
git push --force-with-lease

History & Logs

Viewing history

# Show commit history
git log
One line per commit
git log --oneline
With graph
git log --graph --oneline --all
Last N commits
git log -5
Commits by author
git log --author="Name"
Commits in date range
git log --since="2 weeks ago"
git log --until="2024-01-01"
File history
git log -- file.txt

Searching history

# Search commit messages
git log --grep="bug fix"
Search code changes
git log -S "function_name"
Show who changed each line
git blame file.txt
Find commit that introduced bug
git bisect start
git bisect bad
git bisect good commit-hash

Undoing Changes

Working directory

# Discard changes in file
git restore file.txt
git checkout -- file.txt  # Old way
Discard all changes
git restore .

Staging area

# Unstage file
git restore --staged file.txt
git reset HEAD file.txt  # Old way
Unstage all
git reset

Commits

# Undo last commit (keep changes)
git reset --soft HEAD~1
Undo last commit (discard changes)
git reset --hard HEAD~1
Revert commit (create new commit)
git revert commit-hash
Reset to specific commit
git reset --hard commit-hash

Stashing

# Stash changes
git stash
Stash with message
git stash save "Work in progress"
List stashes
git stash list
Apply latest stash
git stash apply
Apply and remove stash
git stash pop
Apply specific stash
git stash apply stash@{2}
Delete stash
git stash drop stash@{0}
Clear all stashes
git stash clear

Rebasing

# Rebase current branch
git rebase main
Interactive rebase (last 3 commits)
git rebase -i HEAD~3
Continue after resolving conflicts
git rebase --continue
Skip current commit
git rebase --skip
Abort rebase
git rebase --abort

Tags

# List tags
git tag
Create lightweight tag
git tag v1.0.0
Create annotated tag
git tag -a v1.0.0 -m "Version 1.0.0"
Tag specific commit
git tag v1.0.0 commit-hash
Push tag
git push origin v1.0.0
Push all tags
git push --tags
Delete tag
git tag -d v1.0.0
git push origin --delete v1.0.0

Advanced Operations

Cherry-pick

# Apply specific commit
git cherry-pick commit-hash
Cherry-pick without committing
git cherry-pick -n commit-hash

Submodules

# Add submodule
git submodule add https://github.com/user/repo.git path/
Initialize submodules
git submodule init
Update submodules
git submodule update
Clone with submodules
git clone --recursive https://github.com/user/repo.git

Clean

# Preview files to be deleted
git clean -n
Delete untracked files
git clean -f
Delete untracked files and directories
git clean -fd
Include ignored files
git clean -fdx

Common Workflows

Feature branch workflow:

git checkout -b feature/new-feature
Make changes
git add .
git commit -m "Add new feature"
git push -u origin feature/new-feature
Create PR, then after merge:
git checkout main
git pull
git branch -d feature/new-feature

Hotfix workflow:

git checkout main
git pull
git checkout -b hotfix/critical-bug
Fix bug
git commit -am "Fix critical bug"
git push -u origin hotfix/critical-bug
After merge:
git checkout main && git pull

Syncing fork:

git remote add upstream https://github.com/original/repo.git
git fetch upstream
git checkout main
git merge upstream/main
git push origin main

Useful Aliases

Add to ~/.gitconfig:

[alias]
    st = status
    co = checkout
    br = branch
    ci = commit
    unstage = reset HEAD --
    last = log -1 HEAD
    visual = log --graph --oneline --all
    amend = commit --amend --no-edit

Tips

Commit often, perfect later (interactive rebase)

Write meaningful commit messages

Use .gitignore for files to exclude

Never force push to shared branches

Pull before starting work

Use feature branches, not main

Rebase feature branches before merging

Use --force-with-lease instead of --force

Common Issues

Undo accidental commit:

git reset --soft HEAD~1

Recover deleted branch:

git reflog
git checkout -b branch-name 

Fix wrong commit message:

git commit --amend -m "Correct message"

Resolve merge conflicts:

# Edit files to resolve conflicts
git add resolved-files
git commit  # Or git merge --continue

Documentation

Official docs: https://git-scm.com/doc Pro Git book: https://git-scm.com/book Visual Git guide: https://marklodato.github.io/visual-git-guide/

Commit often, perfect later (interactive rebase)

Write meaningful commit messages

Use .gitignore for files to exclude

Never force push to shared branches

Pull before starting work

Use feature branches, not main

Rebase feature branches before merging

Use --force-with-lease instead of --force