[!WARNING] This content is AI-generated. Verify before relying on it.

Useful Git Commands

A cheat sheet of commonly used Git commands organized by workflow.

Configuration & Identity

View User Name and Email

Check the user identity currently configured for commits:

Scope	Command
Current Repository	`git config user.name` `git config user.email`
Global (System User)	`git config --global user.name` `git config --global user.email`
View All Configurations	`git config --list --show-origin`

Set User Name and Email

# Set globally for all repositories
git config --global user.name "Your Name"
git config --global user.email "you@example.com"

# Set locally for the current repository only
git config user.name "Your Name"
git config user.email "you@example.com"

View Remote URLs

# View remote repository names and fetch/push URLs
git remote -v

Inspecting History & Logs

`git log --oneline -5`

Shows the last 5 commits formatted on a single line each (abbreviated hash + commit message):

git log --oneline -5

Show Commits by a Specific Author

Filter the commit history to only show commits authored by a specific person (matches name or email substring):

# Filter by author name or email
git log --author="vachan"

# Combine with oneline and limit to 5 commits
git log --author="vachan" --oneline -5

Visual Commit Graph

# Visual ASCII graph of branching and merging
git log --oneline --graph --decorate -10

Viewing Differences (Diffs)

`git diff` vs `git diff --staged`

Command	Compares	What it Shows
`git diff`	Working directory vs. Staging area (Index)	Unstaged changes you haven't run `git add` on yet
`git diff --staged` (or `git diff --cached`)	Staging area (Index) vs. Last commit (`HEAD`)	Changes already staged with `git add` that will be included in the next commit

# View unstaged changes
git diff

# View unstaged changes for a specific file
git diff path/to/file.ext

# View staged changes waiting to be committed
git diff --staged

[!TIP] Always run git diff --staged before git commit to do a final self-review of what is about to be recorded.

Branch Management

Deleting a Branch

Target	Command	Notes
Local branch (Safe)	`git branch -d <branch-name>`	Prevents deletion if branch contains unmerged commits
Local branch (Force)	`git branch -D <branch-name>`	Forces deletion regardless of merge status
Remote branch	`git push origin --delete <branch-name>`	Deletes branch from remote server (GitHub/GitLab)

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

# Force-delete an abandoned local branch
git branch -D test-experiment

# Delete the branch from the remote repository
git push origin --delete feature-login

Sort Branches by Update Date

List branches ordered by the date of their latest commit (most recently updated branch first):

# Sort local branches by commit date (most recent first)
git branch --sort=-committerdate

# Include human-readable relative dates in the output
git branch --sort=-committerdate --format="%(committerdate:relative)%09%(refname:short)"

# Sort including remote tracking branches
git branch -a --sort=-committerdate

Moving a Commit from One Branch to Another

To move a commit (e.g. abc1234) committed to the wrong branch (branch-A) onto the correct branch (branch-B):

# 1. Switch to the target branch
git checkout branch-B

# 2. Cherry-pick the commit onto branch-B
git cherry-pick abc1234

# 3. Switch back to the original branch
git checkout branch-A

# 4. Remove the commit from branch-A (if it was the most recent commit)
git reset --hard HEAD~1

[!CAUTION] Only use git reset --hard if you have not pushed branch-A to a shared remote repository. If already pushed, use git revert abc1234 instead.

Stashing Changes

Use git stash to set aside uncommitted changes and return to a clean working directory.

# Stash tracked modified files
git stash

# Stash including untracked files with a descriptive message
git stash push -u -m "WIP: navbar redesign"

# List all saved stashes
git stash list

Difference Between `git stash pop` and `git stash apply`

Feature	`git stash pop`	`git stash apply`
Applies changes	Yes	Yes
Removes from stash list	Yes (drops `stash@{0}`)	No (retains entry on the stack)
Best used when	You are done with the stash and want it consumed	You want to apply the same stash to multiple branches

# Apply and delete the latest stash from the list
git stash pop

# Apply changes while keeping the stash intact
git stash apply

# Apply a specific stash from the list without deleting it
git stash apply stash@{2}

# Manually drop a stash entry
git stash drop stash@{0}

# Clear all stashes permanently
git stash clear

Cleaning & Resetting

`git clean -fd`

Removes untracked files and directories from your working tree.

# 1. Always run a dry run first to preview what would be deleted
git clean -nd

# 2. Force delete untracked files (-f) and untracked directories (-d)
git clean -fd

# Remove untracked files, directories, AND gitignored files
git clean -fdx

[!WARNING] git clean -fd permanently deletes untracked files from disk. They cannot be recovered from Git history. Always use git clean -nd first.

Resetting Commits (`--soft` vs `--hard`)

# Move HEAD back by 1 commit; all changes remain staged in the index
git reset --soft HEAD~1

# Move HEAD back by 1 commit; all staged and unstaged changes are destroyed
git reset --hard HEAD~1

Commit Shortcut: `git commit -am`

Stages all modified tracked files and commits them in a single step (does not add newly created untracked files):

git commit -am "Commit message"

Vachan's Wiki