Common Git Commands & Config

xwi88included in git

2022-03-10 2026-07-07 1262 words 6 minutes views

Contents

Sharing the git [gɪt] config I’ve accumulated over the years. The content below is based on version 2.34.1; if anything differs, upgrade your git first!

Copyright notice: This is an original article by xwi88, licensed under CC BY-NC 4.0. Commercial use is prohibited; please cite the source when reposting. Follow at https://github.com/xwi88

Basic account config

--global means global config; non-global config must be set inside the specific git project directory

git config --global user.name [your_name]
git config --global user.email [your_email]
git config --global --list view global git config
git config --list view project git config

Signed-commit setup

configure your Git client to sign commits by default for a local repository, in Git versions 2.0.0 and above

git config --global user.signingkey [KeyID]
git config --global commit.gpgsign true

See also: Signing Git commits/tags with GPG for setup.

Credential storage

To avoid typing the password every time, let the machine remember it. MacOS uses Keychain Access to store your password and other credentials.

git config --global credential.helper store persistently save your password/credentials on this machine
git config --global credential.helper 'cache --timeout=300' cache the password for 300s

More:
gitcredentials
git-credential-cache

Warning

If you have MFA enabled, you must use a Personal Token instead of the password.
github path: Settings Developer settings->Personal access tokens->Generate new token

Personal access tokens 📢

Visible only when generated — save it carefully
Mind the scopes and expiration

Credential cleanup

After a password changes or expires, clear the stored one, or you may get login failed / no permission errors.

git config --system --unset credential.helper
git config --global credential.helper 'cache --timeout=5' or set a very short expiry to flush the cached password
git config --global credential.helper store re-enable credential storage

Prettier log output

The plain git log is too bare to inspect details. We can format it, and git alias makes it easy to define our own git log command — do not override git’s built-in commands.

Tip

My usual git log config:

git config --global alias.lg "log --color --graph --pretty=format:'%Cred%h%Creset -%C(yellow)%d%Creset %s %Cgreen(%cr) %C(bold blue)<%an>%Creset | %C(red)%cs%Creset' --abbrev-commit"

git lg -4

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* 16074ef - (HEAD -> main, origin/main) update posts git-sign-tag-commit-with-gpg (2 hours ago) <xwi88> | 2022-03-10
* e39e092 - support l2d widget (23 hours ago) <xwi88> | 2022-03-10
* 11605af - close cookie tip and update posts (24 hours ago) <xwi88> | 2022-03-09
* 9b548b6 - update posts git sign with gpg (25 hours ago) <xwi88> | 2022-03-09

To also show gpg signature info:

git config --global alias.lsg "log --color --graph --pretty=format:'%C(cyan)%G?%Creset %Cred%h%Creset -%C(yellow)%d%Creset %s %Cgreen(%cr) %C(bold blue)<%an>%Creset | %C(red)%cs%Creset' --abbrev-commit"

git lsg -4

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* G 16074ef - (HEAD -> main, origin/main) update posts git-sign-tag-commit-with-gpg (2 hours ago) <xwi88> | 2022-03-10
* G e39e092 - support l2d widget (23 hours ago) <xwi88> | 2022-03-10
* G 11605af - close cookie tip and update posts (24 hours ago) <xwi88> | 2022-03-09
* G 9b548b6 - update posts git sign with gpg (25 hours ago) <xwi88> | 2022-03-09

For even more detail:

git config --global alias.llsg "log --color --graph --pretty=format:'%C(cyan)%G?%Creset %Cred%h%Creset -%C(yellow)%d%Creset %s %Cgreen(%cr) %C(bold blue)<%an>%Creset | %C(red)%cs%Creset [%GK trust:%GT] %C(yellow)%GS%Creset' --abbrev-commit"

git llsg -4

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* G 16074ef - (HEAD -> main, origin/main) update posts git-sign-tag-commit-with-gpg (2 hours ago) <xwi88> | 2022-03-10 [C739E6A64E102CD0 trust:ultimate] xwi88 <278810732@qq.com>
* G e39e092 - support l2d widget (23 hours ago) <xwi88> | 2022-03-10 [90684042688CB9BE trust:ultimate] xwi88 <278810732@qq.com>
* G 11605af - close cookie tip and update posts (24 hours ago) <xwi88> | 2022-03-09 [90684042688CB9BE trust:ultimate] xwi88 <278810732@qq.com>
* G 9b548b6 - update posts git sign with gpg (25 hours ago) <xwi88> | 2022-03-09 [90684042688CB9BE trust:ultimate] xwi88 <278810732@qq.com>

Warning

Always pass a log entry count
Don’t make the format too complex — output may slow down
If you use gpg signing, make sure you don’t have too many gpg keys

Basic commands

For more detail on any command, run git <command> --help

git add [<path_spec>...] stage files into the Index
- git add [<path_spec>...] -n dry-run: show what would happen, without doing it
git status -s show the current branch status — files differ between working tree and index: modified, not staged, staged but not committed
git diff
- git diff [<path>...] diff working tree vs index
- git diff <commit>...<commit> [<path>...] diff between commits
- git diff --cached [<commit>] [<path>...] diff index vs repository
git commit commit staged changes to the local repo
- git commit -m <message> commit to local repo
- git commit -S -m <message> sign and commit; requires your GPG key
- git commit -a -m stage and commit all changes, skipping git add; generally avoid this
- git commit --amend redo the latest commit — to edit its message or append changes; don’t chain this, and avoid it for already-pushed commits
git reset undo changes; see checkout vs reset
git rm remove files from the index and working tree
git mv <old> <new> file rename; equivalent to mv old new, git add the new file and git rm the old

Branch operations

Remote branch config

git remote -v
git remote add <name> <url> add a remote
git remote rename <old> <new> rename a remote
git remote set-url <name> <new_url> change a remote URL

Cloning

git clone -b branch_name --single-branch <url> single-branch clone
git clone <url> [dir]

Fetch & sync

git fetch --all || git merge only fetch into the local remote-tracking branch (e.g. origin/main, upstream/main); merge into the local branch later when needed
git pull fetch and merge the remote branch into the current branch; generally avoid unless you understand the consequences
git push -u <repo_name> <branch_name> set up tracking between a new local branch and a remote branch — typically for a new branch’s first push

checkout vs reset

git checkout
git reset
git revert rarely used on the CLI

Git Command	Scope	Common use cases
reset	Commit	Discard commits in a private branch or throw away uncommited changes
reset	File	Unstage a file
checkout	Commit	Switch between branches or inspect old snapshots
checkout	File	Discard changes in the working directory
revert	Commit	Undo commits in a public branch
revert	File	(N/A)

Info

--soft The staged snapshot and working directory are not altered in any way.
--mixed The staged snapshot is updated to match the specified commit, but the working directory is not affected. This is the default option.
--hard The staged snapshot and the working directory are both updated to match the specified commit.

Merging & committing

For multi-person or large-team collaboration, master and use git rebase, and keep each branch’s commit count vs the base branch minimal — easier rebases and conflict resolution for everyone.
If you’ve opened a PR/MR, before reviewers review, make sure your branch is Fast-Forward vs the base; do not Rebase from the web UI.

git rebase use with care demo
git merge ~~not recommended~~

Branch push & delete

git push push the current branch; requires tracking a remote branch; for the first push use git push -u <name> <branch>
git push -f force-push the current branch to its remote
git push -f <name> :<remote_branch> push an empty branch to the remote — i.e. delete the remote branch
git branch -d delete a local branch

Unset config

Remove the line matching the key from config file.

git config --global --unset [key] remove from global config
git config --unset [key] remove from project config

Example

Remove a mistakenly-created entry from global config

git config --global --unset alias.llg

Edit config files

git config --global -e edit the global config file at ~/.gitconfig
git config -e edit the project config file at .git/config