Git Commands Cheat Sheet — Every Command You Actually Use

# ─── Status and Inspection ───────────────────────────────────────────────────
git status                    # What's changed? (modified, staged, untracked)
git status -s                 # Short format: M=modified, A=added, ?=untracked
git diff                      # See unstaged changes (what's not yet staged)
git diff --staged             # See staged changes (what will be in next commit)
git diff main..feature        # Diff between two branches
git log --oneline -20         # Recent commits (compact, one line each)
git log --oneline --graph --all  # ASCII branch visualization
git log --follow -p file.txt  # Full history + diffs for a specific file

# ─── Staging and Committing ──────────────────────────────────────────────────
git add file.txt              # Stage specific file
git add src/                  # Stage all files in a directory
git add -p                    # Interactively stage hunks (RECOMMENDED — review each change)
git commit -m "feat: add login"
git commit --amend            # Edit last commit message (unpushed only!)
git commit --amend --no-edit  # Add staged changes to last commit without editing message

# ─── Branches ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
git branch                    # List local branches
git branch -a                 # List all branches (including remote tracking)
git branch -v                 # Branches with last commit message
git checkout -b feature/login # Create and switch to new branch
git switch main               # Switch branch (modern syntax, Git 2.23+)
git switch -c feature/login   # Create and switch (modern syntax)
git branch -d feature/done    # Delete merged branch
git branch -D feature/wip     # Force delete (even if unmerged)
git merge feature/login       # Merge branch into current
git merge --no-ff feature/x   # Merge with a merge commit (even if fast-forward possible)

# ─── Remote ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
git fetch origin              # Download changes (don't merge — safe preview)
git fetch --all               # Fetch all remotes
git pull origin main          # Fetch + merge (shortcut)
git pull --rebase             # Fetch + rebase instead of merge (linear history)
git push origin feature/login # Push branch to remote
git push -u origin feature/login  # Push and set upstream (then just git push)

# ─── Unstage (safe — keeps changes) ─────────────────────────────────────────
git restore --staged file.txt   # Unstage file, keep working tree changes
git reset HEAD file.txt         # Same (older syntax)

# ─── Discard working tree changes (DESTRUCTIVE — loses changes) ──────────────
git restore file.txt            # Discard changes to one file
git restore .                   # Discard ALL unstaged changes in repo

# ─── Undo commits ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
git reset --soft HEAD~1         # Undo last commit, keep changes STAGED
git reset HEAD~1                # Undo last commit, keep changes UNSTAGED
git reset --hard HEAD~1         # Undo last commit, DISCARD changes (destructive!)
git reset --hard HEAD~3         # Undo last 3 commits and discard all changes

# ─── Safe revert (creates new commit) ───────────────────────────────────────
git revert abc1234              # Create new commit undoing specific commit
# Use revert on shared/pushed branches — never reset shared history!

# ─── The Ultimate Safety Net ─────────────────────────────────────────────────
git reflog                      # See every position HEAD has been in (last 90 days)
git reflog --all                # Include all refs (branches, stashes)
git reset --hard HEAD@{2}       # Go back to 2 reflog entries ago (undo an undo!)
git checkout HEAD@{5} -- file.txt  # Recover a specific file from 5 moves ago

git stash                         # Save all uncommitted changes (tracked files)
git stash -u                      # Include untracked files too
git stash push -m "WIP: login form"  # Save with a descriptive label
git stash list                    # See all stashes with indices
# stash@{0}: On feature/login: WIP: login form
# stash@{1}: WIP on main: quick experiment

git stash pop                     # Apply most recent stash AND delete it
git stash apply stash@{1}         # Apply specific stash (keeps stash in list)
git stash drop stash@{1}          # Delete a specific stash
git stash clear                   # Delete ALL stashes (irreversible!)

# Advanced stash operations
git stash push -m "only styles" src/styles.css   # Stash only specific file
git stash show -p stash@{0}       # Show diff of what's in a stash
git stash branch feature/from-stash stash@{0}    # Create branch from stash

# Partial stash (interactive — like git add -p)
git stash push -p                 # Choose which hunks to stash

# ─── Finding Bugs with Bisect ────────────────────────────────────────────────
git bisect start
git bisect bad                    # Current commit is broken
git bisect good v1.0.0            # This tag was working
# Git checks out the middle commit — test it manually, then:
git bisect good                   # or: git bisect bad
# Repeat until Git finds the exact breaking commit (takes log2(N) steps)
git bisect reset                  # Return to HEAD when done

# Automated bisect with a test script:
git bisect run npm test           # Runs test, uses exit code (0=good, 1=bad)

# ─── Cherry-Pick ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
git cherry-pick abc1234           # Apply a specific commit to current branch
git cherry-pick abc1234..def5678  # Apply a range of commits
git cherry-pick -n abc1234        # Stage changes without committing (--no-commit)

# ─── Interactive Rebase ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────
git rebase -i HEAD~5              # Rewrite last 5 commits interactively
# Commands in editor:
# pick   = keep commit as-is
# reword = edit commit message
# squash = merge into previous commit (keep message)
# fixup  = merge into previous commit (discard message)
# drop   = delete commit entirely
# exec   = run shell command between commits

# ─── Searching History ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────
git log --grep="login"            # Commits whose message mentions "login"
git log -S "functionName"         # Commits that added/removed "functionName" in code
git log -G "regex.*pattern"       # Commits where code matches regex
git log --author="Alice"          # Commits by specific author
git log --since="2 weeks ago"     # Commits within timeframe
git show abc1234                  # Show full diff of a specific commit
git show abc1234 --stat           # Show only file summary of a commit
git blame file.txt                # Who last changed each line and when
git blame -L 10,25 file.txt       # Blame for lines 10-25 only

# ─── Useful Aliases ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
git config --global alias.lg "log --oneline --graph --all"
git config --global alias.st "status -sb"
git config --global alias.undo "reset HEAD~1"
git config --global alias.save "stash push -m"
git config --global alias.aliases "config --get-regexp alias"

# Set identity (required)
git config --global user.name "Your Name"
git config --global user.email "you@example.com"

# Set default editor (for commit messages, rebase)
git config --global core.editor "code --wait"   # VS Code
git config --global core.editor "vim"            # Vim

# Set default branch name for new repos
git config --global init.defaultBranch main

# Faster rebasing and better diff output
git config --global pull.rebase true            # pull --rebase by default
git config --global rebase.autoSquash true      # auto-apply fixup commits
git config --global diff.colorMoved zebra       # color moved code blocks differently

# Store credentials (macOS keychain)
git config --global credential.helper osxkeychain

# View all config
git config --list --show-origin