Git & GitHub Complete Cheat Sheet

Setup & Configuration

Initial Setup

git config --global user.name "Your Name"

Set your name globally

git config --global user.email "your.email@example.com"

Set your email globally

git config --list

View all configuration settings

git config user.name

Check current username

SSH Key Setup

ssh-keygen -t rsa -b 4096 -C "your.email@example.com"

Generate SSH key

cat ~/.ssh/id_rsa.pub

Display public key

ssh -T git@github.com

Test SSH connection to GitHub

Repository Basics

Creating Repositories

git init

Initialize new repository

git clone <repository-url>

Clone existing repository

git clone <url> <directory>

Clone to specific directory

Repository Status

git status

Check repository status

git log

View commit history

git log --oneline

Condensed commit history

git log --graph --oneline --all

Visual branch history

Staging & Committing

Adding Files

git add <filename>

Add specific file

git add .

Add all changes

git add -A

Add all changes including deletions

git add -p

Interactive staging

Committing

git commit -m "commit message"

Commit with message

git commit -am "message"

Add and commit tracked files

git commit --amend

Amend last commit

git commit --amend -m "new message"

Amend with new message

Undoing Changes

git restore <filename>

Discard changes in file

git restore --staged <filename>

Unstage file

git reset HEAD~1

Undo last commit (keep changes)

git reset --hard HEAD~1

Undo last commit (discard changes)

Branching & Merging

Branch Operations

git branch

List local branches

git branch -a

List all branches

git branch <branch-name>

Create new branch

git checkout <branch-name>

Switch to branch

git checkout -b <branch-name>

Create and switch to branch

git branch -d <branch-name>

Delete branch

git branch -D <branch-name>

Force delete branch

git switch <branch-name>

Modern way to switch branches

Merging

git merge <branch-name>

Merge branch into current

git merge --no-ff <branch-name>

Merge with merge commit

git rebase <branch-name>

Rebase current branch

git rebase -i HEAD~3

Interactive rebase last 3 commits

Use merge for preserving history, rebase for clean linear history

Remote Repositories

Remote Management

git remote -v

List remotes

git remote add origin <url>

Add remote origin

git remote remove <name>

Remove remote

git remote rename <old> <new>

Rename remote

Pushing & Pulling

git push origin <branch>

Push branch to remote

git push -u origin <branch>

Push and set upstream

git pull

Pull changes from remote

git pull --rebase

Pull with rebase

git fetch

Fetch changes without merging

git push --force-with-lease

Safe force push

Never use git push --force on shared branches. Use --force-with-lease instead.

GitHub Operations

Repository Management

gh repo create <name>

Create GitHub repository

gh repo clone <repo>

Clone GitHub repository

gh repo fork <repo>

Fork repository

gh repo view

View repository details

Pull Requests

gh pr create

Create pull request

gh pr list

List pull requests

gh pr checkout <number>

Checkout PR locally

gh pr merge <number>

Merge pull request

Issues

gh issue create

Create new issue

gh issue list

List issues

gh issue close <number>

Close issue

gh issue view <number>

View issue details

Advanced Git

Stashing

git stash

Stash changes

git stash pop

Apply and remove stash

git stash list

List stashes

git stash apply stash@{0}

Apply specific stash

Cherry Picking

git cherry-pick <commit-hash>

Apply specific commit

git cherry-pick <hash1>..<hash2>

Cherry-pick range of commits

Tagging

git tag <tag-name>

Create lightweight tag

git tag -a <tag> -m "message"

Create annotated tag

git push origin <tag-name>

Push tag to remote

git push origin --tags

Push all tags

Searching

git grep "search term"

Search in repository

git log --grep="pattern"

Search commit messages

git log -S "code"

Search for code changes

git blame <filename>

See who changed what

Common Workflows

Feature Development Workflow

git checkout main
git pull origin main
git checkout -b feature/new-feature
Make changes and commit
git push -u origin feature/new-feature
Create pull request on GitHub
Code review and merge
git checkout main && git pull
git branch -d feature/new-feature

Hotfix Workflow

git checkout main
git checkout -b hotfix/critical-fix
Make fix and test
git add . && git commit -m "Fix critical issue"
git checkout main
git merge hotfix/critical-fix
git push origin main
git tag -a v1.0.1 -m "Hotfix release"
git push origin v1.0.1

Sync Fork Workflow

git remote add upstream <original-repo-url>
git fetch upstream
git checkout main
git merge upstream/main
git push origin main

Release Workflow

git checkout -b release/v1.0.0
Update version numbers and changelog
git add . && git commit -m "Prepare v1.0.0 release"
git checkout main
git merge release/v1.0.0
git tag -a v1.0.0 -m "Release v1.0.0"
git push origin main --tags
Create GitHub release

Useful Git Aliases

git config --global alias.st status

Short status

git config --global alias.co checkout

Short checkout

git config --global alias.br branch

Short branch

git config --global alias.cm "commit -m"

Quick commit

git config --global alias.lg "log --oneline --graph"

Pretty log

git config --global alias.unstage "reset HEAD --"

Unstage files

Common .gitignore Patterns

# Dependencies
node_modules/
vendor/

Ignore package directories

# Environment files
.env
.env.local

Environment variables

# Build output
dist/
build/
*.min.js

Generated files

# OS files
.DS_Store
Thumbs.db

System files

# IDE files
.vscode/
.idea/
*.swp

Editor configurations

# Logs
*.log
logs/

Log files

Git & GitHub Cheat Sheet

Quick Navigation