Git serves as a distributed version control system enabling efficient project tracking. This reference consolidates fundamental and advanced Git operations for repository management.

Initial Setup and Configuration

Initialize a local repository:

git init

Configure user identity:

git config user.name 'Your Name'
git config user.email 'email@example.com'

Use --global flag for system-wide settings.

Associate local repository with remote:

git remote add origin 'remote-repository-URL'

To disassociate:

git remote remove origin

Stage files for commit:

git add 'file-path'

Commit staged changes:

git commit -m "Commit message"

Synchronizing Changes

Retrieve remote updates without merging:

git fetch origin

Pull remote branch changes:

git pull origin main

Use --rebase to resolve conflicts:

git pull --rebase origin main

Push local changes to remote:

git push -u origin main:main

Clone specific brench:

git clone -b branch-name remote-repo-URL

Change Inspection

Compare working directory with staging area:

git diff

Compare staged changes with last commit:

git diff --cached

Compare working directory with last commit:

git diff HEAD

Commit History

Display commit log:

git log

Show limited commits:

git log -n 5

Filter merge commits:

git log --merges

View file-specific history:

git log -- filename

Display commit differences:

git log -p filename

Show recent diffs:

git log -p -2

View commit statistics:

git log --stat

File Operations

Rename tracked file:

git mv oldname newname

Move tracked file:

git mv filename target-directory/

Force move/overwrite:

git mv -f source existing-file

Branch Management

List branches:

git branch -a  # All branches
git branch     # Local branches
git branch -r  # Remote branches

Create branch:

git branch new-feature

Rename branch:

git branch -m old-name new-name

Delete local branch:

git branch -d branch-name

Delete remote branch:

git push origin --delete branch-name

Set branch description:

git branch branch-name --edit-description

Establish upstream tracking:

git branch --set-upstream-to=origin/remote-branch

Switch branches:

git checkout branch-name  # Existing branch
git checkout -b new-branch origin/remote-branch  # Create and track

Return to previous brench:

git checkout -

Merging and Rebasing

Reset staged file to last commit (preserves working changes):

git reset filename

Reset staging and working area to last commit:

git reset --hard

Move branch pointer (preserves working directory):

git reset commit-hash

Hard reset to specific commit:

git reset --hard commit-hash

Reset HEAD while keeping changes:

git reset --keep commit-hash

Reverse changes via new commit:

git revert commit-hash

Revert last commit:

git revert HEAD

Stash uncommitted changes:

git stash

Restore stashed changes:

git stash pop

List stashes:

git stash list

Apply specific stash:

git stash apply stash@{n}

Discard stash:

git stash drop stash@{n}

Tag Operations

List tags:

git tag

Create lightweight tag:

git tag tag-name

Tag specific commit:

git tag tag-name commit-hash

Delete local tag:

git tag -d tag-name

Delete remote tag:

git push origin :refs/tags/tag-name

Inspect tag details:

git show tag-name

Push specific tag:

git push origin tag-name

Push all tags:

git push origin --tags

Create brench from tag:

git checkout -b branch-name tag-name

Commit History Manipulation

Rebase current branch onto target:

git rebase target-branch

Interactive rebase:

git rebase -i target-branch

Apply specific commits to current branch:

git cherry-pick commit-hash

Cherry-pick multiple commits:

git cherry-pick commit1 commit2