Git CLI Shortcuts & Aliases

Essential Commands

Command	Action
git init	Initialize a new repository
git clone <url>	Clone a remote repository
git status	Show working tree status
git add .	Stage all changes
git add -p	Stage changes interactively (patch mode)
git commit -m "msg"	Commit with message
git commit --amend	Amend last commit
git push	Push to remote
git pull	Fetch and merge from remote
git fetch	Fetch from remote without merging
git diff	Show unstaged changes
git diff --staged	Show staged changes
git diff HEAD~1	Show changes from last commit

Branching

Command	Action
git branch	List local branches
git branch -a	List all branches (including remote)
git branch <name>	Create new branch
git checkout <branch>	Switch to branch
git checkout -b <name>	Create and switch to new branch
git switch <branch>	Switch to branch (modern)
git switch -c <name>	Create and switch (modern)
git branch -d <name>	Delete branch (safe)
git branch -D <name>	Force delete branch
git merge <branch>	Merge branch into current
git rebase <branch>	Rebase current onto branch
git cherry-pick <hash>	Apply specific commit

History & Inspection

Command	Action
git log --oneline	Compact commit history
git log --graph --oneline	Visual branch graph
git log -p	Show patches with commits
git log --author="name"	Filter by author
git log --since="2 weeks ago"	Filter by date
git show <hash>	Show commit details
git blame <file>	Show line-by-line authorship
git reflog	Show reference log (undo history)
git shortlog -sn	Contributor summary

Undoing Changes

Command	Action
git restore <file>	Discard working directory changes
git restore --staged <file>	Unstage a file
git reset HEAD~1	Undo last commit (keep changes)
git reset --hard HEAD~1	Undo last commit (discard changes)
git revert <hash>	Create new commit undoing a commit
git stash	Stash working changes
git stash pop	Apply and remove last stash
git stash list	List all stashes
git stash apply stash@{n}	Apply specific stash
git stash drop	Remove last stash
git clean -fd	Remove untracked files and directories

Remote Operations

Command	Action
git remote -v	Show remote URLs
git remote add <name> <url>	Add remote
git push -u origin <branch>	Push and set upstream
git push origin --delete <branch>	Delete remote branch
git pull --rebase	Pull with rebase
git fetch --prune	Fetch and remove stale remote branches
git remote prune origin	Clean up stale remote references

Recommended Aliases

Add these to ~/.gitconfig under [alias]:

Alias	Command	Action
git s	status -sb	Short status with branch
git co	checkout	Checkout shortcut
git br	branch	Branch shortcut
git ci	commit	Commit shortcut
git ca	commit --amend --no-edit	Amend without editing message
git lg	log --oneline --graph --decorate	Pretty log graph
git last	log -1 HEAD	Show last commit
git unstage	reset HEAD --	Unstage files
git undo	reset HEAD~1 --mixed	Undo last commit
git wip	commit -am "WIP"	Quick work-in-progress commit
git aliases	config --get-regexp alias	List all aliases
git df	diff --stat	Diff summary
git conflicts	diff --name-only --diff-filter=U	List conflicted files

Useful Config Settings

Command	Action
git config --global init.defaultBranch main	Set default branch to main
git config --global pull.rebase true	Default pull to rebase
git config --global rerere.enabled true	Remember conflict resolutions
git config --global push.autoSetupRemote true	Auto set upstream on push
git config --global fetch.prune true	Auto prune on fetch
git config --global core.autocrlf input	Line ending handling (macOS/Linux)