Developer Reference

Git & GitHub
Cheat Sheet

A concise, hands-on reference for every Git command — with real examples, GitHub workflow, and recovery techniques all in one place.

$ every command · with examples · explained simply

// What is Git?

🗂️
Version Control SystemTracks every change to your code — what, when, and who. Roll back anytime.
🌿
Branching & MergingWork on features in isolation. Merge when ready, discard if not.
👥
CollaborationMultiple people, one codebase. Git keeps changes in sync without conflicts.
☁️
GitHub = Cloud + CollaborationHosts your repos online and adds Pull Requests, Issues, and CI/CD.
01 — Setup & Initialize
⚙️

Global Config

Set your identity once

Set username & email
git config --global user.name "John Doe"
git config --global user.email "john@email.com"
Set default editor & branch name
git config --global core.editor "code"
git config --global init.defaultBranch main
View all config
git config --list
🚀

Init & Clone

Start a repo locally or from remote

Create new local repo
git init my-project
cd my-project
Clone from GitHub
git clone https://github.com/user/repo.git
Clone into a specific folder
git clone https://github.com/user/repo.git my-folder
02 — Staging & Commits
📦

Staging Files

Choose what goes into the next commit

Check current status
git status
Stage a specific file
git add index.html
Stage all changed files
git add .
Unstage a file
git restore --staged index.html
See what's staged vs unstaged
git diff --staged
✅

Committing

Save a snapshot of staged changes

Commit with a message
git commit -m "feat: add login page"
Stage + commit tracked files at once
git commit -am "fix: typo in header"
Amend last commit message
git commit --amend -m "fix: correct message"
Empty commit (trigger CI)
git commit --allow-empty -m "chore: trigger CI"
03 — Branching
🌿

Branch Basics

Create, switch, list, delete

List all branches
git branch            # local
git branch -a         # local + remote
Create a new branch
git branch feature/login
Switch to a branch
git switch feature/login
Create & switch in one step
git switch -c feature/signup
Delete a branch
git branch -d feature/login   # safe
git branch -D feature/login   # force
Rename current branch
git branch -m new-name
🔀

Merge & Rebase

Combine branch histories

Merge a branch into current
git switch main
git merge feature/login
Merge without fast-forward (keeps history)
git merge --no-ff feature/login
Rebase onto main (cleaner history)
git switch feature/login
git rebase main
Abort a conflicting rebase
git rebase --abort
Continue after resolving conflicts
git rebase --continue
04 — Remote & GitHub
☁️

Remote Commands

Connect & sync with GitHub

Add a remote (GitHub)
git remote add origin https://github.com/user/repo.git
View remotes
git remote -v
Push branch to GitHub
git push origin main
Push & set upstream (first time)
git push -u origin feature/login
Pull latest from remote
git pull origin main
Fetch (download without merge)
git fetch origin
Delete a remote branch
git push origin --delete feature/login
🐙

GitHub Workflow

Fork → PR → Review → Merge

1
Fork & clone repo from GitHub
git clone https://github.com/you/forked-repo.git
2
Create a feature branch
git switch -c feature/my-change
3
Commit your changes
git add .
git commit -m "feat: my change"
4
Push to your fork
git push -u origin feature/my-change
5
Open Pull Request on GitHub UI
# Go to GitHub → Compare & Pull Request
# Add title, description → Submit PR
6
Sync with upstream after merge
git switch main
git pull upstream main
05 — Undo & Recovery
↩️

Undo Changes

Revert, reset, restore

Discard changes in working directory
git restore index.html
Undo last commit (keep changes)
git reset --soft HEAD~1
Undo last commit (discard changes) ⚠️
git reset --hard HEAD~1
Revert a commit (safe, creates new commit)
git revert a3f1b2c
Recover lost commits with reflog
git reflog
git reset --hard HEAD@{3}
🗄️

Stash

Save work temporarily without committing

Stash current changes
git stash
Stash with a label
git stash push -m "WIP: login form"
List all stashes
git stash list
Apply latest stash
git stash pop
Apply a specific stash
git stash apply stash@{2}
Drop a stash
git stash drop stash@{0}
06 — Log & History
📜

git log

Inspect commit history

Basic log
git log
Compact one-line log
git log --oneline
Visual branch graph
git log --oneline --graph --all
Filter by author
git log --author="Alice"
Log since a date
git log --since="2026-01-01"
Reflog (every HEAD movement)
git reflog
🏷️

Tags

Mark release versions

List all tags
git tag
Create a lightweight tag
git tag v1.0.0
Create an annotated tag
git tag -a v1.0.0 -m "Release v1.0.0"
Push tags to GitHub
git push origin --tags
Delete a tag
git tag -d v1.0.0
git push origin --delete v1.0.0
07 — Advanced Commands
🍒

Cherry-pick

Copy specific commits to current branch

Apply a single commit from another branch
git cherry-pick a3f1b2c
Cherry-pick a range of commits
git cherry-pick a3f1b2c..f9e3d11
Cherry-pick without committing
git cherry-pick -n a3f1b2c
🔍

Diff & Blame

Inspect what changed and who changed it

See unstaged changes
git diff
Compare two branches
git diff main..feature/login
See who changed each line
git blame index.html
Search for a string in history
git log -S "loginUser" --oneline
✂️

Interactive Rebase

Rewrite, squash, edit commits

Squash last 3 commits interactively
git rebase -i HEAD~3
In the editor that opens:
pick a3f1b2c feat: add login
squash 9d4e521 fix: typo
squash 1bc7830 fix: spacing
# → becomes 1 clean commit
📁

.gitignore

Tell Git what to never track

Example .gitignore file
# Dependencies
node_modules/
# Environment secrets
.env
.env.local
# Build output
dist/
build/
# OS files
.DS_Store
Thumbs.db
Ignore already-tracked file
git rm --cached .env
08 — Quick Reference
CommandWhat it does
git statusShow working tree status
git add .Stage all changes
git commit -m "msg"Commit with message
git push origin mainPush to GitHub
git pull origin mainPull latest from GitHub
git switch -c branchCreate + switch to branch
git merge branchMerge branch into current
git stashSave changes temporarily
git stash popRestore stashed changes
git log --onelineCompact commit history
git reflogEvery HEAD movement
git reset --soft HEAD~1Undo last commit, keep changes
git reset --hard HEAD~1Undo last commit, discard changes
git revert abc123Safe undo via new commit
git cherry-pick abc123Copy commit to current branch
git tag v1.0.0Create a version tag
git diff main..branchCompare two branches
git blame file.txtSee who wrote each line
git rebase -i HEAD~3Squash/edit last 3 commits
git remote -vList remotes with URLs