My Git CLI Cheat Sheet

I created a cheat sheet for the Git Command Line Interface to go along with my Git tutorial for SQL Change Automation video.

I find the Git CLI to be very friendly and easier to learn than a GUI interface.

Setup

Download git CLI: https://git-scm.com/downloads

git clone

Clone a remote repo (maybe an empty one) into your local directory. Ref.

git init

If not cloning, you might initialize a fresh repo locally. Ref.

.gitignore file

• I often show people how to use Git with Redgate’s SQL Change Automation. For that tool, you can download and unzip the .gitignore file to the folder where your .sqlproj file lives: https://documentation.red-gate.com/display/sca4/Version+control.
• Another great resource for figuring out what to ignore is http://gitignore.io/

Essentials

git status

Lists modified or added files, with status as to whether they are staged. Ref.

git add .

Stages all modified or added files. You must stage before you commit. Ref.

If you want to unstage everything: git reset Ref.

git commit -m “this is my meaningful message”

Commits staged files. Ref.

git push

Pushes staged files to remote repo. If upstream branch doesn’t exist, git CLI prints syntax to push to upstream branch with same name as your local branch: simply copy and paste! Ref.

git pull

Fetches from remote and updates current branch. If using feature branches, remember to checkout master and pull after you merge a Pull Request on the upstream repo. Ref.

Branching

git checkout -b features/mynewfeaturename

Switches to a newly created branch (the -b tells it to create a new branch. In Azure DevOps (and some other systems), the “/” means that this branch will be logically grouped into a features “folder-like-thing” and the branch will be named mynewfeaturename. Ref.

git merge master

Merges the contents of another branch (in this case, it’s master)into your current branch. Ref.

git checkout master

Switches to existing branch named master (trunk). Ref.

git branch

Lists all local branches. Ref.

git branch -d features/mynewfeaturename

Deletes local branch features/mynewfeaturename. Only works if you are not in that branch. Ref.

Stashing

git stash -u

Put away / temporarily removes all modified files. The -u means it applies also to even recently added untracked files (not yet staged). Ref.

git stash pop

Unpack your stash. Doesn’t matter if you’re in a different branch from where you stashed. Ref.