Git Cheatsheet

Git is the open source distributed version control system that allows to perform GitHub activities on your desktop. This cheat sheet summarizes commonly used Git command line instructions for quick reference.

Git cheat list

• list last 20 hashes in reverse

  git log -n 20 --reverse --format="%h %ae %s" --abbrev-commit
  

• try a new output for diffing

  git diff --compaction-heuristic ...
           --color-words ...
  

• enable more thorough comparison

  git config --global diff.algorithm patience
  

• restoring a file from a certain commit relative to the latest

  git checkout HEAD~<NUMBER> -- <RELATIVE_PATH_TO_FILE>
  

• restoring a file from a certain commit relative to the given commit

  git checkout <COMMIT_HASH>~<NUMBER> -- <RELATIVE_PATH_TO_FILE>
  

• restoring a file from a certain commit

  git checkout <COMMIT_HASH> -- <RELATIVE_PATH_TO_FILE>
  

• creating a diff file from unstaged changes for a specific folder

  git diff -- <RELATIVE_PATH_TO_FOLDER> changes.diff
  

• applying a diff file
  • go to the root directory of your repository
  • run:  git apply changes.diff 
• show differences between last commit and currrent changes:

  git difftool -d
  

• referring to:
  • last commits ... HEAD~1 ...
  • last 3 commits ... HEAD~3 ...
• show the history of changes of a file

  git log -p -- ./Scripts/Libs/select2.js
  

• ignoring whitespaces

  git rebase --ignore-whitespace <BRANCH_NAME>
  

• pulling for fast-forward only (eliminating a chance for unintended merging)

  git pull --ff-only
  

• list of all tags

  git fetch
  git tag -l
  

• archive a branch using tags

  git tag <TAG_NAME> <BRANCH_NAME>
  git push origin --tags
  

  you can delete your branch now
• get a tagged branch

  git checkout -b <BRANCH_NAME> <TAG_NAME>
  

• list of all branches that haven't been merged to master

  git branch --no-merge master
  

• enable more elaborate diff algorithm by default

  git config --global diff.algorithm histogram
  

• list of all developers

  git shortlog -s -n -e
  

• display graph of branches

  git log --decorate --graph --all --date=relative
  

  or

  git log --decorate --graph --all --oneline 
  

• remembering the password

  git config --global credential.helper store
  git fetch
  

  the first command tells git to remember the credentials that you are going to provide for the second command
• path to the global config

  C:\Users\Bykov\.gitconfig
  

• example of a global config

  [user]
     email = *****
     name = Aleksey Bykov
     password = *****
  [merge]
     tool = p4merge
  [mergetool "p4merge"]
     cmd = p4merge.exe \"$BASE\" \"$LOCAL\" \"$REMOTE\" \"$MERGED\"
     path = \"C:/Program Files/Perforce\"
     trustExitCode = false
  [push]
     default = simple
  [diff]
     tool = meld
     compactionHeuristic = true
  [difftool "p4merge"]
     cmd = p4merge.exe \"$LOCAL\" \"$REMOTE\"
     path = C:/Program Files/Perforce/p4merge.exe
  [difftool "meld"]
     cmd = \"C:/Program Files (x86)/Meld/Meld.exe\" \"$LOCAL\" \"$REMOTE\"
     path = C:/Program Files (x86)/Meld/Meld.exe
  

• viewing differences between current and other branch

  git difftool -d BRANCH_NAME
  

• viewing differences between current and stash

  git difftool -d stash
  

• viewing differences between several commits in a diff tool

  git difftool -d HEAD@{2}...HEAD@{0}
  

• view all global settings

  git config --global -l
  

• delete tag

  git tag -d my-tag
  git push origin :refs/tags/my-tag
  

• pushing tags

  git push --tags
  

• checking the history of a file or a folder

  git log -- <FILE_OR_FOLDER>
  

• disabling the scroller

  git --no-pager <...>
  

• who pushed last which branch

  git for-each-ref --format="%(committerdate) %09 %(refname) %09 %(authorname)"
  

• deleting remote branch

  git push origin :<BRANCH_NAME>
  

• deleting remote branch localy

  git branch -r -D <BRANCH_NAME>
  

  or to sync with the remote

  git fetch --all --prune
  

• deleting local branch

  git branch -d <BRANCH_NAME>
  

• list actual remote branchs

  git ls-remote --heads origin
  

• list all remote (fetched) branches

  git branch -r
  

• list all local branches

  git branch -l
  

• find to which branch a given commit belongs

  git branch --contains <COMMIT>
  

• updating from a forked repository

  git remote add upstream https://github.com/Microsoft/TypeScript.git
  git fetch upstream
  git rebase upstream/master

References :

https://services.github.com/kit/downloads/github-git-cheat-sheet.pdf 

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Heemanshu Bhalla