Git Commands Every Developer Must Know (With Examples)

Initial Setup

Before using Git, configure your identity. This information appears in every commit you make and is visible in team repositories.

git config --global user.name "Your Name"
git config --global user.email "you@example.com"
git config --global core.editor "code --wait"  # use VS Code as editor

The Core Daily Workflow

# Start a new project
git init                    # initialize Git in current directory
git clone              # download an existing repo

# Check what's happening
git status                  # see changed/staged/untracked files
git log --oneline           # compact commit history
git diff                    # see unstaged changes
git diff --staged           # see staged changes (what will be committed)

# Stage and commit
git add .                   # stage ALL changed files
git add src/components/     # stage a specific folder
git add -p                  # interactively stage parts of files (very useful)

git commit -m "feat: add user authentication"
git commit --amend          # fix last commit message (before pushing)

# Undo things
git restore           # discard unstaged changes to a file
git restore --staged  # unstage a file (keep changes in working dir)
git revert     # create a new commit that undoes a previous one

Branching and Merging

# Branches
git branch                  # list all local branches
git branch feature/login    # create a new branch
git checkout -b feature/login  # create AND switch (classic)
git switch -c feature/login    # same thing, newer syntax

git switch main             # switch to main branch
git merge feature/login     # merge feature into current branch

# Delete branches
git branch -d feature/login     # delete (only if merged)
git branch -D feature/login     # force delete (even if not merged)

# Working with remotes
git push origin feature/login   # push branch to GitHub
git push -u origin feature/login # push and set upstream (first time)
git pull                    # fetch + merge remote changes
git fetch                   # fetch remote changes without merging

Working with GitHub

# Connect local repo to GitHub
git remote add origin https://github.com/username/repo.git
git remote -v               # verify remote connections

# Common push/pull patterns
git push                    # push to tracked remote branch
git pull --rebase           # pull and rebase instead of merge (cleaner history)

# Stashing — save work temporarily without committing
git stash                   # stash all changes
git stash pop               # restore latest stash
git stash list              # see all stashes

# Tags — mark important commits like releases
git tag v1.0.0              # create a tag
git push origin v1.0.0      # push a tag to GitHub

Resolving Merge Conflicts

Merge conflicts happen when two branches change the same lines of code. Git marks the conflict in the file and you resolve it manually.

<<<<<<< HEAD
const greeting = "Hello World";     // your version
=======
const greeting = "Hi World";        // incoming version
>>>>>>> feature/greeting

To resolve: delete the conflict markers (<<<<<<<, =======, >>>>>>>) and keep the code you want (either version, or a combination). Then git add the resolved file and git commit to complete the merge.