Cheatsheet Engineering

Git Commands Cheatsheet

From clone to interactive rebase, the git commands you reach for daily, grouped by intent with the dangerous ones flagged.

Setup & Status

Get oriented in any repo.

git initStart a new repo.

git clone <url>Copy a remote repo locally.

git statusWhat's changed, staged, untracked.

git log --oneline --graph --allVisual commit history.

git remote -vShow configured remotes.

Staging & Committing

Capture changes into the history.

git add <file>Stage specific files (preferred).

git add -pStage hunks interactively.

git commit -m "msg"Commit staged changes.

git commit --amendEdit the last commit (only if not pushed).

git restore --staged <file>Unstage without losing changes.

Branching & Merging

Workflow building blocks.

git switch -c <name>Create + switch to a branch (modern).

git switch <name>Switch to an existing branch.

git merge <branch>Merge another branch into current.

git branch -d <name>Delete a merged branch.

git branch -D <name>Force-delete an unmerged branch.

Rebase & History

Rewrite history carefully.

git rebase mainReplay your branch on top of main.

git rebase -i HEAD~5Interactive: squash, fix, reword recent commits.

git cherry-pick <sha>Apply a specific commit elsewhere.

git reflogTime-travel every HEAD change is here.

Stash & Restore

Move work-in-progress around.

git stashStash uncommitted changes.

git stash popRe-apply most recent stash.

git restore <file>Discard local changes to a file.

Sync with Remote

Push, pull, and reset relationships.

git fetchGet refs without merging.

git pull --rebasePull and replay your work on top.

git push -u origin <branch>Push and track upstream.

git push --force-with-leaseSafer force push (fails if remote moved).

git push --forceOverwrite remote history.

Recovery (the panic ones)

When something is wrong, take a breath and try these.

git reset HEAD~1Undo last commit; keep changes staged.

git reset --hard <sha>Hard reset to a commit.

git revert <sha>Undo a commit by adding a new commit.

git clean -fdDelete untracked files & dirs.

Rule of thumb: commands flagged with the warning icon rewrite or destroy history. Use --force-with-lease over --force, and never reset published commits.

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