command-reference.md

Command Reference

Every command that shows up across the practice modules, explained properly. The root README stays short on purpose, this is where the actual detail lives. See glossary.md if a term itself, rather than a command, is unclear.

The everyday loop

Command	What it actually does
git status	Compares the working directory, the staging area and the last commit, reporting what is untracked, modified or staged
git add <file>	Copies a file's current content into the staging area, ready for the next commit
git add --all	Stages every change in the repository, new, modified and deleted files alike
git diff	Shows the difference between the working directory and the staging area, what would be added if I staged everything right now
git diff --staged	Shows the difference between the staging area and the last commit, what the next commit will actually contain
git commit -m "message"	Creates a new commit from whatever is currently staged, with the given message
git commit --amend	Replaces the last commit entirely, either its message, its content or both, rather than creating a new one
git log --oneline	Shows commit history as one line per commit, hash and message only
git log --oneline --graph --decorate --all	The same, but drawn as a branch graph with every branch and tag labelled
git push	Uploads local commits on the current branch to its configured remote
git pull	Downloads remote commits and merges them into the current branch in one step

Branching

Command	What it actually does
git branch	Lists local branches, the current one marked with *
git branch <name>	Creates a new branch pointing at the current commit, without switching to it
git checkout -b <name>	Creates a new branch and switches to it in one step, the older syntax
git switch -c <name>	The same as above, using the newer, more explicit switch command
git branch -d <name>	Deletes a local branch, refusing if it has commits not yet merged anywhere
git branch -D <name>	Force-deletes a local branch regardless of merge status, needed after a squash-merge since Git cannot tell it was merged
git branch -m <new-name>	Renames the current branch
git branch --merged	Lists branches already fully merged into the current one, safe to delete
git branch --no-merged	Lists branches with commits not yet merged in, a warning before deleting

Undoing things

Command	What it actually does
git restore <file>	Discards uncommitted changes to a file, reverting it to the last commit
git restore --staged <file>	Unstages a file without touching its content, the opposite of git add
git reset HEAD~1	Moves the current branch back one commit, keeping the changes staged
git reset --hard HEAD~1	Moves the current branch back one commit and discards the changes entirely
git revert <hash>	Creates a new commit that undoes a previous one, safe on shared history since nothing already pushed is rewritten

Merging and rebasing

Command	What it actually does
git merge <branch>	Combines another branch into the current one, creating a merge commit if the histories diverged
git merge --abort	Cancels an in-progress merge, restoring the state from before it started
git rebase <branch>	Replays the current branch's commits on top of another branch, producing new commit hashes
git rebase -i HEAD~<n>	Opens an interactive rebase covering the last n commits, for squashing, reordering or editing
git rebase --continue	Resumes a rebase after resolving a conflict or finishing an edit stop
git rebase --abort	Cancels an in-progress rebase entirely, restoring the branch to where it started

Stash and cherry-pick

Command	What it actually does
git stash	Shelves uncommitted changes and restores a clean working directory
git stash push -m "message"	The same, with a description so git stash list stays readable
git stash list	Lists everything currently shelved
git stash pop	Reapplies the most recent stash and removes it from the list
git stash apply	Reapplies the most recent stash without removing it from the list
git cherry-pick <hash>	Copies a single commit from elsewhere onto the current branch, as a new commit

Remotes

Command	What it actually does
git remote -v	Lists configured remotes and their URLs
git remote add <name> <url>	Adds a new named remote
git fetch <remote>	Downloads a remote's commits without merging them into anything
git fetch --prune	Fetches and also removes local references to branches deleted on the remote
git push origin --delete <branch>	Deletes a branch on the remote, not just locally

Diagnosing history

Command	What it actually does
git reflog	Shows every commit HEAD has pointed at locally, the recovery tool for a bad rebase or reset
git bisect start	Begins a binary search through history to find which commit introduced a bug
git show <hash>	Shows exactly what one commit changed

GitHub CLI (gh)

Command	What it actually does
gh pr create	Opens a pull request from the current branch, interactively or with flags
gh pr list	Lists open pull requests in the current repository
gh pr checkout <number>	Checks out someone else's pull request locally by number
gh pr review <number> --comment --body "..."	Leaves a review comment on a pull request without approving or requesting changes
gh pr merge --squash --delete-branch	Squash-merges the current branch's pull request and deletes the branch, locally and on GitHub
gh pr merge --squash --delete-branch --auto	The same, but enabled ahead of time, so it fires automatically once required checks pass
gh pr checks	Shows the status of every check on a pull request
gh issue create	Opens a new issue
gh issue close	Closes an issue directly, without needing a linked pull request
gh label list	Lists every label that actually exists on the current repository
gh run watch	Streams a running workflow's logs live in the terminal

See practice/10-daily-workflow-and-aliases for the shorter alias I actually type for most of the commands above.