Git Commands I Wish I Knew Earlier

Beyond add, commit, push. The commands that actually save time.

Undo Everything

# Unstage a file (keep changes)
git reset HEAD file.js

# Discard all unstaged changes in a file
git checkout -- file.js
# or (newer):
git restore file.js

# Uncommit (keep changes staged)
git reset --soft HEAD~1

# Uncommit AND unstage (keep changes)
git reset HEAD~1

# Discard commit entirely (dangerous!)
git reset --hard HEAD~1

Stashing — Save Work for Later

# Save current work temporarily
git stash
git stash push -m "WIP: feature X"

# List all stashes
git stash list

# Restore the most recent stash
git stash pop

# Apply without removing from stack
git stash apply

# Drop specific stash
git stash drop stash@{2}

# Clear all stashes
git stash clear

# Practical use case:
# You're working on feature A, need to fix a bug urgently
git stash          # Save feature A work
git checkout -b hotfix/bug-123
# ... fix bug, commit, push ...
git checkout feature-A
git stash pop      # Resume where you left off

Interactive Rebase — Clean Your History

# Edit last 3 commits before pushing
git rebase -i HEAD~3

# Options that appear:
pick abc1234 First commit
squash def5678 Second commit    # Merge into previous
reword ghi9010 Third commit     # Change message only
drop jkl1122 Fourth commit     # Remove entirely
edit mno3456 Fifth commit      # Pause to edit files

# Real example: Squash "typo fix" commits into main commit
git rebase -i origin/main
# Change 'pick' to 'squash' on the typo-fix commits
# Save → write new combined message → done!

Cherry-Pick — Grab Specific Commits

# Copy one commit from another branch
git cherry-pick abc1234

# Copy multiple commits
git cherry-pick abc1234 def5678 ghi9010

# Use case: Hotfix from dev branch to production
git checkout production
git cherry-pick abc1234   # Just this one fix
git push origin production

Bisect — Find the Breaking Commit

# Start bisect when you find a bug
git bisect start
git bisect bad              # Current version has bug
git bisect good v1.0.0      # This version was fine

# Git will checkout a middle commit
# Test it, then tell git:
git good                    # This commit is fine
git bad                     # This commit has bug

# Repeat until Git finds the exact commit
# Result: abc1234 is the first bad commit
git bisect reset            # Done

Search Through History

# Find commits by message
git log --grep="fix login"

# Find commits that touched a specific file
git log --oneline -- src/auth/login.js

# Find who changed a line (blame!)
git blame src/utils.js

# Search code content across all history
git grep -n "TODO" $(git rev-list --all)

# Find commits that added or removed a string
git log -S "functionName" --oneline

# Show diff of what changed between two points
git diff abc1234..def5678 --stat

Branch Management

# Rename current branch
git branch -m old-name new-name

# Delete local branch
git branch -d feature-x       # Safe (checks if merged)
git branch -D feature-x       # Force delete

# Delete remote branch
git push origin --delete feature-x

# Track a new remote branch
git checkout --track origin/new-feature

# See all branches sorted by last commit date
git branch -v --sort=-committerdate

# Clean up stale branches (merged into main)
git branch --merged main | grep -v '^\*\|main' | xargs git branch -d

Working With Remotes

# See all remotes
git remote -v

# Add a new remote
git remote add upstream https://github.com/original/repo.git

# Fetch from upstream (for forks)
git fetch upstream
git merge upstream/main

# Force push (use carefully!)
git push --force-with-lease   # Safer than --force
# Only forces if your local ref matches expected remote state

# Push to a different remote branch
git push origin feature-x:hotfix/x

# Pull but rebase instead of merge (cleaner history)
git pull --rebase origin main

Reflog — Recover Lost Work

# See all actions (including "deleted" stuff)
git reflog

# Recover a deleted commit
git reset --hard HEAD@{5}    # Go back to action #5

# Recover after force push disaster
git reflog                   # Find the commit before force-push
git reset --hard abc1234     # Reset to that commit
git push --force             # Push it back

Aliases — Type Less

# Add these to ~/.gitconfig
[alias]
    co = checkout
    br = branch
    ci = commit
    st = status
    lg = log --oneline --graph --all
    unstage = reset HEAD --
    amend = commit --amend --no-edit
    last = log -1 HEAD
    visual = log --oneline --graph --all --decorate
    undo = reset HEAD~1
    save = stash push -m
    pop = stash pop

# Now you can type:
git co feature-x        # instead of git checkout feature-x
git ci -m "Fix"         # instead of git commit -m "Fix"
git lg                  # Beautiful graph view

Quick Reference Card

Task	Command
Unstage	git reset HEAD <file>
Discard changes	git restore <file>
Undo last commit	git reset --soft HEAD~1
Stash work	git stash
Pop stash	git stash pop
Squash commits	git rebase -i
Pick commit	git cherry-pick <hash>
Find breaking commit	git bisect
Search messages	git log --grep="text"
Search code	git -S "text"
Blame line	git blame <file>
Recover lost	git reflog + git reset

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