Git Cheat Sheet

You don't need to know all of Git to use it well. In day-to-day work, including on every client project here, these dozen commands cover almost everything. The rest you can look up the one time a year you need it.

If Git still feels scary, the Git & GitHub track walks through it slowly with a practice repository.

Command	What it does
git init	New repo
git clone URL	Copy a repo
git status	What changed
git add -A	Stage everything
git commit -m "msg"	Save a snapshot
git switch -c name	New branch
git merge name	Merge branch
git pull / git push	Sync with remote
git log --oneline --graph	History
git stash / git stash pop	Shelve changes
git restore file	Discard changes
git revert <sha>	Undo a commit safely

A normal day with Git

git switch main
git pull                      # get everyone else's changes
git switch -c fix-invoice-pdf # new branch for your work
# ...edit files...
git status                    # see what changed
git add -A
git commit -m "Fix GST total on invoice PDF"
git push -u origin fix-invoice-pdf

Then open a pull request on GitHub, get it reviewed, and merge.

Undoing things, safely

This is where people panic, so here is the plain version:

• Changed a file and want the old version back (not committed yet): git restore file.py.
• Staged something by mistake: git restore --staged file.py. The change stays in your file, it's just unstaged.
• Committed but not pushed, want to change the message or add a file: git commit --amend.
• Already pushed a bad commit: git revert <sha>. It adds a new commit that undoes the old one, so nobody else's history breaks.

Avoid git reset --hard and git push --force on shared branches unless you're very sure. They rewrite history, and that's how people lose work.

Good habits

• Commit small and often, with messages that say why, like "Fix rounding in GST total", not "changes".
• Never commit .env files, passwords or API keys. Add them to .gitignore before your first commit. If a key does get pushed, treat it as leaked and generate a new one. Deleting the file afterwards doesn't remove it from history.
• git stash is handy when you need to switch branches quickly but aren't ready to commit.