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Git cheatsheet

A one-page reference for Git. For the object model, DAG internals, and the full "Oh No" recovery playbook, see the complete guide.

📖 Full guide: Git →

Branching​

git switch -c feature/x     # create + switch
git switch main
git branch -d feature/x     # delete (merged)
git branch -D feature/x     # force delete

Merging vs rebasing​

git merge feature/x         # preserves history, adds merge commit
git rebase main             # replays commits on top of main, linear history

Golden rule: never rebase commits already pushed/shared with others.

See: Merge vs rebase — when to use each

Interactive rebase​

git rebase -i HEAD~4
# pick / reword / squash / fixup / drop
git rebase --continue
git rebase --abort

fetch vs pull​

git fetch origin            # downloads, doesn't merge
git pull origin main        # fetch + merge (or --rebase)
git pull --rebase           # avoids merge-bubble noise

Inspecting history​

git log --oneline --graph --all
git diff                    # working dir vs staged
git diff --staged           # staged vs last commit
git show <commit>

Stash​

git stash push -m "wip"
git stash list
git stash pop                # apply + drop
git stash apply stash@{1}    # apply, keep in list

Cherry-pick & bisect​

git cherry-pick <sha>              # apply one commit elsewhere
git bisect start
git bisect bad HEAD
git bisect good v1.2.0             # binary-searches the breaking commit
git bisect run npm test

Reflog — your safety net​

git reflog
git reset --hard HEAD@{2}   # recover a "lost" commit/branch

Nothing reachable via reflog is truly gone, even after a hard reset.

Undoing things​

git restore <file>              # discard working-dir changes
git restore --staged <file>     # unstage
git reset --soft HEAD~1         # undo commit, keep changes staged
git reset --hard HEAD~1         # undo commit, discard changes
git revert <sha>                # new commit that undoes <sha> (safe on shared history)

reset rewrites history (local only); revert adds a new commit (safe to push).

Force-push, responsibly​

git push --force-with-lease     # fails if remote has commits you haven't seen

Never plain --force on a shared branch — --force-with-lease protects against clobbering someone else's push.

Resolving conflicts​

git status                  # lists conflicted files
# edit files, resolve <<<< ==== >>>> markers
git add <file>
git commit                  # or: git rebase --continue

Tags & .gitignore​

git tag v1.2.0                        # lightweight
git tag -a v1.2.0 -m "release"        # annotated (preferred for releases)
git push origin v1.2.0

.gitignore patterns are per-directory; git check-ignore -v <file> shows which rule matched.