Git Commands Every Developer Must Know: From Beginner to Advanced

bash
# Initialize a new repository
git init

# Clone a repository
git clone https://github.com/user/repo.git

# Check status
git status

# Stage all changes
git add .

# Stage specific files
git add src/component.tsx

# Commit with message
git commit -m "feat: add user authentication"

# Push to remote
git push origin main

bash
# Create and switch to a new branch
git checkout -b feature/user-auth

# List all branches (local and remote)
git branch -a

# Switch branches
git checkout main

# Delete a branch (local)
git branch -d feature/user-auth

# Delete a branch (remote)
git push origin --delete feature/user-auth

bash
# Undo last commit but keep changes staged
git reset --soft HEAD~1

# Undo last commit and unstage changes
git reset --mixed HEAD~1

# Completely undo last commit (DANGEROUS - loses changes)
git reset --hard HEAD~1

# Undo a specific commit (creates a new commit)
git revert abc1234

# Discard all local changes
git checkout -- .

# Unstage a file
git reset HEAD file.txt

bash
# Save work in progress
git stash

# Save with a message
git stash save "WIP: working on login feature"

# List all stashes
git stash list

# Apply the latest stash
git stash pop

# Apply a specific stash
git stash apply stash@{2}

# Drop a stash
git stash drop stash@{0}

bash
# Merge (creates a merge commit)
git checkout main
git merge feature/auth

# Rebase (replay commits on top of main)
git checkout feature/auth
git rebase main

# Interactive rebase (squash, edit, reorder commits)
git rebase -i HEAD~5

bash
# Apply a specific commit from another branch
git cherry-pick abc1234

# Cherry-pick without committing
git cherry-pick --no-commit abc1234

bash
# Pretty log
git log --oneline --graph --all --decorate

# Search commit messages
git log --grep="fix bug"

# See who changed each line
git blame src/app.tsx

# Show changes in a commit
git show abc1234

# Diff between branches
git diff main..feature/auth

feat: add user registration endpoint
fix: resolve null pointer in auth middleware
docs: update API documentation
refactor: extract validation logic
test: add unit tests for payment service
chore: update dependencies