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Git Quick Guide — Beyond Commit & Push

You know git add, git commit, git push. Here's what else matters.

1. The Three Areas

Working Directory  →  Staging Area  →  Local Repo  →  Remote (GitHub)
     (your edits)      (git add)      (git commit)    (git push)
  • Working directory: Your actual files. Edit anything.
  • Staging area: What you've chosen to include in the next commit (git add).
  • Local repo: Commits on your machine (git commit).
  • Remote: GitHub/other server (git push).

2. Branches — The Big Idea

A branch is a separate line of commits. main is the default.

  • Why use branches? Work on features or experiments without touching main.
  • Flow: Create branch → make commits → merge back into main when done.

Essential Branch Commands

Command What it does
git branch List local branches (current has *)
git branch -a List all (local + remote)
git branch feature-x Create new branch (doesn't switch)
git checkout feature-x Switch to feature-x
git checkout -b feature-x Create and switch in one step
git merge feature-x Merge feature-x into current branch
git branch -d feature-x Delete branch (after merge)

Typical Workflow

# Start a new feature
git checkout -b add-bigquery-support

# Work, commit, commit...
git add .
git commit -m "Add BigQuery loader"
# ... more commits ...

# Merge back into main
git checkout main
git merge add-bigquery-support

# Clean up
git branch -d add-bigquery-support
git push

3. Syncing With Remote

Command What it does
git pull Fetch + merge remote changes into your branch
git fetch Download remote updates (doesn't merge)
git push origin main Push main to origin
git push -u origin my-branch Push branch and set upstream (first time)

Best practice: Run git pull before you start work so you have the latest changes.

4. Undoing Things

Situation Command
Discard changes in a file (before commit) git restore filename
Unstage a file git restore --staged filename
Undo last commit, keep changes git reset --soft HEAD~1
Undo last commit, discard changes git reset --hard HEAD~1 (careful!)
View what changed git diff (unstaged), git diff --staged (staged)

5. Inspecting History

Command What it does
git log Show commit history
git log --oneline -10 Short log, last 10 commits
git status Working dir + staging status
git diff See unstaged changes

6. Remote Basics

Command What it does
git remote -v List remotes (usually origin)
git clone <url> Copy repo to new folder
git push Push to default remote/branch
git pull Pull from default remote/branch

7. One-Liner Cheat Sheet

git status                    # What's changed?
git add -A                     # Stage everything
git commit -m "message"       # Commit
git push                       # Send to GitHub
git pull                       # Get latest
git checkout -b new-branch     # New branch + switch
git merge other-branch         # Merge into current
git log --oneline -5           # Recent commits
git restore file               # Discard file changes

8. When Things Go Wrong

Merge conflict: Two people changed the same lines. Git marks conflicts in files with <<<<<<<, =======, >>>>>>>. Edit to fix, then git add and git commit.

Accidentally committed to main: Create branch from current state, reset main:

git branch my-work
git reset --hard origin/main   # main back to remote state
git checkout my-work            # continue on your branch

Need to update remote branch list: git fetch --prune