Git Commands for Vibecoders

Every command you need. Bookmark this page.

Quick links:

• Daily Commands — The 6 you use every day
• Branching — Work on features safely
• Undoing Things — Fix mistakes
• Commit Messages — Write good ones

Tip: Cmd/Ctrl+F to find specific commands.

---

Daily Commands

Command	What it does
git status	See what’s changed
git add .	Stage all changes
git add -p	Stage changes interactively
git commit -m "message"	Commit with message
git push	Push to remote
git pull	Pull from remote

Branching

Command	What it does
git branch	List branches
git branch feature-name	Create branch
git checkout feature-name	Switch to branch
git checkout -b feature-name	Create and switch
git merge feature-name	Merge branch into current
git branch -d feature-name	Delete branch

Viewing History

Command	What it does
git log --oneline	Compact history
git log --oneline -10	Last 10 commits
git log --graph	Visual branch graph
git diff	See unstaged changes
git diff --staged	See staged changes
git show HEAD	Show last commit

Undoing Things

Oops, I need to undo…

Situation	Command
Unstage a file	git reset HEAD file.txt
Discard changes to file	git checkout -- file.txt
Undo last commit (keep changes)	git reset --soft HEAD~1
Undo last commit (discard changes)	git reset --hard HEAD~1
Revert a pushed commit	git revert <commit-hash>
Amend last commit message	git commit --amend -m "new message"
Add to last commit	git add . && git commit --amend --no-edit

Stashing

Command	What it does
git stash	Save changes for later
git stash pop	Restore stashed changes
git stash list	See all stashes
git stash drop	Delete top stash
git stash clear	Delete all stashes

Remote Operations

Command	What it does
git remote -v	Show remotes
git fetch	Download changes (don’t merge)
git pull --rebase	Pull and rebase
git push -u origin branch	Push new branch
git push --force-with-lease	Safe force push

Commit Message Formula

<type>: <short description>

<optional body>

<optional footer>

Types

Type	Use for
feat	New feature
fix	Bug fix
refactor	Code refactoring
docs	Documentation
style	Formatting
test	Tests
chore	Maintenance

Examples

git commit -m "feat: add user authentication"
git commit -m "fix: resolve login redirect loop"
git commit -m "refactor: extract validation helpers"
git commit -m "docs: update API documentation"

.gitignore Essentials

# Dependencies
node_modules/
.pnpm-store/

# Build outputs
dist/
build/
.next/
.astro/

# Environment
.env
.env.local
.env*.local

# IDE
.vscode/
.idea/
*.swp

# OS
.DS_Store
Thumbs.db

# Logs
*.log
npm-debug.log*

# Testing
coverage/

Useful Aliases

Add to ~/.gitconfig:

[alias]
  co = checkout
  br = branch
  ci = commit
  st = status
  last = log -1 HEAD
  unstage = reset HEAD --
  undo = reset --soft HEAD~1
  amend = commit --amend --no-edit
  lg = log --oneline --graph --all
  wip = commit -am "WIP"

Fixing Common Mistakes

Wrong branch

# Stash changes
git stash

# Switch to correct branch
git checkout correct-branch

# Apply changes
git stash pop

Committed to wrong branch

# Undo commit (keep changes)
git reset --soft HEAD~1

# Stash changes
git stash

# Switch branch
git checkout correct-branch

# Apply and commit
git stash pop
git add .
git commit -m "your message"

Need to update from main

# Fetch latest
git fetch origin

# Rebase on main
git rebase origin/main

# Or merge main
git merge origin/main

Merge conflicts

# After conflict occurs:
# 1. Edit conflicting files
# 2. Stage resolved files
git add .

# 3. Continue
git rebase --continue
# or
git merge --continue

Pro Tips

Tip: Use git add -p to review changes before staging

Tip: Commit early, commit often — you can squash later

Tip: Write commit messages in present tense (“add feature” not “added feature”)

Tip: Use --force-with-lease instead of --force to avoid overwriting others’ work

Tip: Set up SSH keys to avoid typing passwords: ssh-keygen -t ed25519

---

🎯 Get Started

If you’re new to Git:

# 1. Initialize a repo
git init

# 2. Add your files
git add .

# 3. Make your first commit
git commit -m "initial commit"

# 4. Create a GitHub repo, then:
git remote add origin https://github.com/YOU/REPO.git
git push -u origin main

Now commit after every working state. Your future self will thank you.

---

Related

• Project Setup — Start projects right
• Shipping Fast — Deploy with confidence
• Mistakes to Avoid — Learn from others