/BUILT-IN

Git Cheatsheet

The commands that earned their place. Companion reference for the Git for Network Engineers series.

v1 · 2026.05.26

The commands that earned their place. This page is the printable companion to the Git for Network Engineers series — the bit you keep open in another tab.

Hit Print / Save as PDF above to take it with you.

Setup

One-time global config on a new machine.

git config --global user.name "Your Name" Identity attached to every commit you make.
git config --global user.email "[email protected]" Email tied to your GitHub account.
git config --global init.defaultBranch main Stop the master/main warning on every new repo.
git config --global pull.rebase true Default every git pull to rebase. Cleaner history, no merge commits.
ssh-keygen -t ed25519 -C "you@host" Generate an SSH key. Paste the .pub into GitHub → SSH Keys.
gh auth login Authenticate the GitHub CLI. Web-browser flow is the easiest path.
gh auth status Verify you are logged in and which scopes the token has.

The daily loop

Branch, edit, commit, push, PR, merge, sync. Repeat.

git switch -c feature/short-description Create and switch to a new feature branch off the current one.
git switch - Return to the previously checked-out branch. The cd - for git.
git status What changed, what is staged, what is untracked. Run constantly.
git add <file> / git add . Stage a specific file, or everything in the current dir and below.
git add -p Interactive staging by hunk. Pick exactly which changes go in the commit.
git commit -m "what this commit does" Take what is staged, save it as a snapshot with that message.
git push -u origin <branch> First push of a branch. Sets it to track origin. After this, just git push.
gh pr create --fill Open a PR. --fill auto-uses commit messages for title/body.
gh pr merge --squash --delete-branch Squash-merge the PR, delete the branch locally and remotely.
git switch main && git pull Back to main, sync with the merged result.

Inspect history

Reading the past. Use these before changing anything.

git log --oneline -10 Last 10 commits, compact view. The default git log is too noisy.
git log --oneline --graph --all Visualize branches and merges across the whole repo.
git log --grep="ci" Filter commits by message text (basic regex by default).
git log --author="tonhe" Every commit by an author whose name or email matches.
git log --since="2 weeks ago" Time-bounded log. Also --until= for a closing bound.
git log -- path/to/file.yml Every commit that touched that file. Note the --.
git log -p -- path/to/file.yml Same as above, but with the full diff inline for each commit.
git log --follow path/to/file.yml Track a file through renames. Useful when a file has moved.
git show <sha> Full diff of a specific commit. Add --stat for just the file list.
git show <sha>:path/to/file Read the contents of a file as it was at that commit.
git blame <file> Who wrote each line and when. The “why is it like this” command.
git blame -L 11,12 <file> Blame only specific lines. Useful for long files.
git diff / git diff --staged Unstaged changes vs. staged changes. Run before every commit.

Power tools

History as an investigation instrument.

git cherry-pick <sha> Apply a single commit from another branch onto the current branch.
git cherry-pick --abort Bail out if a cherry-pick conflicts and you do not want to resolve.
git bisect start Begin a binary search for the commit that broke something.
git bisect bad HEAD / git bisect good <sha> Mark current state as broken and a known-good commit. Git checks out the midpoint.
git bisect good / git bisect bad After testing the midpoint, mark it. Git narrows the range.
git bisect run <script> Automated bisect. Your script exits 0 for good, non-zero for bad.
git bisect reset End the bisect session and return to your starting branch.
git rebase -i HEAD~3 Interactive rebase. Squash, reword, drop, reorder the last 3 commits.
git rebase main Replay the current branch on top of latest main. Clean linear history.

Recovery

When you mess up. `git reflog` is your time machine.

git reflog Every place HEAD has been. Find the SHA of the thing you “lost,” recover from there.
git commit --amend --no-edit Add staged changes to the previous commit. Local only, never amend pushed commits.
git commit --amend -m "new message" Rewrite the most recent commit message. Still local only.
git restore --staged <file> Unstage a file. Modern replacement for git reset HEAD <file>.
git restore <file> Discard unstaged edits. Destructive: gone for good.
git revert <sha> New commit that undoes a published commit. Safe for shared history.
git reset --soft HEAD~1 Undo last commit, keep changes staged. Useful for restructuring.
git reset --hard <sha> Move branch to that SHA, throw out everything past it. Dangerous on shared branches.
git stash push -u -m "wip" Save uncommitted work (incl. untracked with -u) so you can switch branches.
git stash list / git stash pop See the stack of stashes. Pop the most recent one off and reapply.
git stash apply / git stash drop apply reapplies but keeps the stash on the stack. drop discards without applying.
git switch -c recover-it <sha> Bring a deleted branch back. Get the SHA from git reflog.
git push --force-with-lease Force-push, but only if nobody else pushed since you last fetched. Never use plain –force.
git filter-repo --invert-paths --path <file> --force Remove a file from all history. After a credential leak. Rotate the credential first.

Remotes and sync

Talking to the world beyond your laptop.

git remote -v List configured remotes and their URLs. origin is the convention.
git remote add origin <url> Connect a local repo to a remote. Done once per repo.
git remote set-url origin <url> Change a remote URL. Use this to switch from HTTPS to SSH.
git fetch --prune Pull down remote refs and clean up references to branches deleted on the remote.
git pull --rebase Fetch + rebase your local commits on top. Cleaner than the default fetch+merge.
git branch -a List all branches, local and remote-tracking.
git branch --show-current Just the current branch name. Scriptable. Useful for shell prompts and CI.
git branch -d <name> / git branch -D <name> Delete a merged branch. Capital -D forces deletion of unmerged branches.
git branch -m old-name new-name Rename a local branch. Often git branch -m main to rename from master.

Releases and tags

Annotated tags are how you mark known-good points. `git push --tags` ships them.

git tag List all tags in the repo.
git tag -a v1.0 -m "release notes" Create an annotated tag at HEAD. -a makes it a real object with author and message.
git push --tags Push all local tags to origin. By default git push does not push tags.
git show v1.0 See the tag metadata and the commit it points at.

GitHub from the terminal

`gh` is not git. It is the GitHub API on the command line.

gh repo create <name> --private --source=. --remote=origin --push Create a GitHub repo from the current dir, wire up origin, push.
gh repo view --web Open the current repo in your browser.
gh pr list --state all List open, closed, and merged PRs for the current repo.
gh pr view <num> See a PR in the terminal. --web to open it in your browser.
gh pr checkout <num> Pull a teammate’s PR branch locally. Killer feature for testing changes.
gh pr review --approve --body "lgtm" Approve a PR from the CLI. Also --request-changes or --comment.
gh run list --limit 5 Recent GitHub Actions workflow runs for the current repo.
gh run watch <id> Block until a run completes, then print the result. Great after git push.
gh run rerun <id> --failed Rerun only the failed jobs of a workflow run. For flaky CI.
gh issue list / gh issue create Browse and create issues from the terminal. Same --web trick available.
gh extension list / gh extension install <repo> List installed gh extensions. Install community extensions from GitHub repos.

Hardening

Make GitHub catch mistakes before they land.

pre-commit install Wire up .pre-commit-config.yaml hooks so they run on every git commit.
pre-commit run --all-files Run all configured hooks against every file in the repo. Use after first install.
git commit --no-verify Skip pre-commit hooks for this commit. Almost always the wrong move. Fix the hook.
.github/CODEOWNERS File where you assign default reviewers per path glob. Pairs with branch protection.
gh api repos/OWNER/REPO/branches/main/protection -X PUT --input rules.json Set branch protection rules from a JSON file. Versionable, scriptable.
gh secret set SECRET_NAME Set a repository secret for GitHub Actions workflows. Prompts for the value.

EOF · git 2.x · gh 2.x · companion to Git for Network Engineers series rendered · routerjockey.com/tools/git-cheatsheet · 2026.05.26