🔀 Git Commands for Team Collaboration

🚀 Quick Setup for New Team Members

# Configure your identity
git config --global user.name "Your Name"
git config --global user.email "your.email@example.com"

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/team/project.git
cd project

# Check remote connections
git remote -v

📌 Essential Daily Commands

Command	Description	Example
`git status`	Check working directory status	`git status`
`git add`	Stage changes for commit	`git add .` or `git add filename.js`
`git commit`	Commit staged changes	`git commit -m "Add new feature"`
`git pull`	Fetch and merge remote changes	`git pull origin main`
`git push`	Push commits to remote	`git push origin feature-branch`
`git fetch`	Download remote changes without merging	`git fetch origin`
`git log`	View commit history	`git log --oneline --graph`
`git diff`	Show changes between commits	`git diff HEAD~1`

🌿 Branch Management

git branch Branching

List, create, or delete branches

# List all branches
git branch -a

# Create new branch
git branch feature-name

# Delete local branch
git branch -d feature-name

# Delete remote branch
git push origin --delete feature-name

# Rename branch
git branch -m old-name new-name

git checkout / git switch Branching

Switch branches or restore files

# Switch to existing branch
git checkout feature-branch
# or (newer syntax)
git switch feature-branch

# Create and switch to new branch
git checkout -b new-feature
# or
git switch -c new-feature

# Checkout remote branch
git checkout -b feature-branch origin/feature-branch

git merge Integration

Merge branches together

# Merge feature branch into current branch
git merge feature-branch

# Merge with no fast-forward (creates merge commit)
git merge --no-ff feature-branch

# Abort merge in case of conflicts
git merge --abort

🚀 Feature Branch Workflow

Create feature branch:

git checkout -b feature/user-authentication

Make changes and commit:

git add .
git commit -m "Add login functionality"

Keep branch updated with main:

git fetch origin
git merge origin/main
# or rebase
git rebase origin/main

Push feature branch:

git push -u origin feature/user-authentication

Create Pull Request (on GitHub/GitLab)

After PR approval, clean up:

git checkout main
git pull origin main
git branch -d feature/user-authentication

👥 Team Collaboration Commands

git remote Remote

Manage remote repositories

# View remotes
git remote -v

# Add remote
git remote add upstream https://github.com/original/repo.git

# Remove remote
git remote remove upstream

# Rename remote
git remote rename origin upstream

# Update remote URL
git remote set-url origin https://github.com/new/repo.git

git stash Work Management

Temporarily save uncommitted changes

# Save current changes
git stash
# or with message
git stash save "Work in progress on feature X"

# List stashes
git stash list

# Apply most recent stash
git stash apply
# or specific stash
git stash apply stash@{2}

# Apply and remove stash
git stash pop

# Delete stash
git stash drop stash@{1}

# Clear all stashes
git stash clear

git rebase History Management

Reapply commits on top of another base

# Rebase current branch onto main
git rebase main

# Interactive rebase (last 3 commits)
git rebase -i HEAD~3

# Continue after resolving conflicts
git rebase --continue

# Abort rebase
git rebase --abort

# Pull with rebase
git pull --rebase origin main

⚠️ Conflict Resolution

Resolving Merge Conflicts

# When conflict occurs during merge
git status  # See conflicted files

# Edit files to resolve conflicts
# Look for conflict markers:
# <<<<<<< HEAD
# Your changes
# =======
# Their changes
# >>>>>>> feature-branch

# After resolving, add files
git add resolved-file.js

# Complete the merge
git commit -m "Resolve merge conflicts"

# Or abort if needed
git merge --abort

🔍 Reviewing Changes & History

git log History

View commit history

# One line per commit
git log --oneline

# With graph
git log --graph --oneline --all

# Show commits by author
git log --author="John Doe"

# Show commits since date
git log --since="2 weeks ago"

# Show commits affecting specific file
git log -- path/to/file.js

# Pretty format
git log --pretty=format:"%h - %an, %ar : %s"

git show Inspection

Show details of commits, tags, etc.

# Show latest commit
git show

# Show specific commit
git show abc123

# Show file at specific commit
git show abc123:path/to/file.js

git blame Investigation

Show who modified each line

# Show line-by-line authorship
git blame file.js

# Show blame for specific lines
git blame -L 10,20 file.js

# Ignore whitespace changes
git blame -w file.js

↩️ Undoing Changes

git reset Undo

Reset current HEAD to specified state

# Unstage files (keep changes)
git reset HEAD file.js

# Soft reset (keep changes staged)
git reset --soft HEAD~1

# Mixed reset (keep changes unstaged) - default
git reset HEAD~1

# Hard reset (discard changes) - DANGER!
git reset --hard HEAD~1

# Reset to specific commit
git reset --hard abc123

git revert Undo

Create new commit that undoes previous commit

# Revert last commit
git revert HEAD

# Revert specific commit
git revert abc123

# Revert without creating commit immediately
git revert -n abc123

git restore Undo

Restore working tree files (Git 2.23+)

# Discard changes in working directory
git restore file.js

# Restore file from specific commit
git restore --source=HEAD~2 file.js

# Unstage file
git restore --staged file.js

🏷️ Tagging Releases

git tag Versioning

Create, list, and manage tags

# List tags
git tag

# Create lightweight tag
git tag v1.0.0

# Create annotated tag
git tag -a v1.0.0 -m "Release version 1.0.0"

# Tag specific commit
git tag v1.0.0 abc123

# Push tag to remote
git push origin v1.0.0

# Push all tags
git push origin --tags

# Delete local tag
git tag -d v1.0.0

# Delete remote tag
git push origin --delete v1.0.0

📋 Team Collaboration Best Practices

Write clear commit messages: Use present tense, be descriptive (e.g., "Add user authentication" not "added auth")
Commit frequently: Make small, logical commits that are easy to review and revert if needed
Pull before push: Always pull latest changes before pushing to avoid conflicts
Use feature branches: Never commit directly to main/master branch
Keep branches short-lived: Merge feature branches quickly to avoid divergence
Review before merging: Use pull requests for code review
Don't rewrite public history: Never force push to shared branches
Use .gitignore: Keep sensitive data and build artifacts out of the repository
Tag releases: Use semantic versioning (v1.2.3) for releases
Document your workflow: Maintain a CONTRIBUTING.md file with team conventions

📝 Commit Message Format

# Format
type(scope): subject

body

footer

# Examples
feat(auth): add login functionality
fix(api): resolve timeout issue in user endpoint
docs(readme): update installation instructions
style(components): format code according to prettier
refactor(utils): simplify date formatting function
test(auth): add unit tests for login
chore(deps): update dependencies

Types:

feat: New feature
fix: Bug fix
docs: Documentation changes
style: Code style changes (formatting, etc.)
refactor: Code refactoring
test: Adding or updating tests
chore: Maintenance tasks

⚡ Useful Git Aliases

# Add to ~/.gitconfig or use git config --global alias.name command

[alias]
    # Shortcuts
    st = status
    co = checkout
    br = branch
    ci = commit
    
    # Pretty log
    lg = log --graph --pretty=format:'%Cred%h%Creset -%C(yellow)%d%Creset %s %Cgreen(%cr) %C(bold blue)<%an>%Creset' --abbrev-commit
    
    # Show last commit
    last = log -1 HEAD
    
    # Undo last commit (keep changes)
    undo = reset HEAD~1 --mixed
    
    # List contributors
    contributors = shortlog --summary --numbered
    
    # List branches by date
    recent = for-each-ref --sort=committerdate refs/heads/ --format='%(HEAD) %(color:yellow)%(refname:short)%(color:reset) - %(color:red)%(objectname:short)%(color:reset) - %(contents:subject) - %(authorname) (%(color:green)%(committerdate:relative)%(color:reset))'

⚠️ Dangerous Commands - Use with Caution!

# Force push (rewrites remote history)
git push --force origin branch-name
# Safer alternative
git push --force-with-lease origin branch-name

# Hard reset (loses uncommitted changes)
git reset --hard HEAD

# Clean untracked files (permanent deletion)
git clean -fd

# Checkout file from another branch (overwrites current)
git checkout other-branch -- file.js

# Amend pushed commit (requires force push)
git commit --amend
git push --force

🔀 Git Commands for Team Collaboration 📥 Print/Save as PDF