Git Tips Every Developer Should Know - Beyond the Basics

# Rebase the last 5 commits interactively
git rebase -i HEAD~5

pick abc1234 Add user model
pick def5678 Fix typo in user model
pick ghi9012 Add user controller
pick jkl3456 WIP: user service
pick mno7890 Finish user service

# Commands:
# p, pick = use commit
# r, reword = use commit but edit message
# s, squash = squash into previous commit
# f, fixup = squash but discard message
# d, drop = remove commit

# Stash your current changes
git stash

# Stash with a description
git stash push -m "WIP: user auth feature"

# List all stashes
git stash list
# stash@{0}: On main: WIP: user auth feature
# stash@{1}: On main: Quick fix attempt

# Apply and remove the latest stash
git stash pop

# Apply a specific stash (without removing it)
git stash apply stash@{1}

# Stash only specific files
git stash push -m "api changes" src/api/users.ts

# Delete all stashes
git stash clear

# Start bisect session
git bisect start

# Mark current commit as bad
git bisect bad

# Mark a known good commit
git bisect good v1.2.0

# Git will checkout the middle commit — test it
# If it's bad:
git bisect bad
# If it's good:
git bisect good

# Git automatically narrows down — binary search!
# Eventually tells you exactly which commit introduced the bug

# Reset when done
git bisect reset

git reflog
# HEAD@{0}: commit: Add new feature
# HEAD@{1}: reset: moving to HEAD~1
# HEAD@{2}: commit: Oops, bad commit
# HEAD@{3}: checkout: moving from feature to main

# Recover a "lost" commit
git checkout HEAD@{2}

# Recover after an accidental reset --hard
git reset --hard HEAD@{3}

# Beautiful one-line log
git log --oneline --graph --all --decorate

# Show commits with file diffs
git log -p

# Show commits that changed a specific file
git log --follow -p src/components/Button.tsx

# Show commits between two dates
git log --after="2026-01-01" --before="2026-03-01"

# Show commits by author
git log --author="Alice"

# Search commits by message
git log --grep="fix auth"

# My favorite alias
git log --oneline --graph --decorate --all

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

# Cherry-pick a range of commits
git cherry-pick abc1234..def5678

# Cherry-pick without committing (just apply changes)
git cherry-pick --no-commit abc1234

[alias]
  st = status
  co = checkout
  br = branch
  ci = commit
  lg = log --oneline --graph --decorate --all
  undo = reset HEAD~1 --mixed
  unstage = reset HEAD --
  last = log -1 HEAD
  wip = commit -am "WIP"
  unwip = reset HEAD~1 --mixed
  aliases = config --get-regexp alias

# See what you're about to commit
git diff --staged

# Compare two branches
git diff main..feature-branch

# Compare specific files between branches
git diff main feature-branch -- src/api/users.ts

# Show only file names that changed
git diff --name-only main..HEAD

# Word-level diff (easier to read)
git diff --word-diff

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

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

# Undo last commit AND discard changes (dangerous!)
git reset HEAD~1 --hard

# Undo a specific commit by creating a new commit
git revert abc1234  # Safe for shared branches

# Unstage a file
git restore --staged file.txt

# Discard local changes to a file
git restore file.txt

# Create a .gitignore based on your project type
# Visit gitignore.io or use GitHub's templates

# See what's being ignored
git check-ignore -v filename

# Force add an ignored file
git add -f file.txt

# Remove a file from tracking (but keep it locally)
git rm --cached sensitive-file.txt