Git Mastery

A collection of notes and references

Published: 6/20/2025

Misc commands#

# List tracked files
git ls-tree -r main --name-only

# List files modified since most recent commit
git status -s

# List files modified in most recent commit:
git diff --name-only HEAD~0 HEAD~1

#List branches [all | local | remote]:
git branch -a
git branch -l
git branch -r

# Delete a local branch
git branch -D branchName

# Delete a remote branch
git push origin -d branchName

Initial commit to remote#

git remote add origin git@github.com:<path/to/repo>.git
git branch -M main
git push -u origin main

Hard reset (force pull) to the remote branch#

git pull --force

# Downloads the latest from the remote
git fetch origin

# Makes local branch exactly match the remote branch
git reset --hard origin/main

Untrack ignored files#

git rm -r --cached . && git add .

Reword a commit message#

git log --oneline --graph --all

* 66e3e7d (HEAD -> main) 3rd commit
* 6733ccf Second commit
* 10555c8 Init

Let’s rename Second commit to 2nd commit.

git rebase -i HEAD~2

1. Navigate to the commit (using arrows)
2. Press i to enter interactive mode
3. Edit pick to reword
4. Press CTRL+C to exit interactive mode, followed by :wq to save and exit (or :q! to exit without saving)
5. (Next screen) Edit the message
6. CTRL+C, then :wq

Need to abort the rebase? git rebase --abort

git log --oneline --graph --all

* fbb8fc8 (HEAD -> main) 3rd commit
* 2c92099 2nd commit
* 10555c8 Init

What if we try to push it to remote?

git push

To some-remote-repo.git
 ! [rejected]        main -> main (non-fast-forward)
error: failed to push some refs to 'some-remote-repo.git'

How to push rebased history to remote

Delete an earlier commit#

Squash a commit (into the previous one).

git log --oneline --graph --all

* a6b64be (HEAD -> main) 4th commit
* d6470d7 3rd commit
* fad02a1 2nd commit
* 10555c8 Init

Let’s delete 3rd commit.

git rebase -i HEAD~3

1. Navigate to the commit (using arrows)
2. Press i to enter interactive mode
3. Edit pick to squash
4. Press CTRL+C to exit interactive mode, followed by :wq to save and exit (or :q! to exit without saving)
5. (Next screen) Edit the message
6. CTRL+C, then :wq

# This is a combination of 2 commits.
# This is the 1st commit message:

2nd and 3rd commit

# Please enter the commit message for your changes. Lines starting
# ...

Need to abort the rebase? git rebase --abort

git log --oneline --graph --all

* d0b28da (HEAD -> main) 4th commit
* 6b7002e 2nd and 3rd commit
* 10555c8 Init

What if we try to push it to remote?

git push

To some-remote-repo.git
 ! [rejected]        main -> main (non-fast-forward)
error: failed to push some refs to 'some-remote-repo.git'

How to push rebased history to remote

Push rebased history to remote#

After rebasing, the commit history has changed. To update the remote main branch, you have two options.

Option 1: Push with force (solo work)#

If you’re working alone on the branch, you can safely overwrite the remote:

git push --force-with-lease

--force-with-lease is safer than --force, as it aborts if the remote has unexpected changes.

Option 2: Rebase on a feature branch, then merge (shared repos)#

If you’re working with others, avoid rewriting main directly.

Instead, do your rebasing on a feature branch, then merge.

This way, main remains stable, and collaborators aren’t affected by rebased history.

# Start a new branch for your work
git checkout -b fix-commit-history

Perform the rebase.

# Push it to remote
git push origin fix-commit-history

Then open a Pull Request (or):

# Merge your clean history back into main
git checkout main

# --ff-only works for linear commit histories, allowing merge without requiring a commit
git merge --ff-only fix-commit-history
git push

A fast-forward only works if main is strictly behind fix-commit-history, no extra commits, no divergence.

Push local feature branch to remote and merge into main#

Without adding a commit.

# Push feature branch
git push origin <branch-name>

git checkout main

# Merge with fast-forward only (no merge commit)
git merge --ff-only <branch-name>

git push origin main

Delete a remote branch#

git push origin --delete <branch-name>

Unstage a file before commit#

# List files staged/unstaged
git status

# Unstage a file
git restore --staged <path/to/file>

Reset commit#

# Reset file to last committed version (discard unstaged changes)
git restore <path/to/file>

# Reset file to a specific commit
git checkout HEAD~1 -- <path/to/file>