Command Line and Git Commands

A simple reference guide for basic terminal, Git, and GitHub commands.

Terminal Commands

Command	What it does
dir	Shows files and folders in Windows Command Prompt
ls	Shows files and folders in Git Bash, macOS, or Linux
cd <folder-name>	Opens a folder
cd ..	Goes back one folder
mkdir <folder-name>	Creates a folder
touch <filename>	Creates a file in Git Bash, macOS, or Linux
rm <filename>	Deletes a file
rm -r <folder-name>	Deletes a folder and everything inside it
code .	Opens the current folder in Visual Studio Code

Basic Git Commands

Command	What it does
git init	Starts Git in a project
git status	Shows changed files
git add .	Stages all changes
git add <filename>	Stages one file
git commit -m "message"	Saves staged changes
git log --oneline	Shows commit history
git push	Uploads commits to GitHub
git pull	Downloads changes from GitHub

Connect a Project to GitHub

git init
git add .
git commit -m "Initial commit"
git branch -M main
git remote add origin <repository-url>
git push -u origin main

Daily Git Workflow

git status
git add .
git commit -m "Describe your changes"
git push

Branch Commands

Command	What it does
git branch	Shows branches
git switch -c <branch-name>	Creates and opens a branch
git switch <branch-name>	Switches branches
git merge <branch-name>	Merges a branch into the current branch
git branch -d <branch-name>	Deletes a merged branch

Undo Commands

Command	What it does
git restore <filename>	Discards unstaged file changes
git restore --staged <filename>	Removes a file from staging
git revert <commit-hash>	Reverses a commit safely
git reset --hard HEAD~1	Deletes the latest commit and changes

Warning: Be careful with rm -r and git reset --hard. They can permanently delete work.

Git Stash

Command	What it does
git stash	Temporarily saves unfinished work
git stash pop	Restores the saved work
git stash list	Shows saved stashes

Remote Commands

Command	What it does
git remote -v	Shows the GitHub repository URL
git fetch	Downloads remote information
git pull origin main	Downloads and merges changes
git push origin main	Uploads the main branch

.gitignore

Create a .gitignore file to prevent Git from tracking certain files.

Example:

node_modules/
.env
dist/