[Tutorial] Essential Git commands and workflows every developer should know

[Tutorial] Essential Git commands and workflows every developer should know - Printable Version

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[Tutorial] Essential Git commands and workflows every developer should know - Zero Two - 06-22-2026

Git is one of those tools where most people learn just enough to get by and then stay at that level forever. Here's a reference for the commands that go beyond the basics and are worth knowing.

The stuff everyone knows

Code:
git clone, git add, git commit, git push, git pull

Branching properly

Code:
git switch -c feature/my-feature    # create and switch to new branch

git switch main                       # go back to main

git branch -d feature/my-feature      # delete branch after merge

Staging selectively

Code:
git add -p    # interactively choose hunks to stage (very useful)

Fixing mistakes

Code:
git restore --staged file.txt    # unstage a file

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

git commit --amend --no-edit      # add staged changes to the last commit without changing the message

git reset HEAD~1                  # undo the last commit but keep the changes staged

Investigating history

Code:
git log --oneline --graph --all    # visual branch history

git log -p file.txt                # full history of changes to a file

git blame file.txt                 # who changed each line and when

git diff main...feature            # what changed on feature branch since it diverged from main

Finding regressions

Code:
git bisect start

git bisect bad HEAD           # current commit is broken

git bisect good v1.2.0        # this version was fine

# git tests each midpoint, you mark good/bad until it finds the commit

Stashing work in progress

Code:
git stash                     # save dirty working tree

git stash list                 # see all stashes

git stash pop                  # restore most recent stash

Cleaning up

Code:
git clean -fd                  # delete untracked files and directories (careful - irreversible)

A good Git mental model: commits are snapshots, branches are pointers to commits, and most "scary" commands (reset, rebase) just move these pointers around. Once that clicks, the tool becomes much less mysterious.