Complete local version-control workflow with the git CLI. Works the same on Linux, macOS, Windows, and WSL. For GitHub-specific actions (PRs, issues, CI runs) use the github skill (gh) instead - everything else lives here.
Reach for the git tool first. It covers the whole everyday workflow - status, diff, log, show, blame, branches, add, commit, restore, switch, stash, fetch, push, pull, merge, rebase, reset - with parsed output, paths checked against the workspace, and no way for git to stop at an editor or a credential prompt. Conflicted merges and rebases are resumed through the tool too: step=continue, step=abort, step=skip.
The commands below are for what the tool does not model: revert, reflog, bisect, cherry-pick, tags, worktrees, remotes, and commit --amend.
Judgement calls, not restrictions:
\nreset --hard, push --force, clean -fd and branch -D destroy work that no checkpoint covers. Use them when that is the intent, and say what is being dropped.rebase -i, add -i, add -p) - they hang without a TTY. Use the non-interactive equivalents below.git status # working tree + staging area\ngit diff # unstaged changes\ngit diff --staged # staged changes\ngit log --oneline --graph -15 # recent history\ngit show <commit> # one commit's diff + message\ngit blame -L 20,40 path/file.py # who last touched lines 20-40\ngit add path/file.py another/file.ts # stage specific files (prefer over `git add .`)\ngit restore --staged path/file.py # unstage\ngit commit -m \"fix: handle empty payload in parser\"\nMulti-line commit messages without an editor:
\ngit commit -m \"$(cat <<'EOF'\nfeat: add terminal re-attach on panel reopen\n\nReplays the scrollback buffer so reopening the panel restores output.\nEOF\n)\"\nFix the last commit (only if not pushed): git commit --amend --no-edit (add files first) or git commit --amend -m \"new message\".
git branch -a # list local + remote branches\ngit switch -c feature/login # create + switch\ngit switch main # switch back\ngit branch -d feature/login # delete merged branch\ngit push -u origin feature/login # publish and set upstream\nPrefer the tool: git action=fetch, action=pull, action=push. The shell forms below are for the cases it does not cover - inspecting divergence, listing remotes, pushing tags.
git fetch --all --prune # update remote refs, drop deleted ones\ngit pull --rebase # update current branch without merge commits\ngit push # publish commits\ngit remote -v # list remotes\nDiverged from remote? Inspect first: git log --oneline HEAD..origin/main (incoming) and origin/main..HEAD (outgoing).
Prefer the tool: action=merge name=…, action=rebase name=…, then step=continue / step=abort / step=skip. It reports which files conflicted instead of leaving you to run status again.
git merge feature/login # merge into current branch\ngit rebase main # replay current branch onto main\ngit rebase --abort # bail out of a bad rebase\ngit merge --abort # bail out of a bad merge\nNon-interactive squash of a feature branch onto main:
\ngit switch main && git merge --squash feature/login && git commit -m \"feat: login\"\nmerge/rebase/pull call already listed the conflicted paths; git action=status lists them again.<<<<<<</=======/>>>>>>> sections.git action=add paths=[…] for each.git action=rebase step=continue, or git action=merge step=continue.Take one side wholesale when appropriate:
\ngit checkout --ours path/file.lock && git add path/file.lock # keep current branch's version\ngit checkout --theirs path/file.lock && git add path/file.lock # keep incoming version\ngit stash push -m \"wip: refactor parser\" # save dirty tree\ngit stash list\ngit stash pop # restore most recent and drop it\ngit stash apply stash@{1} # restore without dropping\ngit restore path/file.py # discard unstaged changes in one file (destructive - confirm first)\ngit revert <commit> # safe undo: new commit that reverses another\ngit reset --soft HEAD~1 # uncommit, keep changes staged\ngit reflog # every position HEAD has been at\ngit reset --hard HEAD@{2} # jump back to a reflog entry (destructive - confirm first)\nLost commits after a bad reset/rebase are almost always recoverable through git reflog.
git log -S \"functionName\" --oneline # commits that added/removed a string\ngit log --follow --oneline -- path/file.py # history of a file across renames\ngit bisect start && git bisect bad && git bisect good v1.2.0\n# test, then mark: git bisect good | git bisect bad ... until found; finish:\ngit bisect reset\ngit cherry-pick <commit> # copy one commit onto current branch\ngit tag -a v1.3.0 -m \"release 1.3.0\" && git push origin v1.3.0\ngit worktree add ../hotfix-dir hotfix/urgent # second working dir on another branch\ngit worktree remove ../hotfix-dir\ngit config --global user.name \"Your Name\"\ngit config --global user.email \"you@example.com\"\ngit config --global init.defaultBranch main\ngit config --global pull.rebase true\nIf git commit fails with \"Please tell me who you are\", run the two identity commands above first.
Add patterns to .gitignore before the files are tracked. To untrack an already-committed file while keeping it on disk:
git rm --cached path/secrets.env && echo \"path/secrets.env\" >> .gitignore\n