47 Git Aliases That Will Make You More Productive
Many seasoned developers type long git commands every time they need to perform a simple task, they forget the attributes or entire commands. It’s a shame to see senior developer typing 40 characters without a second thought.
In this post, I’m going to show you killer git feature that sadly many developers overlook. That’s git aliases. If you know it already, bear with me because I will share with you my secret 47 aliases that I can’t imagine programming without.
If you use git a lot via command line and you probably already know what git aliases are.
If you use any GUI tool instead of the terminal to run git commands, well, it’s possible that after you get familiar with git aliases, you will switch your git workflow entirely to the terminal.
Git aliases are a simple but very effective way to increase our productivity while using git.
If you are new to git aliases, let me give you a brief introduction.
For example, if you want to display the repository log as a nice colored tree, you will type something like this.
git log --graph --date=relative --pretty=tformat:'%Cred%h%Creset -%C(auto)%d%Creset %s %Cgreen(%an %ad)%Creset'
If you have an alias, you can just type git ls to get the same effect.
This also relates to other commands. You can literally shortcut any custom git command you want.
What I really like about git aliases is that you can use alias inside alias like for example here:
assumed = "!git ls-files -v | grep ^h | cut -c 3-"
unassumeall = "!git assumed | xargs git update-index --no-assume-unchanged"
You can find the entire list of 47 the most handy git aliases with the descriptions below:
[alias]
# list all aliases
la = "!git config -l | grep alias | cut -c 7-"
# log as graph tree
ls = log --color --graph --pretty=format:'%Cred%h%Creset -%C(yellow)%d%Creset %s %Cgreen(%cr) %C(bold blue)<%an>%Creset' --abbrev-commit --all --branches
# formated log with stats
ll = log --pretty=format:'* %Cred%h%Creset -%C(yellow)%d%Creset %s %Cgreen(%cr) %C(bold blue)<%an>%Creset' --decorate --numstat --all --branches
# log as series of patches
fl = log -p
# grep over the log and return commit and files
fi = log --all --pretty=\"format:%Cgreen%H %Cblue%s%Creset\" --name-status --grep
# formated, colored reflog
rl = reflog --pretty=format:\"%Cred%h%Creset %C(auto)%gd%Creset %C(auto)%gs%C(reset) %C(green)(%cr)%C(reset) %C(bold blue)<%an>%Creset\" --abbrev-commit
# add all files to index and stage
a = add --all
# add all file to index and stage with patch mode
ap = add --all -p
# show diff of the given revision
dr = "!f() { git diff "$1"^.."$1"; }; f "
# find file path in code base
f = "!git ls-files | grep -i "
# search code base for string
gr = grep -Ii
# amend last commit
cia = commit --amend --reuse-message=HEAD --edit -v -q
# commit
ci = commit -v -q
# assume unchanded for single file
assume = update-index --assume-unchanged
# unassume unchanded for single file
unassume = update-index --no-assume-unchanged
# list all assume unchanged files
assumed = "!git ls-files -v | grep ^h | cut -c 3-"
# unassume all assume unchanged files
unassumeall = "!git assumed | xargs git update-index --no-assume-unchanged"
# show last tag
lt = describe --tags --abbrev=0
re = remote
rev = remote -v
rp = replace --format=long
pl = pull
ps = push
pst = push --tags
cp = cherry-pick
st = status -s
fe = fetch
fea = fetch -a
ci = commit
co = checkout
br = branch
brr = branch -r
di = diff
diff = diff
dc = diff --cached HEAD^
r = reset
r1 = reset HEAD^
r2 = reset HEAD^^
ss = stash
# list all stashes in nice colo format
sl = stash list --pretty=format:\"%C(red)%h%C(reset) - %C(dim yellow)(%C(bold magenta)%gd%C(dim yellow))%C(reset) %<(70,trunc)%s %C(green)(%cr) %C(bold blue)<%an>%C(reset)\"
sd = stash show -p
mt = mergetool
dt = difftool
sub = submodule
# update all modules to most recent versions
subu = submodule update --recursive --remote --merge
# find parent branch for current branch
parent = "!git show-branch | grep '*' | grep -v \"$(git rev-parse --abbrev-ref HEAD)\" | head -n1 | sed 's/.*\\[\\(.*\\)\\].*/\\1/' | sed 's/[\\^~].*//' #"
# show details of last commit
sh = show
You can copy and paste them to your .gitconfig, but what I recommend instead is go through this list and copy and paste only the ones that you found useful, or you think that they will be handy.
Try to use some of them afterward, but careful because some of them are destructive. You can also change the shortcuts for something more convenient if you prefer it.
Conclusion
So here it is, the list of 47 git aliases that I found every web developer must-have to use git in a productive way.
I hope they will increase your productivity while working in the console, and if you were using any GUI tool maybe, these shortcuts would replace it as well.
If you found this post helpful, consider sharing it, so I will be motivated to publish more posts that will help you get the IT career you want.
If you know any other aliases that you often use, let me know in the comment below.
Stay focused!
