Local Git Basics¶

This page focuses on Git on your own machine. The goal is to understand the small set of actions that you will repeat often in real projects.

Typical Git lifecycle¶

For most day-to-day work, the cycle looks like this:

1. Make changes to files.
2. Inspect what changed.
3. Stage the intended changes.
4. Commit them with a meaningful message.
5. Push them to GitHub when ready.

Create or clone a repository¶

To start a new local repository:

git init

To copy an existing repository from GitHub:

git clone https://github.com/ORGANIZATION/REPOSITORY.git

Cloning is the more common workflow in collaborative environments.

The commands you will use most¶

git status¶

This is the first command to learn and the first command to trust:

git status

It tells you:

• which branch you are on,
• which files changed,
• which files are staged,
• whether your branch is ahead of or behind the remote.

git add¶

Use git add to stage specific files for the next commit:

git add README.md
git add docs/module2-git_and_github_for_version_control/index.md

Staging is useful because it lets you decide what belongs together in one commit.

git commit¶

git commit -m "Add Module 2 handbook structure"

A good commit message is short, specific, and explains the main intention.

git log¶

git log --oneline --graph --decorate

This helps you inspect project history in a compact way.

git branch and git switch¶

git branch
git switch -c add-module2-docs

Use branches to keep one piece of work separate from another.

Working tree, staging area, and history¶

Git is easier to understand once you separate these three states:

• working tree: your current edited files,
• staging area: the changes selected for the next commit,
• repository history: the commits already saved.

That mental model explains why a file can be changed but not yet staged, or staged but not yet committed.

Using Git in VS Code¶

VS Code provides a visual interface for many Git actions:

• changed files appear in the Source Control panel,
• you can stage files individually,
• diffs are shown side by side,
• commits can be created from the UI,
• branches and sync actions are visible in the status bar.

Understanding the Git concepts first makes the VS Code interface much less mysterious.

Good commit habits¶

• Keep commits focused on one idea.
• Do not mix unrelated cleanup with a functional change.
• Commit often enough to create meaningful checkpoints.
• Write messages that help your future self.

A useful first command set¶

For a typical documentation change:

git status
git switch -c improve-module2-docs
git add docs/module2-git_and_github_for_version_control/
git commit -m "Add Module 2 handbook pages"
git push -u origin improve-module2-docs

What comes next¶

After the local basics, the next step is understanding how repositories live on GitHub, how remotes work, and how collaboration happens around the hosted repository.