Basic Commands - add, commit, status

Introduction

These are the fundamental commands you will use every day in GIT. Mastering them is essential for effective version control.

The Workflow

Basic GIT workflow:

Working Directory → Staging Area → Repository
     (edit)      →   (git add)   → (git commit)

git status

Shows the current state of your repository:

git status

Output examples:

On branch main
Changes not staged for commit:
  (modified:   file.txt)
Untracked files:
  (new-file.js)

Short Status

For a more compact view:

git status -s

Or:

git status --short

Output:

M  file.txt
?? new-file.js

Status codes:

• M - Modified
• A - Added
• D - Deleted
• R - Renamed
• ?? - Untracked

git add

Adds changes to the staging area.

Add Specific File

git add filename.txt

Add Multiple Files

git add file1.txt file2.txt

Add All Changes

git add .

This adds:

• All new files
• All modified files
• All deleted files

Add by Pattern

# Add all JavaScript files
git add *.js
Add all files in src directory
git add src/
Add all modified files only
git add -u

Interactive Add

git add -i

This opens an interactive menu to select files.

Add Parts of a File

For files with multiple changes:

git add -p filename.txt

This lets you stage changes piece by piece.

git commit

Saves staged changes to the repository.

Basic Commit

git commit -m "Your message here"

Add and Commit in One Command

git commit -am "Message"

⚠️ This only works for modified files, NOT new untracked files.

Amend Last Commit

To modify the last commit:

git commit --amend -m "New message"

To add forgotten files:

git add forgotten-file.txt
git commit --amend --no-edit

Empty Commit

Create a commit with no changes (useful for triggering CI/CD):

git commit --allow-empty -m "Trigger build"

Examples

Example 1: Making Your First Changes

# Check current status
git status
Create a new file
echo "Hello World" > hello.txt
Check status again
git status
Stage the file
git add hello.txt
Check staged status
git status
Commit
git commit -m "Add hello.txt with greeting"

Example 2: Editing an Existing File

# Edit file in your editor
Then stage and commit
git add updated-file.txt
git commit -m "Update file with new features"

Example 3: Multiple Files

# Stage multiple files
git add file1.txt file2.txt folder/
Commit all at once
git commit -m "Add multiple files and folder"

Viewing Commit History

# Show recent commits
git log
Show last 5 commits
git log -5
Compact view
git log --oneline
With graph
git log --graph --oneline --all

Summary

Master these commands:

• git status - See what changed
• git add - Stage changes for commit
• git commit - Save staged changes
• git log - View commit history

Next Lesson

Learn how to view history and differences between commits.