Git Guide

Getting Started

Access Tokens

In order to access iSchool repos on GitHub Education, you’ll need to create a personal access token, which will be used like a password. Follow the steps in the GitHub documentation to create your personal access token. Make sure you save your access token someplace where you'll be able to find it again; once you leave the GitHub page where the token was created, you won't be able to see it there again.

Note that when you're prompted for a password, like when calling git push, you actually need to enter your access token.

Installing Git

If you don’t already have Git on your computer, you’ll need to install it.

Git Commands

git clone

Download a copy of a repository into a new directory.

git checkout [-b]

Switch to a different branch; specify the -b flag to create a new branch.

git add .

Place new files under version control.

git status

Show the current state of the working tree (i.e., the files that you’re working on).

Use the -s flag for a shortened view.

git commit [-am]

Record changes that you’ve made to the repository.

Use the -a flag to automatically include files that you’ve modified or deleted; you’ll still need to use “git add .” to include any new files that you’ve created.

Use the -m flag to include a commit message; best practice is to preface your commit message with the ticket ID for whatever task you’re working on.

git push

Update the remote repository (i.e., GitHub Classroom) with the changes that you’ve committed to your local repository.

git merge

Join two branches together.

git log

See a history of commits for your current branch.

Use “git log --graph --decorate --oneline” for a concise view.

git branch [-D]

See the name of the branch that you’re currently on.

Use the -D flag to delete the branch.

git pull

Retrieve the latest commits on a branch from a remote repository.

git fetch

Get the list of available branches from a remote repository; often needed before “git pull”