Git & GitHub Cheat Sheet

Quick reference for all commands covered in this workshop

Setup

Command	What it does
git config --global user.name "Name"	Set your name for commits
git config --global user.email "email"	Set your email for commits
git init	Create a new repository in the current folder
git clone <url>	Download a remote repository to your computer

Daily Workflow

Command	What it does
git status	Show which files are modified, staged, or untracked
git add <file>	Stage a file for the next commit
git add .	Stage all changed files
git commit -m "message"	Save a snapshot with a descriptive message
git diff	Show unstaged changes
git diff --staged	Show staged changes (what will be committed)
git log --oneline	View commit history (compact)
git log	View commit history (detailed)

Undoing Things

Command	What it does
git restore --staged <file>	Unstage a file (keep edits)
git restore <file>	Discard edits, revert to last commit (destructive)
git reset --soft HEAD~1	Undo last commit (keep files staged)

Remotes (GitHub)

Command	What it does
git remote add origin <url>	Link local repo to GitHub
git push -u origin main	Push commits to GitHub (first time)
git push	Push commits (after -u is set)
git pull origin main	Download new commits from GitHub

Branches

Command	What it does
git branch <name>	Create a new branch
git checkout <branch>	Switch to a branch
git checkout -b <name>	Create and switch in one step
git merge <branch>	Merge a branch into the current branch
git branch -d <name>	Delete a branch (after merging)

Tags (Reproducibility)

Command	What it does
git tag -a v1.0 -m "msg"	Create an annotated tag
git push --tags	Push all tags to GitHub
git checkout v1.0	Check out a specific tagged version

SSH Setup (One-Time)

# Generate key
ssh-keygen -t ed25519 -C "you@email.com"

# Start agent and add key
eval "$(ssh-agent -s)"
ssh-add ~/.ssh/id_ed25519

# Copy public key (paste into GitHub Settings > SSH Keys)
cat ~/.ssh/id_ed25519.pub

# Test connection
ssh -T git@github.com

.gitignore Template for R Projects

# Data files
*.csv
*.dta
*.rds
*.xlsx
data/

# R artifacts
.Rhistory
.RData
.Rproj.user/

# Output (can be regenerated)
*.pdf
*.html
output/

# System files
.DS_Store
Thumbs.db