Inspecting Your Repo: status, log, and diff

8 min read

git status — Where Are You Right Now?

git status is the most frequently run Git command. It tells you which files are untracked, modified, or staged, and which branch you are on.

bash

git status
git status -s            # short format: one line per file

git log — Browse History

bash

git log                          # full history
git log --oneline                # compact: one commit per line
git log --oneline --graph --all  # visual branch graph
git log --author="Jane"          # filter by author
git log -- src/auth.ts           # history for one file

git diff — See What Changed

bash

git diff                   # unstaged changes vs last commit
git diff --staged          # staged changes vs last commit
git diff main..feature     # differences between two branches
git diff abc123 def456     # differences between two commits

Run git diff --staged before every git commit to do a final review of exactly what you are about to commit.

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