Git Commit

Change Platform:

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GitHub Bitbucket GitLab

What is a Commit?

A commit is like a save point in your project.

It records a snapshot of your files at a certain time, with a message describing what changed.

You can always go back to a previous commit if you need to.

Here are some key commands for commits:

• git commit -m "message" - Commit staged changes with a message
• git commit -a -m "message" - Commit all tracked changes (skip staging)
• git log - See commit history

How to Commit with a Message (-m)

To save your staged changes, use git commit -m "your message":

git commit -m "First release of Hello World!"
[master (root-commit) 221ec6e] First release of Hello World!
 3 files changed, 26 insertions(+)
 create mode 100644 README.md
 create mode 100644 bluestyle.css
 create mode 100644 index.html

Always write a clear message so you and others can understand what changed.

Commit All Changes Without Staging (-a)

You can skip the staging step for already tracked files with git commit -a -m "message".

This commits all modified and deleted files, but not new/untracked files.

git commit -a -m "Quick update to README"
[master 123abcd] Quick update to README
 1 file changed, 2 insertions(+)

$ git commit -a -m "Try to commit new file"
On branch master

No commits yet

Untracked files:
  (use "git add ..." to include in what will be committed)
        index.html

nothing added to commit but untracked files present (use "git add" to track)

Write Multi-line Commit Messages

If you just type git commit (no -m), your default editor will open so you can write a detailed, multi-line message:

git commit

Write a short summary on the first line, leave a blank line, then add more details below.

Commit Message Best Practices:

• Keep the first line short (50 characters or less).
• Use the imperative mood (e.g., "Add feature" not "Added feature").
• Leave a blank line after the summary, then add more details if needed.
• Describe why the change was made, not just what changed.

Other Useful Commit Options

• Create an empty commit:
  git commit --allow-empty -m "Start project"
• Use previous commit message (no editor):
  git commit --no-edit
• Quickly add staged changes to last commit, keep message:
  git commit --amend --no-edit

View Commit History (git log)

To view the history of commits for a repository, you can use the git log command:

git log
commit 09f4acd3f8836b7f6fc44ad9e012f82faf861803 (HEAD -> master)
Author: w3schools-test <test@w3schools.com>
Date:   Fri Mar 26 09:35:54 2021 +0100

    Updated index.html with a new line

commit 221ec6e10aeedbfd02b85264087cd9adc18e4b26
Author: w3schools-test <test@w3schools.com>
Date:   Fri Mar 26 09:13:07 2021 +0100

    First release of Hello World!

For a shorter view, use git log --oneline:

git log --oneline
09f4acd Updated index.html with a new line
221ec6e First release of Hello World!

To see which files changed in each commit, use git log --stat:

git log --stat