Git Aliases: Typing less, doing more — My favorite shortcuts

Summary

Show content

Introduction
- Why use Git aliases?
- Why don’t use Git aliases?
Setting up aliases
My favorite ones
- Use case
Shortening even more
Conclusion
Resources and References

Introduction

In a developer/I.T. roadmap, Git is one of the first (and most essential) tools to learn. It helps developers track file changes and maintain a history of every modification. But when you find yourself typing the same commands multiple times a day or struggling to remember a long one, it quickly becomes boring.

So, in this short post, I’ll share some of my favorite Git Aliases that I use daily. With aliases, you can create shortcuts that save your ~~keyboard~~ time.

Why use Git aliases?

Save time by reducing repetitive typing.
Simplify complex commands into shortcuts.
Customize Git to fit your needs.

But, wait. We need to talk about something important: Why don't use Git aliases?

Why don’t use Git aliases?

Well, using this aliases can produce some unwanted behaviors:

Can make it harder to work on systems where those aliases aren’t used.
Can make Git commands feel like magic, which isn’t always a good thing.
Using aliases adds a small initial learning curve.

Sure, we can always verify the command behind the shortcut, but it can be annoying sometimes.

Setting up aliases

First of all, let’s see how we can set up aliases using Git:

You can define using the following command:

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git config --global alias.co checkout

Or edit your ~/.gitconfig file manually:

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[alias]
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    co = checkout
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    ss = status
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    cmm = commit -m

On Linux, you can find your .gitconfig file in ~/, while on Windows, Git looks for it in the $HOME directory (typically C:\Users\$USER).

My favorite ones

Over the years of using Git aliases, I’ve created my own shortcuts, short and simple (well, most of the time) to remember:

Alias	Command	Description
c	clone	Clone a repository
cnf	config —list	Show current Git configuration
dd	diff	Show changes between commits or working state
dl	diff HEAD~	Show changes from the last commit
ll	log	View commit history
lt	log -1 HEAD	Show the latest commit
llg	log —graph	Display commit history as a graph
ss	status	Show the working tree status
aa	add .	Stage all changes
aA	add -A	Stage all changes, including deletions
pl	pull	Fetch and merge changes from a remote repo
pls	submodule update —recursive —remote	Update all submodules recursively
ph	push	Push changes to the remote repository
pho	”!f(){ git push -u origin ${1}; };f”	Push to a new remote branch
cm	commit	Save changes to the repository
cmm	commit -m	Commit with a message
cme	commit —allow-empty -m	Commit an empty change with a message
cma	commit —amend -m	Modify the last commit message
br	branch	List, create, or delete branches
brd	branch -d	Delete a local branch
brr	branch -m	Rename a branch
co	checkout	Switch branches or restore files
cob	checkout -b	Create and switch to a new branch
ft	fetch	Download changes from a remote repository
ftp	fetch —prune	Fetch and remove deleted remote branches
res	restore	Discard changes in the working directory
ress	restore —staged	Unstage changes without discarding them
rtH	reset HEAD~	Undo the last commit
sh	stash	Save uncommitted changes for later
sha	stash apply	Apply the latest stashed changes
sw	switch	Switch between branches
mm	merge	Merge branches

That’s a really looong list, and can contains more shortcuts over time. But with time and practice you can combine commands and reduce the typing.

Use case

Imagine this:

I forgot to commit my changes and ended up starting a new feature. Now, I need to move all the changes to a new branch and commit/push them to the remote repository.

In this case, we can use this “command combo”:

git sh: Stash all uncommitted changes
git cob feat/x: Create and switch to a new branch
git sha: Apply the stashed changes to the new branch
git aa: Stage all changes
git cmm “wip: start feature X”: Commit with a message
git pho feat/x: Push new branch to remote

Shortening even more

For even faster typing (or laziness), you can alias git itself to g. In your ~/.bash_profile, add the following alias:

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alias g='git'

Usage example:

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g cmm "feat: my new feature"

Conclusion

Now that you know how to create aliases, start experimenting with your own shortcuts to fit your needs.

Got any good Git command shortcuts to share? Leave it in the #comments section :)

Resources and References

git-scm.com#Git-Basics-Git-Aliases

Tips & Tricks