A collection of frequently used Git commands for quick reference.

pull

Fetch a branch that doesn’t exist locally

Fetch a remote branch that you don’t have locally, associate it with a new local branch, and switch to it:

git fetch // fetch first

// full command
git checkout -b <new_local_branch> <remote_name>/<remote_branch>
// shorthand — when the local branch name matches the remote branch name
git checkout <remote_branch>

push

Link a branch and push

Push a local branch to a remote branch (automatically creating the remote branch if it doesn’t exist), and set up tracking between them:

// when the local and remote branch names are the same
git push -u <remote_name> <branch>

branch

Delete a branch

// delete a local branch
git branch -d <branch_name>

// force-delete a branch that hasn't been merged
git branch -D <branch_name>

// delete a remote branch
git push <remote_name> --delete <branch_name>

rebase

Edit a specific commit in history

// 1. Find the commit_id you want to modify, then start an interactive rebase
git rebase -i <commit_id>^

// 2. Change "pick" to "edit" for the target commit, then save and exit
// 3. You are now paused at the target commit — make your changes, then stage them
// 4. Amend the commit
git commit --amend
// 5. Continue the rebase
git rebase --continue

submodule

Add a submodule to a repository

// Add another remote repository as a submodule to the current repo (you can specify a local_path); the source code will be placed directly under local_path without an extra layer of the repo name
git submodule add <remote_repository_url> [<local_path>]

// A .gitmodules file and the specified path will appear — remember to commit them
git add .gitmodules <local_path>
git commit -m "Add submodule"

Fetch/Update a submodule

❗There are two important commit hashes to be aware of with submodules:

• The submodule version recorded by the main project
• The latest version on the submodule’s own remote repository

git pull does not fetch or initialize submodules by default — you need to pass extra flags:

// Pull the submodule version recorded by the main project
git pull --recurse-submodules

More commonly, you’ll update submodules manually:

// Update to the commit hash recorded by the main project
// skips submodules that havent been init
git submodule update

// Update to the commit hash recorded by the main project
// (initializes any uninitialized submodules before updating)
git submodule update --init

// Also update nested submodules
git submodule update --recursive

// Update to the latest remote version of each submodule,
// ignoring the hash recorded by the main project
git submodule update --remote

❗After updating a submodule (i.e., its hash in the main project has changed), always remember to commit that hash change in the main project.