Git(Hub) Guide

Issue Management

Use any of these keywords to close an issue via commit message

close, closes, closed, fix, fixes, fixed, resolve, resolves, resolved
# e.g:
git commit -m "closes #1, fixes #123

Useful Git Recipes

Housekeeping

How can I delete all Git branches which have been merged?

delete all merged local branches expect master (use -D to include unmerged ones)
git branch --merged| grep -v master | xargs git branch -d
fine grained interaction
git branch -d arm64
warning: not deleting branch 'arm64' that is not yet merged to
'refs/remotes/origin/arm64'

git branch -r    # list remotes
git push --delete origin arm64
git branch -d arm64
# or without deleting the remote:
git branch -D arm64'
Once you delete the remote branch, you can prune remote tracking branches with
git remote prune origin
Cleanup unnecessary files and optimize the local repository
git gc

Git Aliases

Works for subcommands and external commands (with leading !), see Git Aliases

git config --global alias.last 'log -1 HEAD
git config --global alias.puma '! git checkout master && git pull'
git config --list | grep alias  # show

Signed Commits

  • Read Managing commit signature verification

  • Install GnuPG (free implementation of the OpenPGP standard a), generate keypair, find Key id (in the following example it would be 123456ABCDEF)

    $ brew install gnupg
$ gpg --full-generate-key
$ gpg --list-secret-keys --keyid-format=long
~/.gnupg/pubring.kbx
----------------------------------
sec   ed25519/123456ABCDEF 2021-12-13 [SC]
      83122XXXXXXXX
uid              [ ultimativ ] This Is Me (GitHub GPG Key) <thisisme@me.com>

  • Export the key, Open GitHub → Settings → Keys, import it there:

    $ gpg --armor --export
 -----BEGIN PGP PUBLIC KEY BLOCK-----
 mDM (...)
 -----END PGP PUBLIC KEY BLOCK-----

  • Add export GPG_TTY=$(tty) to .bashrc or equivalent (or you get "Inappropriate ioctl for device" errors), try with a simple message if it is working. See this link for more troubleshooting tips.

    $ echo SuperSecret |gpg --clearsign
-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
Hash: SHA(...)

  • Tell git your signing key, configure commit.gpgsign either pro project or globally, or use -S switch when committing. Verify with log --show-signature if the message was properly signed. You also may also have to align you commit email (setting user.email) with the email address from your GPG key (you can add multiple IDs with different addresses to your key), and your GitHub Email Settings resp SSH and GPG Keys.

    $ git config --global user.signingkey 123456ABCDEF
$ git config commit.gpgsign true ## only
$ git commit -S -m "my verified change"
$ git log --show-signature
commit 3fd45023ab1bb39eaf89c504de3be353ceXXXXXX (HEAD -> gpg, origin/gpg)
gpg: Signature made Mon Dec 13 10:49:38 2021 CET
gpg: using EDDSA key XXXXXX