Core Workflow — init, add, commit, log

# Start a new project
mkdir my-project && cd my-project
git init
# Initialised empty Git repository in .git/

# Clone an existing repository (full history included)
git clone https://github.com/user/project.git
git clone https://github.com/user/project.git my-folder  # custom name

# After cloning, the remote is already configured:
git remote -v
# origin  https://github.com/user/project.git (fetch)
# origin  https://github.com/user/project.git (push)

# See what changed
git status             # summary
git diff               # unstaged changes (working dir vs stage)
git diff --staged      # staged changes (stage vs last commit)

# Stage specific files
git add src/auth.js
git add src/          # everything in a directory

# Stage specific hunks interactively (most powerful)
git add -p
# diff --git a/auth.js b/auth.js
# @@ -12,6 +12,10 @@
# +function validateEmail(email) {
# +  return /S+@S+.S+/.test(email)
# +}
# Stage this hunk [y,n,q,a,d,s,?]? y

# Remove a file from staging (keep changes in working dir)
git restore --staged src/auth.js

# Discard all changes in working directory (CAREFUL — permanent)
git restore src/auth.js

# Simple commit (subject only)
git commit -m "Add email validation to signup form"

# Full commit message with body (use the editor)
git commit
# Opens $EDITOR with template:
# Add email validation to signup form
#
# Users could previously submit any string as email, causing
# silent failures in the notification pipeline. This adds a
# regex check at the controller layer and returns 400 with
# a descriptive error message.
#
# Closes #142

# Amend the last commit (before pushing)
git commit --amend -m "Better message"
git commit --amend --no-edit  # keep message, just change content

# Good message prefixes (Conventional Commits)
# feat:     new feature
# fix:      bug fix
# docs:     documentation only
# refactor: code change, no feature/fix
# test:     adding tests
# chore:    build process, tooling

# One-line summary (most common)
git log --oneline
# a3f8c12 Add payment gateway integration
# 9d2e441 Fix null pointer in checkout flow
# 3b7f920 Implement shopping cart

# Visual branch graph
git log --oneline --graph --all
# * a3f8c12 (HEAD -> main) Add payment gateway
# | * 7b2e441 (feature/cart) Add cart animation
# |/
# * 9d2e441 Fix null pointer
# * 3b7f920 Initial commit

# Filter by author, date, or message
git log --author="Akshay"
git log --since="2 weeks ago"
git log --grep="payment"

# Show what changed in each commit
git log -p
git log --stat          # files changed + line counts

# Who last touched each line?
git blame src/auth.js