Git Workflows Cheatsheet

Fast reminders for daily Git housekeeping: creating isolated worktrees, tidying history with squashed commits, and moving patches with cherry-pick.

Worktrees

• git worktree add ../feature-main feature/main – create a sibling checkout at ../feature-main from feature/main without touching your primary working tree.
• git worktree list --porcelain – enumerate worktrees with paths, branches, and linked commits (great for scripts).
• git worktree remove ../feature-main – delete a finished worktree safely after cleaning its working directory.
• git worktree prune --verbose – clear out worktree metadata for directories removed out-of-band.

# Typical flow
git fetch origin
git worktree add ../bugfix-login origin/bugfix/login
cd ../bugfix-login
# ... work, commit, push ...
cd -
git worktree remove ../bugfix-login

Tips

• Worktrees share the same .git directory, so hooks and config remain consistent.
• Keep worktree paths short and descriptive; prefix with the branch type (feature-, hotfix-, etc.).

Squashing Commits

Interactive rebase (preferred)

git fetch origin
git rebase -i origin/main
# mark commits as `squash` or `fixup`
git push --force-with-lease

• Use s (squash) to merge commit messages or f (fixup) to keep the parent message.
• --autosquash pairs naturally with git commit --fixup=<hash>.

Merge squash for feature branch handoff

git checkout main
git pull origin main
git merge --squash feature/login-audit
git commit -m "feat: add login audit trail"

• Produces a single commit without preserving the feature branch; remember to delete the source branch afterward.

Cherry-picking Commits

• git cherry-pick <hash> – apply a single commit onto the current branch.
• git cherry-pick A^..B – apply a range inclusive of commit A’s parent through B.
• git cherry-pick --no-commit <hash> – stage the changes without committing; useful for bundling multiple commits into one.

git checkout release/2025.02
git cherry-pick f2c1d7e
# resolve conflicts if any, then
git cherry-pick --continue

Conflict handling

• If a cherry-pick goes sideways, run git cherry-pick --abort to return to the pre-pick state.
• Re-run with --strategy-option theirs when the target branch should win on conflicts.

Related Reads

• man git-worktree, man git-rebase, and man git-cherry-pick for exhaustive flags.
• Consider aliases in ~/.gitconfig (wta, gps, gcp) to keep muscle memory sharp.