Git Conventions and Commands Reference

This guide establishes standardized naming conventions for Git operations based on the Conventional Commits specification and provides a comprehensive command reference for common Git workflows.

Git Conventions

Use standard naming conventions for Git operations based on the Conventional Commits specification.

Commit Messages

Commit messages should provide a concise summary of what changes were made and why, using imperative form and lowercase formatting.

Rules

Format:

<tag>[(<scope>)][!]: <description>
# e.g., feat: add ignore parser

• formatting: lower case

• form: imperative

Allowed Tags:

tag	purpose	version bump
feat	For adding or updating features	minor
fix	For bug fixes	patch
perf	For performance improvements	patch
build	For changes to build system or dependencies	none
chore	For non-code tasks	none
ci	For adding or updating CI/CD configuration	none
docs	For adding or updating documentation	none
refactor	For code improvements	none
style	For code formatting	none
test	For adding or updating tests	none

# pyproject.toml
[tool.semantic_release.commit_parser_options]
minor_tags = ["feat"]
patch_tags = ["fix", "perf"]
other_allowed_tags = [
  "build",
  "chore",
  "ci",
  "docs",
  "refactor",
  "style",
  "test",
]
allowed_tags = [
  "feat",
  "fix",
  "perf",
  "build",
  "chore",
  "ci",
  "docs",
  "refactor",
  "style",
  "test",
]

Examples

• feat: add user authentication

• feat!: remove deprecated api endpoints

• feat(auth): implement oauth integration

• feat(parser)!: change config file format

• fix: resolve memory leak in cache

• fix!: correct breaking validation logic

• fix(api): handle null response errors

• fix(ui)!: update button component interface

• perf: optimize database queries

• perf!: restructure data processing pipeline

• perf(cache): improve memory usage

• perf(api)!: change response format for speed

• build: update webpack configuration

• build(deps): upgrade react to v18

• chore: clean up unused imports

• chore(config): update eslint rules

• ci: add automated testing workflow

• ci(deploy): configure production pipeline

• docs: update installation guide

• docs(api): add endpoint examples

• refactor: simplify user validation logic

• refactor(auth): extract common utilities

• style: format code with prettier

• style(components): fix indentation

• test: add unit tests for parser

• test(integration): cover auth flow

Branches

Branch names should follow a consistent format to clearly indicate the type of work and briefly describe the changes, using kebab-case formatting.

Rules

Format:

<tag>/<description>
# e.g., feat/add-ignore-parser

for preparing releases

release/<MAJOR.MINOR.PATCH>
# e.g., release/1.2.3

• formatting: kebap-case

• form: imperative

Allowed Tags:

• see Commit Messages

• release

Examples

• feat/add-user-authentication

• feat/auth-implement-oauth-integration

• fix/resolve-memory-leak-cache

• fix/api-handle-null-responses

• perf/optimize-database-queries

• perf/cache-improve-memory-usage

• release/2.1.0

• build/update-webpack-config

• build/deps-upgrade-react

• chore/clean-unused-imports

• chore/config-update-eslint

• ci/add-automated-testing

• ci/deploy-configure-production

• docs/update-installation-guide

• docs/api-add-endpoint-examples

• refactor/simplify-validation-logic

• refactor/auth-extract-utilities

• style/format-with-prettier

• style/components-fix-indentation

• test/add-parser-unit-tests

• test/integration-cover-auth-flow

Commands Reference

Branching

task	git checkout cmd	git switch / git restore cmd
Switch to an existing branch	git checkout main	git switch main
Create a new branch and switch to it	git checkout -b feat/add-ignore-parser	git switch -c feat/add-ignore-parser
Switch to previous branch	git checkout -	git switch -
Discard local changes to a file	git checkout -- README.md	git restore README.md
Restore a file from a specific commit	git checkout abc123 -- README.md	git restore --source=abc123 README.md
Restore all files to last commit state	git checkout -- .	git restore .
Create a new branch from a commit	git checkout -b fix abc123	git switch -c fix abc123
Detach HEAD at a specific commit (no branch)	git checkout abc123	git switch --detach abc123
Cancel staged changes (unstage a file)	git reset HEAD README.md	git restore --staged README.md

Committing

task	command
Stage all changes	git add .
Stage specific file	git add README.md
Stage all modified files (not new)	git add -u
Interactive staging	git add -i or git add -p
Commit staged changes	git commit -m "feat: add user auth"
Commit and stage all modified files	git commit -am "fix: resolve cache bug"
Amend last commit message	git commit --amend -m "new message"
Amend last commit with new changes	git commit --amend --no-edit
Create empty commit	git commit --allow-empty -m "trigger ci"
View commit history	git log or git log --oneline
View specific number of commits	git log -5
View changes in last commit	git show or git show HEAD
View changes in specific commit	git show abc123
Unstage file (keep changes)	git reset HEAD README.md
Unstage all files (keep changes)	git reset HEAD
Undo last commit (keep changes staged)	git reset --soft HEAD~1
Undo last commit (keep changes unstaged)	git reset HEAD~1
Undo last commit (discard changes)	git reset --hard HEAD~1
Interactive rebase last 3 commits	git rebase -i HEAD~3

Merging

task	command
Merge branch with fast-forward	git merge feat/add-auth
Merge branch without fast-forward	git merge --no-ff feat/add-auth
Squash merge branch	git merge --squash feat/add-auth
Abort merge during conflicts	git merge --abort
Continue merge after resolving conflicts	git merge --continue
View merge conflicts	git status or git diff
Mark conflict as resolved	git add conflicted_file.py
Rebase current branch onto main	git rebase main
Interactive rebase	git rebase -i main
Abort rebase	git rebase --abort
Continue rebase after resolving conflicts	git rebase --continue
Skip current commit during rebase	git rebase --skip
Cherry-pick specific commit	git cherry-pick abc123
Cherry-pick commit without committing	git cherry-pick --no-commit abc123
View branches that have been merged	git branch --merged
View branches not yet merged	git branch --no-merged
Delete merged branch	git branch -d feat/add-auth
Force delete unmerged branch	git branch -D feat/add-auth