Git CLI Skill — How to Work

Use this skill when the user asks about Git from the command line: what changed, staging/committing, branching, push/pull, stashing, history, tags, merge/rebase, or cloning.

Your Workflow

1. 1. Confirm context: Ensure Git is on PATH and the user is in (or will run commands in) a repo. If unsure, suggest git status or run scripts/is-repo.sh from the skill directory.
2. Safety first: Prefer read-only commands (git status, git diff, git log). Do not suggest destructive commands (git reset --hard, git clean -fdx, git push --force) unless the user explicitly asks and understands the risk. For recovery, use git reflog to find a commit before suggesting reset/checkout.
3. Give the right level of detail:

- Quick answer: Use the Quick Reference table below and reply with the exact command(s). - Step-by-step or edge cases: Point to or quote from reference/ (e.g. reference/workflows.md, reference/troubleshooting.md). - Automation / repeatable checks: Use or adapt scripts in scripts/ and tell the user how to run them. - Templates (commit message, .gitignore): Use or copy from assets/.

Quick Reference (use this first)

Task	Command
State & diff	INLINECODE9 · git diff · git diff --staged · INLINECODE12
Stage / unstage

git add <path> or git add . · git restore --staged <path> | | Commit | git commit -m "message" | | Branch | git branch · git branch -a · git switch -c new · git switch existing | | Sync remote | git fetch · git pull · git push -u origin <branch> then git push | | Stash | git stash · git stash list · git stash apply / git stash pop | | History | git log --oneline --decorate --graph -n 20 · git blame <file> | | Clone / init | git clone <url> · git init · git remote add origin <url> | | Remotes | git remote -v · git remote show origin · git branch -vv | | Discard (destructive) | git restore <file> (working tree) · git restore --staged <file> (unstage) | | Amend | git commit --amend --no-edit or -m "message" | | Tags | git tag · git tag v1.0 · git push origin v1.0 or --tags | | Merge / rebase | git merge <branch> · git rebase <branch> · conflict → fix → git add → git commit or git rebase --continue |

Where to Look

Need	Location
Full command list, options, examples	reference/commands.md
Step-by-step workflows (branch, release, conflict)

reference/workflows.md | | Errors, recovery, detached HEAD, .gitignore | reference/troubleshooting.md | | Run checks (is repo, status summary, branch info) | scripts/ — run from repo root | | Commit message or .gitignore template | assets/ |

Scripts (run from repository root)

• - scripts/is-repo.sh — Exit 0 if current dir is a Git repo, else 1. Use to confirm context before suggesting commands.
• scripts/status-summary.sh — Short status + branch + last commit. Use when user asks "what’s my current state?"
• scripts/branch-list.sh — Local and remote branches with upstream. Use when user asks about branches or push target.

On Windows: run in Git Bash or WSL (e.g. bash scripts/status-summary.sh).

Assets

• - assets/commit-msg-template.txt — Template for conventional or structured commit messages; suggest when user asks for commit message format.
• assets/gitignore-common.txt — Common .gitignore patterns; suggest when user has many untracked files or asks for .gitignore examples.

When the user needs a diagram (e.g. branch/merge flow), describe it in text or point to reference; only create or reference images in assets/ if the user explicitly asks for a visual.