A starter set of Git aliases

A Git alias is a shortcut: after git config --global alias.st "status --short --branch", typing git st runs the longer command. Aliases are stored in the [alias] section of your global .gitconfig, so they work in every repository.

The aliases

• git st: compact status with the branch name and how far ahead or behind the remote it is.
• git sw / git swc name: switch to a branch / create one and switch to it.
• git lg: one line per commit, as a graph, across all branches.
• git last: the latest commit with the files it changed.
• git unstage file: take a file out of the staging area and keep the edits.
• git amend: add staged changes to the last commit without editing its message. Use it only before pushing.
• git undo: undo the last commit and keep its changes staged.
• git pushf: force push that refuses to overwrite commits you have not seen.
• git recent: local branches sorted by most recent commit, with how long ago.
• git aliases: list every alias you have defined.

The script

#!/usr/bin/env bash
set -euo pipefail

add_alias() {
  git config --global "alias.$1" "$2"
  printf '  git %-8s -> git %s\n' "$1" "$2"
}

echo "Adding Git aliases:"
add_alias st      "status --short --branch"
add_alias sw      "switch"
add_alias swc     "switch -c"
add_alias lg      "log --oneline --graph --decorate --all"
add_alias last    "log -1 --stat"
add_alias unstage "restore --staged"
add_alias amend   "commit --amend --no-edit"
add_alias undo    "reset --soft HEAD~1"
add_alias pushf   "push --force-with-lease"
add_alias recent  "branch --sort=-committerdate --format='%(committerdate:relative)%09%(refname:short)'"
add_alias aliases "config --get-regexp ^alias\\."

echo "Done. Try: git st"

Run it with bash git-aliases.sh. Running it again just sets the same values, and any aliases of your own with other names are left alone.

Try them

git st
git lg
git recent
git aliases

Change or remove an alias

git config --global alias.lg "log --oneline --graph --decorate"
git config --global --unset alias.undo

You can also open the file directly with git config --global --edit.

Good to know

• Aliases cannot replace built-in commands: an alias named status is ignored.
• Arguments after an alias are passed through, so git lg -5 shows five commits.
• An alias starting with ! runs as a shell command, for example git config --global alias.root "!pwd". Be careful with those, because they can run anything.
• Aliases are personal. In shared docs and scripts, write the full command so everyone can follow it.