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. 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	git status · git diff · git diff --staged · git diff --stat
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.