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 or git add . · git restore --staged |

| 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 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 |

| Clone / init | git clone · git init · git remote add origin |

| Remotes | git remote -v · git remote show origin · git branch -vv |

| Discard (destructive) | git restore (working tree) · git restore --staged (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 · git rebase · 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.