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 title: 5 Git Aliases I Can’t Live Without
 date: 2020-06-01 12:00:00
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I’m a _huge_ fan of shortcuts.

Aliases,  hacks, scripts, automations, workarounds… I love
unnecessary  optimization, so it should come as no surprise that
I’m particularly  fond of the alias functionality in Git—so much so
that it inspired me to  contribute a similar feature to the Vagrant
project several years ago.

While  I am comfortable using Git in my day-to-day as a software
developer,  some tasks are more tedious than others—and some are
simply less  memorable—which is where aliases come in. Over the
years, I’ve built up a  pretty extensive list of aliases that I
use, and rather than hoard them  I thought I’d troll through my
archives and share my five favorite  ones.

_Note: If any of these aliases interest you, drop the relevant code
snippets in the `[alias]` section of your `.gitconfig` file
(usually found within your home directory). For more detailed
information on how to use and install aliases, I highly suggest you
read the documentation._

## `$` git undo

I don’t know how often I’ve committed something that I didn’t
intend to, but it happens more than I like. The `git undo` alias is
probably my most-used one, as it “undoes” the last commit and
gives you a bit of a do-over to make changes, unstage files, and
fix a  recently screwed up commit.

```
undo = reset --soft HEAD~1
```

## `$` git amend

In case the the previous alias didn’t tip you off, this one should
make it abundantly clear that I screw up a ton. While I often
over-commit files, I also tend to forget to commit files. This
happens a lot when I make a commit, and then realize that I forgot
to stage a new file or change. The `git amend` alias allows me to
add any staged changes to the previous commit without having to
update the commit message.

```
amend = !git log -n 1 --pretty=tformat:%s%n%n%b | git commit -F -
--amend
```

## `$` git tree

When  working with a team that uses a large number of feature
branches, it  can often be useful to see just how those branches
come together. The `git tree` alias allows me to see what has been
merged into the current branch,  and when, which can make it
significantly easier to get a larger view of  the activity within a
given project.

```
tree = log --graph --pretty=format:'%C(yellow)%h%C(cyan)%d%Creset
%s %C(white)- %an, %ar%Creset'
```

## `$` git review

Just about every project I work on is hosted on GitHub, so the `git
review` alias is particularly handy. It allows me to checkout a
pull request by  its ID, which I can then run through the ringer
and validate without  having to jump through any hoops.

```
review= "!f() { git fetch origin pull/$1/head:pr/$1 && git checkout
pr/$1; }; f"
```

## `$` git trim

A fairly new tool in my toolbox, the `git trim` alias is what I use
to clean up after myself. When run, it gets a list  of all of the
branches that have been merged into the current branch,  and
deletes them from your local repository. This is super useful when
pulling down a large number of feature branches, as you can clean
them  up as they get merged without much overhead.

```
trim = !git branch --merged | grep -v '*' | xargs -n 1 git branch -d
```


EOF