Git configuration

A simple tutorial (and reminder) of how I like to configure Git to improve workflow.

Checking configs

There are three levels of configs on git:

• --system - all computer users
• --global - only current user
• --local - only this repo

To check the current configuration use the git config --list command.

example output for git config --global --list:

init.defaultbranch=main
user.name=Gabriela Carvalho Camilo
user.email=gabccamilo.dev@gmail.com
core.editor=vim

Adding shortcuts for git commands

You can add custom shortcuts for git commands using the [alias] tag in the configuration file as shown in the example bellow:

s = !git status -s # -s for simpler output
c = !git add --all && git commit -m # add and commit with one command. WARNING!!! Be sure you really want to add everythig before using it to commit!
l = !git log --oneline # -oneline for simpler output

Customizing git log

When visualizing many commits, git log can be a little overwhelming so, I like to customize its output to improve data visualization. To achieve this goal the argument --pretty=format: can be used alongside the desired format, as shown in the example below (good for darker themes on the terminal):

 $ git --no-pager log --pretty=format:'%C(yellow)%h%C(red)%d %C(reset)%s - %C(cyan)%cn, %C(green)%cr'

The complete list of arguments can be found in the git documentation, and remember you can create a shortcut for this huge command line in the git configuration file.