25 Git Commands Every DevOps Engineer Must Know

Introduction

Git is the backbone of modern software delivery. Whether you're automating CI/CD pipelines, managing Infrastructure as Code, or collaborating on Kubernetes manifests, mastering Git is non-negotiable for any DevOps engineer. These 25 commands go beyond basic clone-commit-push and focus on the real-world scenarios you'll face daily: fixing broken builds, cleaning up messy history, debugging production issues, and enforcing team workflows.

Basic but Essential Commands

• git clone --depth 1 – Faster clones when you don’t need full history
• git init --bare – Create bare repositories for CI/CD servers
• git config --global alias.co checkout – Create shortcuts (co, ci, st, br)
• git remote -v – Verify your origin and upstream remotes
• git fetch --prune – Remove stale remote-tracking branches
• git pull --rebase – Keep a clean linear history in feature branches, especially useful with Lambda deployments

Branching & Workflow Mastery

• git switch -c feature/new-login – Modern way to create and switch branches
• git branch -m old-name new-name – Rename current branch safely
• git push -u origin feature-branch – Set upstream tracking on first push
• git branch --merged – Find branches safe to delete
• git push origin --delete old-feature – Clean up remote branches

Commit & History Management

Stashing & Work-in-Progress

• git stash push -m "wip-login-fix" – Save work with descriptive name
• git stash list – See all stashed changes
• git stash pop stash@{1} – Apply specific stash
• git stash drop stash@{0} – Clean up after applying
• git stash --patch – Stash only specific hunks (advanced), perfect when working with RDS monitoring configs

Debugging & Investigation

• git log --oneline --graph --all – Visualize complex branch history
• git blame filename – Find who changed what and when
• git diff --staged – See what’s about to be committed
• git bisect start/bad/good – Binary search to find regression commit
• git reflog – Recover lost commits after force pushes

Advanced History Rewriting

• git rebase -i HEAD~5 – Interactive rebase to squash, reorder, edit
• git push --force-with-lease – Safer alternative to force push
• git filter-branch or git filter-repo – Remove secrets from history
• git update-ref -d refs/original/ – Clean up after filter-branch

Cleaning & Maintenance

git gc --aggressive --prune=now – Optimize repository size

git clean -fdx – Remove all untracked files (dangerous – use carefully!)

Collaboration & Automation

• git config --global core.hooksPath .githooks – Use project-specific hooks
• git config --global init.templateDir ~/.git-template – Enforce team hooks
• git cliff – Generate beautiful changelogs automatically
• git secrets or gitleaks – Scan for leaked credentials in CI, especially important when managing secure RDS instances

Conclusion

Mastering these 25 Git commands separates good DevOps engineers from great ones. They enable you to move fast without breaking things, recover from mistakes quickly, enforce clean history in CI/CD pipelines, and automate repetitive tasks. Bookmark this page, practice daily, and soon these commands will become muscle memory that makes you the go-to expert on every team.

Frequently Asked Questions

What’s the difference between git reset and git revert?

reset rewrites history (dangerous on shared branches); revert creates a new commit that undoes changes – safe for main/production.

Is git push --force ever safe?

Use --force-with-lease instead – it protects against overwriting someone else’s work.

How do I recover a deleted branch?

Use git reflog to find the old commit, then git branch recovered-branch <sha>.

What does git rebase do?

It reapplies your commits on top of another branch, creating a linear history instead of merge commits.

Should I squash commits before merging?

Yes, especially in feature branches. Use git rebase -i or squash-and-merge in GitHub/GitLab.

How do I find who introduced a bug?

Use git bisect for binary search or git blame to trace line-by-line authorship.

What is git stash used for?

Temporarily save unfinished work when you need to switch branches urgently.

Can I undo a git rebase gone wrong?

Yes! git reflog shows pre-rebase state, then git reset --hard ORIG_HEAD.

How do I remove sensitive data from Git history?

Use git filter-repo or BFG Repo-Cleaner, then force push and notify team.

What’s the best Git workflow for DevOps teams?

GitOps with feature branches, trunk-based development, or GitHub Flow depending on release frequency.