Your First Commit Workflow

Introduction

Add selects changes; commit saves a snapshot to history. This chapter walks through your first complete cycle—create files, stage them, commit with a clear message, and read the log—so every later Git operation builds on muscle memory.

Prerequisites

• Repositories and the Working Tree
• Git Configuration with user.name and user.email set

Start a Practice Repository

mkdir git-practice
cd git-practice
git init

Create a simple project file:

echo "# Git Practice" > README.md
mkdir src
echo "console.log('hello');" > src/index.js

Check state:

git status

Both files appear under Untracked files.

Stage Changes with git add

Stage one file:

git add README.md
git status

README.md moves to Changes to be committed; src/index.js stays untracked.

Stage remaining files:

git add src/index.js

Or stage everything in the folder:

git add .

Code explanation:

• git add <path> copies the current file snapshot into the staging area
• git add . stages all changes under current directory (respects .gitignore later)

Create the Commit

git commit -m "Add README and hello script"

Success output similar to:

[main (root-commit) a1b2c3d] Add README and hello script
 2 files changed, 2 insertions(+)
 create mode 100644 README.md
 create mode 100644 src/index.js

Code explanation:

• (root-commit) — first commit in repo has no parent
• Hash a1b2c3d identifies this snapshot forever (full hash is longer)

Verify clean state:

git status

Expected: nothing to commit, working tree clean.

Write Better Commit Messages

Format that scales to teams:

Short summary in imperative mood (50 chars or less)
 
Optional body: why the change, not how every line changed.
Wrap at ~72 characters.

Examples:

Use imperative: “Add feature” not “Added feature”—matches generated messages.

Commit with Editor (No -m)

git commit

Git opens your configured core.editor. Write message, save, close editor to finish. Abort by closing without saving or leaving empty message (Git cancels).

View History

git log

Compact graph:

git log --oneline --graph --decorate

Example:

* a1b2c3d (HEAD -> main) Add README and hello script

Code explanation:

• HEAD -> main — you are on branch main at commit a1b2c3d
• --oneline — one line per commit

Show latest commit details:

git show

Second Commit (Edit Loop)

Change a file:

echo "console.log('hello git');" > src/index.js
git status

Shows modified under Changes not staged.

Stage and commit:

git add src/index.js
git commit -m "Update hello message in index.js"
git log --oneline

Two commits appear—history is a chain.

amend (Awareness Only)

Fix last commit message or include forgotten staged file:

git commit --amend -m "Better message"

End-to-End Workflow Summary

# 1. Edit files
# 2. Review
git status
# 3. Stage
git add <files>
# 4. Commit
git commit -m "Describe change"
# 5. Verify
git log --oneline

Repeat for every logical change.

Practice Checklist

• git init created repo
• At least two commits with clear messages
• git log --oneline shows both
• git status clean after commit
• Author shows your configured name/email in git log

FAQ

Committed but forgot a file?

Stage the file and run git commit --amend locally, or make a second commit—prefer second commit if already pushed.

git add . staged too much?

git restore --staged <file> to unstage—undo chapter details.

Empty commit?

git commit --allow-empty -m "Trigger CI"—rare; normal commits need staged changes.

Who can see commits?

Only you until you push to a remote—next chapters.

Binary files?

Git commits binaries but diffs poorly—images and jars work; use .gitignore for build artifacts.

Commit frequency?

Small, frequent commits beat rare huge dumps—easier review and revert.