April 22, 2024Guide4 min read

Git Aliases: Speed Up Your Daily Workflow

What Are Git Aliases?

Aliases are custom shorthand commands defined in your Git config. Instead of typing git commit --amend every time, you can set git amend and save dozens of keystrokes daily.

Setting Up Aliases

# Basic alias
git config --global alias.co checkout
git config --global alias.br branch
git config --global alias.st status
git config --global alias.ci commit

Now you can use:

git co main
git br feature-login
git st
git ci -m "Message"

Advanced Aliases

Aliases can run complex commands:

# Better log with graph
git config --global alias.lg "log --oneline --graph --all --decorate"

# Show last commit
git config --global alias.last "log -1 HEAD"

# Undo last commit (keep changes)
git config --global alias.undo "reset --soft HEAD~1"

# List branches with dates
git config --global alias.branches "branch -a -v"

Shell Aliases

Prefix with ! to run shell commands:

git config --global alias.standup "!git log --since=yesterday --oneline --author=$(git config user.name)"
git config --global alias.root "!pwd"

Editor Integration

Edit aliases directly:

git config --global --edit
# Opens ~/.gitconfig in your editor

Example ~/.gitconfig section:

[alias]
  co = checkout
  br = branch
  st = status
  ci = commit
  lg = log --oneline --graph --all --decorate
  undo = reset --soft HEAD~1

Start Small

Add aliases for commands you use ten times a day. Within a week, muscle memory takes over and you will wonder how you lived without them.

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