How to Use Git Alias to Make Git More Efficient

Git is a version management system that allows for easy branching and merging, various staging regions, and a distributed workflow paradigm. You may leverage one of Git’s attributes called “Git Alias” to get more out of it. This alias function, similar to a nickname, saves time in the Git terminal window by combining redundant steps for a quicker user experience. We’ll go through what Git aliases are, how to use them, and some of the most relevant examples in this article.

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Git Alias: What Is It?

Git Alias is a constructed command that automatically infers the content of a larger command as a shortcut process to bring out the repetitious references. These can be used by programmers to create commands that should exist or that are reasonable towards efficient committing.

One example of a global alias for “checkout,” which is used to exchange branches in a repository, is shown below. Instead of the lengthy command provided here, git co can now be used.

git config --global alias.co checkout

To establish a new branch in a Git repository, a Git alias for the branch is used. The alias git br can be used instead of the lengthy command.

git config --global alias.br branch

Finally, an alias for Git commit has been defined, using a shortcut key: git ci.

git config --global alias.ci commit

You must install Git correctly before you can use Git Alias. After that, follow the steps outlined here.

How to Add Git Aliases

Git Bash is made simple and easy by adding Git aliases to the terminal window. But first, make sure your instructions are in the correct Git repository; otherwise, you’ll get a “fatal: not a git repository” problem.

You must establish the repository as indicated below to position your commands and guarantee you’re working in the correct directory. This step is only required once at the beginning. The Repo has been reinitialized in the following example.

git init

To wipe the screen clean, type clear. You can now begin playing with Git aliases and other features.

Let’s make a Git alias for the command “Status.” This is useful for keeping track of any files that have changed during the workflow. You can use “st” as an alias for this, as seen below.

git config --global alias.st "status"

After that, you can just write git st as a shortcut, as seen above. Because all of these file systems are untracked, there’s nothing new to commit to here, however, the status alias does work.

More Git Alias Examples

1. Git Commit

Any work you do in Git on your end must be committed to the Master repository. As a result, Git commit is one of the most important alias commands.

git config --global alias.ci commit

2. Git Revert Commit

You may need to undo a commit done just with the Git Bash terminal on occasion. This revert’s Git alias can be defined as follows.

git config --global alias.rc revert

3. Git Remove Commit

You must use the reset command alias for certain versions to do a hard deletion of the commit, which removes it totally from the branch.

git config --global alias.rs reset

4. Git Change Commit Message

Want to make a change to the most recent commit’s message? This is where the Git Change Commit Message comes in. An alias for it could be the following. It will, of course, have an impact on the most current communication.

git config --global alias.am amend

5. Git Change Branch

Would you like to jump from one Git branch to the next? This is where the checkout alias comes into play.

git config --global alias.co checkout 
git co <existing branch>
git co -b <new branch>

We can construct appropriate Git aliases for some of the following commands similarly:

Check Git Username: Something like git config --global user.name "James Joyce" can be aliased to avoid frequent mentions of the username.

Git Show Branches: Want to see all the branches in one place? You’ll need to create an alias for git config --global branch; for remote branches, and you’ll need to add - r to the command.

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Final Verdict: How to Use Git Alias

The preceding tutorial walks you through the process of generating Git aliases for the most often used commands in the Git Bash terminal window in a systematic, step-by-step manner. Here’s how to get started managing projects on GitHub. Jekyll and GitHub Pages are also free options for hosting your blog.