Your First Git Commit

Git will create a hidden .git folder — everything is stored there.

Initializing a repository

# Inside your project folder
git init

Git will create a hidden .git folder — everything is stored there.

Configuration (one time only)

git config --global user.name "Your Name"
git config --global user.email "your@email.com"

First commit

# See what has changed
git status

# Add files to the staging area
git add .               # all files
git add README.md       # a specific file
git add src/           # a folder

# Create the commit
git commit -m "feat: initial project setup"

A common mistake — forgetting .gitignore

Create a .gitignore file BEFORE your first commit:

# Python
__pycache__/
*.pyc
.env
venv/
.venv/

# Django
db.sqlite3
staticfiles/
media/

# IDE
.vscode/
.idea/

git add .gitignore
git commit -m "chore: add .gitignore"

Viewing history

git log                 # full history
git log --oneline       # compact view
git show HEAD           # last commit

Connecting to GitHub

# Create a repository on github.com, then:
git remote add origin https://github.com/username/repo.git
git branch -M main
git push -u origin main

Full workflow

# 1. Make your changes
# 2. See what changed
git status
git diff

# 3. Stage and commit
git add .
git commit -m "feat: add task creation form"

# 4. Push to GitHub
git push