Git basics

Information on using git, especially for common tasks that I frequently forget how to do.

Change primary branch to main

In Git 2.28.0, there is a configuration option to set the default branch name of new repos. You can enable this config from the command line with

git config --global init.defaultBranch main

When pushing an initialized repo to a new logged repo on Git(Hub|Lab), and when doing any branch manipulation, you will need to use the new default branch name.

Check in an empty directory

Technically, you cannot do this, and in general it is not recommended except in some edge cases (like when cloning a template directory). If it is absolutely necessary, you need to create a placeholder files within the directory, such as .keep or a README.md that explains the purpose of the directory.

Deleting branches

When deleting branches, you can delete local and remote branched. Local branches are deleted with one of the following:

git branch -d branch-name
git branch -D branch-name

The second option force deleted the branch, allowing it to be removed even if it hasn't been completely merged into the default branch.

Deleting a remote branch is a push into the remote repo:

git push origin --delete branch-name