Git – Status

Git is a powerful version control system that helps you to manage code changes and collaborate efficiently. One of the fundamental commands in Git is git status, which provides important information about the current state of your working directory and staging area. This article will explain the git status command, its output, and how to use it to effectively manage your Git workflow.

The git status command is used to display the state of the working directory and the staging area. It shows which changes have been staged, which have not, and which files are not being tracked by Git. This command is important for understanding the current status of your project and for making informed decisions about your next steps.

To use the git status command, navigate to your Git repository in your terminal and type:

git status

This command does not require any arguments, and its output provides a snapshot of your repository’s status.

Creating a project folder and Initializing Git

$ mkdir gfg
$ cd gfg
$ git init 

Output:

Git Status when working tree is clean:

$ git status

Output:

Here, the Working tree is clean that’s why the output is coming as nothing to commit.

Git Status when a new file is created:

$ touch new.txt
$ git status

Output:

Here, We created a new file that’s why it is showing untracked files. We can use the ‘git add’ command to include this file.

$ git add new.txt
$ git status

Output:

Now, It is showing changes to be committed which means the file is now included and ready to commit. We can commit files using the git commit -m “message” command.

$ git commit -m "first commit"
$ git status

Output:

After committing, the status is now changed to nothing to commit because now the working tree is clean.

Git Status when an existing file is modified:

First, we need to add some content to our new.txt file.

Now execute command i.e.

$ git status

Output:

It is showing modified: new.txt means something is modified in it. Now let’s add it and commit it.

$ git add new.txt
$ git commit -m "file modified"
$ git status

Output:

After adding and committing our working tree is cleaned that’s why git status is showing ‘nothing to commit’.

Git Status when the file is deleted:

$ git rm new.txt
$ git status

Output:

After deleting the file git status command show’s the deleted file name and it is also ready to commit it by using the git commit command. So let’s commit it and then see the status of the repo.

$ git commit -m "file deleted"
$ git status

Output:

After committing our working tree is cleaned that’s why git status is showing ‘nothing to commit‘.