Start a repo

Your first git command

⏱ Est. ~4 min

01 · Read

Every project tracked by git starts with a single command: git init. This command creates a hidden .git folder in your project where git stores all its tracking data. Without this step, git has no idea your project exists.

💡 Picture thisRunning git init is like buying a filing cabinet for a new project. Until you have the cabinet, there's nowhere to sort and store your documents. The cabinet itself sits hidden in the storage room (that's the .git folder), but it quietly keeps everything organized.

Key points

git init creates a new git repo in the current folder
It creates a hidden .git directory where all tracking data lives
git status shows you git's view of the world — tracked, untracked, and modified files

02 · Terminal exercise

Every git project starts the same way: git init. This tells git to start tracking this folder.

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03 · Terminal exercise

Let's create a file for git to track.

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04 · Terminal exercise

See git's view of things.

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05 · Fill in the blank

To have git start tracking a project folder, you run git ___ inside that folder.

Other lessons in this chapter

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