Git Basics: Initialize and Commit

Duration: 5 min

What is a Git Repository?

A Git repository is a folder that contains your project files and a hidden .git directory that tracks all changes. When you initialize a repository with git init, Git starts tracking changes to files in that folder.

Creating Your First Repository

# Create a new project folder
mkdir my-ai-project
cd my-ai-project

# Initialize a Git repository
git init

# Check the status
git status

Try it in Google Colab:

Initialized empty Git repository in /path/to/my-ai-project/.git/
On branch main

No commits yet

nothing to commit

Configuring Git

Before making commits, tell Git who you are. This information is attached to every commit you make.

# Configure your name
git config --global user.name "Your Name"

# Configure your email
git config --global user.email "your.email@example.com"

# Verify your configuration
git config --global --list

user.name=Your Name
user.email=your.email@example.com

Making Your First Commit

A commit is a snapshot of your project at a specific point in time. To make a commit, you first stage files with git add, then save them with git commit.

# Create a file
echo 'print("Hello, AI!")' > hello.py

# Check what changed
git status

# Stage the file
git add hello.py

# Commit with a message
git commit -m 'Add hello.py'

# View commit history
git log

On branch main

Initial commit

Changes to be committed:
  new file:   hello.py

[main (root-commit) a1b2c3d] Add hello.py
 1 file changed, 1 insertion(+)
 create mode 100644 hello.py

💡 Tip: Write clear commit messages that describe what changed. Good: 'Add user authentication'. Bad: 'fix stuff'.