Git Status

git status is the command to run whenever you are unsure what state the repository is in. It answers three questions: which branch you are on, what you have staged, and what you have changed but not staged. It is read-only, so there is no such thing as running it at a bad moment.

Check status

git status

or

git status -s

Shows the current status of the repository. This command shows the status of the repository and the changes that are currently staged or unstaged.

Reading the output

Git groups what it finds, and the grouping is the useful part. Under "Changes to be committed" are the files your next commit will record. Under "Changes not staged for commit" are edits that exist on disk but are not queued. Under "Untracked files" are files Git has never seen at all.

A file can appear in both of the first two groups at once. That is not a contradiction: you staged an earlier version, then edited the file again, and the two versions differ.

Short format

git status -s

One line per file, which is easier to scan in a script or a wide terminal. The first column is the staged state, the second the unstaged one, so MM means a file that is both staged and modified again since.

Branch tracking

The header also tells you whether your branch is ahead of, behind, or level with its upstream. "Your branch is behind" is the signal to fetch and pull before you commit anything else.

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