Git & Command Line Tutorial · Git Basics · Lesson 8 of 20
Setting Up Git and Creating a Repository
Configure your name and email, set the default branch to main, create a repository with git init, and understand what the .git folder is.
One-time setup
Tell Git who you are; this goes into every commit:
git config --global user.name "Ana Dev"
git config --global user.email "[email protected]"
git config --global init.defaultBranch main
git config --global pull.rebase false # or true, see the Rebasing page
git config --list shows your settings; --global settings live in ~/.gitconfig.
A new repository
git init turns the current folder into a repository by creating a hidden .git folder, which stores the entire history. Delete .git and the history is gone, but your files stay.
To copy an existing repository instead, use git clone <url> (see Remotes).
git config --global user.name "Ana Dev"
git config --global user.email "[email protected]"
git config --global init.defaultBranch main
git config --global --list
mkdir recipes && cd recipes
git init --quiet
echo "--- branch: $(git branch --show-current)"
ls -A
ls .git | head -6
git status
Output
user.name=Ana Dev [email protected] init.defaultbranch=main --- branch: main .git HEAD branches config description hooks info On branch main No commits yet nothing to commit (create/copy files and use "git add" to track)
Run this on your computer — see “Get Started” for setup.
Test yourself
Where does Git store a repository's history?
In ~/.gitconfigIn the hidden .git folderOn GitHub onlyIn README.md
Show answer
Answer: In the hidden .git folder