How to use the command 'legit' (with examples)

‘Legit’ is a complementary command-line interface for Git, designed to simplify and streamline several common Git operations. By providing more concise and user-friendly commands, Legit helps users manage their Git repositories with greater efficiency and effectiveness. It offers functionalities for branch management, code synchronization, and history manipulation, all while aiming to maintain or enhance the power and flexibility of the underlying Git toolset.

Use case 1: Switch to a specified branch, stashing and restoring unstaged changes

Code:

git switch target_branch

Motivation:

Switching branches is a common operation when working with Git, especially in workflows involving multiple features or bug fixes. However, any unstaged changes in your working directory can prevent you from changing branches, leading to potential disruption in your workflow. By using ’legit’, you can seamlessly switch branches while automatically stashing and restoring any unstaged changes. This feature ensures that your work is not lost, and you can continue coding without interruptions.

Explanation:

• git switch: This command initiates the branch switching process.
• target_branch: This argument specifies the name of the branch you want to switch to. ‘Legit’ temporarily stashes any unstaged changes, switches to the target branch, and then pops the stashed changes.

Example Output:

Saved working directory and index state WIP on master: abcdef1 Fix typo in README
Switched to branch 'feature-new-ui'
Unstashed changes at HEAD

In this example, ’legit’ saves your current work in progress (WIP) and switches from the master branch to the feature-new-ui branch, restoring your previous changes afterward.

Use case 2: Synchronize current branch, automatically merging or rebasing, and stashing and unstashing

Code:

git sync

Motivation:

When collaborating on a project, it’s essential to keep your branch up to date with the latest changes from the remote repository. Manually fetching, merging, or rebasing, and dealing with any unstaged changes can become cumbersome. The ‘git sync’ command simplifies this process by automatically handling these operations, allowing seamless integration of changes from the remote to your local branch.

Explanation:

• git sync: This command automates the process of fetching the latest changes from the remote and integrating them into the current branch. If there are unstaged changes, it stashes them, performs the fetching and merging or rebasing, and then unstashes them.

Example Output:

Fetching origin
Successfully rebased and updated refs/heads/master.
Unstashed changes at HEAD

Here, ’legit’ has successfully fetched the latest changes from the remote origin and rebased the current branch with these changes, all while ensuring that any local unstaged changes are preserved and reapplied.

Use case 3: Publish a specified branch to the remote server

Code:

git publish branch_name

Motivation:

Publishing a branch means pushing it to the remote repository so that it’s available for other collaborators. This is particularly useful when you’ve completed a significant set of changes or a new feature and need to share your work with the team. The ‘git publish’ command simplifies this task by automatically pushing the specified branch to the remote repository.

Explanation:

• git publish: This command is used to push a local branch to the remote repository.
• branch_name: This argument is the name of the branch you wish to publish. This command will push the branch and set the upstream reference for future updates.

Example Output:

Branch 'feature-new-ui' set up to track 'origin/feature-new-ui'.

The branch feature-new-ui has been published to the remote repository, with its upstream reference configured.

Use case 4: Remove a branch from the remote server

Code:

git unpublish branch_name

Motivation:

Over time, branches on the remote server may become obsolete, for instance, after merging work or deciding not to proceed with a certain feature. Cleaning up these branches ensures that the repository remains organized and prevents confusion among team members. The ‘git unpublish’ command provides an efficient way to delete a branch from the remote server.

Explanation:

• git unpublish: This command is used to remove a branch from the remote repository.
• branch_name: This argument specifies the branch you want to delete from the remote server.

Example Output:

Deleted branch feature-unused from remote 'origin'.

In this example, ’legit’ removes the feature-unused branch from the remote repository origin, helping maintain a clean branch list.

Use case 5: List all branches and their publication status

Code:

git branches glob_pattern

Motivation:

Having a clear overview of all branches, including which ones are published or private, is vital for developers to manage their workflow effectively. This command allows users to list all branches, along with details of their publication status—an essential tool for organizing and planning development work.

Explanation:

• git branches: This command lists all branches.
• glob_pattern: This optional argument filters the branches matching the given pattern. If omitted, all branches will be listed.

Example Output:

* master       [published]
  feature-x    [unpublished]
  develop      [published]

This output indicates that the master and develop branches are published, whereas feature-x remains local and has not been pushed to the remote.

Use case 6: Remove the last commit from the history

Code:

git undo --hard

Motivation:

Mistakes happen. You might commit changes accidentally or realize that the last commit is incorrect. In such cases, you might want to remove the last commit and start afresh. The ‘git undo –hard’ command allows you to do just that, reverting the last commit effectively.

Explanation:

• git undo: This command is used to revert or undo actions in your commit history.
• --hard: This option discards changes from the last commit permanently, removing them from the commit history.

Example Output:

HEAD is now at 1234567 Previous meaningful commit message

The output indicates that the last commit has been successfully undone, taking the branch’s HEAD to the previous commit in the history.

Conclusion:

The ’legit’ command-line interface enhances the Git experience by offering simplified, user-friendly commands for common version control tasks. Whether you’re switching branches, syncing code, publishing work, or managing commit history, ’legit’ provides a powerful yet efficient toolkit to streamline your development workflow. By automating routine tasks, it allows developers to focus more on coding and less on managing code.