Emacs: magit-mode for git

By Xah Lee. Date: . Last updated: .

Magit tutorial for beginner.

All you need to know is Alt+x magit-status and 6 keys:

Tab
Toggle show diff.
s
Stage
u
Unstage
c c
Commit
P
Push
F
Pull
emacs magit status 2017 03 29
emacs magit-status. 2017-03-29

Following are details.


emacs magit-mode is the best interface to the git version control system.

I assume you have used the following git commands in terminal:

[see Git Basics]

Install Magit Mode

Install it thru MELPA. [see Emacs: Install Package with ELPA/MELPA]

Using Magit to add, commit, push

First, open a git controlled file, or open its directory in dired.

Alt+x magit-status to see the project's status.

Move cursor to a line, press Tab to toggle “diff”. (Command name magit-section-toggle)

Press s
Add the file under cursor to stage. (magit-stage)
Press S
Add all tracked files to stage. ( magit-stage-modified)
Press u
Unstage the file under cursor. (magit-unstage)
Press U
Unstage all staged files. (magit-unstage-all)
Press c c
Write a commit message, then Ctrl+c Ctrl+c to commit. (magit-commit-popup)

Git Push

Press P
Push. (magit-push-popup)

Git Pull

Press F
Pull. (magit-pull-popup)

Git Log

emacs magit-mode 2013-06-09
M-x magit-log

Alt+x magit-log to see your commit log. Press Enter on a line to see its diff.

View Documentation

Magit comes with complete documentation. It's at the same dir magit-mode.el is at.

To view the doc:

  1. Alt+x describe-function, then type magit-mode.
  2. Click on the file name to open the source code file, then Alt+x dired-jump to go into that dir. You'll see a file named magit.info
  3. universal-argumentCtrl+u】, then Alt+x infoCtrl+h i】, then type the file name.

Once you've done this, the Magit doc is added to the info index. So, you can just call infoCtrl+h i】 to view it next time. [see Emacs: View Info Page]

Emacs, Version Control Features