Commit and push changes to Git repository | IntelliJ IDEA (2023)

After you've added new files to the Git repository, or modified files that are already under Git version control and you are happy with their current state, you can share the results of your work. This involves committing them locally to record the snapshot of your repository to the project history, and then pushing them to the remote repository so that they become available to others.

Set your Git username

Git needs to know your username to associate commits with an identity. If you have not set your username, IntelliJIDEA will prompt you to specify it when you first attempt to commit changes.

  • Open the Terminal and execute one of the following commands:

    • To set a name for every Git repository on your machine, use $ git config --global user.name "John Smith"

    • To set a name for a single repository, use $ git config user.name "John Smith"

Commit changes locally

  1. Open the vertical Commit tool window Alt+0 located on the left:

    Commit and push changes to Git repository | IntelliJIDEA (1)
  2. As your changes are ready to be committed, select the corresponding files or an entire changelist.

    If you press Ctrl+K, the entire active changelist will be selected.

    You can also select files under the Unversioned Files node — IntelliJIDEA will stage and commit these files in one step.

  3. If you want to append local changes to the latest commit instead of creating a separate commit, select the Amend option.

  4. Enter the commit message. You can click Commit and push changes to Git repository | IntelliJIDEA (2) to choose from the list of recent commit messages.

    You can also edit the commit message later before you've pushed the commit.

  5. If you need to perform pre-commit checks, upload files to a server after the commit, or commit with advanced options, click Commit and push changes to Git repository | IntelliJIDEA (3):

    Commit and push changes to Git repository | IntelliJIDEA (4)

    The following options are available:

    • Author: if you are committing changes made by another person, you can specify the author of these changes.

    • Sign-off commit: select if you want to sign off your commit to certify that the changes you are about to check in have been made by you, or that you take the responsibility for the code you're committing.

      When this option is enabled, the following line is automatically added at the end of the commit message: Signed off by: <username>

      (Video) How to commit changes to git in Intellij Idea | git commit

    • In the Before Commit area, select the actions you want IntelliJIDEA to perform before committing the selected files to the local repository.

      The following options are available:

      • Reformat code: perform code formatting according to the Project Code Style settings.

      • Rearrange code: rearrange your code according to the arrangement rules preferences.

      • Optimize imports: remove redundant import statements.

      • Analyze code: analyze modified files before committing them. Click Choose profile to select an inspection profile from which the IDE will run inspections.

      • Check TODO (<filter name>): Review the TODO items matching the specified filter. Click Configure to choose an existing TODO filter, or open the TODO settings page and define a new filter to be applied.

      • Cleanup: batch-apply quick-fixes from code cleanup inspections. Click Choose profile to select a profile from which the IDE will run inspections.

      • Run Tests: run tests as pre-commit checks. Click Choose configuration near Run Tests and select which configuration you want to run.

      • Update copyright: add or update a copyright notice according to the selected copyright profile - scope combination.

    • In the After Commit area, you can select the server access configuration or a server group to use for uploading the committed files to a local or remote host, a mounted disk, or a directory. See Deploy your application for details.

      The following options are available:

      • Run tool: select the external tool that you want IntelliJIDEA to launch after the selected changes have been committed. You can select a tool from the list, or click the Browse button Commit and push changes to Git repository | IntelliJIDEA (5) and configure an external tool in the External Tools dialog that opens.

      • Upload files to: select the server access configuration or a server group to use for uploading the committed files to a local or remote host, a mounted disk, or a directory.

        • To suppress uploading, choose None.

        • To add a server configuration to the list, click Commit and push changes to Git repository | IntelliJIDEA (6) and fill in the required fields in the Add Server dialog that opens.

        The list is only available if the FTP/SFTP/WebDAV Connectivity plugin is enabled.

        (Video) GitHub for Beginners 2 : How to clone GitHub repository and how to push changes to remote repository

      • Always use selected server or group of servers: always upload files to the selected server or a server group.

        The checkbox is only available if the FTP/SFTP/WebDAV Connectivity plugin is enabled.

  6. When you're ready, click Commit or Commit and Push (Ctrl+Alt+K) to push the changes to the remote repository immediately after the commit. You will be able to review the current commit as well as all other commits before they are pushed to the remote.

Commit part of a file

Sometimes when you make changes that are related to a specific task, you also apply other unrelated code modifications that affect the same file. Including all such changes into one commit may not be a good option, since it would be more difficult to review, revert, cherry-pick them, and so on.

IntelliJIDEA lets you commit such changes separately in one of the following ways:

  • select modified code chunks, that you want to include in a commit right in the Commit Changes dialog and leave other changes pending so that you can commit them later.

  • put different code chunks into different changelists on the fly, when you edit code, and then commit these changelists separately.

Select chunks you want to commit

  1. Open the vertical Commit tool window Alt+0.

  2. To display the differences between the repository version and the local version of the selected file, in the Commit tool window Alt+0, click Commit and push changes to Git repository | IntelliJIDEA (7) on the toolbar or press Ctrl+D.

  3. Select the checkbox next to each chunk of modified or newly added code that you want to commit, and leave other changes unselected:

    Commit and push changes to Git repository | IntelliJIDEA (8)
  4. Click Commit. Unselected changes will stay in the current changelist, so that you can commit them separately.

Put changes into different changelists

  1. When you make a change to a file in the editor, click the corresponding change marker in the gutter.

  2. In the toolbar that appears, select the target changelist for the modified code chunk (or create a new changelist):

    Commit and push changes to Git repository | IntelliJIDEA (9)
  3. Commit each changelist separately.

Use the Git staging area to commit changes

If you are more used to the concept of staging changes for commit instead of using changelists where modified files are staged automatically, select the Enable staging area option on the Version Control | Git page of the IDE settings Ctrl+Alt+S.

The Commit tool window will now look as follows:

Commit and push changes to Git repository | IntelliJIDEA (10)

Using the staging area allows you to easily commit changes to the same file separately (including overlapping changes), and see which changes are already staged without switching focus from the editor.

(Video) How to push changes to Git Repository | Committing changes in git | SDET | Devops #git #gitbash

Stage changes for commit

  1. Do one of the following:

    • To stage an entire file, in the Commit tool window Alt+0, select this file and click Commit and push changes to Git repository | IntelliJIDEA (11) on the right next to it or press Ctrl+Alt+A.

      Commit and push changes to Git repository | IntelliJIDEA (12)
    • To stage a specific chunk inside a file, in the editor click the change marker in the gutter next to the modified chunk and click Stage.

      Commit and push changes to Git repository | IntelliJIDEA (13)

      Staged changes (including changes staged from outside IntelliJIDEA) are marked with a border-shaped change marker in the editor:

      Commit and push changes to Git repository | IntelliJIDEA (14)
    • To stage granular changes like a single line instead of a code chunk, or even one of a number of changes to a single line, in the Commit tool window Alt+0, select the file containing the change and choose Compare HEAD, Staged and Local Versions from the context menu.

      This will open a three-way diff viewer where the left pane shows the repository version, the right pane shows the local version, and the central pane is a fully-functional editor where you can make the changes you want to stage.

      Commit and push changes to Git repository | IntelliJIDEA (15)
  2. When ready, commit the changes as described in Commit changes locally.

Push changes to a remote repository

Before pushing your changes, sync with the remote and make sure your local copy of the repository is up-to-date to avoid conflicts.

IntelliJIDEA allows you to upload changes from any branch to its tracked branch or to any other remote branch.

  1. Do one of the following:

    • To push changes from the current branch press Ctrl+Shift+K or choose Git | Push from the main menu.

    • To push changes from any local branch that has a remote, select this branch in the Branches popup and choose Push from the list of actions.

    The Push Commits dialog opens showing all Git repositories (for multi-repository projects) and listing all commits made in the current branch in each repository since the last push.

    If you have a project that uses multiple repositories that are not controlled synchronously, only the current repository is selected by default (for details on how to enable synchronous repositories control, refer to Version Control Settings: Git).

  2. If there are no remotes in the repository, the Define remote link appears. Click this link and specify the remote name and URL in the dialog that opens. It will be saved and you can edit it later via Git | Manage Remotes (for details, see Add a remote repository).

  3. If you want to modify the target branch where you want to push, you can click the branch name. The label turns into a text field where you can type an existing branch name, or create a new branch. You can also click the Edit all targets link in the bottom-right corner to edit all branch names simultaneously.

    Note that you cannot change the local branch: the current branch for each selected repository will be pushed.

    (Video) #1. How To Push Project From IntelliJ IDEA To Git Remote Repository?

  4. If you have some commits you've made but not yet want to push to a remote branch, in the Log tab of the Git tool window select the last commit you want to push and choose Push All up to Here… option from the list of actions.

    The Push Commits dialog opens showing all commits up to the selected commit hash.

  5. If you want to preview changes before pushing them, select the required commit. The right-hand pane shows the changes included in the selected commit. You can use the toolbar buttons to examine the commit details.

    If the author of a commit is different from the current user, this commit is marked with an asterisk.

  6. Click the Push button when ready and select which operation you want to perform from the drop-down menu: Push or Force push (equivalent to push --force-with-lease).

    These choice options are only available if the current branch is not listed in the Protected branches field (see Version Control Settings: Git), otherwise, you can only perform the push operation.

Update your working copy if push is rejected

If push is rejected because your working copy is outdated, IntelliJIDEA displays the Push Rejected dialog, provided that the Auto-update if push of the current branch was rejected option in the Git settings page of the Settings/Preferences dialog is not selected. Do the following:

  1. If your project uses several Git repositories, specify which of them you want to update. If you want to update all repositories, no matter whether push was rejected for them or not, select the Update all repositories option. If this option is cleared, only the affected repositories will be updated.

  2. If you want IntelliJIDEA to apply the update procedure silently the next time push is rejected using the update method you choose in this dialog, select the Remember the update method choice and silently update in the future option.

    After you leave this dialog, the Auto-update if push of the current branch was rejected checkbox in the Git settings page of the Settings/Preferences dialog will be selected, and the applied update method will become the default one.

    To change the update strategy, deselect this option to invoke the Push Rejected dialog the next time push of the current branch is rejected, apply a different update procedure, and select the Remember the update method choice option once again.

  3. Select the update method (rebase or merge) by clicking the Rebase or Merge button respectively.

When do I need to use force push?

When you run push, Git will refuse to complete the operation if the remote repository has changes that you are missing and that you are going to overwrite with your local copy of the repository. Normally, you need to perform pull to synchronize with the remote before you update it with your changes.

The --force push command disables this check and lets you overwrite the remote repository, thus erasing its history and causing data loss. Under the hood, when you choose to force push, IntelliJIDEA performs the push --force-with-lease operation which is a safer option that helps you ensure you do not overwrite someone else's commits (see git push for more details on the push options).

A possible situation when you may still need to perform --force push is when you rebase a pushed branch and then want to push it to the remote server. In this case, when you try to push, Git will reject your changes because the remote ref is not an ancestor of the local ref. If you perform pull in this situation, you will end up with two copies of the branch which you then need to merge.

Last modified: 05 December 2022

Sync with a remote Git repository (fetch, pull, update) Sign commits with GPG keys

(Video) How to commit changes to GIT repository in intellij IDEA

FAQs

How do I commit changes to a git repository? ›

When you're ready, click Commit or Commit and Push ( Ctrl+Alt+K ) to push the changes to the remote repository immediately after the commit. You will be able to review the current commit as well as all other commits before they are pushed to the remote.

Which is the correct way of pushing changes to the repository? ›

This can be done with the git push command. Users can define which branch is to be pushed into the repository by passing its name as an argument. By default, the data will be pushed from the current branch into the same branch of the remote repository.

How do you commit and push to a repo? ›

To push the commit from the local repo to your remote repositories, run git push -u remote-name branch-name where remote-name is the nickname the local repo uses for the remote repositories and branch-name is the name of the branch to push to the repository. You only have to use the -u option the first time you push.

Do we need to push the changes after commit? ›

You don't have to push after each commit. As I mention before, when you push, you send your latest and all earlier commits that the server doesn't have in the current branch.

How do you write a good commit message? ›

How to write a good commit message? A good commit message should be two things: meaningful and concise. It should not contain every single detail, describing each changed line—we can see all the changes in Git—but, at the same time, it should say enough to avoid ambiguity.

How do you commit and push all changes? ›

  1. git add -A to add all files new files, changes and removed files.
  2. git commit -m "Your message" to save the changes done in the files.
  3. git push -u origin master to send your committed changes to a remote repository, where the local branch is named master to the remote named origin.

What are the three most commonly used operations when working with remote repositories? ›

Commit: Commit is an operation which saves the changes permanently. Staging Area: Staging is a step before the commit process in git. That is, a commit in git is performed in two steps: staging and actual commit. Push: The git push command is used to upload local repository content to a remote repository.

What is the difference between commit and push? ›

Summing up, git commit saves repository changes on local but not remote repository. Contrarily, Git push then updates your git commit changes and sends it to remote repository. That is where where working developers will access them.

What to do before pushing to git? ›

Always Pull Before a Push

Before you try to push code out to the repository, you should always pull all the current changes from the remote repository to your local machine. Doing so will ensure that your local copy is in sync with the remote repository.

Is commit necessary before push? ›

Yes, you do need add and commit your changes before pushing your code to your github repository.

How do I push to repository for the first time? ›

Push a new Git branch to a remote repo
  1. Clone the remote Git repo locally.
  2. Create a new branch with the branch, switch or checkout commands.
  3. Perform a git push with the –set-upstream option to set the remote repo for the new branch.
  4. Continue to perform Git commits locally on the new branch.
Oct 3, 2021

What does it mean to commit to a repository? ›

The "commit" command is used to save your changes to the local repository. Note that you have to explicitly tell Git which changes you want to include in a commit before running the "git commit" command. This means that a file won't be automatically included in the next commit just because it was changed.

What happens if I commit and don't push? ›

So commiting changes without pushing allow the save-load behaviour done locally during development. Once you are happy with your work, you then commit AND push.

What are the best practices to follow when working with git? ›

Best practices for using Git
  • Make clean, single-purpose commits.
  • Write meaningful commit messages.
  • Commit early, commit often.
  • Don't alter published history.
  • Don't commit generated files.
Feb 7, 2019

What happens if you commit without adding? ›

Without adding any files, the command git commit won't work. Git only looks to the staging area to find out what to commit. Staging, or adding, files, is possible through the command line, and also possible with most Git interfaces like GitHub Desktop by selecting the lines or files that you'd like to stage.

What should your commit message look like? ›

It suggests that a commit message should consist of a header, a body, and a footer with a blank line between each section because tools like rebase in Git get confused if we run them together without space. The header consists of a type and a summary part. Some add an optional “scope” in between.

What should be the commit message in git? ›

Git Commit Message Structure

The commit message title is limited to 72 characters, and the description has no character limit. While those are the established character limits, most developers suggest that the commit message summary be no longer than 50 characters, and the description be limited to 72.

What is the difference between commit all and sync and push? ›

Commit All: saves changes to your local repository. Commit All and Push: same as Commit All, but pushes changes to the remote repository. Commit All and Sync: saves changes to local repository, pulls changes from the remote to sync with local changes, and then pushes changes to the remote repository.

How do I push changes to an existing repository in GitHub? ›

Pushing changes to GitHub
  1. Click Push origin to push your local changes to the remote repository.
  2. If GitHub Desktop prompts you to fetch new commits from the remote, click Fetch.
  3. Optionally, click Create Pull Request to open a pull request and collaborate on your changes.

What is the difference between push and merge in git? ›

Merging occurs locally while pushing acts on a remote repository. Often git push is used after merging to update the remote repository.

What are the two main types of repositories? ›

There are two types of repositories: business repositories and asset repositories. Business asset repositories store business documents (such as invoices, contracts, engineering drawings, or reports).

What are the 3 main types of objects in a git database? ›

There are 3 main types of objects that git stores:
  • Blob: This object as we have seen above stores the original content.
  • Tree: This object is used to store directories present in our project.
  • Commit: This object is created whenever a commit is made and abstracts all the information for that particular commit.
Jun 18, 2021

How often should you commit and push? ›

If you commit, push. Ideally, you should commit every time you check off a task. You should never commit a half-written function without first writing comments and perhaps even some pseudo code. The same goes for a file.

When should we use commit? ›

Use the COMMIT statement to end your current transaction and make permanent all changes performed in the transaction. A transaction is a sequence of SQL statements that Oracle Database treats as a single unit.

What is commit example? ›

to promise to do something or to promise that something will happen: commit to sth The CEO declined to commit to a time frame for the decision. commit to doing sth Families who sign up to the service have to commit to buying their groceries from one internet source for a year.

What is the best git pull strategy? ›

I normally prefer git pull --rebase . When you run git pull --rebase, your current local branch gets rebased on top of the last commit from the upstream . This will help you to achieve a linear history of changes.

What is git commit used for? ›

Summary. The git commit command is one of the core primary functions of Git. Prior use of the git add command is required to select the changes that will be staged for the next commit. Then git commit is used to create a snapshot of the staged changes along a timeline of a Git projects history.

What is the difference between commit and pull request? ›

A commit is a discrete change to one or more files. It is a critical part of Git. A pull request is a request to merge one or more commits into a different branch. It is not part of Git; it is only part of GitHub (and similar services like BitBucket).

When should you make the first commit? ›

You should do your first commit wherever it feels logical to do it, that means, wherever you reach a point that the work you did is logical enough to justify one, and only one, commit; just as you do in your normal workflow.

Should I merge before commit? ›

If there were uncommitted worktree changes present when the merge started, git merge --abort will in some cases be unable to reconstruct these changes. It is therefore recommended to always commit or stash your changes before running git merge.

How do I push changes to GitHub without pulling? ›

How to push changes to github without pull
  1. git init.
  2. git remote add origin.
  3. git add .
  4. git push origin master.
Oct 10, 2013

How do I push a local branch to a new repository? ›

  1. To push the main repo, you first have to add the remote server to Git by running git remote add <url> . ...
  2. To finally push the repo, run git push -u origin <branch-name> ...
  3. That's how you push the main branch for the first time. ...
  4. To confirm that the branch has been pushed, head over to GitHub and click the branches drop-down.
Sep 9, 2022

Why is it important to be commit? ›

Commitment is important because it makes you more dependable, trustworthy, and responsible. And we all like to be with someone we can trust and rely on. So when you make commitments and keep them, people will respect and trust you more.

Why do we commit in github? ›

Similar to saving a file that's been edited, a commit records changes to one or more files in your branch. Git assigns each commit a unique ID, called a SHA or hash, that identifies: The specific changes. When the changes were made.

What is a rebase in git? ›

What is git rebase? Rebasing is the process of moving or combining a sequence of commits to a new base commit. Rebasing is most useful and easily visualized in the context of a feature branching workflow.

What is the difference between commit and push and push? ›

Commit - committing is the process which records changes in the repository. Think of it as a snapshot of the current status of the project. Commits are done locally. Push - pushing sends the recent commit history from your local repository up to GitHub.

Is it legal to not commit to anyone? ›

Overview of Law #20: Do Not Commit to Anyone

Do not commit to anyone except yourself. By maintaining your independence, you remain in control — others will vie for your attention, and you can play one side against another.

What is the best branching strategy? ›

Git Flow is the most widely known branching strategy that takes a multi-branch approach to manage the source code. This approach consists of two main branches that live throughout the development lifecycle.

What is the best Git workflow? ›

The recommended workflow for implementing GitOps with Kubernetes manifests is known as trunk-based development. This method defines one branch as the "trunk" and carries out development on each environment in a different short-lived branch.

How do I make a good commit on GitHub? ›

Rules for a great git commit message style
  1. Separate subject from body with a blank line.
  2. Do not end the subject line with a period.
  3. Capitalize the subject line and each paragraph.
  4. Use the imperative mood in the subject line.
  5. Wrap lines at 72 characters.
  6. Use the body to explain what and why you have done something.

Is commit mandatory in git? ›

Yes, you need to commit your changes before you can push anything. A push (and a pull) only transfers commit contents, so something that is not committed is not transferred.

What to do after committing? ›

After you've made a few commits, check out the output of the git log command. You should see the history of your repository, including all of the commit messages!

Can I commit without message? ›

Git does not recommend to commit without any message.

Git commit messages are necessary to look back and see the changes made during a particular commit. If everyone will just commit without any message, no one would ever know what changes a developer has done.

How to commit with git command line? ›

Git commit -m

The -m option of commit command lets you to write the commit message on the command line. This command will not prompt the text editor. It will run as follows: $ git commit -m "Commit message."

Which command is used to commit changes in repo? ›

Git commit command is the main function for saving changes to local repository safely. Commit takes a snapshot of the project and treats it as a version.

How do I update a local git repository? ›

Update, then Work
  1. Update your local repo from the central repo ( git pull upstream master ).
  2. Make edits, save, git add , and git commit all in your local repo.
  3. Push changes from local repo to your fork on github.com ( git push origin master )
  4. Update the central repo from your fork ( Pull Request )
  5. Repeat.
Apr 8, 2021

How do you commit changes or codes? ›

You can type a commit message above the changes and press Ctrl+Enter (macOS: ⌘+Enter) to commit them. If there are any staged changes, only those changes will be committed. Otherwise, you'll get a prompt asking you to select what changes you'd like to commit and get the option to change your commit settings.

What should I write in a git commit? ›

The commit type can include the following: feat – a new feature is introduced with the changes. fix – a bug fix has occurred. chore – changes that do not relate to a fix or feature and don't modify src or test files (for example updating dependencies)

What is commit in git with example? ›

Commits can be thought of as snapshots or milestones along the timeline of a Git project. Commits are created with the git commit command to capture the state of a project at that point in time. Git Snapshots are always committed to the local repository.

How do you structure a commit? ›

Rules for a great git commit message style
  1. Separate subject from body with a blank line.
  2. Do not end the subject line with a period.
  3. Capitalize the subject line and each paragraph.
  4. Use the imperative mood in the subject line.
  5. Wrap lines at 72 characters.
  6. Use the body to explain what and why you have done something.

What is difference between git commit and git push? ›

Summing up, git commit saves repository changes on local but not remote repository. Contrarily, Git push then updates your git commit changes and sends it to remote repository. That is where where working developers will access them.

How to push files to git? ›

On GitHub.com, navigate to the main page of the repository. Above the list of files, using the Add file drop-down, click Upload files. Drag and drop the file or folder you'd like to upload to your repository onto the file tree.

How to take latest code from git? ›

For that, go to your GitHub, go to the repository and then to the clone or download option, and copy the URL. Coming back to GitHub, paste the URL with Git pull command. All the contents from the repository have been pulled to our local repository.

When should you commit code? ›

You should only commit code when a logical component is completed. Split a feature's implementation into logical chunks that can be completed quickly so that you can commit often. If you're tempted to commit just because you need a clean working copy (to check out a branch, pull in changes, etc.)

How do I commit changes to my branch? ›

First, checkout to your new branch. Then, add all the files you want to commit to staging. Lastly, commit all the files you just added. You might want to do a git push origin your-new-branch afterwards, so your changes show up on the remote.

What happens when you commit code? ›

In version control systems, a commit is an operation which sends the latest changes of the source code to the repository, making these changes part of the head revision of the repository.

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