Temporary Commits
In Git, temporary commits, also known as "stashing," allow you to save your work temporarily without committing it to the repository. Stashing is useful when you need to switch to another task or branch but want to keep your current changes for later use.
Stashing Changes
git stash
The git stash command can be used to save the changes you have made to the working directory. It can also be used to save the changes you have made to the staging area. Stashing is useful when you need to switch to another task or branch but want to keep your current changes for later use.
--keep-index
To save the changes in the staging area, use the --keep-index option to the git stash command. This tells Git to not only include all staged content in the stash being created, but simultaneously leave it in the index.
--include-untracked
If you specify --include-untracked or -u, Git will include the untracked files as well as the tracked ones. By default, git stash will stash only modified and staged tracked files. If you specify --include-untracked or -u, Git will include untracked files in the stash being created. However, including untracked files in the stash will still not include explicitly ignored files; to additionally include ignored files, use --all (or just -a).
--patch
If you specify the --patch flag, Git will not stash everything that is modified but will instead prompt you interactively which of the changes you would like to stash and which you would like to keep in your working directory.
--all
Use git stash --all to remove everything but save it in a stash.
Listing Stashes
git stash list
This command lists all stashes you have saved. Each stash is identified by a unique identifier, typically a number.
Applying Stashed Changes
git stash apply [<stash>]
git stash apply stash@{0}
- This command applies the changes from the specified stash to the current working directory.
- If no stash is specified, Git applies the most recent stash by default.
You can save a stash on one branch, switch to another branch later, and try to reapply the changes. You can also have modified and uncommitted files in your working directory when you apply a stash — Git gives you merge conflicts if anything no longer applies cleanly.
The --index option with git stash apply applies both the changes from the stash and the staged changes (changes that were added to the index) that were present when the changes were stashed. This option is particularly useful when you have staged changes that you also want to apply along with the unstaged changes from the stash.
Popping Stashed Changes
git stash pop [<stash>]
git stash pop stash@{0}
- This command applies the changes from the specified stash and removes it from the stash list.
- If no stash is specified, Git pops the most recent stash by default.
Droping Stashed Changes
The git stash drop command is used to remove stashed changes from the stash list.
git stash drop [<stash>]
git stash drop stash@{0}
This command removes the specified stash from the stash list. If no stash is specified, Git drops the most recent stash by default. Once dropped, the changes stored in the stash are permanently deleted and cannot be recovered.
Clearing Stashes
git stash clear
This command removes all stashes from the stash list. Use with caution, as it permanently deletes all stashed changes.
Creating a Branch from a Stash
If you stash some work, leave it there for a while, and continue on the branch from which you stashed the work, you may have a problem reapplying the work. If the apply tries to modify a file that you’ve since modified, you’ll get a merge conflict and will have to try to resolve it. If you want an easier way to test the stashed changes again, you can run git stash branch
$ git stash branch testchanges
M index.html
M lib/simplegit.rb
Switched to a new branch 'testchanges'
On branch testchanges
Changes to be committed:
(use "git reset HEAD <file>..." to unstage)
modified: index.html
Changes not staged for commit:
(use "git add <file>..." to update what will be committed)
(use "git checkout -- <file>..." to discard changes in working directory)
modified: lib/simplegit.rb
Dropped refs/stash@{0} (29d385a81d163dfd45a452a2ce816487a6b8b014)