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How do I commit my changes in Git?

Let's say you have added a file to the staging index called newpost.txt. To get the file into the repository, you must commit your changes and include a message.

To commit the changes to our file, you can use the following command:

git commit

This command commits the file but does not include the required message. Without including a message, your text editor will automatically open and demand a message. You can also use this command to commit all changes in the working directory:

git commit -a

You can commit and add a message at the same time with this command:

git commit -m "Initial commit"

Note

-m means you want to add a message. "Initial commit" is the message. Notice that it's wrapped in double-quotes and it's very short. In fact, "Initial commit" is a standard first commit message.

And, yes, if you're wondering, you can add and commit changes at the same time with this command:

git commit -am "commit message

This command combines the -a and -m options above.

Sources
  • Skoglund, K. (2019). Git Essential Training: The Basics [Video]. LinkedIn Learning. https://www.linkedin.com/learning/git-essential-training-the-basics
  • Pro Git
  • Atlassian Git Tutorial