What is git status used for?

GitMiddle~1 min read

git status shows the current state of the working directory and the index (staging area): which files are modified, which are ready to commit, and which are not yet tracked by Git.

What exactly `git status` shows

1. Modified files

Files that:

are already tracked by Git
were modified after the last commit
have not yet been added to the staging area

text

modified: src/app.js

2. Staged files

Files that:

were added with git add
will be included in the next commit

text

new file: src/index.js

3. Untracked files

Files that:

exist in the project
are not under Git's control

text

Untracked files:
  config.env

4. Clean repository state

If there are no changes:

text

nothing to commit, working tree clean

Why `git status` is used in practice

To check exactly what will be committed
To avoid accidentally committing unwanted files
To see which files were forgotten (git add)
To check before git commit and git push
To quickly diagnose the state of the repository

Commonly used options

bash

git status        # full information
git status -s     # short format

Example of short output:

text

M  src/app.js
?? .env

Short answer for an interview

git status is used to view the current state of the repository: modified, staged, and untracked files.

Short Answer

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