Make and edit a commit

A commit is a snapshot of every file in your project folder, along with some metadata such as when the commit was made, who made it, and a short message describing the reasoning behind the work. A repository is just a pile of commits. Some of git's more powerful features can make it seem like there must be something more complex happening, but it really is that simple.

Each row in the History table (the bottom of the screen) represents a commit. If you just created an empty repository, then you won't have much to look at yet, but you will soon! If you click a commit, you can see the names of files that were created, deleted, or changed between that commit and the previous commit.

If you click one of the changed files, you can see the actual contents of the file and how it changed.

You can also see metadata about who made the commit, when, and why.

If you double-click a commit, it will open the snapshot as a folder, so that you can see exactly what the project folder looked like when the snapshot was taken.

Now you're going to make your own commit. In the list of commits at the bottom, there is always a special row for something called the "working copy", often abbreviated "WC". The working copy is a draft of the next commit you're going to make. If you're looking at the working copy, then this button will say Commit. If it doesn't say Commit, then it will say Go to WC, and if you click it, it will take you to the working copy.

Once you're at the working copy, the Changed files section will show you which files you have modified in your project directory. To make sure that it is up-to-date, you can hit the refresh button. To make a commit, all you need to do is check the box for which files you'd like to commit, and type in a commit message which explains the reasoning behind your changes.

Edit your commit

Pedants will tell you that it's impossible to edit a commit. Pedantically speaking that is true - however, you can make a brand new commit with the same snapshot of files but a different commit message, which sure feels a lot like an edit. Right-click a commit and select Edit metadata to do this.

There are some rules about when you should and shouldn't change commits in this way, which luckily will turn out to be obvious when you understand git a little more. For now, pretend that you can only change your most recent commit. If you stick with us for a little longer then you'll understand fully when you can and can't "change" a commit.

Set your username

Every time you make a commit, it will be tagged with your name and email. That way when you share your commits, your colleagues will be able to know who to contact if they'd like to discuss a particular change. You only have to set your username once, and it will be set for all the commits you make to every repository.

Click the command console , then select Config library. Once that is open, select Git from the tree at left and type in your name and email in the Committer box.

Now that you know your way around commits, we can take a look at branches.