.gitignore Everything by Default

Post by mrgitmfmfm » Sat, Sep 05, 2026, 7:51 PM UTC

jameshart wrote: post #64

etbebl wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I use "git add ." (or rather -A), but I will always do a "git status" first to make sure I'm not doing something silly. Of course you still have to be careful about subdirectories, which is why I usually also do a "git status" again before committing.

git add . is nondestructive and reversible. I tend to do git add . and then run git status. I’m far more interested in confirming my mental model of what I am about to commit if I git commit right now than my mental model of what will be added if I git add right now. If I didn’t already have that muscle memory I might try to switch to git add -v . which would tell me what files it added. I’d argue that a sane git wou…

Post by YoureWrong23 » Sat, Sep 05, 2026, 7:53 PM UTC

mrgitmfmfm wrote: post #121

jameshart wrote: post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

git add . is nondestructive and reversible. I tend to do git add . and then run git status. I’m far more interested in confirming my mental model of what I am about to commit if I git commit right now than my mental model of what will be added if I git add right now. If I didn’t already have that muscle memory I might try to switch to git add -v . which would tell me what files it added. I’d argue that a sane git wou…

No, ”git add .” is not easily reverted, there’s no git sub command for de-adding files from the staging area. You have to copy the whole folder (hope you have enough disk space), checking out an older commit (hard), and copy specific files from the copied folder. Pita. This is actually a general problem with git and most cli tools, where it would be possible and useful to undo an action, but the tool developer cannot…

    git reset

Post by serbuvlad » Sat, Sep 05, 2026, 7:56 PM UTC

Post by globular-toast » Sat, Sep 05, 2026, 8:01 PM UTC

der_gopher wrote: post #102

globular-toast wrote: post #94

Git already works like this. It won't commit anything unless you explicitly stage it first.

Yes, but people miss often what is committed, especially if the change is big.

Post by zelphirkalt » Sat, Sep 05, 2026, 8:08 PM UTC

caseyw wrote: post #4

I don’t ignore by default, but only stage the items I explicitly want. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been pairing with someone when they just say “git add .”, I’m always confused by that choice. I get it, but I’ve seen more problems arise from adding all than being consistently selective. To each their own.