Git for vibe coders – kdnuggets

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# Introduction

I’ve been hearing stories about it Claude Code or Cursor “Deleting the database” or wiping out files that people have spent days building while coding. The real problem is usually not the artificial intelligence (AI) itself, but the lack of version control. If you are not using Gutall of your work exists in a single, fragile state, and one bad refactor can wipe out all of your work.

I even asked Claude to “set up git and make major changes”, but it mostly ignored the request to run the app. This means you can’t really rely on AI to track changes and restore the app if something has gone wrong.

This article aims to address this concern. It provides a beginner-friendly, zero-background guide to integrating Git into your Webcoding workflow. By learning simple Git commands, you’ll be able to create secure snapshots, perform simple rollbacks, manage clean branches, and set up automatic backups to GitHub. Keep progressing without stress.

# 0. One time setup (tell git who you are)

Go to the GIT website and install the GIT program based on your operating system. Then open Terminal and type:

Configure the name and email that Git will record in your commit metadata:

git config --global user.name "Your Name"
git config --global user.email "you@example.com"

These settings associate your commits with your identity, which helps Git track your work properly.

# 1. Start tracking your plan

Before typing claude In your terminal, go to the project folder and run the following command to start the git repository:

After that, Git will start tracking your changes.

# 2. Save your first version (two steps)

Once you have made some changes, you need to save them in git.

First, stage what you changed, then commit it with a short message explaining what you did.

git add .
git commit -m "first commit"

Order git add . It means “include all changed files,” and git commit Saves the snapshot with your message.

As you work, you’ll repeat this often and ask the AI ​​to develop new features for you:

git add .
git commit -m "describe what you changed"

# 3. Push to GitHub

I highly recommend that GitHub account and then set up a new repository there. Copy the repository URL, which will look like this: https://github.com/yourusername/my-project.git.

Next, connect your local folder to this repository and push your changes using the following commands:

git branch -M main
git remote add origin 
git push -u origin main

On your first push, Git may prompt you to sign in. Use your GitHub username and Personal Access Token (PAT). You can create a patch by going to GitHub → Settings → Developer Settings → Tokens. Once you’ve entered your credentials, they’ll be saved in your system’s credentials manager, so for later pushes, you can easily use git push.

# 4. Daily coding loop

This is the cycle you will use every day:

1. Do something
2. Save your changes to git
3. Send them to GitHub

git add .
git commit -m "describe the change"
git push

If the project was changed elsewhere (by another person or another computer), pull first to get the latest version:

Then continue as usual.

# 5. Create a safe playground (branches).

Branches are just separate work areas so you don’t break the main. Create or fix one for each feature, do your work there, then merge when ready.

git checkout -b feature-login      # create + switch to a new branch
# ...code, code, code...
git add .                          # stage your changes
git commit -m "add login page"     # save a snapshot on this branch
git push -u origin feature-login   # publish branch + set upstream

When it’s ready, merge it via a pull request on GitHub (click “Compare and Pull Request”), which is great for review and history.

Or integrate locally:

git checkout main                  # switch to main
git pull                           # get latest main
git merge feature-login            # bring your branch into main
git push                           # upload updated main

Optional cleanup (after merging):

git branch -d feature-login        # delete local branch
git push origin --delete feature-login  # delete remote branch

# 6. Quick fixes for common problems

To check the status of your repository, run:

If you are not ready to commit your changes but need to change tasks, you can discard your changes and retrieve them later using:

Later, you can roll back your stashed changes:

If you want to undo your last commit without losing your files (so you can make adjustments and compensate), use:

To discard local edits to a specific file and restore it from the last commit, run:

If any of these commands feel daunting, you can always stick to the simple workflow git addfor , for , for , . git commitand git push To send your changes.

# 7. Minimal cheat sheet

For the first setup of a new project, start Git, save your first snapshot, set up a master branch, connect to GitHub, and push:

git init
git add .
git commit -m "first commit"
git branch -M main
git remote add origin 
git push -u origin main

For day-to-day work, pull the latest changes, phase your edits, commit with a clear message, and push:

git pull
git add .
git commit -m "your message"
git push

To add a new feature or fix, create and switch a branch, commit the changes, commit, and publish the branch to github:

git checkout -b feature-name
# ...edit files...
git add .
git commit -m "implement feature"
git push -u origin feature-name

# Summary

Think of your plan like a notebook:

1. Add Git: Select which pages you want to save (select changes)
2. git commit: Take a picture of these pages (save the snapshot with a message so you remember what happened)
3. git push: Upload this image to the cloud (send your saved work to GitHub)
4. Git Pull: Download the latest image from the cloud (retrieve the latest work that you or someone else has uploaded)

The workflow is straightforward:

• Add → Commit → Push
• Pull → Add → Commit → Push

It covers about 90% of what you need to know about Git. Everything else – like branches, merges, stashes, resets, etc. – are just extra tools that come in handy as your projects grow.

You don’t need to memorize every detail about Git to be productive. You will naturally become more familiar with it as you continue to build.

If you just remember this, you’ll be fine:

1. git add .: Select My Changes.
2. git commit -m "": Save the snapshot.
3. git push: Upload
4. git pull: Get new updates.

Once this process feels intuitive, using Git will stop feeling difficult. It will just become a natural part of your workflow.

Abid Ali Owan For centuries.@1abidaliawan) is a certified data scientist professional who loves building machine learning models. Currently, he is focusing on content creation and writing technical blogs on machine learning and data science technologies. Abid holds a Master’s degree in Technology Management and a Bachelor’s degree in Telecommunication Engineering. His vision is to create an AI product using graph neural networks for students with mental illness.