• Add files to a Git repository
  • Add a file to the last commit
• Make changes to existing files
  • Add and commit local changes
  • Commit all changes
  • Send changes to GitLab
• Push options
  • Push options for GitLab CI/CD
  • Push options for merge requests
  • Push options for secret push protection
  • Push options for GitGuardian integration
  • Formats for push options
  • Create Git aliases for pushing
• Related topics

Add files to your branch

You can use Git to add files, make changes to existing files, and stash changes you don’t need yet.

Add files to a Git repository

To add a new file from the command line:

1. Open a terminal.

2. Change directories until you are in your project’s folder.

   cd my-project
   

3. Choose a Git branch to work in.
   • To create a branch: git checkout -b <branchname>
   • To switch to an existing branch: git checkout <branchname>
4. Copy the file you want to add into the directory where you want to add it.
5. Confirm that your file is in the directory:
   • Windows: dir
   • All other operating systems: ls

   The filename should be displayed.

6. Check the status of the file:

   git status
   

   The filename should be in red. The file is in your file system, but Git isn’t tracking it yet.

7. Tell Git to track the file:

   git add <filename>
   

8. Check the status of the file again:

   git status
   

   The filename should be green. The file is tracked locally by Git, but has not been committed and pushed.

9. Commit the file to your local copy of the project’s Git repository:

   git commit -m "Describe the reason for your commit here"
   

10. Push your changes from your copy of the repository to GitLab. In this command, origin refers to the remote copy of the repository. Replace <branchname> with the name of your branch:

    git push origin <branchname>
    

11. Git prepares, compresses, and sends the data. Lines from the remote repository start with remote::

    Enumerating objects: 9, done.
    Counting objects: 100% (9/9), done.
    Delta compression using up to 10 threads
    Compressing objects: 100% (5/5), done.
    Writing objects: 100% (5/5), 1.84 KiB | 1.84 MiB/s, done.
    Total 5 (delta 3), reused 0 (delta 0), pack-reused 0
    remote:
    remote: To create a merge request for <branchname>, visit:
    remote:   https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/merge_requests/new?merge_request%5Bsource_branch%5D=<branchname>
    remote:
    To https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab.git
     * [new branch]                <branchname> -> <branchname>
    branch '<branchname>' set up to track 'origin/<branchname>'.
    

Your file is copied from your local copy of the repository to the remote repository.

To create a merge request, copy the link sent back from the remote repository and paste it into a browser window.

Add a file to the last commit

git add <filename>
git commit --amend

Append --no-edit to the commit command if you do not want to edit the commit message.

Make changes to existing files

When you make changes to files in a repository, Git tracks the changes against the most recent version of the checked out branch. You can use Git commands to review and commit your changes to the branch, and push your work to GitLab.

Add and commit local changes

When you’re ready to write your changes to the branch, you can commit them. A commit includes a comment that records information about the changes, and usually becomes the new tip of the branch.

Git doesn’t automatically include any files you move, change, or delete in a commit. This prevents you from accidentally including a change or file, like a temporary directory. To include changes in a commit, stage them with git add.

To stage and commit your changes:

1. From your repository, for each file or directory you want to add, run git add <file name or path>.

   To stage all files in the current working directory, run git add ..

2. Confirm that the files have been added to staging:

   git status
   

   The files are displayed in green.

3. To commit the staged files:

   git commit -m "<comment that describes the changes>"
   

The changes are committed to the branch.

Commit all changes

You can stage all your changes and commit them with one command:

git commit -a -m "<comment that describes the changes>"

Be careful your commit doesn’t include files you don’t want to record to the remote repository. As a rule, always check the status of your local repository before you commit changes.

Send changes to GitLab

To push all local changes to the remote repository:

git push <remote> <name-of-branch>

For example, to push your local commits to the main branch of the origin remote:

git push origin main

Sometimes Git does not allow you to push to a repository. Instead, you must force an update.

Push options

When you push changes to a branch, you can use client-side Git push options. In Git 2.10 and later, use Git push options to:

• Skip CI jobs
• Push to merge requests

In Git 2.18 and later, you can use either the long format (--push-option) or the shorter -o:

git push -o <push_option>

In Git 2.10 to 2.17, you must use the long format:

git push --push-option=<push_option>

For server-side controls and enforcement of best practices, see push rules and server hooks.

Push options for GitLab CI/CD

You can use push options to skip a CI/CD pipeline, or pass CI/CD variables.

Push options for merge requests

Git push options can perform actions for merge requests while pushing changes:

Push options for secret push protection

You can use push options to skip secret push protection.

Push options for GitGuardian integration

You can use the same push option for Secret push protection to skip GitGuardian secret detection.

Formats for push options

If your push option requires text containing spaces, enclose the text in double quotes ("). You can omit the quotes if there are no spaces. Some examples:

git push -o merge_request.label="Label with spaces"
git push -o merge_request.label=Label-with-no-spaces

To combine push options to accomplish multiple tasks at once, use multiple -o (or --push-option) flags. This command creates a new merge request, targets a branch (my-target-branch), and sets auto-merge:

git push -o merge_request.create -o merge_request.target=my-target-branch -o merge_request.merge_when_pipeline_succeeds

Create Git aliases for pushing

Adding push options to Git commands can create very long commands. If you use the same push options frequently, create Git aliases for them. Git aliases are command-line shortcuts for longer Git commands.

To create and use a Git alias for the merge when pipeline succeeds Git push option:

1. In your terminal window, run this command:

   git config --global alias.mwps "push -o merge_request.create -o merge_request.target=main -o merge_request.merge_when_pipeline_succeeds"
   

2. To use the alias to push a local branch that targets the default branch (main) and auto-merges, run this command:

   git mwps origin <local-branch-name>
   

Related topics

• Add file from the UI
• Add file from the Web IDE
• Sign commits