Git Init Template

Transcript

# Hello and welcome to the Alchemists Screencasts!
# Today, we'll look at Git Init Template usage.

# As you might know, any directory can be initialized as a repository:

ls -alhT

# While this directory is not a repository, converting it is simple:

git init

# We can verify we're in a Git repository because my prompt has changed.
# ← Notice "master" in the shell prompt.
# We also have the `.git` directory as well:

ls -alhT

# By default, the `.git` directory will have several files:

tree .git

# As you advance in your Git setup, you might want something more compact.
# For instance, all those Git Hook sample files can go.
# We don't need the `description` file or `info` directory either.
# To streamline our initialization we can use a Git template.
# A basic setup, and one I use often, is to use an empty template:

mkdir template

# Let's prep this directory for re-initialization:

rm -rf .git

# Now we can initialize a new Git repository.
# This time, we'll initialize with the bare minimum of configurations:

git init --template template

# The `--template` option expects a directory path.
# By giving the option an empty path, we bypass the default template.
# Notice how much more compact our repository is:

tree .git

# We now have a Git repository with barest of structures.
# Fewer files, means less maintenance. 🎉

# To configure globally (recommended), run:
git config --global --add init.templateDir ~/.config/git/template

# With the global configuration set...
# ...we can initialize repositories in a consistent fashion.
# ...and avoid having to type the `--template` option:

rm -rf .git
git init
tree .git

# So far we've been using an empty template for repository initialization.
# We can customize further by adding content we might always need.
# Let's say we always need a README:

touch template/README.adoc
tree template

# Watch what happens when we use this template:

rm -rf .git
git init --template template
tree .git

# Notice how `README.adoc` is pre-populated in our new repository.
# There is much you can do with templates.
# I encourage you to experiment further.
# ...or use an empty template, like I do, for compact/minimal repositories.

# Enjoy!
# https://alchemists.io
# ☿ 🜔 🜍 🜂 🜃 🜁 🜄