The Three Stages + Your First Commit

Git has one concept that confuses almost everyone at first: the staging area. Understand this and the rest becomes obvious.

The three stages

Before a change is in your history, it goes through three stages. Understanding this is the key to using Git confidently.

Stage 1: Working Directory

This is your normal file system — the folder on your computer where you write code. Git watches it but does nothing automatically. Changes here are "untracked" or "modified."

Stage 2: Staging Area (Index)

The staging area is a holding zone. You pick which changes to include in the next commit by staging them. This lets you make one commit with just the login fix and another with the new feature, even if you worked on both at the same time.

Stage 3: Repository (Local History)

Once you commit, the staged changes become a permanent snapshot in your local history. This is stored in the hidden `.git` folder in your project.

Your first real commit

Open a terminal in your project folder and run these commands in order:

# 1. Initialize Git in this folder (do this once per project)
git init

# 2. Check what Git sees
git status

# 3. Stage all files (the dot means "everything")
git add .

# 4. Take the snapshot with a message
git commit -m "Initial commit"

# 5. See your history
git log --oneline

Understanding git status

Run `git status` constantly. It tells you exactly what's happening:

On branch main

Changes to be committed:
  (use "git restore --staged <file>..." to unstage)
        modified:   src/index.ts       ← staged, will be in next commit

Changes not staged for commit:
  (use "git add <file>..." to update what will be committed)
        modified:   style.css          ← changed, not yet staged

Untracked files:
  (use "git add <file>..." to include in what will be committed)
        notes.txt                      ← new file Git doesn't know about

Staging specific files

Instead of `git add .` (everything), you can stage specific files:

# Stage everything changed
git add .

# Stage a specific file
git add src/index.ts

# Stage a folder
git add src/

# Stage interactively (choose line by line)
git add -p