Mirror of
feat(content): write recommended git config post (#175)
* feat(content): write recommended git config post
* fix: suggestions
authored by
Felix Schneider
and committed by
GitHub
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src/content/docs/blog/recommended-git-config.mdx
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---
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title: Recommended Git Config
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date: 2026-02-27
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description: There are some quality of life configurations for git that can improve your workflow significantly.
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tags:
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- Education
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authors:
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- trueberryless
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cover:
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alt: A monochrome image of a dark room, featuring deep shadows and minimal light with abstract circles and shapes.
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image: ../../../../public/blog/recommended-git-config.jpg
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giscus: true
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---
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import { Tabs, TabItem } from '@astrojs/starlight/components';
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In order to optimize my git workflow, specifically for GitHub, I present you with some configs and tricks that I set up.
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## Automatic rebase
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Since I like to keep my commit history linear, I personally prefer to rebase instead of merge when I pull new changes from the remote repository. This means that if I run `git pull`, it will not perform a `fetch` and `merge` but rather a `fetch` followed by a `rebase`, which results in my local commits being automatically included on top of the remote commits coming in. That way, I avoid having merge commits that would IMHO pollute the history.
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If you want to try this out yourself, use the `--rebase` parameter on `pull` like that:
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```bash
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git pull --rebase
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```
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If you feel happy with this workflow, you can set it in your global config, so you don't need to include the `--rebase` option anymore:
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```bash
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git config --global pull.rebase true
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```
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## Default branch: `main`
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By default, git often initializes new repositories with `master` as the primary branch. However, most modern platforms (especially GitHub) have moved towards using `main`. Instead of renaming your branch every time you run `git init`, you can tell git to use `main` globally by default:
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```bash
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git config --global init.defaultBranch main
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```
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## Adding co-authors
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I really like to credit people who contributed in any way to my commits. What I find annoying, however, is that you have to know the GitHub email address of the user you want to [Co-author](https://docs.github.com/en/pull-requests/committing-changes-to-your-project/creating-and-editing-commits/creating-a-commit-with-multiple-authors). I used to go to the people's profile, search for a recent commit they made and appending `.patch` to the GitHub commit URL. In the diff that you get this way, you can manually extract the email of the user. But why should I manually do this 1min work if I could spend 10h automating it?
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<div style="display: flex; justify-content: space-evenly; align-items: flex-start; gap: 2rem;">
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<img src="https://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/automation.png" alt="An xkcd comic strip titled 'Automation' exploring the discrepancy between theoretical expectation and reality. In the 'THEORY' panel, a graph shows a brief spike for 'WRITING CODE' before a sharp decline as 'AUTOMATION TAKES OVER,' leaving vast 'FREE TIME.' In the 'REALITY' panel, the 'WRITING CODE' spike leads into a fluctuating line of 'DEBUGGING' and 'RETHINKING' that eventually climbs steadily upward as 'ONGOING DEVELOPMENT,' leaving 'NO TIME FOR ORIGINAL TASK ANYMORE' as the workload permanently increases beyond the original baseline." />
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<img src="https://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/is_it_worth_the_time.png" alt="An xkcd comic titled 'Is It Worth the Time?' featuring a grid that calculates the time-saving break-even point over five years. The horizontal axis lists task frequency (50/day to yearly) and the vertical axis lists time saved per task (1 second to 1 day). Each cell shows the maximum time you should spend automating; for instance, saving 30 seconds on a daily task justifies 12 hours of work, while saving 1 second on a yearly task justifies only 5 seconds. The table uses various units like minutes, hours, days, weeks, and months to illustrate the limits of efficient automation." />
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</div>
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Sorry, I just had to include those two [legendary](https://xkcd.com/1319/) [xkcds](https://xkcd.com/1205/) in here.
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---
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So I created a little bash script which simplifies adding Co-authors to your commits. All you need is `gh` and `jq` installed, and the little bash script below.
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<Tabs>
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<TabItem label="MacOS">
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```bash
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brew install gh jq
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```
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</TabItem>
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<TabItem label="Linux">
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```bash
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sudo apt install gh jq
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```
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</TabItem>
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<TabItem label="Windows">
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:::note
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Just use WSL please.
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:::
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</TabItem>
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</Tabs>
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Save this bash script as `git-ucommit` to a folder that is in your `$PATH` (like `~/bin` or `/usr/local/bin`) and make it executable with `chmod +x ~/bin/git-ucommit`:
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```bash
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// ~/bin/git-ucommit
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#!/usr/bin/env bash
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# Check for dependencies
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if ! command -v gh &> /dev/null || ! command -v jq &> /dev/null; then
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echo "Error: 'gh' (GitHub CLI) and 'jq' are required."
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exit 1
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fi
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args=()
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usernames=()
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message=""
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# Parse arguments
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while [[ $# -gt 0 ]]; do
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case "$1" in
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-u|--user)
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usernames+=("$2")
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shift 2
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;;
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-m|--message)
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message="$2"
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shift 2
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;;
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*)
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args+=("$1")
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shift
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;;
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esac
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done
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trailer_args=()
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# Resolve GitHub usernames to Co-authored-by trailers
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for user in "${usernames[@]}"; do
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user_json=$(gh api users/"$user" 2>/dev/null)
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if [[ $? -ne 0 ]]; then
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echo "Warning: Could not find GitHub user '$user'. Skipping."
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continue
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fi
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name=$(echo "$user_json" | jq -r '.name // .login')
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id=$(echo "$user_json" | jq -r '.id')
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email="$id+$user@users.noreply.github.com"
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trailer_args+=(--trailer "Co-authored-by: $name <$email>")
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done
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# Execute the commit
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if [[ -n "$message" ]]; then
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final_msg=$(echo -e "$message" | git interpret-trailers "${trailer_args[@]}")
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git commit "${args[@]}" -m "$final_msg"
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else
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# No -m flag? Inject trailers and open the editor
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git commit "${args[@]}" "${trailer_args[@]}" -e
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fi
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```
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Since the file name starts with `git-`, you do not even need to create a git alias, as it is smart enough to detect your executable and just allows you run:
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```bash
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git ucommit -m "fix: suggestions" -u trueberryless -u delucis
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```
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:::note
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Unfortunately, I didn't find a way to add those options to the default `commit` command, so I prepended the letter `u` to it, which stands for users.
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:::
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I myself integrated this functionality into my [nix-darwin](https://github.com/nix-darwin/nix-darwin) setup. Check out my [Nix module](https://github.com/trueberryless/nix/blob/a1be76b4723b0061c34cca1063a477774156ce0a/modules/git-tools.nix) if you can profit from this setup.
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## Summary
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**🔄 Automatic Rebase on Pull**
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> `git config --global pull.rebase true`
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>
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> Sets your global configuration to perform a rebase instead of a merge when pulling. This keeps your git history linear and avoids unnecessary merge commits.
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**🌱 Modern Default Branch**
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> `git config --global init.defaultBranch main`
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>
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> Ensures every new local repository you initialize starts with `main` instead of `master`, aligning your local environment with GitHub's defaults.
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**👥 Simplified Co-Authoring**
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> `git ucommit -m "message" -u <username>`
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>
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> Uses a custom bash script alongside `gh` and `jq` to automatically resolve GitHub usernames to the correct "Co-authored-by" trailers, saving you from manual email lookups.
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## Resources
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Here are some helpful resources for optimizing your Git and GitHub workflow:
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- [GitHub CLI (gh) Documentation](https://cli.github.com/manual/)
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- [Creating a commit with multiple authors](https://docs.github.com/en/pull-requests/committing-changes-to-your-project/creating-and-editing-commits/creating-a-commit-with-multiple-authors)
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- [Git Interpret Trailers Documentation](https://git-scm.com/docs/git-interpret-trailers)
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That's it! With these tweaks, your local environment stays modern, your history stays clean, and giving credit to your collaborators becomes a breeze. Happy coding!
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<ImageCreditsSection>
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<ImageCredit
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image="/public/blog/recommended-git-config.jpg"
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title="A Black Background With Lots of Circles and Bubbles"
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author="Aedrian Salazar"
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authorUrl="https://unsplash.com/@aedrian"
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sourceUrl="https://unsplash.com/photos/a-black-background-with-lots-of-circles-and-bubbles-HBD5k7sA3MQ"
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usedOn="Recommended Git Config"
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usedOnUrl="/blog/recommended-git-config"
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/>
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<ImageCredit
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image="/public/blog/authors/artificial-intelligence.jpg"
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title="A Brain Displayed with Glowing Blue Lines"
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author="Shubham Dhage"