Staging and committing changes

Staging creates the next commit's content

git add copies the current version of selected changes into the staging area. The staging area lets you create a focused commit even when several unrelated changes exist in the working directory.

Commits are project snapshots

git commit records the staged state together with metadata and a message. A good commit describes one logical change and makes sense when read later in history.

Review before committing

Use git diff for unstaged changes and git diff --staged for staged changes. This review catches debug code, accidental edits, secrets and unrelated changes before they become part of history.