Git Version, Help, and Configuration

Basic

Identify the Git executable

Before learning repository operations, establish which Git executable is actually running. Git provides `git --version` and `git version` for displaying version information. Foxipa verifies command behavior with a real Git executable, so version output is part of the verification record.

git --version
git version

The two forms are equivalent entry points for displaying Git version information. The exact version string depends on the Git installation, so do not memorize a particular number as the meaning of the command.

git --version?git version

Use Git help as part of the tool

Git ships its own command help system. `git help` shows the common-command synopsis; `git help -a` lists available commands; and `git help <command>` requests documentation for a specific command. `git <command> --help` is another way to request that command help.

git help
git help -a
git help --guides
git help --config

Help output can depend on the local installation and documentation viewer. For automated verification, Foxipa checks that Git accepts the documented help forms and returns the expected command information without requiring a graphical browser or a particular pager.

git help -a?git help -a

Understand configuration scope

Git configuration is layered. A repository can have its own local configuration, while user-level and system-level configuration can provide fallback values. For curriculum laboratories, use repository-local configuration so tests do not depend on a learner’s personal machine settings.

git config --local user.name "Foxipa Learner"
git config --local user.email "learner@example.invalid"
git config --local --get user.name
git config --local --get user.email

The `--local` option targets the repository configuration. The values are stored with that repository and can be inspected without modifying the learner’s global Git configuration.

git init -b main?git config --local user.name "Foxipa Learner"

Set and read a repository identity

Commits record author and committer information. Configure a deterministic practice identity in the disposable repository before creating commits.

git config --local user.name "Foxipa Learner"
git config --local user.email "learner@example.invalid"
git config --local --get user.name
git config --local --get user.email

The email address above uses the reserved `.invalid` domain because it is a laboratory value, not a real contact address. The important lesson is the configuration mechanism and scope, not the particular identity text.

git config --local user.name "Foxipa Learner"?git config --local --get user.name

Inspect configuration provenance

When debugging configuration, knowing only the value is not always enough. Git can show where configuration came from. `--show-origin` adds the source of each displayed configuration value.

git config --local --list --show-origin

This command is especially useful when a value appears to come from somewhere unexpected. The exact file path is environment-dependent, so the lesson tests the property that the repository-local configuration source is identified rather than hard-coding a machine-specific path.

git config --local user.name "Foxipa Learner"?git config --local --list --show-origin

Keep the laboratory isolated

Configuration commands can modify real user settings when used without an explicit scope. In Foxipa’s verification suite, every Git test runs in a disposable repository and uses repository-local configuration. This prevents curriculum tests from changing the machine-wide or user-wide Git configuration.

git config --local user.name "Foxipa Learner"
git config --local user.email "learner@example.invalid"
git config --local --get-regexp "^user\.(name|email)$"

The goal is not to hide configuration scope from the learner. It is to make the scope explicit before demonstrating a command that changes persistent Git configuration.

git init -b main?git config --local user.email "learner@example.invalid"

A compact diagnostic workflow

A useful starting diagnostic sequence is: identify Git, ask Git for its own help, then inspect or set repository-local configuration when a repository requires identity settings.

git help
git help -a
git help --guides
git help --config

The final two commands may report no value if the repository has not configured those keys. That is a meaningful state, not an error in the Git command itself.

git config --local --unset user.name || true?git config --local --get user.name

Practice what you learned

Use the dedicated Git code-completion exercise for this lesson.

Official-source boundary

This lesson uses the Git project’s own command documentation and user manual as its authority. Installation procedures are intentionally not reproduced as one universal command because the official Git installation instructions differ by platform. The learner should use the official Git installation page for their operating system, then return here to verify the installed executable.