Checking Status

The git status command shows the current state of your working directory and staging area.

Understanding Status Output

Status Categories

Git files can be in several states:

Untracked Files

New files that Git doesn't know about yet.

Untracked files:
  newfile.txt

Staged Changes

Files added to the staging area, ready to commit.

Changes to be committed:
  new file:   feature.js

Modified Files

Tracked files that have been changed but not staged.

Changes not staged for commit:
  modified:   app.js

Clean Working Directory

nothing to commit, working tree clean

Status Flags

Flag	Meaning
-s	Short format
-b	Show branch info
--porcelain	Machine-readable

Short Format

git status -s

Output codes:

• ?? - Untracked
• A - Added (staged)
• M - Modified (not staged)
• M - Modified (staged)
• MM - Modified (both staged and unstaged)

The Git Workflow

Working Directory → Staging Area → Repository
      |                 |              |
   git add →      git commit →    history

Exercise: Check Status

Run git status to see the current repository state: