Setting Up Git

Let's get Git installed and configured on your computer. This only takes a few minutes.

Installing Git

On macOS

Git usually comes pre-installed on macOS. Open your terminal and check:

git --version

If you see a version number like git version 2.39.0, you're good! If not, install it by:

1. Installing the Xcode Command Line Tools: xcode-select --install
2. Or downloading from git-scm.com

On Windows

1. Download Git from git-scm.com
2. Run the installer — the default options are fine for beginners
3. Open Git Bash (installed with Git) or your terminal

On Linux

Use your package manager:

# Ubuntu / Debian
sudo apt install git

# Fedora
sudo dnf install git

Verify the Installation

After installing, verify Git works:

git --version

You should see something like:

git version 2.43.0

What to ask your AI: "I'm trying to install Git but I'm getting an error: [paste the error]. Can you help?"

Configure Your Identity

Git needs to know who you are. Every commit you make includes your name and email. Set these up:

git config --global user.name "Your Name"
git config --global user.email "you@example.com"

Replace the values with your actual name and the email you use (or plan to use) for GitHub.

Why This Matters

• Your name and email appear in every commit you make
• If you use GitHub, use the same email as your GitHub account so your commits are linked to your profile
• The --global flag means this applies to all your Git projects

Verify Your Configuration

Check that everything is set correctly:

git config --global --list

You should see:

user.name=Your Name
user.email=you@example.com

Optional: Set Your Default Editor

When Git needs you to type a message (like a commit message), it opens a text editor. By default, this is often Vim, which can be confusing for beginners.

Set it to something friendlier:

# Use VS Code
git config --global core.editor "code --wait"

# Use nano (simpler terminal editor)
git config --global core.editor "nano"

Optional: Set Default Branch Name

Modern convention uses main instead of master as the default branch name:

git config --global init.defaultBranch main

Quick Setup Checklist

Here's everything in one place:

# Check Git is installed
git --version

# Set your identity
git config --global user.name "Your Name"
git config --global user.email "you@example.com"

# Set default branch name
git config --global init.defaultBranch main

# Verify
git config --global --list

What's Next?

Git is installed and configured. In the next tutorial, you'll create your first Git repository!

What to ask your AI: "I've set up Git. Can you walk me through creating my first repository step by step?"

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