git init — Starting a Repository

git init is the very first command you run in any new project. It creates a hidden .git/ directory that transforms a plain folder into a full Git repository capable of tracking all your changes.

01.What Happens Under the Hood

Running git init creates a .git/ folder containing: HEAD (pointer to current branch), config (repository settings), objects/ (all your file snapshots stored as blobs), refs/ (branch and tag pointers). This directory IS your entire repository. Delete it and all history disappears — but your files remain untouched.

my-project/

📁my-project/

📁.git/← Git database

📄config

📄HEAD

📁objects/

📁refs/

📄README.md

📁src/

02.Two Ways to Start

You can git init an empty folder to start a brand new project, or run it inside an existing project to start tracking files that already exist. Git will NOT modify any of your existing files — it only adds the .git directory.

Commit Timeline

a1b2c3d

init

b2c3d4e

feat

c3d4e5f

fix

d4e5f6a

HEAD

Commands

commands — click to reveal output

mkdir my-project

Create a new project folder

cd my-project

Navigate into it

git init

Initialize the Git repository

▼ show output

ls -la

See the hidden .git folder

▼ show output

git init existing-project/

Initialize inside an existing project folder

▼ show output

KNOWLEDGE CHECK

What does git init create?

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