Git and GitHub

Git keeps your code backed up, keeps a record of how it got built, and gives you the public link a Pixl review needs.

1. Initial setup

Check Git is installed with git --version, then tell it who you are. Use the same email as your GitHub account:

git config --global user.name "Your Name"
git config --global user.email "[email protected]"

2. Starting a repository

Inside your local project folder, run:

git init
git add .
git commit -m "initial commit"

Make a new repository on GitHub, leave it public, and point your local folder at it:

git remote add origin https://github.com/yourusername/my-project.git
git branch -M main
git push -u origin main

3. Daily workflow

As you build, commit regularly:

git add .
git commit -m "add navigation menu and mobile styling"
git push

Write commit messages that say what changed. Reviewers read your history, and "update" fifty times over tells them nothing.

4. Setting up a .gitignore

Keep API keys, build output and dependency folders out of the repo. Put a .gitignore in the root:

node_modules/
.env
dist/
.DS_Store