Git Aliases for Clean Commits
Today I'd love to introduce three useful Git aliases to maintain clean code and intelligent staging.
Quick Setup
# 1. Remove trailing whitespace from modified files
git config --global alias.cleanup '!git -c color.status=false status -s | grep -v "^D\|^.D" | cut -c4- | xargs -r -I {} sed -i "s/[[:space:]]*$//" {}'
# 2. Stage only substantive changes (ignore whitespace)
git config --global alias.stagewhitespace '!git reset . && git add -N . && git diff -w -b | git apply --cached --ignore-whitespace'
# 3. Combine both operations
git config --global alias.smartadd '!git cleanup && git stagewhitespace'
Usage
git cleanup # Clean trailing spaces only
git stagewhitespace # Stage content changes only
git smartadd # Clean + smart staging
What Each Alias Does
cleanup
- Removes trailing whitespace from all modified files
- Skips deleted files to avoid errors
- Handles ANSI color codes in git status output
stagewhitespace
- Resets staging area
- Marks new files as intent-to-add
- Stages only meaningful content changes
- Ignores pure whitespace modifications
smartadd
- Runs cleanup first, then stagewhitespace
- One command for clean, intelligent staging
Key Features
- Safe: Filters out deleted files to prevent errors
- Smart: Handles new files correctly
- Clean: Maintains consistent code formatting
- Focused: Stages only substantive changes
Technical Details
The aliases handle several edge cases:
- ANSI color codes in git output (disabled with
-c color.status=false) - Deleted files that would cause sed errors (filtered with
grep -v "^D\|^.D") - New untracked files (handled with
git add -N) - Empty file lists (handled with
xargs -r)
Perfect for teams that want clean commits without manual whitespace management.