𝗠𝗮𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗚𝗶𝘁: 𝗨𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗧𝗵𝗿𝗲𝗲 𝗞𝗲𝘆 𝗔𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝘁𝗼 𝗨𝗻𝗱𝗼 𝗔𝗰𝗰𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗮𝗹 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗶𝘁𝘀 𝗦𝗮𝗳𝗲𝗹𝘆

If you've ever accidentally committed sensitive files like appsettings.json to GitHub 😨 — you're not alone.

Today, I explored two crucial Git concepts:

✅ 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗧𝗵𝗿𝗲𝗲 𝗞𝗲𝘆 𝗔𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝗚𝗶𝘁 (𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝘀𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝗲𝘅𝗮𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗲𝘀):

1. 𝗪𝗼𝗿𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗗𝗶𝗿𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆
   
   This is where you write your code and make changes.
   
   🛠 𝗘𝘅𝗮𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗲: You edit appsettings.json or add a new feature in a .cs file.

2. 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗔𝗿𝗲𝗮 (𝗜𝗻𝗱𝗲𝘅)
   
   This is a temporary area where you tell Git which changes you want to include in your next commit.
   
   🛠 𝗘𝘅𝗮𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗲: You run git add appsettings.json. Now Git is ready to commit it.

3. 𝗥𝗲𝗽𝗼𝘀𝗶𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆 (𝗟𝗼𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗥𝗲𝗽𝗼)
   
   This is where your committed history is stored.
   
   🛠 𝗘𝘅𝗮𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗲: You run git commit -m "Added config". Now that file is permanently saved in your local repo (and possibly pushed to GitHub).

🔄 𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝘁𝗼 𝗨𝗻𝗱𝗼 𝗔𝗰𝗰𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗮𝗹 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗶𝘁𝘀 (𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗹𝗼𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗹𝗼𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸)

Let’s say you accidentally committed a file like appsettings.json to GitHub. Here’s how to fix it:

1. Add the file to .gitignore:
   appsettings.json

2. Remove it from Git tracking (but keep it locally):
   git rm --cached appsettings.json

3. Commit the removal:
   git commit -m "Remove sensitive file from tracking"

4. Push the clean state:
   git push origin main --force

💡 𝗤𝘂𝗶𝗰𝗸 𝗧𝗶𝗽:

Use git reset --soft HEAD~1 to remove the last commit but keep your code changes safe locally.

𝗧𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗸𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗤𝘂𝗶𝗰𝗸 𝗧𝗶𝗽, 𝗜 𝗱𝗲𝗹𝗲𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗿𝗲𝗰𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗶𝘁𝘀 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗲.

❓ 𝗛𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗶𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗮 𝘀𝗲𝗰𝗿𝗲𝘁 𝗼𝗿 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗳𝗶𝗴 𝗳𝗶𝗹𝗲 𝗯𝘆 𝗺𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗲?

𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁’𝘀 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗴𝗼-𝘁𝗼 𝗺𝗲𝘁𝗵𝗼𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗼 𝗶𝘁 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗹𝗼𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗴𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘀?