MacOS - Git with Atom GUI Tutorial

Installing Git Command Line

1. Mac comes pre-installed with Git so there is no installation. Confirm that it is working by clicking on the Spotlight Search in the top right of the menu bar.
2. Search for "Terminal" and open up the program.
3. Enter in the following commands followed by the enter key substituting your username and email you used to sign up for GitLab in order to let Git know what user you are.

   git config --global user.name "YOUR_USERNAME"
   git config --global user.email "your_email_address@example.com"
             

   

Cloning the Repository

Install Atom if you have not already from here: https://atom.io/

First Time Cloning a Repository

1. Since Git needs to cache your login credentials, you need to clone your first repository using the command line. For future cloning, you can use the Atom GUI outlined in the next section. Using Terminal, we can navigate to a folder that we can easily access using the "cd" (Change Directory) command.
2. We can then run the command:

   git clone REPO_URL_HERE

   From there, we can enter in your GitLab credentials that you used to set up your GitLab account (The password will look like you aren't typing, but you are). From there, you can go on to the next step to open up the repository in Atom.

Subsequent Times Cloning a Repository

Note! This is only done in certain curcumstances - skip to the "Opening up an existing repository" section the first through these instructions.

1. After opening Atom, open up the "Command Palette" by using the menu bar or hitting "Cmd+Shift+P".
2. Type in "Clone" and select "Github: Clone".
3. Copy the clone URL from the GitLab repository you would like to clone.
4. Paste in the URL to clone then type a location that you will be able to access easily later. Then hit the "Clone" button (It may take a couple of seconds to complete).
5. Your repository should now show up in the Project Viewer on the left side.

Opening Up An Existing Local Repository

1. With Atom Open, select "File > Add Project Folder" from the menu bar or press "Cmd+Shift+O" or "Ctrl+Shift+O".
2. Navigate to the existing repository folder, selected it, and press "Open".
3. Your repository should now show up in the Project Viewer on the left side.

Staging, Committing, Pushing

1. Open up the Git GUI by clicking on the "Git" button in the bottom right.
2. That will open up a Git View showing the "Unstaged" changed, the changes selected to be "Staged", and previous commits. Unstaged changes are any files that have been changed or new files added to the directory. By hitting "Stage All", you select all of the changed to be committed to the online repository. You can also select individual changes to stage.
3. You can hit the "Fetch" button down at the bottom to pull any changes from the online repository to your local one.
4. Once you have staged the changes you want to commit, you can type in a descriptive commit message and hit "Commit to master".
5. Finally, you need to hit "Push" to send your local commit to the online repository.