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Term

Git

Git is a distributed version control system that records changes to files as a sequence of commits — a baseline requirement for most AI coding workflows.

Git — explained in more detail

Git is by far the most widespread version control system in software. Developed in 2005 by Linus Torvalds for Linux-kernel work, it has become the de-facto-standard for any serious development workflow.

Core concepts

The key building blocks: a commit is a snapshot of the project at a point in time with a description. A branch is an independent line of development. A repository bundles the whole history. Remotes are linked repositories on other machines or servers such as GitHub. Merge brings branches back together.

Role in the AI coding workflow

AI coding tools assume a Git repository almost universally. Aider commits every AI response automatically; Claude Code, Cursor and Windsurf expect a repo so changes can be traced and rolled back. Without Git the multi-hour autonomous sessions would be too risky — a broken AI change would be hard to undo.

Practical consequence

Anyone who wants to work efficiently with modern AI tools cannot avoid the Git basics: commit, branch, merge, revert, reset — the standard operations become companions of almost every AI session.

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