Creating a repository with git init - Visual Walkthrough

Process Flow - Creating a repository with git init

Open terminal

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Navigate to folder

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Run 'git init'

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Git creates .git folder

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Folder becomes a git repository

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Ready to track files

This flow shows how running 'git init' in a folder creates a hidden .git directory, turning it into a git repository ready to track changes.

Execution Sample

Git

mkdir myproject
cd myproject
git init

Creates a folder, enters it, and initializes a new git repository inside.

Process Table

Step	Command	Action	Result
1	mkdir myproject	Create folder named 'myproject'	Folder 'myproject' created
2	cd myproject	Change directory to 'myproject'	Current directory is 'myproject'
3	git init	Initialize git repository	Initialized empty Git repository in /path/to/myproject/.git/

💡 After 'git init', the folder is now a git repository with a .git directory

Status Tracker

Variable	Start	After Step 1	After Step 2	After Step 3
Current Directory	User home or wherever	User home or wherever	myproject	myproject
.git folder	Does not exist	Does not exist	Does not exist	Exists inside 'myproject'

Key Moments - 2 Insights

Why do we not see the .git folder after running 'git init'?

The .git folder is hidden by default in most systems. You can see it by running 'ls -a' in the terminal. This is shown in step 3 where git creates the .git directory.

Does 'git init' add any files to the repository automatically?

No, 'git init' only creates the .git folder to track changes. You still need to add files manually. This is why after step 3, the repository is empty but ready.

Visual Quiz - 3 Questions

Look at the execution table, what is the result of running 'git init'?

A Creates a new folder named .git

B Deletes all files in the folder

C Initializes an empty Git repository with a .git folder

D Commits all files automatically

💡 Hint

Check the 'Result' column in step 3 of the execution table

According to the variable tracker, when does the current directory change to 'myproject'?

A After step 2

B After step 1

C After step 3

D It never changes

💡 Hint

Look at the 'Current Directory' row in the variable tracker after each step

If you run 'git init' twice in the same folder, what happens according to the flow?

A It overwrites the existing .git folder

B It does nothing and keeps the existing repository

C It creates two .git folders

D It deletes the folder

💡 Hint

Git init is safe to run multiple times; it reinitializes without overwriting the .git folder or losing data

Concept Snapshot

git init
- Run inside a folder to create a new git repository
- Creates a hidden .git directory to track changes
- Does not add or commit files automatically
- Folder becomes ready for git commands like add, commit
- Use 'ls -a' to see the .git folder

Full Transcript

To create a git repository, first open your terminal and navigate to the folder where you want the repository. Run 'git init' there. This command creates a hidden folder named .git that stores all git data. After this, your folder is a git repository ready to track files. The .git folder is hidden, so use 'ls -a' to see it. Running 'git init' does not add any files automatically; you must add files manually. If you run 'git init' again in the same folder, it safely reinitializes the existing repository without overwriting the .git folder or resetting history.