Global vs local configuration in Git - Visual Side-by-Side Comparison

Process Flow - Global vs local configuration

Start

↓

Check config scope

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Use ~/.gitconfig

↓

Apply global settings

↓

Use .git/config

↓

Apply local settings

↓

Local overrides global

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End

Git checks if configuration is global or local, applies global settings first, then local settings override global ones if present.

Execution Sample

Git

git config --global user.name "Alice"
git config user.email "[e-mail]"
git config user.name

Set global user name, set local user email, then read user name (local or global).

Process Table

Step	Command	Config File Used	Action	Result / Output
1	git config --global user.name "Alice"	~/.gitconfig	Set user.name globally	user.name = Alice saved globally
2	git config user.email "[e-mail]"	./.git/config	Set user.email locally	user.email = [e-mail] saved locally
3	git config user.name	Check local then global	Read user.name	Alice (from global)
4	git config user.email	Check local then global	Read user.email	[e-mail] (from local)

💡 Commands complete; local config overrides global when both exist.

Status Tracker

Variable	Start	After Step 1	After Step 2	After Step 3	After Step 4
user.name	undefined	Alice (global)	Alice (global)	Alice (global)	Alice (global)
user.email	undefined	undefined	[e-mail] (local)	[e-mail] (local)	[e-mail] (local)

Key Moments - 2 Insights

Why does 'git config user.name' show the global value even though we set a local email?

Because user.name was only set globally (step 1), and local config does not override it, so git reads global value (step 3).

What happens if both global and local have the same setting?

Local config overrides global config, so the local value is used (shown in step 4 for user.email).

Visual Quiz - 3 Questions

Look at the execution table, what is the value of user.name after step 2?

A [e-mail]

B Alice (global)

C undefined

D Alice (local)

💡 Hint

Check variable_tracker column 'After Step 2' for user.name value.

At which step does git read the local configuration for user.email?

A Step 4

B Step 2

C Step 3

D Step 1

💡 Hint

Look at execution_table rows for user.email read commands.

If we set user.name locally after step 2, how would step 3 output change?

A It would still show the global user.name

B It would show undefined

C It would show the local user.name

D It would cause an error

💡 Hint

Local config overrides global config as shown in key moments.

Concept Snapshot

Git config has two main scopes:
- Global: applies to all repos for the user (~/.gitconfig)
- Local: applies only to current repo (.git/config)
Local settings override global ones if both exist.
Use --global flag to set global config.
Without --global, config is local by default.

Full Transcript

This visual trace shows how git configuration works with global and local scopes. First, the global user.name is set to Alice. Then, a local user.email is set for the current repository. When git reads user.name, it finds only the global value, so it returns Alice. When git reads user.email, it finds the local value and returns [e-mail]. Local configuration overrides global when both exist. This helps users customize settings per repository or globally for all repositories.