Command Reference

Every git, docker, kubectl, npm, and CI command - what it does and the errors it throws.

A reference for the commands developers run in CI/CD: git, Docker, kubectl, Helm, npm, yarn, pnpm, pip, cargo, go, Maven, Gradle, Terraform, and the GitHub CLI - usage, flags, and the common failures of each.

git

Branching, history, remotes, recovery.

git branch --set-upstream-togit branch --set-upstream-to links a local branch to a remote-tracking ref. Reference for -u, --unset-upstrea… git fetch --deepengit fetch --deepen adds more commits to a shallow clone and --unshallow makes it complete. Reference for fixi… git grepgit grep searches tracked file contents fast, respecting the index and revisions. Reference for -n, -l, -i, -… filter=lfs rule not taking effectFix files not going through LFS because the .gitattributes filter=lfs rule is not applied in CI - the attribu… "Authentication required: ... info/lfs"Fix Git LFS "Authentication required" in CI - the LFS batch endpoint got no usable credentials, so the object… "batch request: missing protocol"Fix Git LFS "batch request: missing protocol: ..." in CI - the configured LFS endpoint URL has no scheme (htt… "batch response: ... 403"Fix Git LFS "batch response: Forbidden" / 403 in CI - the LFS batch API authenticated the request but the tok… "Error downloading object ... (missing)"Fix Git LFS "Error downloading object: ... (missing)" in CI - the pointer references an object the LFS server… "should have been pointers, but weren't"Fix Git LFS "Encountered N file(s) that should have been pointers, but weren't" in CI - files matching an LFS… "413 Request Entity Too Large"Fix Git LFS push failing with HTTP 413 in CI - the LFS object upload exceeded a size limit imposed by the ser… "git-lfs filter-process: command not found"Fix "git: 'lfs' is not a git command" / "git-lfs: command not found" in CI - the git-lfs binary is not instal… "Fatal error: Server error"Fix Git LFS "LFS: Fatal error: Server error" in CI - the LFS object store returned a 5xx while streaming an o… "Locking support detected on remote"Fix Git LFS lfs.locksverify prompts and "locking not supported" during push in CI - the push wants a decision… "Object does not exist on the server"Fix Git LFS "Object does not exist on the server or you don't have permissions" in CI - the batch API cannot… "smudge filter lfs failed"Fix "external filter git-lfs smudge failed" / "smudge filter lfs failed" in CI - LFS could not download an ob… "over its data quota"Fix Git LFS "This repository is over its data quota" / bandwidth quota errors in CI - the account exceeded it… "locking not supported"Fix Git LFS "unable to lock" / "locking not supported" in CI - a lock command or lock verification ran agains… LFS clean filter stallingFix slow Git LFS clean-filter behavior in CI - committing or checking out many large files runs the clean/smu… LFS filters not registeredFix Git LFS pointers left in the tree because "git lfs install" was never run in CI - without it, the clean/s… "git lfs migrate import" pitfallsFix common git lfs migrate import problems in CI - rewriting history to move large files into LFS can fail on… LFS re-fetched on every jobFix Git LFS objects being re-downloaded on every CI run - without caching .git/lfs, each job re-fetches the s… Pointer text in place of the fileFix the case where CI has the LFS pointer text (version https://git-lfs...) instead of the real file - the ch… Old git-lfs on self-hosted runnerFix Git LFS failures caused by an old git-lfs version on a self-hosted runner in CI - stale binaries miss fea… git ls-filesgit ls-files lists files Git knows about in the index. Reference for --others, --modified, --exclude-standard… git mergegit merge joins two branch histories into one. Reference for --no-ff, --squash, --abort, and how to detect an… "exceeds GitHub's file size limit of 100.00 MB"Fix "this exceeds GitHub's file size limit of 100.00 MB" in CI - a large file was committed as normal git con… git rev-parsegit rev-parse documentation and CI reference: resolve refs to SHAs, --abbrev-ref HEAD for branch names, --sho… git rev-parsegit rev-parse resolves refs to SHAs and reports repo paths - core CI plumbing. Reference for --short, --abbre… git rmgit rm removes files from the working tree and the index. Reference for --cached, -r, -f, and the "has staged… git submodulegit submodule manages nested repositories pinned to specific commits. Reference for update --init --recursive… git switch --detachgit switch --detach checks out a commit without attaching to a branch. Reference for detaching at a SHA or ta… git update-refgit update-ref creates, updates, or deletes a ref with old-value checks. Reference for -d, --create-reflog, s… actions/checkout without lfs: trueFix builds that get LFS pointers because actions/checkout ran without lfs: true in CI - the default checkout…

Docker

build, run, compose, registry.

docker historyHow docker history works: showing the layers of an image, the command and size of each, and finding what bloa…

kubectl & Helm

Deploy, inspect, debug, release.

helm linthelm lint checks a chart for problems before packaging or install. Linting with real values, strict mode in C… helm statushelm status shows a release's current state, resources, and notes. Reading FAILED and pending states, --show-… helm templatehelm template renders a chart to manifests locally without a cluster. Validating values in CI, --show-only, a… kubectl apply --server-sidekubectl apply --server-side moves the merge to the API server with field managers. Why CI prefers it, the con… kubectl config use-contextkubectl config use-context switches the active kubeconfig context. Selecting the target cluster in CI, the co… kubectl wait --for=conditionkubectl wait --for=condition blocks until a resource reaches a condition. Gating CI on Ready/Available, the t…

npm / yarn / pnpm

Install, scripts, publish.

npm audit fixnpm audit fix updates vulnerable dependencies to safe versions. Learn how to use it safely in CI without surp… npm cinpm ci does a clean, reproducible install from package-lock.json - the right command for CI. Usage, flags, an… npm unlinknpm unlink removes a symlinked package created by npm link and restores the real dependency. Usage and the re… pnpm runpnpm run executes package.json scripts, with --filter and -r to run across workspaces. Usage, arg passing, an… yarn workspacesyarn workspaces runs commands across a monorepo and yarn workspace targets one package. Usage, the foreach pa…

cargo / go / Maven / Gradle

Build and test toolchains.

actionlintactionlint statically checks .github/workflows YAML for syntax, expression, and shell errors. Reference for r… bazel runReference for bazel run in CI/CD: build then execute a runnable target, pass program arguments after a separa… go mod downloadgo mod download fetches module dependencies into the module cache. Learn how it speeds up CI, the -x flag, an… mvn dependency:treeWhat dependency:tree does - prints the full transitive dependency graph so you can find version conflicts and… mvn help:effective-pomWhat help:effective-pom does - prints the fully resolved POM after inheritance, profiles, and defaults merge… mvn release:prepareWhat release:prepare does - sets the release version, tags the SCM, and bumps to the next SNAPSHOT via the ma…

pip & Python

Install and manage packages.

uv venvHow uv venv creates a virtual environment quickly, how to pin the Python version with --python, and how it pa…

Terraform / gh / cloud

IaC, GitHub CLI, cloud CLIs.

argocd app syncWhat argocd app sync does, how to sync an Argo CD app non-interactively in CI with login and wait, and the au… aws eks update-kubeconfigWhat aws eks update-kubeconfig does, how to wire kubectl to an EKS cluster in CI, and the auth and access-ent… az keyvault secret showWhat az keyvault secret show does, how to read a Key Vault secret value in CI, RBAC vs access policies, and t… cdk deployReference for cdk deploy in CI/CD: synthesize and deploy AWS CDK stacks non-interactively with --require-appr… cdk synthWhat cdk synth does, how to produce CloudFormation templates as a CI artifact, and the context and synthesis… gcloud auth configure-dockerConfigure Docker to authenticate to Artifact Registry and GCR via gcloud: flags, a CI example, and the auth e… gcloud print-access-tokengcloud auth print-access-token prints a short-lived OAuth token for API calls and Docker logins. Reference fo… gcloud config setWhat gcloud config set does, how to set the active project and region/zone for CI, configurations, and the pr… gh apiReference for gh api in CI/CD: call any REST or GraphQL endpoint with authentication handled, pass fields, pa… gh auth loginReference for gh auth login in CI/CD: authenticate the GitHub CLI non-interactively with a token via stdin or… gh auth loginWhat gh auth login does, how to authenticate the GitHub CLI interactively or with a token in CI, and the auth… gh pr checkoutWhat gh pr checkout does, how to check out a pull request branch locally including from forks, the CI shallow… gh pr commentReference for gh pr comment in CI/CD: post or update a comment on a pull request from a pipeline, ideal for p… gh pr listWhat gh pr list does, how to filter pull requests by state, author, and label, format them as JSON in CI, and… gh pr mergeWhat gh pr merge does, how to merge, squash, or rebase a PR non-interactively in CI with auto-merge, and the… gh pr viewWhat gh pr view does, how to read a pull request’s details, review status, and checks as JSON for CI gating,… gh repo cloneReference for gh repo clone in CI/CD: clone a repository with gh authentication, pass git clone flags after a… gh workflow listWhat gh workflow list does, how to enumerate GitHub Actions workflows with their states and IDs in CI, and th… gh workflow runWhat gh workflow run does, how to trigger a workflow_dispatch with inputs and a ref in CI, and the errors you… helm lintLint a Helm chart in CI before deploying: values and strict flags, an example, and the lint errors that shoul… terraform destroyWhat terraform destroy does, how to tear down infrastructure safely in CI, target a subset, and the dependenc… terraform force-unlockReference for terraform force-unlock in CI/CD: clear a stale state lock left by a crashed run, with the safet… vault kv metadatavault kv metadata manages KV v2 version history, max_versions, and full deletion. Reference for get/put/delet…

Shell & Unix tools

curl, jq, ssh, tar, make, sed, and friends.

apk add --no-cacheapk add --no-cache installs Alpine packages without leaving an index cache, keeping images small. Reference f… apt-keyReference for apt-key: add, adv, the modern signed-by keyring replacement, and a CI example that installs a r… awk nextawk next stops processing the current line and moves to the next record, used to skip headers, comments, or m… brew bundlebrew bundle installs everything listed in a Brewfile. Reference for --file, --no-lock, brew bundle check, and… grpcurlgrpcurl is curl for gRPC services. Reference for -plaintext, -d, -import-path, list/describe, and the reflect… iperf3iperf3 measures network bandwidth between two hosts. Reference for -s, -c, -u, -t, -P, and the "Connection re… kafka-console-consumerkafka-console-consumer.sh reads messages from a Kafka topic to stdout. Reference for --from-beginning, --max-… ldconfigldconfig rebuilds the shared library cache so newly installed .so files are found at runtime. Reference for l… ldconfigldconfig rebuilds the shared-library cache so the loader finds new .so files. Reference for -p, conf.d, and t… microdnf installmicrodnf is the tiny dnf for Red Hat UBI minimal images. Reference for install, clean all, --nodocs, and the… npxnpx runs a package binary without a global install. Reference for --yes, --no-install, and the install prompt… promtool checkpromtool check validates Prometheus configs and rules. Reference for check config, check rules, --syntax-only… rbenv installrbenv install builds a Ruby version via ruby-build. Reference for build deps, .ruby-version, and the "BUILD F… rsync protocol version mismatchrsync "protocol version mismatch -- is your shell clean?" means the remote shell prints output before rsync s… tailtail prints the last lines of input or follows a growing file in CI. Reference for -n, -f, and +N, plus the -… yq front matteryq --front-matter processes the YAML front matter block in Markdown files while preserving the body. Referenc… yq Go vs PythonTwo unrelated tools are both called yq. Reference for telling mikefarah/yq (Go) from kislyuk/yq (Python jq wr… zizmorzizmor is a static security auditor for GitHub Actions workflows, flagging injection, unpinned actions, and d…

Explore other topics

GitHub ActionsWorkflow, runner, and YAML errors - diagnosed and fixed. Node.js & npmnpm, yarn, and pnpm failures in CI - solved. DockerBuild, run, compose, and registry errors - explained. Pythonpip, poetry, venv, and pytest failures - fixed. Java & JVMMaven, Gradle, and JVM failures in CI - resolved. GoGo build, module, and test failures - diagnosed.