git = !git

The git alias in the title might look confusing at first, but it's a very nice little "hack" to make git more forgiving.

I usually tab from my editor to Terminal to run a git command, and then forget what command I wanted to run. So I leave the git that I've already typed, and change back to my editor.

I then remember what I wanted to run, switch back to terminal and type the command: git lg. The problem is that I already typed git once before, and I end up with one too many "git", which doesn't work:

$ git git lg
git: 'git' is not a git command. See 'git --help'.

But, adding one small alias to the config solves all your problems!

$ git config --global alias.git '!git'
$ git git lg
da54ad2 Update readme 2 hours ago
3543das Fix issue #32 4 days ago
...

This short line creates a "shell command alias" to have git run git, essentially making git a valid git command (recursion FTW!)

So now our problem is solved, and craziness like this works!

$ git git git git git status
# On branch master
nothing to commit, working directory clean