git add -A, git add . or git add *: Which One?

Stage what we mean to commit, and look before we do.

Three commands look similar, but they do not stage the same things:

git add -A
git add .
git add *

The short answer: use git add -A or git add ., and avoid git add *. Let’s see why.

A test repository

We made a small repository with a .gitignore that lists node_modules/, committed it, and then changed things:

• modified a.txt,
• deleted b.txt,
• created new.txt, sub/new2.txt and the hidden file .hidden,
• created an ignored file node_modules/m2.js.

The results below are from git 2.34.

git add -A: everything in the repository

It stages new, modified and deleted files across the whole repository, whatever directory we run it from, and it respects .gitignore.

$ cd sub && git add -A && git status --short
A  .hidden
M  a.txt
D  b.txt
A  new.txt
A  sub/new2.txt

git add .: everything from here down

Since Git 2.0 it also stages deletions, but only in the current directory and below. From the repository root it does the same as git add -A. From a subfolder it does not:

$ cd sub && git add . && git status --short
 M a.txt
 D b.txt
A  sub/new2.txt
?? .hidden
?? new.txt

Only sub/new2.txt was staged. The changes outside sub/ were left alone.

git add *: a shell wildcard, not a Git feature

The shell expands * into a list of file names before Git runs, so Git never sees the pattern. That causes three problems:

1. Hidden files are skipped. * does not match names that start with a dot, such as .hidden, .env or .github.
2. Deletions are missed. A deleted file no longer exists, so * cannot expand to it.
3. Ignored folders cause an error. If node_modules is in the current directory, * hands it to Git, which refuses:

$ git add *
The following paths are ignored by one of your .gitignore files:
node_modules
hint: Use -f if you really want to add them.

Git exits with an error, yet it still staged the other files:

M  a.txt
 D b.txt
A  new.txt
A  sub/new2.txt
?? .hidden

a.txt, new.txt and sub/new2.txt are staged, but b.txt (deleted) and .hidden are not. That mix of staged and missed changes is easy to commit by accident.

Which one should we use?

Command	Scope	New	Modified	Deleted	Hidden
git add -A	whole repository	yes	yes	yes	yes
git add .	current folder and below	yes	yes	yes	yes
git add *	non-hidden names in the current folder	yes	yes	no	no

• At the repository root, git add . and git add -A are the same, so either is fine.
• In a subfolder, choose by intent: git add . for this folder only, git add -A for everything.
• Skip git add *.

Warning

Before staging, run git status, and check the result with git status or git diff --staged afterwards. Files such as .env secrets, build folders and temporary files should be in .gitignore first, because git add -A and git add . will stage anything that is not ignored.