Tutorial - Part 6: Navigating between branches

As an alternative to git checkout <branch-name>, git-machete provides a faster way to navigate your branch tree.

Interactive navigation

To open an interactive menu showing your branch layout, run:

git machete go

You can use the arrow keys to select a branch and press Enter to check it out.

Relative navigation

If you prefer using the command line directly, you can navigate relative to your current branch in the layout:

• git machete go up: Check out the parent branch.
• git machete go down: Check out a child branch.
• git machete go next: Check out the next branch in the layout (depth-first).
• git machete go prev: Check out the previous branch in the layout.

A note on compatibility

git-machete doesn't replace or interfere with standard git commands. You can still use git checkout, git rebase, git merge, and all other git commands as usual. git-machete is simply a wrapper that provides convenient shortcuts over the existing git concepts like branches, commits, and rebases. It doesn't fundamentally change how git operates — it just makes common workflows faster and less error-prone.

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