Git Installation Guide

What Is Git?

Git is a version control tool — it tracks every change you make to your files over time. Think of it like a detailed undo history that never expires. You can save a snapshot of your work (called a commit), go back to any previous version, and see exactly what changed and when.

For AI development, Git is essential for two reasons. First, AI coding tools use it behind the scenes — every time an AI assistant edits a file, that change gets tracked as a commit, giving you a clear record of what the AI did and letting you undo anything you don’t want. Second, the prompts, skills, and agents you create are valuable building blocks that power your AI workflows. Git ensures you never lose them — every version is saved, and you can always recover or refine what you’ve built.

This guide installs Git on your machine and sets up your identity so your work is properly attributed.

Opening a Terminal

Every command in this guide is typed into a terminal — a window where you type instructions instead of clicking them.

• macOS: press Cmd + Space, type Terminal, press Enter.
• Windows: press Start, type PowerShell, press Enter.

You type a command, press Enter, and read what comes back. Never used a terminal before? The Terminal Basics primer is about 15 minutes and covers everything the guides below assume.

Every command in this guide and the GitHub Setup Guide works in PowerShell — they all run the git or gh program, which the installer adds to your system.

Windows: when you might want Git Bash instead. The Git installer also adds Git Bash, a terminal that behaves like the macOS one. If you follow a tutorial written for Mac or Linux — anything using ls, touch, or forward-slash paths — run it in Git Bash and the commands work unchanged. For everything in these guides, PowerShell is fine.

PowerShell says git is not recognized? Git installed without being added to your PATH. See Troubleshooting to fix it — or use Git Bash, which works either way.

Check If Git Is Already Installed

Open your terminal and run:

git --version

If you see a version number (e.g., git version 2.39.0), Git is already installed. You can skip to verification.

macOS

Option 1: Xcode Command Line Tools (Recommended)

1. Open Terminal
2. Run: xcode-select --install
3. Click Install in the popup dialog
4. Wait for installation to complete

This installs Git along with other developer tools.

Option 2: Homebrew

Homebrew is a popular tool for installing developer software on macOS. If you don’t have it, use Option 1 above.

brew install git

Windows

Download and Install

1. Go to git-scm.com
2. Click Download for Windows
3. Run the installer
4. Use the default settings (click Next through the prompts)
5. Complete the installation

Important Settings During Install

• Default editor: Select VS Code or Cursor if listed — avoid the default (Vim) unless you’re familiar with it
• PATH environment: Select “Git from the command line and also from 3rd-party software” (recommended)
• Line endings: Select “Checkout Windows-style, commit Unix-style line endings” (recommended)

Verify Installation

After installing, open a new terminal window and run:

git --version

You should see a version number confirming Git is installed.

Configure Your Identity

Set your name and email for Git commits:

git config --global user.name "Your Name"
git config --global user.email "your.email@example.com"

Use the email address you plan to use for your GitHub account (set up in the next step). If these don’t match, your commits still work but GitHub won’t attribute them to your profile — they show up as an unlinked name, and fixing it later means rewriting history.

Confirm your identity actually saved:

git config --list

Look for user.name and user.email in the output, with the values you just set.

Corporate Networks (Proxy / Firewall)

On a work machine, Git may fail to reach GitHub if traffic has to go through a corporate proxy or a restrictive firewall.

Behind a proxy:

git config --global http.proxy http://proxy.company.com:port
git config --global https.proxy http://proxy.company.com:port

Ask your IT team for the proxy address and port if you don’t have it. To remove both settings later — do unset both, or the leftover https.proxy keeps breaking HTTPS remotes once you’re off the corporate network:

git config --global --unset http.proxy
git config --global --unset https.proxy

Behind a firewall that blocks SSH: if git clone git@github.com:... hangs or times out, corporate firewalls often allow HTTPS (port 443) but block the SSH port. Use the HTTPS clone URL instead (https://github.com/...) — this is also what the GitHub Setup Guide and Repository Creation and Cloning Guide use by default.

Troubleshooting

Command not found (Mac)?

• Close and reopen Terminal after installation
• Try running xcode-select --install again

Command not found (Windows)?

• Close and reopen your terminal
• Make sure you selected the PATH option during installation
• Reinstall and select “Git from the command line and also from 3rd-party software”

PATH still broken after reinstalling on Windows?

1. Open Start → Environment Variables (search “edit the system environment variables”)
2. Click Environment Variables…
3. Under System variables, select Path, click Edit
4. Confirm an entry exists for Git’s cmd folder (typically C:\Program Files\Git\cmd) — click New and add it if missing
5. Click OK on every dialog, then close and reopen your terminal
6. Run git --version again to confirm

Permission errors?

• On Mac, you may need to enter your password during Xcode tools installation
• On Windows, run the installer as Administrator

Ask AI for help

If you’re stuck, paste this into ChatGPT, Claude, or Gemini:

I’m trying to install Git on [Mac / Windows] and getting this error: [paste the error message]. I followed the steps from the official guide. What should I try next?

## Next Steps

• Set up your GitHub account (see GitHub Setup Guide)
• Set up your AI platform (see Platforms)

Resources

• Git Downloads
• Git Documentation