git init: turn a folder into a repository

A repository is simply a folder that git is tracking. The word sounds official; it means nothing more than that. You turn a normal folder into a repository with one command, run once, at the top of the project: git init.

What physically happens: git creates a hidden folder named .git inside your folder. That is the entire effect. Your files do not move, nothing is renamed, the folder looks exactly the same in your file manager — but from this moment, the machinery for saving photographs exists.

Git answers Initialized empty Git repository in .../your-folder/.git/. Translated into human: done, the machinery is in place, and the album is currently empty — you have not taken any photographs yet. The word empty in the reply refers to the history, not your files; your files are all still there, just not saved into git yet.

Running git init a second time is harmless — git answers Reinitialized and continues. But in real life you only run it once per project. Running it inside a folder that is already inside another repository causes confusion, so keep one repository per project, at the top.

The habit to build right now: after anything important, ask git for a status report. git status is that report — it tells you which branch you are on, what is saved, and what is waiting. On a brand-new repository it says No commits yet, which is exactly true: the camera exists, but you have not clicked it.