# Git, Explained Like You're a Human

You already *use* Git. You `add`, `commit`, `push`. And yet when something goes sideways, your
stomach drops - because nobody ever told you what Git is *actually doing*. This guide fixes that.

By the end, branches, HEAD, staging, and merge conflicts won't be scary words - they'll make sense,
because you'll understand the handful of simple ideas underneath all of them.

## How to read this
- **In a panic right now?** Jump to [Phase 3: When it breaks](03-when-it-breaks.md) and use the
  cheat-card at the top.
- **Want it to finally make sense?** Read in order - each phase builds on the last.

## The three phases
1. **[The Mental Model](01-the-mental-model.md)** - what Git *actually is*. Five ideas that make
   everything else click.
2. **[The Everyday Commands](02-everyday-commands.md)** - the commands you use daily, what each one
   *really* does, with real examples.
3. **[When It Breaks](03-when-it-breaks.md)** - the common "oh no" moments and how to fix them calmly.

> Deep disaster recovery (recovering lost commits with the reflog, undoing *already-pushed* history,
> rescuing a botched rebase) is its own guide - coming next.