🪝Git Hooks Made Simple

Automate Your Workflow with Pre-Commit and Post-Push Hooks

Welcome, friends! 👋
Today, we’ll learn about Git Hooks — what they are, how they work, and how to create your own.

Git Hooks let your repository take action automatically — from running tests to formatting code before a commit.

In this guide, we’ll simplify hooks so you can boost productivity with minimal setup.

🪝What Are Git Hooks?

Git Hooks are scripts that run automatically when certain Git events happen — like committing, pushing, or merging code.

They can:

• Run checks before committing code (pre-commit)
• Stop bad commits or pushes (pre-push)
• Trigger actions on the server (pre-receive)

Local vs Global Hooks

• Local hooks: Only affect one repository.
• Global hooks: Apply to all repositories on your machine.

🛠 Creating Your First Git Hook

1. Open your project folder in VS Code or any IDE.
2. Initialize Git:

git init

• Open the hidden .git/hooks folder.
• Rename pre-commit.sample to pre-commit.

Make it executable:

chmod u+x .git/hooks/pre-commit

Edit it with a simple script:

#!/bin/bash
echo "Hello World! My first Git Hook 🎉"

Now, try committing something:

git add .
git commit -m "test"

You’ll see your hook message appear!

⚠ Blocking Bad Commits

You can make hooks that stop bad code — for example, blocking commits with trailing whitespace or hardcoded secrets.

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Here’s an example that stops AWS keys from being committed:

#!/bin/bash
if git grep -q "AWS_ACCESS_KEY"; then
  echo "🚫 Secret detected! Commit blocked."
  exit 1
fi

ツ Add Fun to Your Workflow

You can even reward yourself with a dad joke every time you commit:

# 😂 Add Fun to Your Workflow
curl https://icanhazdadjoke.com

ꗃ Advanced Example: Secret Detection Tool

Use GGShield to automatically detect secrets:

ggshield secret scan pre-commit

We’ll dive into this in the next post. Stay tuned!

🗺 Global Git Hooks

To make a hook apply to all repos:

1. Create a folder:

mkdir -p ~/.git/hooks

Set it as the global hook path:

git config --global core.hooksPath ~/.git/hooks

Add your pre-commit file there (just like before).

Now every repository you work on will run your hook automatically.

⤴︎ Level Up

You now know how to:
✅ Create Git hooks
✅ Run scripts automatically
✅ Prevent bad commits
✅ Apply hooks globally

To go further, check out the pre-commit framework — a popular way to manage and share hooks easily.

🎖 Pro tip:

Every time you commit, you’re not just saving code — you’re becoming an even better programmer! 💪

®️ Credits & References

Complete guide to GitHooks — Creating your own pre-commit hooks by GitGuardian

The secret to stop hardcoded secrets by gitguardian.com

8.3 Customizing Git — Git Hooks by git-scm.com

pre-commit — A framework for managing and maintaining multi-language pre-commit hooks by pre-commit.com