Git Stash Advanced Usage Patterns

Basic git stash usage (stash/pop) loses track of what was stashed and doesn't handle partial stashing or untracked files.

Advanced stash patterns:

# Stash with a descriptive message
git stash push -m 'WIP: auth refactor - halfway through token validation'

# Stash specific files only
git stash push -m 'just the config' -- config.yaml src/config.ts

# Stash including untracked files
git stash push -u -m 'include new files'

# Stash interactively (select hunks)
git stash push -p -m 'partial changes'

# List stashes with details
git stash list
# stash@{0}: On main: WIP: auth refactor
# stash@{1}: On feature: just the config

# Show what's in a stash
git stash show -p stash@{1}

# Apply without removing from stash list
git stash apply stash@{1}

# Create a branch from a stash
git stash branch new-feature stash@{0}

# Drop a specific stash
git stash drop stash@{2}

# Apply and drop in one step
git stash pop stash@{0}

Named stashes prevent the 'what was in this stash?' problem. Partial stashing lets you commit clean chunks while keeping WIP changes aside.

Managing work-in-progress changes across branches