SHA
Also called commit id, commit hash, SHA-1.
In plain English
A SHA is the identifier GitGit is a version-control tool that records changes to files and helps people combine work over time. gives one commitA commit records a project state in Git, plus history information such as the parent commit, the author, and a message., so people can name that exact recorded snapshotA snapshot is the set of file contents Git recorded at one moment..
Example
Two people check out the same SHA and still see different results if one has unsaved edits or a different setup on their machine.
Why it matters
GitGit is a version-control tool that records changes to files and helps people combine work over time. builds the id from the commitA commit records a project state in Git, plus history information such as the parent commit, the author, and a message.. If the recorded commit changes, the id changes. People often show a short prefix of the full id. The short form is a nickname for the same commit, not a second snapshotA snapshot is the set of file contents Git recorded at one moment..
Matching commitA commit records a project state in Git, plus history information such as the parent commit, the author, and a message. ids do not prove two working folders are identical. Uncommitted changes, untracked files, and environment differences can remain.
Common confusion
A matching SHA means the recorded commitA commit records a project state in Git, plus history information such as the parent commit, the author, and a message. matches. It does not mean every file in both folders is identical right now.
Sources
Updated September 30, 2026.