This shows only files that are tracked.
I tend to do a lot of work which leaves files that I don't want to check in lying around in my git repo, this eliminates these and lets me see exactly what I have been working on. The slight caveat to this is when you are working on a new file that you have not yet checked in ever.
This goes hand in hand with:
git add -u
Which only adds untracked files. With aliased commands this usually results in a flow like this:
Is there a reason for not adding such files to your .gitignore?
I'm a neat-freak when it comes to file placement, and have a ~/tmp directory specifically for dropping one-off files without cluttering up repos and such.
Are the things your repo isn't tracking mostly temporary/build files? or things that are going to be checked in eventually?
git status --untracked=no
This shows only files that are tracked. I tend to do a lot of work which leaves files that I don't want to check in lying around in my git repo, this eliminates these and lets me see exactly what I have been working on. The slight caveat to this is when you are working on a new file that you have not yet checked in ever.
This goes hand in hand with:
git add -u
Which only adds untracked files. With aliased commands this usually results in a flow like this:
> git stu
> git adu