The Source Control View

VS Code has genuine Git support built in — no separate application required for everyday version control, the same core capability as the Visual Studio Mastery track's Git Integration course, with VS Code's own layout.

The Source Control view (Activity Bar, the branching-icon) shows every changed file since your last commit. Modified, staged, and untracked files each appear with a status letter (M, A, U, and others) — click any file to see its diff directly, without a separate diff tool.

Stage changes by clicking the "+" next to a file, or stage everything at once. Staging in VS Code's UI is the same underlying concept as git add — you're choosing what belongs in your next commit, exactly the staging-area concept from the Git & GitHub Mastery track.

Write your commit message in the box at the top, then click the checkmark (or Ctrl+Enter) to commit. The same discipline applies here as everywhere else in this platform: describe why, not just what changed.

The status bar (bottom of the window) shows your current branch and sync state at a glance — click it for a quick menu to switch branches, without opening the full Source Control view for a simple branch change.

This is genuinely the same Git underneath — nothing here is VS Code-specific magic. Every action in this UI maps to a real git command; the integrated terminal (from the Editor Tour course) can run the exact same operations by hand whenever the UI doesn't cover something specific enough.

Why this matters for you

Knowing that VS Code's Git UI is a real, transparent layer over actual Git (not a separate, proprietary system) means everything you already know from the Git & GitHub Mastery track transfers directly — this is about VS Code's specific interface, not new Git concepts.

▶️ Before the next lesson

If your current project isn't already a Git repository, open the integrated terminal and run git init — then make one small change and watch it appear in the Source Control view.