Git init creates a .git repository in a project directory to track changes over time, building a history. The .git directory contains files like HEAD, config, and objects that store metadata and data for the local repository. Git add stages files, git commit commits the staged files to the local repository, and git status shows file status. Remote repositories on services like GitHub can be created and the local repository connected to it with git remote add and git push to push local commits remotely. Branches allow parallel development and are created, switched between, merged, and deleted.