1git(1) 2====== 3 4NAME 5---- 6git - the stupid content tracker 7 8 9SYNOPSIS 10-------- 11[verse] 12'git' [--version] [--exec-path[=GIT_EXEC_PATH]] 13 [-p|--paginate|--no-pager] 14 [--bare] [--git-dir=GIT_DIR] [--work-tree=GIT_WORK_TREE] 15 [--help] COMMAND [ARGS] 16 17DESCRIPTION 18----------- 19Git is a fast, scalable, distributed revision control system with an 20unusually rich command set that provides both high-level operations 21and full access to internals. 22 23See linkgit:gittutorial[7] to get started, then see 24link:everyday.html[Everyday Git] for a useful minimum set of commands, and 25"man git-commandname" for documentation of each command. CVS users may 26also want to read linkgit:gitcvs-migration[7]. See 27the link:user-manual.html[Git User's Manual] for a more in-depth 28introduction. 29 30The COMMAND is either a name of a Git command (see below) or an alias 31as defined in the configuration file (see linkgit:git-config[1]). 32 33Formatted and hyperlinked version of the latest git 34documentation can be viewed at 35`http://www.kernel.org/pub/software/scm/git/docs/`. 36 37ifdef::stalenotes[] 38[NOTE] 39============ 40 41You are reading the documentation for the latest (possibly 42unreleased) version of git, that is available from 'master' 43branch of the `git.git` repository. 44Documentation for older releases are available here: 45 46* link:v1.6.1.1/git.html[documentation for release 1.6.1.1] 47 48* release notes for 49 link:RelNotes-1.6.1.1.txt[1.6.1.1], 50 link:RelNotes-1.6.1.txt[1.6.1]. 51 52* link:v1.6.0.6/git.html[documentation for release 1.6.0.6] 53 54* release notes for 55 link:RelNotes-1.6.0.6.txt[1.6.0.6], 56 link:RelNotes-1.6.0.5.txt[1.6.0.5], 57 link:RelNotes-1.6.0.4.txt[1.6.0.4], 58 link:RelNotes-1.6.0.3.txt[1.6.0.3], 59 link:RelNotes-1.6.0.2.txt[1.6.0.2], 60 link:RelNotes-1.6.0.1.txt[1.6.0.1], 61 link:RelNotes-1.6.0.txt[1.6.0]. 62 63* link:v1.5.6.6/git.html[documentation for release 1.5.6.6] 64 65* release notes for 66 link:RelNotes-1.5.6.6.txt[1.5.6.6], 67 link:RelNotes-1.5.6.5.txt[1.5.6.5], 68 link:RelNotes-1.5.6.4.txt[1.5.6.4], 69 link:RelNotes-1.5.6.3.txt[1.5.6.3], 70 link:RelNotes-1.5.6.2.txt[1.5.6.2], 71 link:RelNotes-1.5.6.1.txt[1.5.6.1], 72 link:RelNotes-1.5.6.txt[1.5.6]. 73 74* link:v1.5.5.6/git.html[documentation for release 1.5.5.6] 75 76* release notes for 77 link:RelNotes-1.5.5.6.txt[1.5.5.6], 78 link:RelNotes-1.5.5.5.txt[1.5.5.5], 79 link:RelNotes-1.5.5.4.txt[1.5.5.4], 80 link:RelNotes-1.5.5.3.txt[1.5.5.3], 81 link:RelNotes-1.5.5.2.txt[1.5.5.2], 82 link:RelNotes-1.5.5.1.txt[1.5.5.1], 83 link:RelNotes-1.5.5.txt[1.5.5]. 84 85* link:v1.5.4.7/git.html[documentation for release 1.5.4.7] 86 87* release notes for 88 link:RelNotes-1.5.4.7.txt[1.5.4.7], 89 link:RelNotes-1.5.4.6.txt[1.5.4.6], 90 link:RelNotes-1.5.4.5.txt[1.5.4.5], 91 link:RelNotes-1.5.4.4.txt[1.5.4.4], 92 link:RelNotes-1.5.4.3.txt[1.5.4.3], 93 link:RelNotes-1.5.4.2.txt[1.5.4.2], 94 link:RelNotes-1.5.4.1.txt[1.5.4.1], 95 link:RelNotes-1.5.4.txt[1.5.4]. 96 97* link:v1.5.3.8/git.html[documentation for release 1.5.3.8] 98 99* release notes for 100 link:RelNotes-1.5.3.8.txt[1.5.3.8], 101 link:RelNotes-1.5.3.7.txt[1.5.3.7], 102 link:RelNotes-1.5.3.6.txt[1.5.3.6], 103 link:RelNotes-1.5.3.5.txt[1.5.3.5], 104 link:RelNotes-1.5.3.4.txt[1.5.3.4], 105 link:RelNotes-1.5.3.3.txt[1.5.3.3], 106 link:RelNotes-1.5.3.2.txt[1.5.3.2], 107 link:RelNotes-1.5.3.1.txt[1.5.3.1], 108 link:RelNotes-1.5.3.txt[1.5.3]. 109 110* link:v1.5.2.5/git.html[documentation for release 1.5.2.5] 111 112* release notes for 113 link:RelNotes-1.5.2.5.txt[1.5.2.5], 114 link:RelNotes-1.5.2.4.txt[1.5.2.4], 115 link:RelNotes-1.5.2.3.txt[1.5.2.3], 116 link:RelNotes-1.5.2.2.txt[1.5.2.2], 117 link:RelNotes-1.5.2.1.txt[1.5.2.1], 118 link:RelNotes-1.5.2.txt[1.5.2]. 119 120* link:v1.5.1.6/git.html[documentation for release 1.5.1.6] 121 122* release notes for 123 link:RelNotes-1.5.1.6.txt[1.5.1.6], 124 link:RelNotes-1.5.1.5.txt[1.5.1.5], 125 link:RelNotes-1.5.1.4.txt[1.5.1.4], 126 link:RelNotes-1.5.1.3.txt[1.5.1.3], 127 link:RelNotes-1.5.1.2.txt[1.5.1.2], 128 link:RelNotes-1.5.1.1.txt[1.5.1.1], 129 link:RelNotes-1.5.1.txt[1.5.1]. 130 131* link:v1.5.0.7/git.html[documentation for release 1.5.0.7] 132 133* release notes for 134 link:RelNotes-1.5.0.7.txt[1.5.0.7], 135 link:RelNotes-1.5.0.6.txt[1.5.0.6], 136 link:RelNotes-1.5.0.5.txt[1.5.0.5], 137 link:RelNotes-1.5.0.3.txt[1.5.0.3], 138 link:RelNotes-1.5.0.2.txt[1.5.0.2], 139 link:RelNotes-1.5.0.1.txt[1.5.0.1], 140 link:RelNotes-1.5.0.txt[1.5.0]. 141 142* documentation for release link:v1.4.4.4/git.html[1.4.4.4], 143 link:v1.3.3/git.html[1.3.3], 144 link:v1.2.6/git.html[1.2.6], 145 link:v1.0.13/git.html[1.0.13]. 146 147============ 148 149endif::stalenotes[] 150 151OPTIONS 152------- 153--version:: 154 Prints the git suite version that the 'git' program came from. 155 156--help:: 157 Prints the synopsis and a list of the most commonly used 158 commands. If the option '--all' or '-a' is given then all 159 available commands are printed. If a git command is named this 160 option will bring up the manual page for that command. 161+ 162Other options are available to control how the manual page is 163displayed. See linkgit:git-help[1] for more information, 164because `git --help ...` is converted internally into `git 165help ...`. 166 167--exec-path:: 168 Path to wherever your core git programs are installed. 169 This can also be controlled by setting the GIT_EXEC_PATH 170 environment variable. If no path is given, 'git' will print 171 the current setting and then exit. 172 173-p:: 174--paginate:: 175 Pipe all output into 'less' (or if set, $PAGER). 176 177--no-pager:: 178 Do not pipe git output into a pager. 179 180--git-dir=<path>:: 181 Set the path to the repository. This can also be controlled by 182 setting the GIT_DIR environment variable. It can be an absolute 183 path or relative path to current working directory. 184 185--work-tree=<path>:: 186 Set the path to the working tree. The value will not be 187 used in combination with repositories found automatically in 188 a .git directory (i.e. $GIT_DIR is not set). 189 This can also be controlled by setting the GIT_WORK_TREE 190 environment variable and the core.worktree configuration 191 variable. It can be an absolute path or relative path to 192 the directory specified by --git-dir or GIT_DIR. 193 Note: If --git-dir or GIT_DIR are specified but none of 194 --work-tree, GIT_WORK_TREE and core.worktree is specified, 195 the current working directory is regarded as the top directory 196 of your working tree. 197 198--bare:: 199 Treat the repository as a bare repository. If GIT_DIR 200 environment is not set, it is set to the current working 201 directory. 202 203 204FURTHER DOCUMENTATION 205--------------------- 206 207See the references above to get started using git. The following is 208probably more detail than necessary for a first-time user. 209 210The link:user-manual.html#git-concepts[git concepts chapter of the 211user-manual] and linkgit:gitcore-tutorial[7] both provide 212introductions to the underlying git architecture. 213 214See also the link:howto-index.html[howto] documents for some useful 215examples. 216 217The internals are documented in the 218link:technical/api-index.html[GIT API documentation]. 219 220GIT COMMANDS 221------------ 222 223We divide git into high level ("porcelain") commands and low level 224("plumbing") commands. 225 226High-level commands (porcelain) 227------------------------------- 228 229We separate the porcelain commands into the main commands and some 230ancillary user utilities. 231 232Main porcelain commands 233~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 234 235include::cmds-mainporcelain.txt[] 236 237Ancillary Commands 238~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 239Manipulators: 240 241include::cmds-ancillarymanipulators.txt[] 242 243Interrogators: 244 245include::cmds-ancillaryinterrogators.txt[] 246 247 248Interacting with Others 249~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 250 251These commands are to interact with foreign SCM and with other 252people via patch over e-mail. 253 254include::cmds-foreignscminterface.txt[] 255 256 257Low-level commands (plumbing) 258----------------------------- 259 260Although git includes its 261own porcelain layer, its low-level commands are sufficient to support 262development of alternative porcelains. Developers of such porcelains 263might start by reading about linkgit:git-update-index[1] and 264linkgit:git-read-tree[1]. 265 266The interface (input, output, set of options and the semantics) 267to these low-level commands are meant to be a lot more stable 268than Porcelain level commands, because these commands are 269primarily for scripted use. The interface to Porcelain commands 270on the other hand are subject to change in order to improve the 271end user experience. 272 273The following description divides 274the low-level commands into commands that manipulate objects (in 275the repository, index, and working tree), commands that interrogate and 276compare objects, and commands that move objects and references between 277repositories. 278 279 280Manipulation commands 281~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 282 283include::cmds-plumbingmanipulators.txt[] 284 285 286Interrogation commands 287~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 288 289include::cmds-plumbinginterrogators.txt[] 290 291In general, the interrogate commands do not touch the files in 292the working tree. 293 294 295Synching repositories 296~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 297 298include::cmds-synchingrepositories.txt[] 299 300The following are helper programs used by the above; end users 301typically do not use them directly. 302 303include::cmds-synchelpers.txt[] 304 305 306Internal helper commands 307~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 308 309These are internal helper commands used by other commands; end 310users typically do not use them directly. 311 312include::cmds-purehelpers.txt[] 313 314 315Configuration Mechanism 316----------------------- 317 318Starting from 0.99.9 (actually mid 0.99.8.GIT), `.git/config` file 319is used to hold per-repository configuration options. It is a 320simple text file modeled after `.ini` format familiar to some 321people. Here is an example: 322 323------------ 324# 325# A '#' or ';' character indicates a comment. 326# 327 328; core variables 329[core] 330 ; Don't trust file modes 331 filemode = false 332 333; user identity 334[user] 335 name = "Junio C Hamano" 336 email = "junkio@twinsun.com" 337 338------------ 339 340Various commands read from the configuration file and adjust 341their operation accordingly. 342 343 344Identifier Terminology 345---------------------- 346<object>:: 347 Indicates the object name for any type of object. 348 349<blob>:: 350 Indicates a blob object name. 351 352<tree>:: 353 Indicates a tree object name. 354 355<commit>:: 356 Indicates a commit object name. 357 358<tree-ish>:: 359 Indicates a tree, commit or tag object name. A 360 command that takes a <tree-ish> argument ultimately wants to 361 operate on a <tree> object but automatically dereferences 362 <commit> and <tag> objects that point at a <tree>. 363 364<commit-ish>:: 365 Indicates a commit or tag object name. A 366 command that takes a <commit-ish> argument ultimately wants to 367 operate on a <commit> object but automatically dereferences 368 <tag> objects that point at a <commit>. 369 370<type>:: 371 Indicates that an object type is required. 372 Currently one of: `blob`, `tree`, `commit`, or `tag`. 373 374<file>:: 375 Indicates a filename - almost always relative to the 376 root of the tree structure `GIT_INDEX_FILE` describes. 377 378Symbolic Identifiers 379-------------------- 380Any git command accepting any <object> can also use the following 381symbolic notation: 382 383HEAD:: 384 indicates the head of the current branch (i.e. the 385 contents of `$GIT_DIR/HEAD`). 386 387<tag>:: 388 a valid tag 'name' 389 (i.e. the contents of `$GIT_DIR/refs/tags/<tag>`). 390 391<head>:: 392 a valid head 'name' 393 (i.e. the contents of `$GIT_DIR/refs/heads/<head>`). 394 395For a more complete list of ways to spell object names, see 396"SPECIFYING REVISIONS" section in linkgit:git-rev-parse[1]. 397 398 399File/Directory Structure 400------------------------ 401 402Please see the linkgit:gitrepository-layout[5] document. 403 404Read linkgit:githooks[5] for more details about each hook. 405 406Higher level SCMs may provide and manage additional information in the 407`$GIT_DIR`. 408 409 410Terminology 411----------- 412Please see linkgit:gitglossary[7]. 413 414 415Environment Variables 416--------------------- 417Various git commands use the following environment variables: 418 419The git Repository 420~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 421These environment variables apply to 'all' core git commands. Nb: it 422is worth noting that they may be used/overridden by SCMS sitting above 423git so take care if using Cogito etc. 424 425'GIT_INDEX_FILE':: 426 This environment allows the specification of an alternate 427 index file. If not specified, the default of `$GIT_DIR/index` 428 is used. 429 430'GIT_OBJECT_DIRECTORY':: 431 If the object storage directory is specified via this 432 environment variable then the sha1 directories are created 433 underneath - otherwise the default `$GIT_DIR/objects` 434 directory is used. 435 436'GIT_ALTERNATE_OBJECT_DIRECTORIES':: 437 Due to the immutable nature of git objects, old objects can be 438 archived into shared, read-only directories. This variable 439 specifies a ":" separated (on Windows ";" separated) list 440 of git object directories which can be used to search for git 441 objects. New objects will not be written to these directories. 442 443'GIT_DIR':: 444 If the 'GIT_DIR' environment variable is set then it 445 specifies a path to use instead of the default `.git` 446 for the base of the repository. 447 448'GIT_WORK_TREE':: 449 Set the path to the working tree. The value will not be 450 used in combination with repositories found automatically in 451 a .git directory (i.e. $GIT_DIR is not set). 452 This can also be controlled by the '--work-tree' command line 453 option and the core.worktree configuration variable. 454 455'GIT_CEILING_DIRECTORIES':: 456 This should be a colon-separated list of absolute paths. 457 If set, it is a list of directories that git should not chdir 458 up into while looking for a repository directory. 459 It will not exclude the current working directory or 460 a GIT_DIR set on the command line or in the environment. 461 (Useful for excluding slow-loading network directories.) 462 463git Commits 464~~~~~~~~~~~ 465'GIT_AUTHOR_NAME':: 466'GIT_AUTHOR_EMAIL':: 467'GIT_AUTHOR_DATE':: 468'GIT_COMMITTER_NAME':: 469'GIT_COMMITTER_EMAIL':: 470'GIT_COMMITTER_DATE':: 471'EMAIL':: 472 see linkgit:git-commit-tree[1] 473 474git Diffs 475~~~~~~~~~ 476'GIT_DIFF_OPTS':: 477 Only valid setting is "--unified=??" or "-u??" to set the 478 number of context lines shown when a unified diff is created. 479 This takes precedence over any "-U" or "--unified" option 480 value passed on the git diff command line. 481 482'GIT_EXTERNAL_DIFF':: 483 When the environment variable 'GIT_EXTERNAL_DIFF' is set, the 484 program named by it is called, instead of the diff invocation 485 described above. For a path that is added, removed, or modified, 486 'GIT_EXTERNAL_DIFF' is called with 7 parameters: 487 488 path old-file old-hex old-mode new-file new-hex new-mode 489+ 490where: 491 492 <old|new>-file:: are files GIT_EXTERNAL_DIFF can use to read the 493 contents of <old|new>, 494 <old|new>-hex:: are the 40-hexdigit SHA1 hashes, 495 <old|new>-mode:: are the octal representation of the file modes. 496 497+ 498The file parameters can point at the user's working file 499(e.g. `new-file` in "git-diff-files"), `/dev/null` (e.g. `old-file` 500when a new file is added), or a temporary file (e.g. `old-file` in the 501index). 'GIT_EXTERNAL_DIFF' should not worry about unlinking the 502temporary file --- it is removed when 'GIT_EXTERNAL_DIFF' exits. 503+ 504For a path that is unmerged, 'GIT_EXTERNAL_DIFF' is called with 1 505parameter, <path>. 506 507other 508~~~~~ 509'GIT_MERGE_VERBOSITY':: 510 A number controlling the amount of output shown by 511 the recursive merge strategy. Overrides merge.verbosity. 512 See linkgit:git-merge[1] 513 514'GIT_PAGER':: 515 This environment variable overrides `$PAGER`. If it is set 516 to an empty string or to the value "cat", git will not launch 517 a pager. See also the `core.pager` option in 518 linkgit:git-config[1]. 519 520'GIT_SSH':: 521 If this environment variable is set then 'git-fetch' 522 and 'git-push' will use this command instead 523 of 'ssh' when they need to connect to a remote system. 524 The '$GIT_SSH' command will be given exactly two arguments: 525 the 'username@host' (or just 'host') from the URL and the 526 shell command to execute on that remote system. 527+ 528To pass options to the program that you want to list in GIT_SSH 529you will need to wrap the program and options into a shell script, 530then set GIT_SSH to refer to the shell script. 531+ 532Usually it is easier to configure any desired options through your 533personal `.ssh/config` file. Please consult your ssh documentation 534for further details. 535 536'GIT_FLUSH':: 537 If this environment variable is set to "1", then commands such 538 as 'git-blame' (in incremental mode), 'git-rev-list', 'git-log', 539 and 'git-whatchanged' will force a flush of the output stream 540 after each commit-oriented record have been flushed. If this 541 variable is set to "0", the output of these commands will be done 542 using completely buffered I/O. If this environment variable is 543 not set, git will choose buffered or record-oriented flushing 544 based on whether stdout appears to be redirected to a file or not. 545 546'GIT_TRACE':: 547 If this variable is set to "1", "2" or "true" (comparison 548 is case insensitive), git will print `trace:` messages on 549 stderr telling about alias expansion, built-in command 550 execution and external command execution. 551 If this variable is set to an integer value greater than 1 552 and lower than 10 (strictly) then git will interpret this 553 value as an open file descriptor and will try to write the 554 trace messages into this file descriptor. 555 Alternatively, if this variable is set to an absolute path 556 (starting with a '/' character), git will interpret this 557 as a file path and will try to write the trace messages 558 into it. 559 560Discussion[[Discussion]] 561------------------------ 562 563More detail on the following is available from the 564link:user-manual.html#git-concepts[git concepts chapter of the 565user-manual] and linkgit:gitcore-tutorial[7]. 566 567A git project normally consists of a working directory with a ".git" 568subdirectory at the top level. The .git directory contains, among other 569things, a compressed object database representing the complete history 570of the project, an "index" file which links that history to the current 571contents of the working tree, and named pointers into that history such 572as tags and branch heads. 573 574The object database contains objects of three main types: blobs, which 575hold file data; trees, which point to blobs and other trees to build up 576directory hierarchies; and commits, which each reference a single tree 577and some number of parent commits. 578 579The commit, equivalent to what other systems call a "changeset" or 580"version", represents a step in the project's history, and each parent 581represents an immediately preceding step. Commits with more than one 582parent represent merges of independent lines of development. 583 584All objects are named by the SHA1 hash of their contents, normally 585written as a string of 40 hex digits. Such names are globally unique. 586The entire history leading up to a commit can be vouched for by signing 587just that commit. A fourth object type, the tag, is provided for this 588purpose. 589 590When first created, objects are stored in individual files, but for 591efficiency may later be compressed together into "pack files". 592 593Named pointers called refs mark interesting points in history. A ref 594may contain the SHA1 name of an object or the name of another ref. Refs 595with names beginning `ref/head/` contain the SHA1 name of the most 596recent commit (or "head") of a branch under development. SHA1 names of 597tags of interest are stored under `ref/tags/`. A special ref named 598`HEAD` contains the name of the currently checked-out branch. 599 600The index file is initialized with a list of all paths and, for each 601path, a blob object and a set of attributes. The blob object represents 602the contents of the file as of the head of the current branch. The 603attributes (last modified time, size, etc.) are taken from the 604corresponding file in the working tree. Subsequent changes to the 605working tree can be found by comparing these attributes. The index may 606be updated with new content, and new commits may be created from the 607content stored in the index. 608 609The index is also capable of storing multiple entries (called "stages") 610for a given pathname. These stages are used to hold the various 611unmerged version of a file when a merge is in progress. 612 613Authors 614------- 615* git's founding father is Linus Torvalds <torvalds@osdl.org>. 616* The current git nurse is Junio C Hamano <gitster@pobox.com>. 617* The git potty was written by Andreas Ericsson <ae@op5.se>. 618* General upbringing is handled by the git-list <git@vger.kernel.org>. 619 620Documentation 621-------------- 622The documentation for git suite was started by David Greaves 623<david@dgreaves.com>, and later enhanced greatly by the 624contributors on the git-list <git@vger.kernel.org>. 625 626SEE ALSO 627-------- 628linkgit:gittutorial[7], linkgit:gittutorial-2[7], 629link:everyday.html[Everyday Git], linkgit:gitcvs-migration[7], 630linkgit:gitglossary[7], linkgit:gitcore-tutorial[7], 631linkgit:gitcli[7], link:user-manual.html[The Git User's Manual] 632 633GIT 634--- 635Part of the linkgit:git[1] suite