Documentation / git.txton commit merge-one-file: use empty blob for add/add base (1a92e53)
   1git(1)
   2======
   3
   4NAME
   5----
   6git - the stupid content tracker
   7
   8
   9SYNOPSIS
  10--------
  11[verse]
  12'git' [--version] [--help] [-C <path>] [-c <name>=<value>]
  13    [--exec-path[=<path>]] [--html-path] [--man-path] [--info-path]
  14    [-p|--paginate|--no-pager] [--no-replace-objects] [--bare]
  15    [--git-dir=<path>] [--work-tree=<path>] [--namespace=<name>]
  16    <command> [<args>]
  17
  18DESCRIPTION
  19-----------
  20Git is a fast, scalable, distributed revision control system with an
  21unusually rich command set that provides both high-level operations
  22and full access to internals.
  23
  24See linkgit:gittutorial[7] to get started, then see
  25linkgit:giteveryday[7] for a useful minimum set of
  26commands.  The link:user-manual.html[Git User's Manual] has a more
  27in-depth introduction.
  28
  29After you mastered the basic concepts, you can come back to this
  30page to learn what commands Git offers.  You can learn more about
  31individual Git commands with "git help command".  linkgit:gitcli[7]
  32manual page gives you an overview of the command-line command syntax.
  33
  34Formatted and hyperlinked version of the latest Git documentation
  35can be viewed at `http://git-htmldocs.googlecode.com/git/git.html`.
  36
  37ifdef::stalenotes[]
  38[NOTE]
  39============
  40
  41You are reading the documentation for the latest (possibly
  42unreleased) version of Git, that is available from the 'master'
  43branch of the `git.git` repository.
  44Documentation for older releases are available here:
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 420  link:RelNotes/1.5.3.2.txt[1.5.3.2],
 421  link:RelNotes/1.5.3.1.txt[1.5.3.1],
 422  link:RelNotes/1.5.3.txt[1.5.3].
 423
 424* link:v1.5.2.5/git.html[documentation for release 1.5.2.5]
 425
 426* release notes for
 427  link:RelNotes/1.5.2.5.txt[1.5.2.5],
 428  link:RelNotes/1.5.2.4.txt[1.5.2.4],
 429  link:RelNotes/1.5.2.3.txt[1.5.2.3],
 430  link:RelNotes/1.5.2.2.txt[1.5.2.2],
 431  link:RelNotes/1.5.2.1.txt[1.5.2.1],
 432  link:RelNotes/1.5.2.txt[1.5.2].
 433
 434* link:v1.5.1.6/git.html[documentation for release 1.5.1.6]
 435
 436* release notes for
 437  link:RelNotes/1.5.1.6.txt[1.5.1.6],
 438  link:RelNotes/1.5.1.5.txt[1.5.1.5],
 439  link:RelNotes/1.5.1.4.txt[1.5.1.4],
 440  link:RelNotes/1.5.1.3.txt[1.5.1.3],
 441  link:RelNotes/1.5.1.2.txt[1.5.1.2],
 442  link:RelNotes/1.5.1.1.txt[1.5.1.1],
 443  link:RelNotes/1.5.1.txt[1.5.1].
 444
 445* link:v1.5.0.7/git.html[documentation for release 1.5.0.7]
 446
 447* release notes for
 448  link:RelNotes/1.5.0.7.txt[1.5.0.7],
 449  link:RelNotes/1.5.0.6.txt[1.5.0.6],
 450  link:RelNotes/1.5.0.5.txt[1.5.0.5],
 451  link:RelNotes/1.5.0.3.txt[1.5.0.3],
 452  link:RelNotes/1.5.0.2.txt[1.5.0.2],
 453  link:RelNotes/1.5.0.1.txt[1.5.0.1],
 454  link:RelNotes/1.5.0.txt[1.5.0].
 455
 456* documentation for release link:v1.4.4.4/git.html[1.4.4.4],
 457  link:v1.3.3/git.html[1.3.3],
 458  link:v1.2.6/git.html[1.2.6],
 459  link:v1.0.13/git.html[1.0.13].
 460
 461============
 462
 463endif::stalenotes[]
 464
 465OPTIONS
 466-------
 467--version::
 468        Prints the Git suite version that the 'git' program came from.
 469
 470--help::
 471        Prints the synopsis and a list of the most commonly used
 472        commands. If the option '--all' or '-a' is given then all
 473        available commands are printed. If a Git command is named this
 474        option will bring up the manual page for that command.
 475+
 476Other options are available to control how the manual page is
 477displayed. See linkgit:git-help[1] for more information,
 478because `git --help ...` is converted internally into `git
 479help ...`.
 480
 481-C <path>::
 482        Run as if git was started in '<path>' instead of the current working
 483        directory.  When multiple `-C` options are given, each subsequent
 484        non-absolute `-C <path>` is interpreted relative to the preceding `-C
 485        <path>`.
 486+
 487This option affects options that expect path name like `--git-dir` and
 488`--work-tree` in that their interpretations of the path names would be
 489made relative to the working directory caused by the `-C` option. For
 490example the following invocations are equivalent:
 491
 492    git --git-dir=a.git --work-tree=b -C c status
 493    git --git-dir=c/a.git --work-tree=c/b status
 494
 495-c <name>=<value>::
 496        Pass a configuration parameter to the command. The value
 497        given will override values from configuration files.
 498        The <name> is expected in the same format as listed by
 499        'git config' (subkeys separated by dots).
 500+
 501Note that omitting the `=` in `git -c foo.bar ...` is allowed and sets
 502`foo.bar` to the boolean true value (just like `[foo]bar` would in a
 503config file). Including the equals but with an empty value (like `git -c
 504foo.bar= ...`) sets `foo.bar` to the empty string.
 505
 506--exec-path[=<path>]::
 507        Path to wherever your core Git programs are installed.
 508        This can also be controlled by setting the GIT_EXEC_PATH
 509        environment variable. If no path is given, 'git' will print
 510        the current setting and then exit.
 511
 512--html-path::
 513        Print the path, without trailing slash, where Git's HTML
 514        documentation is installed and exit.
 515
 516--man-path::
 517        Print the manpath (see `man(1)`) for the man pages for
 518        this version of Git and exit.
 519
 520--info-path::
 521        Print the path where the Info files documenting this
 522        version of Git are installed and exit.
 523
 524-p::
 525--paginate::
 526        Pipe all output into 'less' (or if set, $PAGER) if standard
 527        output is a terminal.  This overrides the `pager.<cmd>`
 528        configuration options (see the "Configuration Mechanism" section
 529        below).
 530
 531--no-pager::
 532        Do not pipe Git output into a pager.
 533
 534--git-dir=<path>::
 535        Set the path to the repository. This can also be controlled by
 536        setting the GIT_DIR environment variable. It can be an absolute
 537        path or relative path to current working directory.
 538
 539--work-tree=<path>::
 540        Set the path to the working tree. It can be an absolute path
 541        or a path relative to the current working directory.
 542        This can also be controlled by setting the GIT_WORK_TREE
 543        environment variable and the core.worktree configuration
 544        variable (see core.worktree in linkgit:git-config[1] for a
 545        more detailed discussion).
 546
 547--namespace=<path>::
 548        Set the Git namespace.  See linkgit:gitnamespaces[7] for more
 549        details.  Equivalent to setting the `GIT_NAMESPACE` environment
 550        variable.
 551
 552--bare::
 553        Treat the repository as a bare repository.  If GIT_DIR
 554        environment is not set, it is set to the current working
 555        directory.
 556
 557--no-replace-objects::
 558        Do not use replacement refs to replace Git objects. See
 559        linkgit:git-replace[1] for more information.
 560
 561--literal-pathspecs::
 562        Treat pathspecs literally (i.e. no globbing, no pathspec magic).
 563        This is equivalent to setting the `GIT_LITERAL_PATHSPECS` environment
 564        variable to `1`.
 565
 566--glob-pathspecs::
 567        Add "glob" magic to all pathspec. This is equivalent to setting
 568        the `GIT_GLOB_PATHSPECS` environment variable to `1`. Disabling
 569        globbing on individual pathspecs can be done using pathspec
 570        magic ":(literal)"
 571
 572--noglob-pathspecs::
 573        Add "literal" magic to all pathspec. This is equivalent to setting
 574        the `GIT_NOGLOB_PATHSPECS` environment variable to `1`. Enabling
 575        globbing on individual pathspecs can be done using pathspec
 576        magic ":(glob)"
 577
 578--icase-pathspecs::
 579        Add "icase" magic to all pathspec. This is equivalent to setting
 580        the `GIT_ICASE_PATHSPECS` environment variable to `1`.
 581
 582GIT COMMANDS
 583------------
 584
 585We divide Git into high level ("porcelain") commands and low level
 586("plumbing") commands.
 587
 588High-level commands (porcelain)
 589-------------------------------
 590
 591We separate the porcelain commands into the main commands and some
 592ancillary user utilities.
 593
 594Main porcelain commands
 595~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 596
 597include::cmds-mainporcelain.txt[]
 598
 599Ancillary Commands
 600~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 601Manipulators:
 602
 603include::cmds-ancillarymanipulators.txt[]
 604
 605Interrogators:
 606
 607include::cmds-ancillaryinterrogators.txt[]
 608
 609
 610Interacting with Others
 611~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 612
 613These commands are to interact with foreign SCM and with other
 614people via patch over e-mail.
 615
 616include::cmds-foreignscminterface.txt[]
 617
 618
 619Low-level commands (plumbing)
 620-----------------------------
 621
 622Although Git includes its
 623own porcelain layer, its low-level commands are sufficient to support
 624development of alternative porcelains.  Developers of such porcelains
 625might start by reading about linkgit:git-update-index[1] and
 626linkgit:git-read-tree[1].
 627
 628The interface (input, output, set of options and the semantics)
 629to these low-level commands are meant to be a lot more stable
 630than Porcelain level commands, because these commands are
 631primarily for scripted use.  The interface to Porcelain commands
 632on the other hand are subject to change in order to improve the
 633end user experience.
 634
 635The following description divides
 636the low-level commands into commands that manipulate objects (in
 637the repository, index, and working tree), commands that interrogate and
 638compare objects, and commands that move objects and references between
 639repositories.
 640
 641
 642Manipulation commands
 643~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 644
 645include::cmds-plumbingmanipulators.txt[]
 646
 647
 648Interrogation commands
 649~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 650
 651include::cmds-plumbinginterrogators.txt[]
 652
 653In general, the interrogate commands do not touch the files in
 654the working tree.
 655
 656
 657Synching repositories
 658~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 659
 660include::cmds-synchingrepositories.txt[]
 661
 662The following are helper commands used by the above; end users
 663typically do not use them directly.
 664
 665include::cmds-synchelpers.txt[]
 666
 667
 668Internal helper commands
 669~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 670
 671These are internal helper commands used by other commands; end
 672users typically do not use them directly.
 673
 674include::cmds-purehelpers.txt[]
 675
 676
 677Configuration Mechanism
 678-----------------------
 679
 680Git uses a simple text format to store customizations that are per
 681repository and are per user.  Such a configuration file may look
 682like this:
 683
 684------------
 685#
 686# A '#' or ';' character indicates a comment.
 687#
 688
 689; core variables
 690[core]
 691        ; Don't trust file modes
 692        filemode = false
 693
 694; user identity
 695[user]
 696        name = "Junio C Hamano"
 697        email = "gitster@pobox.com"
 698
 699------------
 700
 701Various commands read from the configuration file and adjust
 702their operation accordingly.  See linkgit:git-config[1] for a
 703list and more details about the configuration mechanism.
 704
 705
 706Identifier Terminology
 707----------------------
 708<object>::
 709        Indicates the object name for any type of object.
 710
 711<blob>::
 712        Indicates a blob object name.
 713
 714<tree>::
 715        Indicates a tree object name.
 716
 717<commit>::
 718        Indicates a commit object name.
 719
 720<tree-ish>::
 721        Indicates a tree, commit or tag object name.  A
 722        command that takes a <tree-ish> argument ultimately wants to
 723        operate on a <tree> object but automatically dereferences
 724        <commit> and <tag> objects that point at a <tree>.
 725
 726<commit-ish>::
 727        Indicates a commit or tag object name.  A
 728        command that takes a <commit-ish> argument ultimately wants to
 729        operate on a <commit> object but automatically dereferences
 730        <tag> objects that point at a <commit>.
 731
 732<type>::
 733        Indicates that an object type is required.
 734        Currently one of: `blob`, `tree`, `commit`, or `tag`.
 735
 736<file>::
 737        Indicates a filename - almost always relative to the
 738        root of the tree structure `GIT_INDEX_FILE` describes.
 739
 740Symbolic Identifiers
 741--------------------
 742Any Git command accepting any <object> can also use the following
 743symbolic notation:
 744
 745HEAD::
 746        indicates the head of the current branch.
 747
 748<tag>::
 749        a valid tag 'name'
 750        (i.e. a `refs/tags/<tag>` reference).
 751
 752<head>::
 753        a valid head 'name'
 754        (i.e. a `refs/heads/<head>` reference).
 755
 756For a more complete list of ways to spell object names, see
 757"SPECIFYING REVISIONS" section in linkgit:gitrevisions[7].
 758
 759
 760File/Directory Structure
 761------------------------
 762
 763Please see the linkgit:gitrepository-layout[5] document.
 764
 765Read linkgit:githooks[5] for more details about each hook.
 766
 767Higher level SCMs may provide and manage additional information in the
 768`$GIT_DIR`.
 769
 770
 771Terminology
 772-----------
 773Please see linkgit:gitglossary[7].
 774
 775
 776Environment Variables
 777---------------------
 778Various Git commands use the following environment variables:
 779
 780The Git Repository
 781~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 782These environment variables apply to 'all' core Git commands. Nb: it
 783is worth noting that they may be used/overridden by SCMS sitting above
 784Git so take care if using Cogito etc.
 785
 786'GIT_INDEX_FILE'::
 787        This environment allows the specification of an alternate
 788        index file. If not specified, the default of `$GIT_DIR/index`
 789        is used.
 790
 791'GIT_INDEX_VERSION'::
 792        This environment variable allows the specification of an index
 793        version for new repositories.  It won't affect existing index
 794        files.  By default index file version 2 or 3 is used. See
 795        linkgit:git-update-index[1] for more information.
 796
 797'GIT_OBJECT_DIRECTORY'::
 798        If the object storage directory is specified via this
 799        environment variable then the sha1 directories are created
 800        underneath - otherwise the default `$GIT_DIR/objects`
 801        directory is used.
 802
 803'GIT_ALTERNATE_OBJECT_DIRECTORIES'::
 804        Due to the immutable nature of Git objects, old objects can be
 805        archived into shared, read-only directories. This variable
 806        specifies a ":" separated (on Windows ";" separated) list
 807        of Git object directories which can be used to search for Git
 808        objects. New objects will not be written to these directories.
 809
 810'GIT_DIR'::
 811        If the 'GIT_DIR' environment variable is set then it
 812        specifies a path to use instead of the default `.git`
 813        for the base of the repository.
 814        The '--git-dir' command-line option also sets this value.
 815
 816'GIT_WORK_TREE'::
 817        Set the path to the root of the working tree.
 818        This can also be controlled by the '--work-tree' command-line
 819        option and the core.worktree configuration variable.
 820
 821'GIT_NAMESPACE'::
 822        Set the Git namespace; see linkgit:gitnamespaces[7] for details.
 823        The '--namespace' command-line option also sets this value.
 824
 825'GIT_CEILING_DIRECTORIES'::
 826        This should be a colon-separated list of absolute paths.  If
 827        set, it is a list of directories that Git should not chdir up
 828        into while looking for a repository directory (useful for
 829        excluding slow-loading network directories).  It will not
 830        exclude the current working directory or a GIT_DIR set on the
 831        command line or in the environment.  Normally, Git has to read
 832        the entries in this list and resolve any symlink that
 833        might be present in order to compare them with the current
 834        directory.  However, if even this access is slow, you
 835        can add an empty entry to the list to tell Git that the
 836        subsequent entries are not symlinks and needn't be resolved;
 837        e.g.,
 838        'GIT_CEILING_DIRECTORIES=/maybe/symlink::/very/slow/non/symlink'.
 839
 840'GIT_DISCOVERY_ACROSS_FILESYSTEM'::
 841        When run in a directory that does not have ".git" repository
 842        directory, Git tries to find such a directory in the parent
 843        directories to find the top of the working tree, but by default it
 844        does not cross filesystem boundaries.  This environment variable
 845        can be set to true to tell Git not to stop at filesystem
 846        boundaries.  Like 'GIT_CEILING_DIRECTORIES', this will not affect
 847        an explicit repository directory set via 'GIT_DIR' or on the
 848        command line.
 849
 850Git Commits
 851~~~~~~~~~~~
 852'GIT_AUTHOR_NAME'::
 853'GIT_AUTHOR_EMAIL'::
 854'GIT_AUTHOR_DATE'::
 855'GIT_COMMITTER_NAME'::
 856'GIT_COMMITTER_EMAIL'::
 857'GIT_COMMITTER_DATE'::
 858'EMAIL'::
 859        see linkgit:git-commit-tree[1]
 860
 861Git Diffs
 862~~~~~~~~~
 863'GIT_DIFF_OPTS'::
 864        Only valid setting is "--unified=??" or "-u??" to set the
 865        number of context lines shown when a unified diff is created.
 866        This takes precedence over any "-U" or "--unified" option
 867        value passed on the Git diff command line.
 868
 869'GIT_EXTERNAL_DIFF'::
 870        When the environment variable 'GIT_EXTERNAL_DIFF' is set, the
 871        program named by it is called, instead of the diff invocation
 872        described above.  For a path that is added, removed, or modified,
 873        'GIT_EXTERNAL_DIFF' is called with 7 parameters:
 874
 875        path old-file old-hex old-mode new-file new-hex new-mode
 876+
 877where:
 878
 879        <old|new>-file:: are files GIT_EXTERNAL_DIFF can use to read the
 880                         contents of <old|new>,
 881        <old|new>-hex:: are the 40-hexdigit SHA-1 hashes,
 882        <old|new>-mode:: are the octal representation of the file modes.
 883+
 884The file parameters can point at the user's working file
 885(e.g. `new-file` in "git-diff-files"), `/dev/null` (e.g. `old-file`
 886when a new file is added), or a temporary file (e.g. `old-file` in the
 887index).  'GIT_EXTERNAL_DIFF' should not worry about unlinking the
 888temporary file --- it is removed when 'GIT_EXTERNAL_DIFF' exits.
 889+
 890For a path that is unmerged, 'GIT_EXTERNAL_DIFF' is called with 1
 891parameter, <path>.
 892+
 893For each path 'GIT_EXTERNAL_DIFF' is called, two environment variables,
 894'GIT_DIFF_PATH_COUNTER' and 'GIT_DIFF_PATH_TOTAL' are set.
 895
 896'GIT_DIFF_PATH_COUNTER'::
 897        A 1-based counter incremented by one for every path.
 898
 899'GIT_DIFF_PATH_TOTAL'::
 900        The total number of paths.
 901
 902other
 903~~~~~
 904'GIT_MERGE_VERBOSITY'::
 905        A number controlling the amount of output shown by
 906        the recursive merge strategy.  Overrides merge.verbosity.
 907        See linkgit:git-merge[1]
 908
 909'GIT_PAGER'::
 910        This environment variable overrides `$PAGER`. If it is set
 911        to an empty string or to the value "cat", Git will not launch
 912        a pager.  See also the `core.pager` option in
 913        linkgit:git-config[1].
 914
 915'GIT_EDITOR'::
 916        This environment variable overrides `$EDITOR` and `$VISUAL`.
 917        It is used by several Git commands when, on interactive mode,
 918        an editor is to be launched. See also linkgit:git-var[1]
 919        and the `core.editor` option in linkgit:git-config[1].
 920
 921'GIT_SSH'::
 922'GIT_SSH_COMMAND'::
 923        If either of these environment variables is set then 'git fetch'
 924        and 'git push' will use the specified command instead of 'ssh'
 925        when they need to connect to a remote system.
 926        The command will be given exactly two or four arguments: the
 927        'username@host' (or just 'host') from the URL and the shell
 928        command to execute on that remote system, optionally preceded by
 929        '-p' (literally) and the 'port' from the URL when it specifies
 930        something other than the default SSH port.
 931+
 932`$GIT_SSH_COMMAND` takes precedence over `$GIT_SSH`, and is interpreted
 933by the shell, which allows additional arguments to be included.
 934`$GIT_SSH` on the other hand must be just the path to a program
 935(which can be a wrapper shell script, if additional arguments are
 936needed).
 937+
 938Usually it is easier to configure any desired options through your
 939personal `.ssh/config` file.  Please consult your ssh documentation
 940for further details.
 941
 942'GIT_ASKPASS'::
 943        If this environment variable is set, then Git commands which need to
 944        acquire passwords or passphrases (e.g. for HTTP or IMAP authentication)
 945        will call this program with a suitable prompt as command-line argument
 946        and read the password from its STDOUT. See also the 'core.askPass'
 947        option in linkgit:git-config[1].
 948
 949'GIT_TERMINAL_PROMPT'::
 950        If this environment variable is set to `0`, git will not prompt
 951        on the terminal (e.g., when asking for HTTP authentication).
 952
 953'GIT_CONFIG_NOSYSTEM'::
 954        Whether to skip reading settings from the system-wide
 955        `$(prefix)/etc/gitconfig` file.  This environment variable can
 956        be used along with `$HOME` and `$XDG_CONFIG_HOME` to create a
 957        predictable environment for a picky script, or you can set it
 958        temporarily to avoid using a buggy `/etc/gitconfig` file while
 959        waiting for someone with sufficient permissions to fix it.
 960
 961'GIT_FLUSH'::
 962        If this environment variable is set to "1", then commands such
 963        as 'git blame' (in incremental mode), 'git rev-list', 'git log',
 964        'git check-attr' and 'git check-ignore' will
 965        force a flush of the output stream after each record have been
 966        flushed. If this
 967        variable is set to "0", the output of these commands will be done
 968        using completely buffered I/O.   If this environment variable is
 969        not set, Git will choose buffered or record-oriented flushing
 970        based on whether stdout appears to be redirected to a file or not.
 971
 972'GIT_TRACE'::
 973        Enables general trace messages, e.g. alias expansion, built-in
 974        command execution and external command execution.
 975+
 976If this variable is set to "1", "2" or "true" (comparison
 977is case insensitive), trace messages will be printed to
 978stderr.
 979+
 980If the variable is set to an integer value greater than 2
 981and lower than 10 (strictly) then Git will interpret this
 982value as an open file descriptor and will try to write the
 983trace messages into this file descriptor.
 984+
 985Alternatively, if the variable is set to an absolute path
 986(starting with a '/' character), Git will interpret this
 987as a file path and will try to write the trace messages
 988into it.
 989+
 990Unsetting the variable, or setting it to empty, "0" or
 991"false" (case insensitive) disables trace messages.
 992
 993'GIT_TRACE_PACK_ACCESS'::
 994        Enables trace messages for all accesses to any packs. For each
 995        access, the pack file name and an offset in the pack is
 996        recorded. This may be helpful for troubleshooting some
 997        pack-related performance problems.
 998        See 'GIT_TRACE' for available trace output options.
 999
1000'GIT_TRACE_PACKET'::
1001        Enables trace messages for all packets coming in or out of a
1002        given program. This can help with debugging object negotiation
1003        or other protocol issues. Tracing is turned off at a packet
1004        starting with "PACK".
1005        See 'GIT_TRACE' for available trace output options.
1006
1007'GIT_TRACE_PERFORMANCE'::
1008        Enables performance related trace messages, e.g. total execution
1009        time of each Git command.
1010        See 'GIT_TRACE' for available trace output options.
1011
1012'GIT_TRACE_SETUP'::
1013        Enables trace messages printing the .git, working tree and current
1014        working directory after Git has completed its setup phase.
1015        See 'GIT_TRACE' for available trace output options.
1016
1017'GIT_TRACE_SHALLOW'::
1018        Enables trace messages that can help debugging fetching /
1019        cloning of shallow repositories.
1020        See 'GIT_TRACE' for available trace output options.
1021
1022GIT_LITERAL_PATHSPECS::
1023        Setting this variable to `1` will cause Git to treat all
1024        pathspecs literally, rather than as glob patterns. For example,
1025        running `GIT_LITERAL_PATHSPECS=1 git log -- '*.c'` will search
1026        for commits that touch the path `*.c`, not any paths that the
1027        glob `*.c` matches. You might want this if you are feeding
1028        literal paths to Git (e.g., paths previously given to you by
1029        `git ls-tree`, `--raw` diff output, etc).
1030
1031GIT_GLOB_PATHSPECS::
1032        Setting this variable to `1` will cause Git to treat all
1033        pathspecs as glob patterns (aka "glob" magic).
1034
1035GIT_NOGLOB_PATHSPECS::
1036        Setting this variable to `1` will cause Git to treat all
1037        pathspecs as literal (aka "literal" magic).
1038
1039GIT_ICASE_PATHSPECS::
1040        Setting this variable to `1` will cause Git to treat all
1041        pathspecs as case-insensitive.
1042
1043'GIT_REFLOG_ACTION'::
1044        When a ref is updated, reflog entries are created to keep
1045        track of the reason why the ref was updated (which is
1046        typically the name of the high-level command that updated
1047        the ref), in addition to the old and new values of the ref.
1048        A scripted Porcelain command can use set_reflog_action
1049        helper function in `git-sh-setup` to set its name to this
1050        variable when it is invoked as the top level command by the
1051        end user, to be recorded in the body of the reflog.
1052
1053`GIT_REF_PARANOIA`::
1054        If set to `1`, include broken or badly named refs when iterating
1055        over lists of refs. In a normal, non-corrupted repository, this
1056        does nothing. However, enabling it may help git to detect and
1057        abort some operations in the presence of broken refs. Git sets
1058        this variable automatically when performing destructive
1059        operations like linkgit:git-prune[1]. You should not need to set
1060        it yourself unless you want to be paranoid about making sure
1061        an operation has touched every ref (e.g., because you are
1062        cloning a repository to make a backup).
1063
1064`GIT_ALLOW_PROTOCOL`::
1065        If set, provide a colon-separated list of protocols which are
1066        allowed to be used with fetch/push/clone. This is useful to
1067        restrict recursive submodule initialization from an untrusted
1068        repository. Any protocol not mentioned will be disallowed (i.e.,
1069        this is a whitelist, not a blacklist). If the variable is not
1070        set at all, all protocols are enabled.  The protocol names
1071        currently used by git are:
1072
1073          - `file`: any local file-based path (including `file://` URLs,
1074            or local paths)
1075
1076          - `git`: the anonymous git protocol over a direct TCP
1077            connection (or proxy, if configured)
1078
1079          - `ssh`: git over ssh (including `host:path` syntax,
1080            `git+ssh://`, etc).
1081
1082          - `rsync`: git over rsync
1083
1084          - `http`: git over http, both "smart http" and "dumb http".
1085            Note that this does _not_ include `https`; if you want both,
1086            you should specify both as `http:https`.
1087
1088          - any external helpers are named by their protocol (e.g., use
1089            `hg` to allow the `git-remote-hg` helper)
1090
1091
1092Discussion[[Discussion]]
1093------------------------
1094
1095More detail on the following is available from the
1096link:user-manual.html#git-concepts[Git concepts chapter of the
1097user-manual] and linkgit:gitcore-tutorial[7].
1098
1099A Git project normally consists of a working directory with a ".git"
1100subdirectory at the top level.  The .git directory contains, among other
1101things, a compressed object database representing the complete history
1102of the project, an "index" file which links that history to the current
1103contents of the working tree, and named pointers into that history such
1104as tags and branch heads.
1105
1106The object database contains objects of three main types: blobs, which
1107hold file data; trees, which point to blobs and other trees to build up
1108directory hierarchies; and commits, which each reference a single tree
1109and some number of parent commits.
1110
1111The commit, equivalent to what other systems call a "changeset" or
1112"version", represents a step in the project's history, and each parent
1113represents an immediately preceding step.  Commits with more than one
1114parent represent merges of independent lines of development.
1115
1116All objects are named by the SHA-1 hash of their contents, normally
1117written as a string of 40 hex digits.  Such names are globally unique.
1118The entire history leading up to a commit can be vouched for by signing
1119just that commit.  A fourth object type, the tag, is provided for this
1120purpose.
1121
1122When first created, objects are stored in individual files, but for
1123efficiency may later be compressed together into "pack files".
1124
1125Named pointers called refs mark interesting points in history.  A ref
1126may contain the SHA-1 name of an object or the name of another ref.  Refs
1127with names beginning `ref/head/` contain the SHA-1 name of the most
1128recent commit (or "head") of a branch under development.  SHA-1 names of
1129tags of interest are stored under `ref/tags/`.  A special ref named
1130`HEAD` contains the name of the currently checked-out branch.
1131
1132The index file is initialized with a list of all paths and, for each
1133path, a blob object and a set of attributes.  The blob object represents
1134the contents of the file as of the head of the current branch.  The
1135attributes (last modified time, size, etc.) are taken from the
1136corresponding file in the working tree.  Subsequent changes to the
1137working tree can be found by comparing these attributes.  The index may
1138be updated with new content, and new commits may be created from the
1139content stored in the index.
1140
1141The index is also capable of storing multiple entries (called "stages")
1142for a given pathname.  These stages are used to hold the various
1143unmerged version of a file when a merge is in progress.
1144
1145FURTHER DOCUMENTATION
1146---------------------
1147
1148See the references in the "description" section to get started
1149using Git.  The following is probably more detail than necessary
1150for a first-time user.
1151
1152The link:user-manual.html#git-concepts[Git concepts chapter of the
1153user-manual] and linkgit:gitcore-tutorial[7] both provide
1154introductions to the underlying Git architecture.
1155
1156See linkgit:gitworkflows[7] for an overview of recommended workflows.
1157
1158See also the link:howto-index.html[howto] documents for some useful
1159examples.
1160
1161The internals are documented in the
1162link:technical/api-index.html[Git API documentation].
1163
1164Users migrating from CVS may also want to
1165read linkgit:gitcvs-migration[7].
1166
1167
1168Authors
1169-------
1170Git was started by Linus Torvalds, and is currently maintained by Junio
1171C Hamano. Numerous contributions have come from the Git mailing list
1172<git@vger.kernel.org>.  http://www.openhub.net/p/git/contributors/summary
1173gives you a more complete list of contributors.
1174
1175If you have a clone of git.git itself, the
1176output of linkgit:git-shortlog[1] and linkgit:git-blame[1] can show you
1177the authors for specific parts of the project.
1178
1179Reporting Bugs
1180--------------
1181
1182Report bugs to the Git mailing list <git@vger.kernel.org> where the
1183development and maintenance is primarily done.  You do not have to be
1184subscribed to the list to send a message there.
1185
1186SEE ALSO
1187--------
1188linkgit:gittutorial[7], linkgit:gittutorial-2[7],
1189linkgit:giteveryday[7], linkgit:gitcvs-migration[7],
1190linkgit:gitglossary[7], linkgit:gitcore-tutorial[7],
1191linkgit:gitcli[7], link:user-manual.html[The Git User's Manual],
1192linkgit:gitworkflows[7]
1193
1194GIT
1195---
1196Part of the linkgit:git[1] suite