Documentation / git.txton commit Documentation: add missing second colons and remove a typo (23bed43)
   1git(7)
   2======
   3
   4NAME
   5----
   6git - the stupid content tracker
   7
   8
   9SYNOPSIS
  10--------
  11[verse]
  12'git' [--version] [--exec-path[=GIT_EXEC_PATH]] [-p|--paginate]
  13    [--bare] [--git-dir=GIT_DIR] [--help] COMMAND [ARGS]
  14
  15DESCRIPTION
  16-----------
  17Git is a fast, scalable, distributed revision control system with an
  18unusually rich command set that provides both high-level operations
  19and full access to internals.
  20
  21See this link:tutorial.html[tutorial] to get started, then see
  22link:everyday.html[Everyday Git] for a useful minimum set of commands, and
  23"man git-commandname" for documentation of each command.  CVS users may
  24also want to read link:cvs-migration.html[CVS migration].
  25
  26The COMMAND is either a name of a Git command (see below) or an alias
  27as defined in the configuration file (see gitlink:git-repo-config[1]).
  28
  29OPTIONS
  30-------
  31--version::
  32        Prints the git suite version that the 'git' program came from.
  33
  34--help::
  35        Prints the synopsis and a list of the most commonly used
  36        commands.  If a git command is named this option will bring up
  37        the man-page for that command. If the option '--all' or '-a' is
  38        given then all available commands are printed.
  39
  40--exec-path::
  41        Path to wherever your core git programs are installed.
  42        This can also be controlled by setting the GIT_EXEC_PATH
  43        environment variable. If no path is given 'git' will print
  44        the current setting and then exit.
  45
  46-p|--paginate::
  47        Pipe all output into 'less' (or if set, $PAGER).
  48
  49--git-dir=<path>::
  50        Set the path to the repository. This can also be controlled by
  51        setting the GIT_DIR environment variable.
  52
  53--bare::
  54        Same as --git-dir=`pwd`.
  55
  56FURTHER DOCUMENTATION
  57---------------------
  58
  59See the references above to get started using git.  The following is
  60probably more detail than necessary for a first-time user.
  61
  62The <<Discussion,Discussion>> section below and the
  63link:core-tutorial.html[Core tutorial] both provide introductions to the
  64underlying git architecture.
  65
  66See also the link:howto-index.html[howto] documents for some useful
  67examples.
  68
  69GIT COMMANDS
  70------------
  71
  72We divide git into high level ("porcelain") commands and low level
  73("plumbing") commands.
  74
  75Low-level commands (plumbing)
  76-----------------------------
  77
  78Although git includes its
  79own porcelain layer, its low-level commands are sufficient to support
  80development of alternative porcelains.  Developers of such porcelains
  81might start by reading about gitlink:git-update-index[1] and
  82gitlink:git-read-tree[1].
  83
  84We divide the low-level commands into commands that manipulate objects (in
  85the repository, index, and working tree), commands that interrogate and
  86compare objects, and commands that move objects and references between
  87repositories.
  88
  89Manipulation commands
  90~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
  91gitlink:git-apply[1]::
  92        Reads a "diff -up1" or git generated patch file and
  93        applies it to the working tree.
  94
  95gitlink:git-checkout-index[1]::
  96        Copy files from the index to the working tree.
  97
  98gitlink:git-commit-tree[1]::
  99        Creates a new commit object.
 100
 101gitlink:git-hash-object[1]::
 102        Computes the object ID from a file.
 103
 104gitlink:git-index-pack[1]::
 105        Build pack idx file for an existing packed archive.
 106
 107gitlink:git-init-db[1]::
 108        Creates an empty git object database, or reinitialize an
 109        existing one.
 110
 111gitlink:git-merge-index[1]::
 112        Runs a merge for files needing merging.
 113
 114gitlink:git-mktag[1]::
 115        Creates a tag object.
 116
 117gitlink:git-mktree[1]::
 118        Build a tree-object from ls-tree formatted text.
 119
 120gitlink:git-pack-objects[1]::
 121        Creates a packed archive of objects.
 122
 123gitlink:git-prune-packed[1]::
 124        Remove extra objects that are already in pack files.
 125
 126gitlink:git-read-tree[1]::
 127        Reads tree information into the index.
 128
 129gitlink:git-repo-config[1]::
 130        Get and set options in .git/config.
 131
 132gitlink:git-unpack-objects[1]::
 133        Unpacks objects out of a packed archive.
 134
 135gitlink:git-update-index[1]::
 136        Registers files in the working tree to the index.
 137
 138gitlink:git-write-tree[1]::
 139        Creates a tree from the index.
 140
 141
 142Interrogation commands
 143~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 144
 145gitlink:git-cat-file[1]::
 146        Provide content or type/size information for repository objects.
 147
 148gitlink:git-describe[1]::
 149        Show the most recent tag that is reachable from a commit.
 150
 151gitlink:git-diff-index[1]::
 152        Compares content and mode of blobs between the index and repository.
 153
 154gitlink:git-diff-files[1]::
 155        Compares files in the working tree and the index.
 156
 157gitlink:git-diff-stages[1]::
 158        Compares two "merge stages" in the index.
 159
 160gitlink:git-diff-tree[1]::
 161        Compares the content and mode of blobs found via two tree objects.
 162
 163gitlink:git-fsck-objects[1]::
 164        Verifies the connectivity and validity of the objects in the database.
 165
 166gitlink:git-ls-files[1]::
 167        Information about files in the index and the working tree.
 168
 169gitlink:git-ls-tree[1]::
 170        Displays a tree object in human readable form.
 171
 172gitlink:git-merge-base[1]::
 173        Finds as good common ancestors as possible for a merge.
 174
 175gitlink:git-name-rev[1]::
 176        Find symbolic names for given revs.
 177
 178gitlink:git-pack-redundant[1]::
 179        Find redundant pack files.
 180
 181gitlink:git-rev-list[1]::
 182        Lists commit objects in reverse chronological order.
 183
 184gitlink:git-show-index[1]::
 185        Displays contents of a pack idx file.
 186
 187gitlink:git-tar-tree[1]::
 188        Creates a tar archive of the files in the named tree object.
 189
 190gitlink:git-unpack-file[1]::
 191        Creates a temporary file with a blob's contents.
 192
 193gitlink:git-var[1]::
 194        Displays a git logical variable.
 195
 196gitlink:git-verify-pack[1]::
 197        Validates packed git archive files.
 198
 199In general, the interrogate commands do not touch the files in
 200the working tree.
 201
 202
 203Synching repositories
 204~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 205
 206gitlink:git-fetch-pack[1]::
 207        Updates from a remote repository (engine for ssh and
 208        local transport).
 209
 210gitlink:git-http-fetch[1]::
 211        Downloads a remote git repository via HTTP by walking
 212        commit chain.
 213
 214gitlink:git-local-fetch[1]::
 215        Duplicates another git repository on a local system by
 216        walking commit chain.
 217
 218gitlink:git-peek-remote[1]::
 219        Lists references on a remote repository using
 220        upload-pack protocol (engine for ssh and local
 221        transport).
 222
 223gitlink:git-receive-pack[1]::
 224        Invoked by 'git-send-pack' to receive what is pushed to it.
 225
 226gitlink:git-send-pack[1]::
 227        Pushes to a remote repository, intelligently.
 228
 229gitlink:git-http-push[1]::
 230        Push missing objects using HTTP/DAV.
 231
 232gitlink:git-shell[1]::
 233        Restricted shell for GIT-only SSH access.
 234
 235gitlink:git-ssh-fetch[1]::
 236        Pulls from a remote repository over ssh connection by
 237        walking commit chain.
 238
 239gitlink:git-ssh-upload[1]::
 240        Helper "server-side" program used by git-ssh-fetch.
 241
 242gitlink:git-update-server-info[1]::
 243        Updates auxiliary information on a dumb server to help
 244        clients discover references and packs on it.
 245
 246gitlink:git-upload-archive[1]::
 247        Invoked by 'git-archive' to send a generated archive.
 248
 249gitlink:git-upload-pack[1]::
 250        Invoked by 'git-fetch-pack' to push
 251        what are asked for.
 252
 253
 254High-level commands (porcelain)
 255-------------------------------
 256
 257We separate the porcelain commands into the main commands and some
 258ancillary user utilities.
 259
 260Main porcelain commands
 261~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 262
 263gitlink:git-add[1]::
 264        Add paths to the index.
 265
 266gitlink:git-am[1]::
 267        Apply patches from a mailbox, but cooler.
 268
 269gitlink:git-applymbox[1]::
 270        Apply patches from a mailbox, original version by Linus.
 271
 272gitlink:git-archive[1]::
 273        Creates an archive of files from a named tree.
 274
 275gitlink:git-bisect[1]::
 276        Find the change that introduced a bug by binary search.
 277
 278gitlink:git-branch[1]::
 279        Create and Show branches.
 280
 281gitlink:git-checkout[1]::
 282        Checkout and switch to a branch.
 283
 284gitlink:git-cherry-pick[1]::
 285        Cherry-pick the effect of an existing commit.
 286
 287gitlink:git-clean[1]::
 288        Remove untracked files from the working tree.
 289
 290gitlink:git-clone[1]::
 291        Clones a repository into a new directory.
 292
 293gitlink:git-commit[1]::
 294        Record changes to the repository.
 295
 296gitlink:git-diff[1]::
 297        Show changes between commits, commit and working tree, etc.
 298
 299gitlink:git-fetch[1]::
 300        Download from a remote repository via various protocols.
 301
 302gitlink:git-format-patch[1]::
 303        Prepare patches for e-mail submission.
 304
 305gitlink:git-grep[1]::
 306        Print lines matching a pattern.
 307
 308gitlink:gitk[1]::
 309        The git repository browser.
 310
 311gitlink:git-log[1]::
 312        Shows commit logs.
 313
 314gitlink:git-ls-remote[1]::
 315        Shows references in a remote or local repository.
 316
 317gitlink:git-merge[1]::
 318        Grand unified merge driver.
 319
 320gitlink:git-mv[1]::
 321        Move or rename a file, a directory, or a symlink.
 322
 323gitlink:git-pull[1]::
 324        Fetch from and merge with a remote repository.
 325
 326gitlink:git-push[1]::
 327        Update remote refs along with associated objects.
 328
 329gitlink:git-rebase[1]::
 330        Rebase local commits to the updated upstream head.
 331
 332gitlink:git-repack[1]::
 333        Pack unpacked objects in a repository.
 334
 335gitlink:git-rerere[1]::
 336        Reuse recorded resolution of conflicted merges.
 337
 338gitlink:git-reset[1]::
 339        Reset current HEAD to the specified state.
 340
 341gitlink:git-resolve[1]::
 342        Merge two commits.
 343
 344gitlink:git-revert[1]::
 345        Revert an existing commit.
 346
 347gitlink:git-rm[1]::
 348        Remove files from the working tree and from the index.
 349
 350gitlink:git-shortlog[1]::
 351        Summarizes 'git log' output.
 352
 353gitlink:git-show[1]::
 354        Show one commit log and its diff.
 355
 356gitlink:git-show-branch[1]::
 357        Show branches and their commits.
 358
 359gitlink:git-status[1]::
 360        Shows the working tree status.
 361
 362gitlink:git-verify-tag[1]::
 363        Check the GPG signature of tag.
 364
 365gitlink:git-whatchanged[1]::
 366        Shows commit logs and differences they introduce.
 367
 368
 369Ancillary Commands
 370~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 371Manipulators:
 372
 373gitlink:git-applypatch[1]::
 374        Apply one patch extracted from an e-mail.
 375
 376gitlink:git-archimport[1]::
 377        Import an arch repository into git.
 378
 379gitlink:git-convert-objects[1]::
 380        Converts old-style git repository.
 381
 382gitlink:git-cvsimport[1]::
 383        Salvage your data out of another SCM people love to hate.
 384
 385gitlink:git-cvsexportcommit[1]::
 386        Export a single commit to a CVS checkout.
 387
 388gitlink:git-cvsserver[1]::
 389        A CVS server emulator for git.
 390
 391gitlink:git-lost-found[1]::
 392        Recover lost refs that luckily have not yet been pruned.
 393
 394gitlink:git-merge-one-file[1]::
 395        The standard helper program to use with `git-merge-index`.
 396
 397gitlink:git-prune[1]::
 398        Prunes all unreachable objects from the object database.
 399
 400gitlink:git-quiltimport[1]::
 401        Applies a quilt patchset onto the current branch.
 402
 403gitlink:git-relink[1]::
 404        Hardlink common objects in local repositories.
 405
 406gitlink:git-svn[1]::
 407        Bidirectional operation between a single Subversion branch and git.
 408
 409gitlink:git-svnimport[1]::
 410        Import a SVN repository into git.
 411
 412gitlink:git-sh-setup[1]::
 413        Common git shell script setup code.
 414
 415gitlink:git-symbolic-ref[1]::
 416        Read and modify symbolic refs.
 417
 418gitlink:git-tag[1]::
 419        An example script to create a tag object signed with GPG.
 420
 421gitlink:git-update-ref[1]::
 422        Update the object name stored in a ref safely.
 423
 424
 425Interrogators:
 426
 427gitlink:git-annotate[1]::
 428        Annotate file lines with commit info.
 429
 430gitlink:git-blame[1]::
 431        Blame file lines on commits.
 432
 433gitlink:git-check-ref-format[1]::
 434        Make sure ref name is well formed.
 435
 436gitlink:git-cherry[1]::
 437        Find commits not merged upstream.
 438
 439gitlink:git-count-objects[1]::
 440        Count unpacked number of objects and their disk consumption.
 441
 442gitlink:git-daemon[1]::
 443        A really simple server for git repositories.
 444
 445gitlink:git-fmt-merge-msg[1]::
 446        Produce a merge commit message.
 447
 448gitlink:git-get-tar-commit-id[1]::
 449        Extract commit ID from an archive created using git-tar-tree.
 450
 451gitlink:git-imap-send[1]::
 452        Dump a mailbox from stdin into an imap folder.
 453
 454gitlink:git-instaweb[1]::
 455        Instantly browse your working repository in gitweb.
 456
 457gitlink:git-mailinfo[1]::
 458        Extracts patch and authorship information from a single
 459        e-mail message, optionally transliterating the commit
 460        message into utf-8.
 461
 462gitlink:git-mailsplit[1]::
 463        A stupid program to split UNIX mbox format mailbox into
 464        individual pieces of e-mail.
 465
 466gitlink:git-merge-tree[1]::
 467        Show three-way merge without touching index.
 468
 469gitlink:git-patch-id[1]::
 470        Compute unique ID for a patch.
 471
 472gitlink:git-parse-remote[1]::
 473        Routines to help parsing `$GIT_DIR/remotes/` files.
 474
 475gitlink:git-request-pull[1]::
 476        git-request-pull.
 477
 478gitlink:git-rev-parse[1]::
 479        Pick out and massage parameters.
 480
 481gitlink:git-send-email[1]::
 482        Send patch e-mails out of "format-patch --mbox" output.
 483
 484gitlink:git-symbolic-ref[1]::
 485        Read and modify symbolic refs.
 486
 487gitlink:git-stripspace[1]::
 488        Filter out empty lines.
 489
 490
 491Configuration Mechanism
 492-----------------------
 493
 494Starting from 0.99.9 (actually mid 0.99.8.GIT), `.git/config` file
 495is used to hold per-repository configuration options.  It is a
 496simple text file modeled after `.ini` format familiar to some
 497people.  Here is an example:
 498
 499------------
 500#
 501# A '#' or ';' character indicates a comment.
 502#
 503
 504; core variables
 505[core]
 506        ; Don't trust file modes
 507        filemode = false
 508
 509; user identity
 510[user]
 511        name = "Junio C Hamano"
 512        email = "junkio@twinsun.com"
 513
 514------------
 515
 516Various commands read from the configuration file and adjust
 517their operation accordingly.
 518
 519
 520Identifier Terminology
 521----------------------
 522<object>::
 523        Indicates the object name for any type of object.
 524
 525<blob>::
 526        Indicates a blob object name.
 527
 528<tree>::
 529        Indicates a tree object name.
 530
 531<commit>::
 532        Indicates a commit object name.
 533
 534<tree-ish>::
 535        Indicates a tree, commit or tag object name.  A
 536        command that takes a <tree-ish> argument ultimately wants to
 537        operate on a <tree> object but automatically dereferences
 538        <commit> and <tag> objects that point at a <tree>.
 539
 540<type>::
 541        Indicates that an object type is required.
 542        Currently one of: `blob`, `tree`, `commit`, or `tag`.
 543
 544<file>::
 545        Indicates a filename - almost always relative to the
 546        root of the tree structure `GIT_INDEX_FILE` describes.
 547
 548Symbolic Identifiers
 549--------------------
 550Any git command accepting any <object> can also use the following
 551symbolic notation:
 552
 553HEAD::
 554        indicates the head of the current branch (i.e. the
 555        contents of `$GIT_DIR/HEAD`).
 556
 557<tag>::
 558        a valid tag 'name'
 559        (i.e. the contents of `$GIT_DIR/refs/tags/<tag>`).
 560
 561<head>::
 562        a valid head 'name'
 563        (i.e. the contents of `$GIT_DIR/refs/heads/<head>`).
 564
 565
 566File/Directory Structure
 567------------------------
 568
 569Please see link:repository-layout.html[repository layout] document.
 570
 571Read link:hooks.html[hooks] for more details about each hook.
 572
 573Higher level SCMs may provide and manage additional information in the
 574`$GIT_DIR`.
 575
 576
 577Terminology
 578-----------
 579Please see link:glossary.html[glossary] document.
 580
 581
 582Environment Variables
 583---------------------
 584Various git commands use the following environment variables:
 585
 586The git Repository
 587~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 588These environment variables apply to 'all' core git commands. Nb: it
 589is worth noting that they may be used/overridden by SCMS sitting above
 590git so take care if using Cogito etc.
 591
 592'GIT_INDEX_FILE'::
 593        This environment allows the specification of an alternate
 594        index file. If not specified, the default of `$GIT_DIR/index`
 595        is used.
 596
 597'GIT_OBJECT_DIRECTORY'::
 598        If the object storage directory is specified via this
 599        environment variable then the sha1 directories are created
 600        underneath - otherwise the default `$GIT_DIR/objects`
 601        directory is used.
 602
 603'GIT_ALTERNATE_OBJECT_DIRECTORIES'::
 604        Due to the immutable nature of git objects, old objects can be
 605        archived into shared, read-only directories. This variable
 606        specifies a ":" separated list of git object directories which
 607        can be used to search for git objects. New objects will not be
 608        written to these directories.
 609
 610'GIT_DIR'::
 611        If the 'GIT_DIR' environment variable is set then it
 612        specifies a path to use instead of the default `.git`
 613        for the base of the repository.
 614
 615git Commits
 616~~~~~~~~~~~
 617'GIT_AUTHOR_NAME'::
 618'GIT_AUTHOR_EMAIL'::
 619'GIT_AUTHOR_DATE'::
 620'GIT_COMMITTER_NAME'::
 621'GIT_COMMITTER_EMAIL'::
 622        see gitlink:git-commit-tree[1]
 623
 624git Diffs
 625~~~~~~~~~
 626'GIT_DIFF_OPTS'::
 627'GIT_EXTERNAL_DIFF'::
 628        see the "generating patches" section in :
 629        gitlink:git-diff-index[1];
 630        gitlink:git-diff-files[1];
 631        gitlink:git-diff-tree[1]
 632
 633other
 634~~~~~
 635'GIT_PAGER'::
 636        This environment variable overrides `$PAGER`.
 637
 638'GIT_TRACE'::
 639        If this variable is set to "1", "2" or "true" (comparison
 640        is case insensitive), git will print `trace:` messages on
 641        stderr telling about alias expansion, built-in command
 642        execution and external command execution.
 643        If this variable is set to an integer value greater than 1
 644        and lower than 10 (strictly) then git will interpret this
 645        value as an open file descriptor and will try to write the
 646        trace messages into this file descriptor.
 647        Alternatively, if this variable is set to an absolute path
 648        (starting with a '/' character), git will interpret this
 649        as a file path and will try to write the trace messages
 650        into it.
 651
 652Discussion[[Discussion]]
 653------------------------
 654include::README[]
 655
 656Authors
 657-------
 658* git's founding father is Linus Torvalds <torvalds@osdl.org>.
 659* The current git nurse is Junio C Hamano <junkio@cox.net>.
 660* The git potty was written by Andres Ericsson <ae@op5.se>.
 661* General upbringing is handled by the git-list <git@vger.kernel.org>.
 662
 663Documentation
 664--------------
 665The documentation for git suite was started by David Greaves
 666<david@dgreaves.com>, and later enhanced greatly by the
 667contributors on the git-list <git@vger.kernel.org>.
 668
 669GIT
 670---
 671Part of the gitlink:git[7] suite
 672