Documentation / git.txton commit Merge branch 'mh/fast-import-optimize-current-from' (3ecca88)
   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:
  45
  46* link:v2.5.0/git.html[documentation for release 2.5]
  47
  48* release notes for
  49  link:RelNotes/2.5.0.txt[2.5],
  50
  51* link:v2.4.7/git.html[documentation for release 2.4.7]
  52
  53* release notes for
  54  link:RelNotes/2.4.7.txt[2.4.7],
  55  link:RelNotes/2.4.6.txt[2.4.6],
  56  link:RelNotes/2.4.5.txt[2.4.5],
  57  link:RelNotes/2.4.4.txt[2.4.4],
  58  link:RelNotes/2.4.3.txt[2.4.3],
  59  link:RelNotes/2.4.2.txt[2.4.2],
  60  link:RelNotes/2.4.1.txt[2.4.1],
  61  link:RelNotes/2.4.0.txt[2.4].
  62
  63* link:v2.3.8/git.html[documentation for release 2.3.8]
  64
  65* release notes for
  66  link:RelNotes/2.3.8.txt[2.3.8],
  67  link:RelNotes/2.3.7.txt[2.3.7],
  68  link:RelNotes/2.3.6.txt[2.3.6],
  69  link:RelNotes/2.3.5.txt[2.3.5],
  70  link:RelNotes/2.3.4.txt[2.3.4],
  71  link:RelNotes/2.3.3.txt[2.3.3],
  72  link:RelNotes/2.3.2.txt[2.3.2],
  73  link:RelNotes/2.3.1.txt[2.3.1],
  74  link:RelNotes/2.3.0.txt[2.3].
  75
  76* link:v2.2.2/git.html[documentation for release 2.2.2]
  77
  78* release notes for
  79  link:RelNotes/2.2.2.txt[2.2.2],
  80  link:RelNotes/2.2.1.txt[2.2.1],
  81  link:RelNotes/2.2.0.txt[2.2].
  82
  83* link:v2.1.4/git.html[documentation for release 2.1.4]
  84
  85* release notes for
  86  link:RelNotes/2.1.4.txt[2.1.4],
  87  link:RelNotes/2.1.3.txt[2.1.3],
  88  link:RelNotes/2.1.2.txt[2.1.2],
  89  link:RelNotes/2.1.1.txt[2.1.1],
  90  link:RelNotes/2.1.0.txt[2.1].
  91
  92* link:v2.0.5/git.html[documentation for release 2.0.5]
  93
  94* release notes for
  95  link:RelNotes/2.0.5.txt[2.0.5],
  96  link:RelNotes/2.0.4.txt[2.0.4],
  97  link:RelNotes/2.0.3.txt[2.0.3],
  98  link:RelNotes/2.0.2.txt[2.0.2],
  99  link:RelNotes/2.0.1.txt[2.0.1],
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 424
 425* release notes for
 426  link:RelNotes/1.5.2.5.txt[1.5.2.5],
 427  link:RelNotes/1.5.2.4.txt[1.5.2.4],
 428  link:RelNotes/1.5.2.3.txt[1.5.2.3],
 429  link:RelNotes/1.5.2.2.txt[1.5.2.2],
 430  link:RelNotes/1.5.2.1.txt[1.5.2.1],
 431  link:RelNotes/1.5.2.txt[1.5.2].
 432
 433* link:v1.5.1.6/git.html[documentation for release 1.5.1.6]
 434
 435* release notes for
 436  link:RelNotes/1.5.1.6.txt[1.5.1.6],
 437  link:RelNotes/1.5.1.5.txt[1.5.1.5],
 438  link:RelNotes/1.5.1.4.txt[1.5.1.4],
 439  link:RelNotes/1.5.1.3.txt[1.5.1.3],
 440  link:RelNotes/1.5.1.2.txt[1.5.1.2],
 441  link:RelNotes/1.5.1.1.txt[1.5.1.1],
 442  link:RelNotes/1.5.1.txt[1.5.1].
 443
 444* link:v1.5.0.7/git.html[documentation for release 1.5.0.7]
 445
 446* release notes for
 447  link:RelNotes/1.5.0.7.txt[1.5.0.7],
 448  link:RelNotes/1.5.0.6.txt[1.5.0.6],
 449  link:RelNotes/1.5.0.5.txt[1.5.0.5],
 450  link:RelNotes/1.5.0.3.txt[1.5.0.3],
 451  link:RelNotes/1.5.0.2.txt[1.5.0.2],
 452  link:RelNotes/1.5.0.1.txt[1.5.0.1],
 453  link:RelNotes/1.5.0.txt[1.5.0].
 454
 455* documentation for release link:v1.4.4.4/git.html[1.4.4.4],
 456  link:v1.3.3/git.html[1.3.3],
 457  link:v1.2.6/git.html[1.2.6],
 458  link:v1.0.13/git.html[1.0.13].
 459
 460============
 461
 462endif::stalenotes[]
 463
 464OPTIONS
 465-------
 466--version::
 467        Prints the Git suite version that the 'git' program came from.
 468
 469--help::
 470        Prints the synopsis and a list of the most commonly used
 471        commands. If the option '--all' or '-a' is given then all
 472        available commands are printed. If a Git command is named this
 473        option will bring up the manual page for that command.
 474+
 475Other options are available to control how the manual page is
 476displayed. See linkgit:git-help[1] for more information,
 477because `git --help ...` is converted internally into `git
 478help ...`.
 479
 480-C <path>::
 481        Run as if git was started in '<path>' instead of the current working
 482        directory.  When multiple `-C` options are given, each subsequent
 483        non-absolute `-C <path>` is interpreted relative to the preceding `-C
 484        <path>`.
 485+
 486This option affects options that expect path name like `--git-dir` and
 487`--work-tree` in that their interpretations of the path names would be
 488made relative to the working directory caused by the `-C` option. For
 489example the following invocations are equivalent:
 490
 491    git --git-dir=a.git --work-tree=b -C c status
 492    git --git-dir=c/a.git --work-tree=c/b status
 493
 494-c <name>=<value>::
 495        Pass a configuration parameter to the command. The value
 496        given will override values from configuration files.
 497        The <name> is expected in the same format as listed by
 498        'git config' (subkeys separated by dots).
 499+
 500Note that omitting the `=` in `git -c foo.bar ...` is allowed and sets
 501`foo.bar` to the boolean true value (just like `[foo]bar` would in a
 502config file). Including the equals but with an empty value (like `git -c
 503foo.bar= ...`) sets `foo.bar` to the empty string.
 504
 505--exec-path[=<path>]::
 506        Path to wherever your core Git programs are installed.
 507        This can also be controlled by setting the GIT_EXEC_PATH
 508        environment variable. If no path is given, 'git' will print
 509        the current setting and then exit.
 510
 511--html-path::
 512        Print the path, without trailing slash, where Git's HTML
 513        documentation is installed and exit.
 514
 515--man-path::
 516        Print the manpath (see `man(1)`) for the man pages for
 517        this version of Git and exit.
 518
 519--info-path::
 520        Print the path where the Info files documenting this
 521        version of Git are installed and exit.
 522
 523-p::
 524--paginate::
 525        Pipe all output into 'less' (or if set, $PAGER) if standard
 526        output is a terminal.  This overrides the `pager.<cmd>`
 527        configuration options (see the "Configuration Mechanism" section
 528        below).
 529
 530--no-pager::
 531        Do not pipe Git output into a pager.
 532
 533--git-dir=<path>::
 534        Set the path to the repository. This can also be controlled by
 535        setting the GIT_DIR environment variable. It can be an absolute
 536        path or relative path to current working directory.
 537
 538--work-tree=<path>::
 539        Set the path to the working tree. It can be an absolute path
 540        or a path relative to the current working directory.
 541        This can also be controlled by setting the GIT_WORK_TREE
 542        environment variable and the core.worktree configuration
 543        variable (see core.worktree in linkgit:git-config[1] for a
 544        more detailed discussion).
 545
 546--namespace=<path>::
 547        Set the Git namespace.  See linkgit:gitnamespaces[7] for more
 548        details.  Equivalent to setting the `GIT_NAMESPACE` environment
 549        variable.
 550
 551--bare::
 552        Treat the repository as a bare repository.  If GIT_DIR
 553        environment is not set, it is set to the current working
 554        directory.
 555
 556--no-replace-objects::
 557        Do not use replacement refs to replace Git objects. See
 558        linkgit:git-replace[1] for more information.
 559
 560--literal-pathspecs::
 561        Treat pathspecs literally (i.e. no globbing, no pathspec magic).
 562        This is equivalent to setting the `GIT_LITERAL_PATHSPECS` environment
 563        variable to `1`.
 564
 565--glob-pathspecs::
 566        Add "glob" magic to all pathspec. This is equivalent to setting
 567        the `GIT_GLOB_PATHSPECS` environment variable to `1`. Disabling
 568        globbing on individual pathspecs can be done using pathspec
 569        magic ":(literal)"
 570
 571--noglob-pathspecs::
 572        Add "literal" magic to all pathspec. This is equivalent to setting
 573        the `GIT_NOGLOB_PATHSPECS` environment variable to `1`. Enabling
 574        globbing on individual pathspecs can be done using pathspec
 575        magic ":(glob)"
 576
 577--icase-pathspecs::
 578        Add "icase" magic to all pathspec. This is equivalent to setting
 579        the `GIT_ICASE_PATHSPECS` environment variable to `1`.
 580
 581GIT COMMANDS
 582------------
 583
 584We divide Git into high level ("porcelain") commands and low level
 585("plumbing") commands.
 586
 587High-level commands (porcelain)
 588-------------------------------
 589
 590We separate the porcelain commands into the main commands and some
 591ancillary user utilities.
 592
 593Main porcelain commands
 594~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 595
 596include::cmds-mainporcelain.txt[]
 597
 598Ancillary Commands
 599~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 600Manipulators:
 601
 602include::cmds-ancillarymanipulators.txt[]
 603
 604Interrogators:
 605
 606include::cmds-ancillaryinterrogators.txt[]
 607
 608
 609Interacting with Others
 610~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 611
 612These commands are to interact with foreign SCM and with other
 613people via patch over e-mail.
 614
 615include::cmds-foreignscminterface.txt[]
 616
 617
 618Low-level commands (plumbing)
 619-----------------------------
 620
 621Although Git includes its
 622own porcelain layer, its low-level commands are sufficient to support
 623development of alternative porcelains.  Developers of such porcelains
 624might start by reading about linkgit:git-update-index[1] and
 625linkgit:git-read-tree[1].
 626
 627The interface (input, output, set of options and the semantics)
 628to these low-level commands are meant to be a lot more stable
 629than Porcelain level commands, because these commands are
 630primarily for scripted use.  The interface to Porcelain commands
 631on the other hand are subject to change in order to improve the
 632end user experience.
 633
 634The following description divides
 635the low-level commands into commands that manipulate objects (in
 636the repository, index, and working tree), commands that interrogate and
 637compare objects, and commands that move objects and references between
 638repositories.
 639
 640
 641Manipulation commands
 642~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 643
 644include::cmds-plumbingmanipulators.txt[]
 645
 646
 647Interrogation commands
 648~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 649
 650include::cmds-plumbinginterrogators.txt[]
 651
 652In general, the interrogate commands do not touch the files in
 653the working tree.
 654
 655
 656Synching repositories
 657~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 658
 659include::cmds-synchingrepositories.txt[]
 660
 661The following are helper commands used by the above; end users
 662typically do not use them directly.
 663
 664include::cmds-synchelpers.txt[]
 665
 666
 667Internal helper commands
 668~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 669
 670These are internal helper commands used by other commands; end
 671users typically do not use them directly.
 672
 673include::cmds-purehelpers.txt[]
 674
 675
 676Configuration Mechanism
 677-----------------------
 678
 679Git uses a simple text format to store customizations that are per
 680repository and are per user.  Such a configuration file may look
 681like this:
 682
 683------------
 684#
 685# A '#' or ';' character indicates a comment.
 686#
 687
 688; core variables
 689[core]
 690        ; Don't trust file modes
 691        filemode = false
 692
 693; user identity
 694[user]
 695        name = "Junio C Hamano"
 696        email = "gitster@pobox.com"
 697
 698------------
 699
 700Various commands read from the configuration file and adjust
 701their operation accordingly.  See linkgit:git-config[1] for a
 702list and more details about the configuration mechanism.
 703
 704
 705Identifier Terminology
 706----------------------
 707<object>::
 708        Indicates the object name for any type of object.
 709
 710<blob>::
 711        Indicates a blob object name.
 712
 713<tree>::
 714        Indicates a tree object name.
 715
 716<commit>::
 717        Indicates a commit object name.
 718
 719<tree-ish>::
 720        Indicates a tree, commit or tag object name.  A
 721        command that takes a <tree-ish> argument ultimately wants to
 722        operate on a <tree> object but automatically dereferences
 723        <commit> and <tag> objects that point at a <tree>.
 724
 725<commit-ish>::
 726        Indicates a commit or tag object name.  A
 727        command that takes a <commit-ish> argument ultimately wants to
 728        operate on a <commit> object but automatically dereferences
 729        <tag> objects that point at a <commit>.
 730
 731<type>::
 732        Indicates that an object type is required.
 733        Currently one of: `blob`, `tree`, `commit`, or `tag`.
 734
 735<file>::
 736        Indicates a filename - almost always relative to the
 737        root of the tree structure `GIT_INDEX_FILE` describes.
 738
 739Symbolic Identifiers
 740--------------------
 741Any Git command accepting any <object> can also use the following
 742symbolic notation:
 743
 744HEAD::
 745        indicates the head of the current branch.
 746
 747<tag>::
 748        a valid tag 'name'
 749        (i.e. a `refs/tags/<tag>` reference).
 750
 751<head>::
 752        a valid head 'name'
 753        (i.e. a `refs/heads/<head>` reference).
 754
 755For a more complete list of ways to spell object names, see
 756"SPECIFYING REVISIONS" section in linkgit:gitrevisions[7].
 757
 758
 759File/Directory Structure
 760------------------------
 761
 762Please see the linkgit:gitrepository-layout[5] document.
 763
 764Read linkgit:githooks[5] for more details about each hook.
 765
 766Higher level SCMs may provide and manage additional information in the
 767`$GIT_DIR`.
 768
 769
 770Terminology
 771-----------
 772Please see linkgit:gitglossary[7].
 773
 774
 775Environment Variables
 776---------------------
 777Various Git commands use the following environment variables:
 778
 779The Git Repository
 780~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 781These environment variables apply to 'all' core Git commands. Nb: it
 782is worth noting that they may be used/overridden by SCMS sitting above
 783Git so take care if using Cogito etc.
 784
 785'GIT_INDEX_FILE'::
 786        This environment allows the specification of an alternate
 787        index file. If not specified, the default of `$GIT_DIR/index`
 788        is used.
 789
 790'GIT_INDEX_VERSION'::
 791        This environment variable allows the specification of an index
 792        version for new repositories.  It won't affect existing index
 793        files.  By default index file version 2 or 3 is used. See
 794        linkgit:git-update-index[1] for more information.
 795
 796'GIT_OBJECT_DIRECTORY'::
 797        If the object storage directory is specified via this
 798        environment variable then the sha1 directories are created
 799        underneath - otherwise the default `$GIT_DIR/objects`
 800        directory is used.
 801
 802'GIT_ALTERNATE_OBJECT_DIRECTORIES'::
 803        Due to the immutable nature of Git objects, old objects can be
 804        archived into shared, read-only directories. This variable
 805        specifies a ":" separated (on Windows ";" separated) list
 806        of Git object directories which can be used to search for Git
 807        objects. New objects will not be written to these directories.
 808
 809'GIT_DIR'::
 810        If the 'GIT_DIR' environment variable is set then it
 811        specifies a path to use instead of the default `.git`
 812        for the base of the repository.
 813        The '--git-dir' command-line option also sets this value.
 814
 815'GIT_WORK_TREE'::
 816        Set the path to the root of the working tree.
 817        This can also be controlled by the '--work-tree' command-line
 818        option and the core.worktree configuration variable.
 819
 820'GIT_NAMESPACE'::
 821        Set the Git namespace; see linkgit:gitnamespaces[7] for details.
 822        The '--namespace' command-line option also sets this value.
 823
 824'GIT_CEILING_DIRECTORIES'::
 825        This should be a colon-separated list of absolute paths.  If
 826        set, it is a list of directories that Git should not chdir up
 827        into while looking for a repository directory (useful for
 828        excluding slow-loading network directories).  It will not
 829        exclude the current working directory or a GIT_DIR set on the
 830        command line or in the environment.  Normally, Git has to read
 831        the entries in this list and resolve any symlink that
 832        might be present in order to compare them with the current
 833        directory.  However, if even this access is slow, you
 834        can add an empty entry to the list to tell Git that the
 835        subsequent entries are not symlinks and needn't be resolved;
 836        e.g.,
 837        'GIT_CEILING_DIRECTORIES=/maybe/symlink::/very/slow/non/symlink'.
 838
 839'GIT_DISCOVERY_ACROSS_FILESYSTEM'::
 840        When run in a directory that does not have ".git" repository
 841        directory, Git tries to find such a directory in the parent
 842        directories to find the top of the working tree, but by default it
 843        does not cross filesystem boundaries.  This environment variable
 844        can be set to true to tell Git not to stop at filesystem
 845        boundaries.  Like 'GIT_CEILING_DIRECTORIES', this will not affect
 846        an explicit repository directory set via 'GIT_DIR' or on the
 847        command line.
 848
 849'GIT_COMMON_DIR'::
 850        If this variable is set to a path, non-worktree files that are
 851        normally in $GIT_DIR will be taken from this path
 852        instead. Worktree-specific files such as HEAD or index are
 853        taken from $GIT_DIR. See linkgit:gitrepository-layout[5] and
 854        linkgit:git-worktree[1] for
 855        details. This variable has lower precedence than other path
 856        variables such as GIT_INDEX_FILE, GIT_OBJECT_DIRECTORY...
 857
 858Git Commits
 859~~~~~~~~~~~
 860'GIT_AUTHOR_NAME'::
 861'GIT_AUTHOR_EMAIL'::
 862'GIT_AUTHOR_DATE'::
 863'GIT_COMMITTER_NAME'::
 864'GIT_COMMITTER_EMAIL'::
 865'GIT_COMMITTER_DATE'::
 866'EMAIL'::
 867        see linkgit:git-commit-tree[1]
 868
 869Git Diffs
 870~~~~~~~~~
 871'GIT_DIFF_OPTS'::
 872        Only valid setting is "--unified=??" or "-u??" to set the
 873        number of context lines shown when a unified diff is created.
 874        This takes precedence over any "-U" or "--unified" option
 875        value passed on the Git diff command line.
 876
 877'GIT_EXTERNAL_DIFF'::
 878        When the environment variable 'GIT_EXTERNAL_DIFF' is set, the
 879        program named by it is called, instead of the diff invocation
 880        described above.  For a path that is added, removed, or modified,
 881        'GIT_EXTERNAL_DIFF' is called with 7 parameters:
 882
 883        path old-file old-hex old-mode new-file new-hex new-mode
 884+
 885where:
 886
 887        <old|new>-file:: are files GIT_EXTERNAL_DIFF can use to read the
 888                         contents of <old|new>,
 889        <old|new>-hex:: are the 40-hexdigit SHA-1 hashes,
 890        <old|new>-mode:: are the octal representation of the file modes.
 891+
 892The file parameters can point at the user's working file
 893(e.g. `new-file` in "git-diff-files"), `/dev/null` (e.g. `old-file`
 894when a new file is added), or a temporary file (e.g. `old-file` in the
 895index).  'GIT_EXTERNAL_DIFF' should not worry about unlinking the
 896temporary file --- it is removed when 'GIT_EXTERNAL_DIFF' exits.
 897+
 898For a path that is unmerged, 'GIT_EXTERNAL_DIFF' is called with 1
 899parameter, <path>.
 900+
 901For each path 'GIT_EXTERNAL_DIFF' is called, two environment variables,
 902'GIT_DIFF_PATH_COUNTER' and 'GIT_DIFF_PATH_TOTAL' are set.
 903
 904'GIT_DIFF_PATH_COUNTER'::
 905        A 1-based counter incremented by one for every path.
 906
 907'GIT_DIFF_PATH_TOTAL'::
 908        The total number of paths.
 909
 910other
 911~~~~~
 912'GIT_MERGE_VERBOSITY'::
 913        A number controlling the amount of output shown by
 914        the recursive merge strategy.  Overrides merge.verbosity.
 915        See linkgit:git-merge[1]
 916
 917'GIT_PAGER'::
 918        This environment variable overrides `$PAGER`. If it is set
 919        to an empty string or to the value "cat", Git will not launch
 920        a pager.  See also the `core.pager` option in
 921        linkgit:git-config[1].
 922
 923'GIT_EDITOR'::
 924        This environment variable overrides `$EDITOR` and `$VISUAL`.
 925        It is used by several Git commands when, on interactive mode,
 926        an editor is to be launched. See also linkgit:git-var[1]
 927        and the `core.editor` option in linkgit:git-config[1].
 928
 929'GIT_SSH'::
 930'GIT_SSH_COMMAND'::
 931        If either of these environment variables is set then 'git fetch'
 932        and 'git push' will use the specified command instead of 'ssh'
 933        when they need to connect to a remote system.
 934        The command will be given exactly two or four arguments: the
 935        'username@host' (or just 'host') from the URL and the shell
 936        command to execute on that remote system, optionally preceded by
 937        '-p' (literally) and the 'port' from the URL when it specifies
 938        something other than the default SSH port.
 939+
 940`$GIT_SSH_COMMAND` takes precedence over `$GIT_SSH`, and is interpreted
 941by the shell, which allows additional arguments to be included.
 942`$GIT_SSH` on the other hand must be just the path to a program
 943(which can be a wrapper shell script, if additional arguments are
 944needed).
 945+
 946Usually it is easier to configure any desired options through your
 947personal `.ssh/config` file.  Please consult your ssh documentation
 948for further details.
 949
 950'GIT_ASKPASS'::
 951        If this environment variable is set, then Git commands which need to
 952        acquire passwords or passphrases (e.g. for HTTP or IMAP authentication)
 953        will call this program with a suitable prompt as command-line argument
 954        and read the password from its STDOUT. See also the 'core.askPass'
 955        option in linkgit:git-config[1].
 956
 957'GIT_TERMINAL_PROMPT'::
 958        If this environment variable is set to `0`, git will not prompt
 959        on the terminal (e.g., when asking for HTTP authentication).
 960
 961'GIT_CONFIG_NOSYSTEM'::
 962        Whether to skip reading settings from the system-wide
 963        `$(prefix)/etc/gitconfig` file.  This environment variable can
 964        be used along with `$HOME` and `$XDG_CONFIG_HOME` to create a
 965        predictable environment for a picky script, or you can set it
 966        temporarily to avoid using a buggy `/etc/gitconfig` file while
 967        waiting for someone with sufficient permissions to fix it.
 968
 969'GIT_FLUSH'::
 970        If this environment variable is set to "1", then commands such
 971        as 'git blame' (in incremental mode), 'git rev-list', 'git log',
 972        'git check-attr' and 'git check-ignore' will
 973        force a flush of the output stream after each record have been
 974        flushed. If this
 975        variable is set to "0", the output of these commands will be done
 976        using completely buffered I/O.   If this environment variable is
 977        not set, Git will choose buffered or record-oriented flushing
 978        based on whether stdout appears to be redirected to a file or not.
 979
 980'GIT_TRACE'::
 981        Enables general trace messages, e.g. alias expansion, built-in
 982        command execution and external command execution.
 983+
 984If this variable is set to "1", "2" or "true" (comparison
 985is case insensitive), trace messages will be printed to
 986stderr.
 987+
 988If the variable is set to an integer value greater than 2
 989and lower than 10 (strictly) then Git will interpret this
 990value as an open file descriptor and will try to write the
 991trace messages into this file descriptor.
 992+
 993Alternatively, if the variable is set to an absolute path
 994(starting with a '/' character), Git will interpret this
 995as a file path and will try to write the trace messages
 996into it.
 997+
 998Unsetting the variable, or setting it to empty, "0" or
 999"false" (case insensitive) disables trace messages.
1000
1001'GIT_TRACE_PACK_ACCESS'::
1002        Enables trace messages for all accesses to any packs. For each
1003        access, the pack file name and an offset in the pack is
1004        recorded. This may be helpful for troubleshooting some
1005        pack-related performance problems.
1006        See 'GIT_TRACE' for available trace output options.
1007
1008'GIT_TRACE_PACKET'::
1009        Enables trace messages for all packets coming in or out of a
1010        given program. This can help with debugging object negotiation
1011        or other protocol issues. Tracing is turned off at a packet
1012        starting with "PACK" (but see 'GIT_TRACE_PACKFILE' below).
1013        See 'GIT_TRACE' for available trace output options.
1014
1015'GIT_TRACE_PACKFILE'::
1016        Enables tracing of packfiles sent or received by a
1017        given program. Unlike other trace output, this trace is
1018        verbatim: no headers, and no quoting of binary data. You almost
1019        certainly want to direct into a file (e.g.,
1020        `GIT_TRACE_PACKFILE=/tmp/my.pack`) rather than displaying it on
1021        the terminal or mixing it with other trace output.
1022+
1023Note that this is currently only implemented for the client side
1024of clones and fetches.
1025
1026'GIT_TRACE_PERFORMANCE'::
1027        Enables performance related trace messages, e.g. total execution
1028        time of each Git command.
1029        See 'GIT_TRACE' for available trace output options.
1030
1031'GIT_TRACE_SETUP'::
1032        Enables trace messages printing the .git, working tree and current
1033        working directory after Git has completed its setup phase.
1034        See 'GIT_TRACE' for available trace output options.
1035
1036'GIT_TRACE_SHALLOW'::
1037        Enables trace messages that can help debugging fetching /
1038        cloning of shallow repositories.
1039        See 'GIT_TRACE' for available trace output options.
1040
1041GIT_LITERAL_PATHSPECS::
1042        Setting this variable to `1` will cause Git to treat all
1043        pathspecs literally, rather than as glob patterns. For example,
1044        running `GIT_LITERAL_PATHSPECS=1 git log -- '*.c'` will search
1045        for commits that touch the path `*.c`, not any paths that the
1046        glob `*.c` matches. You might want this if you are feeding
1047        literal paths to Git (e.g., paths previously given to you by
1048        `git ls-tree`, `--raw` diff output, etc).
1049
1050GIT_GLOB_PATHSPECS::
1051        Setting this variable to `1` will cause Git to treat all
1052        pathspecs as glob patterns (aka "glob" magic).
1053
1054GIT_NOGLOB_PATHSPECS::
1055        Setting this variable to `1` will cause Git to treat all
1056        pathspecs as literal (aka "literal" magic).
1057
1058GIT_ICASE_PATHSPECS::
1059        Setting this variable to `1` will cause Git to treat all
1060        pathspecs as case-insensitive.
1061
1062'GIT_REFLOG_ACTION'::
1063        When a ref is updated, reflog entries are created to keep
1064        track of the reason why the ref was updated (which is
1065        typically the name of the high-level command that updated
1066        the ref), in addition to the old and new values of the ref.
1067        A scripted Porcelain command can use set_reflog_action
1068        helper function in `git-sh-setup` to set its name to this
1069        variable when it is invoked as the top level command by the
1070        end user, to be recorded in the body of the reflog.
1071
1072`GIT_REF_PARANOIA`::
1073        If set to `1`, include broken or badly named refs when iterating
1074        over lists of refs. In a normal, non-corrupted repository, this
1075        does nothing. However, enabling it may help git to detect and
1076        abort some operations in the presence of broken refs. Git sets
1077        this variable automatically when performing destructive
1078        operations like linkgit:git-prune[1]. You should not need to set
1079        it yourself unless you want to be paranoid about making sure
1080        an operation has touched every ref (e.g., because you are
1081        cloning a repository to make a backup).
1082
1083
1084Discussion[[Discussion]]
1085------------------------
1086
1087More detail on the following is available from the
1088link:user-manual.html#git-concepts[Git concepts chapter of the
1089user-manual] and linkgit:gitcore-tutorial[7].
1090
1091A Git project normally consists of a working directory with a ".git"
1092subdirectory at the top level.  The .git directory contains, among other
1093things, a compressed object database representing the complete history
1094of the project, an "index" file which links that history to the current
1095contents of the working tree, and named pointers into that history such
1096as tags and branch heads.
1097
1098The object database contains objects of three main types: blobs, which
1099hold file data; trees, which point to blobs and other trees to build up
1100directory hierarchies; and commits, which each reference a single tree
1101and some number of parent commits.
1102
1103The commit, equivalent to what other systems call a "changeset" or
1104"version", represents a step in the project's history, and each parent
1105represents an immediately preceding step.  Commits with more than one
1106parent represent merges of independent lines of development.
1107
1108All objects are named by the SHA-1 hash of their contents, normally
1109written as a string of 40 hex digits.  Such names are globally unique.
1110The entire history leading up to a commit can be vouched for by signing
1111just that commit.  A fourth object type, the tag, is provided for this
1112purpose.
1113
1114When first created, objects are stored in individual files, but for
1115efficiency may later be compressed together into "pack files".
1116
1117Named pointers called refs mark interesting points in history.  A ref
1118may contain the SHA-1 name of an object or the name of another ref.  Refs
1119with names beginning `ref/head/` contain the SHA-1 name of the most
1120recent commit (or "head") of a branch under development.  SHA-1 names of
1121tags of interest are stored under `ref/tags/`.  A special ref named
1122`HEAD` contains the name of the currently checked-out branch.
1123
1124The index file is initialized with a list of all paths and, for each
1125path, a blob object and a set of attributes.  The blob object represents
1126the contents of the file as of the head of the current branch.  The
1127attributes (last modified time, size, etc.) are taken from the
1128corresponding file in the working tree.  Subsequent changes to the
1129working tree can be found by comparing these attributes.  The index may
1130be updated with new content, and new commits may be created from the
1131content stored in the index.
1132
1133The index is also capable of storing multiple entries (called "stages")
1134for a given pathname.  These stages are used to hold the various
1135unmerged version of a file when a merge is in progress.
1136
1137FURTHER DOCUMENTATION
1138---------------------
1139
1140See the references in the "description" section to get started
1141using Git.  The following is probably more detail than necessary
1142for a first-time user.
1143
1144The link:user-manual.html#git-concepts[Git concepts chapter of the
1145user-manual] and linkgit:gitcore-tutorial[7] both provide
1146introductions to the underlying Git architecture.
1147
1148See linkgit:gitworkflows[7] for an overview of recommended workflows.
1149
1150See also the link:howto-index.html[howto] documents for some useful
1151examples.
1152
1153The internals are documented in the
1154link:technical/api-index.html[Git API documentation].
1155
1156Users migrating from CVS may also want to
1157read linkgit:gitcvs-migration[7].
1158
1159
1160Authors
1161-------
1162Git was started by Linus Torvalds, and is currently maintained by Junio
1163C Hamano. Numerous contributions have come from the Git mailing list
1164<git@vger.kernel.org>.  http://www.openhub.net/p/git/contributors/summary
1165gives you a more complete list of contributors.
1166
1167If you have a clone of git.git itself, the
1168output of linkgit:git-shortlog[1] and linkgit:git-blame[1] can show you
1169the authors for specific parts of the project.
1170
1171Reporting Bugs
1172--------------
1173
1174Report bugs to the Git mailing list <git@vger.kernel.org> where the
1175development and maintenance is primarily done.  You do not have to be
1176subscribed to the list to send a message there.
1177
1178SEE ALSO
1179--------
1180linkgit:gittutorial[7], linkgit:gittutorial-2[7],
1181linkgit:giteveryday[7], linkgit:gitcvs-migration[7],
1182linkgit:gitglossary[7], linkgit:gitcore-tutorial[7],
1183linkgit:gitcli[7], link:user-manual.html[The Git User's Manual],
1184linkgit:gitworkflows[7]
1185
1186GIT
1187---
1188Part of the linkgit:git[1] suite