Documentation / git-stash.txton commit Merge branch 'bw/diff-metainfo-color' (448598b)
   1git-stash(1)
   2============
   3
   4NAME
   5----
   6git-stash - Stash the changes in a dirty working directory away
   7
   8SYNOPSIS
   9--------
  10[verse]
  11'git stash' list [<options>]
  12'git stash' show [<stash>]
  13'git stash' drop [-q|--quiet] [<stash>]
  14'git stash' ( pop | apply ) [--index] [-q|--quiet] [<stash>]
  15'git stash' branch <branchname> [<stash>]
  16'git stash' [save [--patch] [-k|--[no-]keep-index] [-q|--quiet] [<message>]]
  17'git stash' clear
  18'git stash' create
  19
  20DESCRIPTION
  21-----------
  22
  23Use `git stash` when you want to record the current state of the
  24working directory and the index, but want to go back to a clean
  25working directory.  The command saves your local modifications away
  26and reverts the working directory to match the `HEAD` commit.
  27
  28The modifications stashed away by this command can be listed with
  29`git stash list`, inspected with `git stash show`, and restored
  30(potentially on top of a different commit) with `git stash apply`.
  31Calling `git stash` without any arguments is equivalent to `git stash save`.
  32A stash is by default listed as "WIP on 'branchname' ...", but
  33you can give a more descriptive message on the command line when
  34you create one.
  35
  36The latest stash you created is stored in `refs/stash`; older
  37stashes are found in the reflog of this reference and can be named using
  38the usual reflog syntax (e.g. `stash@\{0}` is the most recently
  39created stash, `stash@\{1}` is the one before it, `stash@\{2.hours.ago}`
  40is also possible).
  41
  42OPTIONS
  43-------
  44
  45save [--patch] [--[no-]keep-index] [-q|--quiet] [<message>]::
  46
  47        Save your local modifications to a new 'stash', and run `git reset
  48        --hard` to revert them.  The <message> part is optional and gives
  49        the description along with the stashed state.  For quickly making
  50        a snapshot, you can omit _both_ "save" and <message>, but giving
  51        only <message> does not trigger this action to prevent a misspelled
  52        subcommand from making an unwanted stash.
  53+
  54If the `--keep-index` option is used, all changes already added to the
  55index are left intact.
  56+
  57With `--patch`, you can interactively select hunks from in the diff
  58between HEAD and the working tree to be stashed.  The stash entry is
  59constructed such that its index state is the same as the index state
  60of your repository, and its worktree contains only the changes you
  61selected interactively.  The selected changes are then rolled back
  62from your worktree.
  63+
  64The `--patch` option implies `--keep-index`.  You can use
  65`--no-keep-index` to override this.
  66
  67list [<options>]::
  68
  69        List the stashes that you currently have.  Each 'stash' is listed
  70        with its name (e.g. `stash@\{0}` is the latest stash, `stash@\{1}` is
  71        the one before, etc.), the name of the branch that was current when the
  72        stash was made, and a short description of the commit the stash was
  73        based on.
  74+
  75----------------------------------------------------------------
  76stash@{0}: WIP on submit: 6ebd0e2... Update git-stash documentation
  77stash@{1}: On master: 9cc0589... Add git-stash
  78----------------------------------------------------------------
  79+
  80The command takes options applicable to the 'git log'
  81command to control what is shown and how. See linkgit:git-log[1].
  82
  83show [<stash>]::
  84
  85        Show the changes recorded in the stash as a diff between the
  86        stashed state and its original parent. When no `<stash>` is given,
  87        shows the latest one. By default, the command shows the diffstat, but
  88        it will accept any format known to 'git diff' (e.g., `git stash show
  89        -p stash@\{1}` to view the second most recent stash in patch form).
  90
  91pop [--index] [-q|--quiet] [<stash>]::
  92
  93        Remove a single stashed state from the stash list and apply it
  94        on top of the current working tree state, i.e., do the inverse
  95        operation of `git stash save`. The working directory must
  96        match the index.
  97+
  98Applying the state can fail with conflicts; in this case, it is not
  99removed from the stash list. You need to resolve the conflicts by hand
 100and call `git stash drop` manually afterwards.
 101+
 102If the `--index` option is used, then tries to reinstate not only the working
 103tree's changes, but also the index's ones. However, this can fail, when you
 104have conflicts (which are stored in the index, where you therefore can no
 105longer apply the changes as they were originally).
 106+
 107When no `<stash>` is given, `stash@\{0}` is assumed.
 108
 109apply [--index] [-q|--quiet] [<stash>]::
 110
 111        Like `pop`, but do not remove the state from the stash list.
 112
 113branch <branchname> [<stash>]::
 114
 115        Creates and checks out a new branch named `<branchname>` starting from
 116        the commit at which the `<stash>` was originally created, applies the
 117        changes recorded in `<stash>` to the new working tree and index, then
 118        drops the `<stash>` if that completes successfully. When no `<stash>`
 119        is given, applies the latest one.
 120+
 121This is useful if the branch on which you ran `git stash save` has
 122changed enough that `git stash apply` fails due to conflicts. Since
 123the stash is applied on top of the commit that was HEAD at the time
 124`git stash` was run, it restores the originally stashed state with
 125no conflicts.
 126
 127clear::
 128        Remove all the stashed states. Note that those states will then
 129        be subject to pruning, and may be impossible to recover (see
 130        'Examples' below for a possible strategy).
 131
 132drop [-q|--quiet] [<stash>]::
 133
 134        Remove a single stashed state from the stash list. When no `<stash>`
 135        is given, it removes the latest one. i.e. `stash@\{0}`
 136
 137create::
 138
 139        Create a stash (which is a regular commit object) and return its
 140        object name, without storing it anywhere in the ref namespace.
 141
 142
 143DISCUSSION
 144----------
 145
 146A stash is represented as a commit whose tree records the state of the
 147working directory, and its first parent is the commit at `HEAD` when
 148the stash was created.  The tree of the second parent records the
 149state of the index when the stash is made, and it is made a child of
 150the `HEAD` commit.  The ancestry graph looks like this:
 151
 152            .----W
 153           /    /
 154     -----H----I
 155
 156where `H` is the `HEAD` commit, `I` is a commit that records the state
 157of the index, and `W` is a commit that records the state of the working
 158tree.
 159
 160
 161EXAMPLES
 162--------
 163
 164Pulling into a dirty tree::
 165
 166When you are in the middle of something, you learn that there are
 167upstream changes that are possibly relevant to what you are
 168doing.  When your local changes do not conflict with the changes in
 169the upstream, a simple `git pull` will let you move forward.
 170+
 171However, there are cases in which your local changes do conflict with
 172the upstream changes, and `git pull` refuses to overwrite your
 173changes.  In such a case, you can stash your changes away,
 174perform a pull, and then unstash, like this:
 175+
 176----------------------------------------------------------------
 177$ git pull
 178 ...
 179file foobar not up to date, cannot merge.
 180$ git stash
 181$ git pull
 182$ git stash pop
 183----------------------------------------------------------------
 184
 185Interrupted workflow::
 186
 187When you are in the middle of something, your boss comes in and
 188demands that you fix something immediately.  Traditionally, you would
 189make a commit to a temporary branch to store your changes away, and
 190return to your original branch to make the emergency fix, like this:
 191+
 192----------------------------------------------------------------
 193# ... hack hack hack ...
 194$ git checkout -b my_wip
 195$ git commit -a -m "WIP"
 196$ git checkout master
 197$ edit emergency fix
 198$ git commit -a -m "Fix in a hurry"
 199$ git checkout my_wip
 200$ git reset --soft HEAD^
 201# ... continue hacking ...
 202----------------------------------------------------------------
 203+
 204You can use 'git stash' to simplify the above, like this:
 205+
 206----------------------------------------------------------------
 207# ... hack hack hack ...
 208$ git stash
 209$ edit emergency fix
 210$ git commit -a -m "Fix in a hurry"
 211$ git stash pop
 212# ... continue hacking ...
 213----------------------------------------------------------------
 214
 215Testing partial commits::
 216
 217You can use `git stash save --keep-index` when you want to make two or
 218more commits out of the changes in the work tree, and you want to test
 219each change before committing:
 220+
 221----------------------------------------------------------------
 222# ... hack hack hack ...
 223$ git add --patch foo            # add just first part to the index
 224$ git stash save --keep-index    # save all other changes to the stash
 225$ edit/build/test first part
 226$ git commit -m 'First part'     # commit fully tested change
 227$ git stash pop                  # prepare to work on all other changes
 228# ... repeat above five steps until one commit remains ...
 229$ edit/build/test remaining parts
 230$ git commit foo -m 'Remaining parts'
 231----------------------------------------------------------------
 232
 233Recovering stashes that were cleared/dropped erroneously::
 234
 235If you mistakenly drop or clear stashes, they cannot be recovered
 236through the normal safety mechanisms.  However, you can try the
 237following incantation to get a list of stashes that are still in your
 238repository, but not reachable any more:
 239+
 240----------------------------------------------------------------
 241git fsck --unreachable |
 242grep commit | cut -d\  -f3 |
 243xargs git log --merges --no-walk --grep=WIP
 244----------------------------------------------------------------
 245
 246
 247SEE ALSO
 248--------
 249linkgit:git-checkout[1],
 250linkgit:git-commit[1],
 251linkgit:git-reflog[1],
 252linkgit:git-reset[1]
 253
 254AUTHOR
 255------
 256Written by Nanako Shiraishi <nanako3@bluebottle.com>
 257
 258GIT
 259---
 260Part of the linkgit:git[1] suite