Documentation / git-config.txton commit Tidy up git mergetool's backup file behaviour (44c36d1)
   1git-config(1)
   2=============
   3
   4NAME
   5----
   6git-config - Get and set repository or global options
   7
   8
   9SYNOPSIS
  10--------
  11[verse]
  12'git-config' [<file-option>] [type] [-z|--null] name [value [value_regex]]
  13'git-config' [<file-option>] [type] --add name value
  14'git-config' [<file-option>] [type] --replace-all name [value [value_regex]]
  15'git-config' [<file-option>] [type] [-z|--null] --get name [value_regex]
  16'git-config' [<file-option>] [type] [-z|--null] --get-all name [value_regex]
  17'git-config' [<file-option>] [type] [-z|--null] --get-regexp name_regex [value_regex]
  18'git-config' [<file-option>] --unset name [value_regex]
  19'git-config' [<file-option>] --unset-all name [value_regex]
  20'git-config' [<file-option>] --rename-section old_name new_name
  21'git-config' [<file-option>] --remove-section name
  22'git-config' [<file-option>] [-z|--null] -l | --list
  23'git-config' [<file-option>] --get-color name [default]
  24'git-config' [<file-option>] --get-colorbool name [stdout-is-tty]
  25
  26DESCRIPTION
  27-----------
  28You can query/set/replace/unset options with this command. The name is
  29actually the section and the key separated by a dot, and the value will be
  30escaped.
  31
  32Multiple lines can be added to an option by using the '--add' option.
  33If you want to update or unset an option which can occur on multiple
  34lines, a POSIX regexp `value_regex` needs to be given.  Only the
  35existing values that match the regexp are updated or unset.  If
  36you want to handle the lines that do *not* match the regex, just
  37prepend a single exclamation mark in front (see also <<EXAMPLES>>).
  38
  39The type specifier can be either '--int' or '--bool', which will make
  40'git-config' ensure that the variable(s) are of the given type and
  41convert the value to the canonical form (simple decimal number for int,
  42a "true" or "false" string for bool).  If no type specifier is passed,
  43no checks or transformations are performed on the value.
  44
  45The file-option can be one of '--system', '--global' or '--file'
  46which specify where the values will be read from or written to.
  47The default is to assume the config file of the current repository,
  48.git/config unless defined otherwise with GIT_DIR and GIT_CONFIG
  49(see <<FILES>>).
  50
  51This command will fail if:
  52
  53. The config file is invalid,
  54. Can not write to the config file,
  55. no section was provided,
  56. the section or key is invalid,
  57. you try to unset an option which does not exist,
  58. you try to unset/set an option for which multiple lines match, or
  59. you use '--global' option without $HOME being properly set.
  60
  61
  62OPTIONS
  63-------
  64
  65--replace-all::
  66        Default behavior is to replace at most one line. This replaces
  67        all lines matching the key (and optionally the value_regex).
  68
  69--add::
  70        Adds a new line to the option without altering any existing
  71        values.  This is the same as providing '^$' as the value_regex.
  72
  73--get::
  74        Get the value for a given key (optionally filtered by a regex
  75        matching the value). Returns error code 1 if the key was not
  76        found and error code 2 if multiple key values were found.
  77
  78--get-all::
  79        Like get, but does not fail if the number of values for the key
  80        is not exactly one.
  81
  82--get-regexp::
  83        Like --get-all, but interprets the name as a regular expression.
  84        Also outputs the key names.
  85
  86--global::
  87        For writing options: write to global ~/.gitconfig file rather than
  88        the repository .git/config.
  89+
  90For reading options: read only from global ~/.gitconfig rather than
  91from all available files.
  92+
  93See also <<FILES>>.
  94
  95--system::
  96        For writing options: write to system-wide $(prefix)/etc/gitconfig
  97        rather than the repository .git/config.
  98+
  99For reading options: read only from system-wide $(prefix)/etc/gitconfig
 100rather than from all available files.
 101+
 102See also <<FILES>>.
 103
 104-f config-file, --file config-file::
 105        Use the given config file instead of the one specified by GIT_CONFIG.
 106
 107--remove-section::
 108        Remove the given section from the configuration file.
 109
 110--rename-section::
 111        Rename the given section to a new name.
 112
 113--unset::
 114        Remove the line matching the key from config file.
 115
 116--unset-all::
 117        Remove all lines matching the key from config file.
 118
 119-l, --list::
 120        List all variables set in config file.
 121
 122--bool::
 123        git-config will ensure that the output is "true" or "false"
 124
 125--int::
 126        git-config will ensure that the output is a simple
 127        decimal number.  An optional value suffix of 'k', 'm', or 'g'
 128        in the config file will cause the value to be multiplied
 129        by 1024, 1048576, or 1073741824 prior to output.
 130
 131-z, --null::
 132        For all options that output values and/or keys, always
 133        end values with the null character (instead of a
 134        newline). Use newline instead as a delimiter between
 135        key and value. This allows for secure parsing of the
 136        output without getting confused e.g. by values that
 137        contain line breaks.
 138
 139--get-colorbool name [stdout-is-tty]::
 140
 141        Find the color setting for `name` (e.g. `color.diff`) and output
 142        "true" or "false".  `stdout-is-tty` should be either "true" or
 143        "false", and is taken into account when configuration says
 144        "auto".  If `stdout-is-tty` is missing, then checks the standard
 145        output of the command itself, and exits with status 0 if color
 146        is to be used, or exits with status 1 otherwise.
 147
 148--get-color name default::
 149
 150        Find the color configured for `name` (e.g. `color.diff.new`) and
 151        output it as the ANSI color escape sequence to the standard
 152        output.  The optional `default` parameter is used instead, if
 153        there is no color configured for `name`.
 154
 155[[FILES]]
 156FILES
 157-----
 158
 159If not set explicitly with '--file', there are three files where
 160git-config will search for configuration options:
 161
 162$GIT_DIR/config::
 163        Repository specific configuration file. (The filename is
 164        of course relative to the repository root, not the working
 165        directory.)
 166
 167~/.gitconfig::
 168        User-specific configuration file. Also called "global"
 169        configuration file.
 170
 171$(prefix)/etc/gitconfig::
 172        System-wide configuration file.
 173
 174If no further options are given, all reading options will read all of these
 175files that are available. If the global or the system-wide configuration
 176file are not available they will be ignored. If the repository configuration
 177file is not available or readable, git-config will exit with a non-zero
 178error code. However, in neither case will an error message be issued.
 179
 180All writing options will per default write to the repository specific
 181configuration file. Note that this also affects options like '--replace-all'
 182and '--unset'. *git-config will only ever change one file at a time*.
 183
 184You can override these rules either by command line options or by environment
 185variables. The '--global' and the '--system' options will limit the file used
 186to the global or system-wide file respectively. The GIT_CONFIG environment
 187variable has a similar effect, but you can specify any filename you want.
 188
 189The GIT_CONFIG_LOCAL environment variable on the other hand only changes
 190the name used instead of the repository configuration file. The global and
 191the system-wide configuration files will still be read. (For writing options
 192this will obviously result in the same behavior as using GIT_CONFIG.)
 193
 194
 195ENVIRONMENT
 196-----------
 197
 198GIT_CONFIG::
 199        Take the configuration from the given file instead of .git/config.
 200        Using the "--global" option forces this to ~/.gitconfig. Using the
 201        "--system" option forces this to $(prefix)/etc/gitconfig.
 202
 203GIT_CONFIG_LOCAL::
 204        Take the configuration from the given file instead if .git/config.
 205        Still read the global and the system-wide configuration files, though.
 206
 207See also <<FILES>>.
 208
 209
 210[[EXAMPLES]]
 211EXAMPLES
 212--------
 213
 214Given a .git/config like this:
 215
 216        #
 217        # This is the config file, and
 218        # a '#' or ';' character indicates
 219        # a comment
 220        #
 221
 222        ; core variables
 223        [core]
 224                ; Don't trust file modes
 225                filemode = false
 226
 227        ; Our diff algorithm
 228        [diff]
 229                external = "/usr/local/bin/gnu-diff -u"
 230                renames = true
 231
 232        ; Proxy settings
 233        [core]
 234                gitproxy="proxy-command" for kernel.org
 235                gitproxy=default-proxy ; for all the rest
 236
 237you can set the filemode to true with
 238
 239------------
 240% git config core.filemode true
 241------------
 242
 243The hypothetical proxy command entries actually have a postfix to discern
 244what URL they apply to. Here is how to change the entry for kernel.org
 245to "ssh".
 246
 247------------
 248% git config core.gitproxy '"ssh" for kernel.org' 'for kernel.org$'
 249------------
 250
 251This makes sure that only the key/value pair for kernel.org is replaced.
 252
 253To delete the entry for renames, do
 254
 255------------
 256% git config --unset diff.renames
 257------------
 258
 259If you want to delete an entry for a multivar (like core.gitproxy above),
 260you have to provide a regex matching the value of exactly one line.
 261
 262To query the value for a given key, do
 263
 264------------
 265% git config --get core.filemode
 266------------
 267
 268or
 269
 270------------
 271% git config core.filemode
 272------------
 273
 274or, to query a multivar:
 275
 276------------
 277% git config --get core.gitproxy "for kernel.org$"
 278------------
 279
 280If you want to know all the values for a multivar, do:
 281
 282------------
 283% git config --get-all core.gitproxy
 284------------
 285
 286If you like to live dangerous, you can replace *all* core.gitproxy by a
 287new one with
 288
 289------------
 290% git config --replace-all core.gitproxy ssh
 291------------
 292
 293However, if you really only want to replace the line for the default proxy,
 294i.e. the one without a "for ..." postfix, do something like this:
 295
 296------------
 297% git config core.gitproxy ssh '! for '
 298------------
 299
 300To actually match only values with an exclamation mark, you have to
 301
 302------------
 303% git config section.key value '[!]'
 304------------
 305
 306To add a new proxy, without altering any of the existing ones, use
 307
 308------------
 309% git config core.gitproxy '"proxy-command" for example.com'
 310------------
 311
 312An example to use customized color from the configuration in your
 313script:
 314
 315------------
 316#!/bin/sh
 317WS=$(git config --get-color color.diff.whitespace "blue reverse")
 318RESET=$(git config --get-color "" "reset")
 319echo "${WS}your whitespace color or blue reverse${RESET}"
 320------------
 321
 322include::config.txt[]
 323
 324
 325Author
 326------
 327Written by Johannes Schindelin <Johannes.Schindelin@gmx.de>
 328
 329Documentation
 330--------------
 331Documentation by Johannes Schindelin, Petr Baudis and the git-list <git@vger.kernel.org>.
 332
 333GIT
 334---
 335Part of the linkgit:git[7] suite