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]. 25link:user-manual.html[Git User's Manual] is still work in 26progress, but when finished hopefully it will guide a new user 27in a coherent way to git enlightenment ;-). 28 29The COMMAND is either a name of a Git command (see below) or an alias 30as defined in the configuration file (see gitlink:git-config[1]). 31 32ifdef::stalenotes[] 33[NOTE] 34============ 35You are reading the documentation for the latest version of git. 36Documentation for older releases are available here: 37 38* link:v1.5.0.2/git.html[documentation for release 1.5.0.2] 39 40* link:v1.5.0.2/RelNotes-1.5.0.2.txt[release notes for 1.5.0.2] 41 42* link:v1.5.0.1/RelNotes-1.5.0.1.txt[release notes for 1.5.0.1] 43 44* link:v1.5.0/git.html[documentation for release 1.5.0] 45 46* link:v1.5.0/RelNotes-1.5.0.txt[release notes for 1.5.0] 47 48* link:v1.4.4.4/git.html[documentation for release 1.4.4.4] 49 50* link:v1.3.3/git.html[documentation for release 1.3.3] 51 52* link:v1.2.6/git.html[documentation for release 1.2.6] 53 54* link:v1.0.13/git.html[documentation for release 1.0.13] 55 56============ 57 58endif::stalenotes[] 59 60OPTIONS 61------- 62--version:: 63 Prints the git suite version that the 'git' program came from. 64 65--help:: 66 Prints the synopsis and a list of the most commonly used 67 commands. If a git command is named this option will bring up 68 the man-page for that command. If the option '--all' or '-a' is 69 given then all available commands are printed. 70 71--exec-path:: 72 Path to wherever your core git programs are installed. 73 This can also be controlled by setting the GIT_EXEC_PATH 74 environment variable. If no path is given 'git' will print 75 the current setting and then exit. 76 77-p|--paginate:: 78 Pipe all output into 'less' (or if set, $PAGER). 79 80--git-dir=<path>:: 81 Set the path to the repository. This can also be controlled by 82 setting the GIT_DIR environment variable. 83 84--bare:: 85 Same as --git-dir=`pwd`. 86 87FURTHER DOCUMENTATION 88--------------------- 89 90See the references above to get started using git. The following is 91probably more detail than necessary for a first-time user. 92 93The <<Discussion,Discussion>> section below and the 94link:core-tutorial.html[Core tutorial] both provide introductions to the 95underlying git architecture. 96 97See also the link:howto-index.html[howto] documents for some useful 98examples. 99 100GIT COMMANDS 101------------ 102 103We divide git into high level ("porcelain") commands and low level 104("plumbing") commands. 105 106High-level commands (porcelain) 107------------------------------- 108 109We separate the porcelain commands into the main commands and some 110ancillary user utilities. 111 112Main porcelain commands 113~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 114 115include::cmds-mainporcelain.txt[] 116 117Ancillary Commands 118~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 119Manipulators: 120 121include::cmds-ancillarymanipulators.txt[] 122 123Interrogators: 124 125include::cmds-ancillaryinterrogators.txt[] 126 127 128Interacting with Others 129~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 130 131These commands are to interact with foreign SCM and with other 132people via patch over e-mail. 133 134include::cmds-foreignscminterface.txt[] 135 136 137Low-level commands (plumbing) 138----------------------------- 139 140Although git includes its 141own porcelain layer, its low-level commands are sufficient to support 142development of alternative porcelains. Developers of such porcelains 143might start by reading about gitlink:git-update-index[1] and 144gitlink:git-read-tree[1]. 145 146The interface (input, output, set of options and the semantics) 147to these low-level commands are meant to be a lot more stable 148than Porcelain level commands, because these commands are 149primarily for scripted use. The interface to Porcelain commands 150on the other hand are subject to change in order to improve the 151end user experience. 152 153The following description divides 154the low-level commands into commands that manipulate objects (in 155the repository, index, and working tree), commands that interrogate and 156compare objects, and commands that move objects and references between 157repositories. 158 159 160Manipulation commands 161~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 162 163include::cmds-plumbingmanipulators.txt[] 164 165 166Interrogation commands 167~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 168 169include::cmds-plumbinginterrogators.txt[] 170 171In general, the interrogate commands do not touch the files in 172the working tree. 173 174 175Synching repositories 176~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 177 178include::cmds-synchingrepositories.txt[] 179 180The following are helper programs used by the above; end users 181typically do not use them directly. 182 183include::cmds-synchelpers.txt[] 184 185 186Internal helper commands 187~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 188 189These are internal helper commands used by other commands; end 190users typically do not use them directly. 191 192include::cmds-purehelpers.txt[] 193 194 195Configuration Mechanism 196----------------------- 197 198Starting from 0.99.9 (actually mid 0.99.8.GIT), `.git/config` file 199is used to hold per-repository configuration options. It is a 200simple text file modeled after `.ini` format familiar to some 201people. Here is an example: 202 203------------ 204# 205# A '#' or ';' character indicates a comment. 206# 207 208; core variables 209[core] 210 ; Don't trust file modes 211 filemode = false 212 213; user identity 214[user] 215 name = "Junio C Hamano" 216 email = "junkio@twinsun.com" 217 218------------ 219 220Various commands read from the configuration file and adjust 221their operation accordingly. 222 223 224Identifier Terminology 225---------------------- 226<object>:: 227 Indicates the object name for any type of object. 228 229<blob>:: 230 Indicates a blob object name. 231 232<tree>:: 233 Indicates a tree object name. 234 235<commit>:: 236 Indicates a commit object name. 237 238<tree-ish>:: 239 Indicates a tree, commit or tag object name. A 240 command that takes a <tree-ish> argument ultimately wants to 241 operate on a <tree> object but automatically dereferences 242 <commit> and <tag> objects that point at a <tree>. 243 244<type>:: 245 Indicates that an object type is required. 246 Currently one of: `blob`, `tree`, `commit`, or `tag`. 247 248<file>:: 249 Indicates a filename - almost always relative to the 250 root of the tree structure `GIT_INDEX_FILE` describes. 251 252Symbolic Identifiers 253-------------------- 254Any git command accepting any <object> can also use the following 255symbolic notation: 256 257HEAD:: 258 indicates the head of the current branch (i.e. the 259 contents of `$GIT_DIR/HEAD`). 260 261<tag>:: 262 a valid tag 'name' 263 (i.e. the contents of `$GIT_DIR/refs/tags/<tag>`). 264 265<head>:: 266 a valid head 'name' 267 (i.e. the contents of `$GIT_DIR/refs/heads/<head>`). 268 269For a more complete list of ways to spell object names, see 270"SPECIFYING REVISIONS" section in gitlink:git-rev-parse[1]. 271 272 273File/Directory Structure 274------------------------ 275 276Please see link:repository-layout.html[repository layout] document. 277 278Read link:hooks.html[hooks] for more details about each hook. 279 280Higher level SCMs may provide and manage additional information in the 281`$GIT_DIR`. 282 283 284Terminology 285----------- 286Please see link:glossary.html[glossary] document. 287 288 289Environment Variables 290--------------------- 291Various git commands use the following environment variables: 292 293The git Repository 294~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 295These environment variables apply to 'all' core git commands. Nb: it 296is worth noting that they may be used/overridden by SCMS sitting above 297git so take care if using Cogito etc. 298 299'GIT_INDEX_FILE':: 300 This environment allows the specification of an alternate 301 index file. If not specified, the default of `$GIT_DIR/index` 302 is used. 303 304'GIT_OBJECT_DIRECTORY':: 305 If the object storage directory is specified via this 306 environment variable then the sha1 directories are created 307 underneath - otherwise the default `$GIT_DIR/objects` 308 directory is used. 309 310'GIT_ALTERNATE_OBJECT_DIRECTORIES':: 311 Due to the immutable nature of git objects, old objects can be 312 archived into shared, read-only directories. This variable 313 specifies a ":" separated list of git object directories which 314 can be used to search for git objects. New objects will not be 315 written to these directories. 316 317'GIT_DIR':: 318 If the 'GIT_DIR' environment variable is set then it 319 specifies a path to use instead of the default `.git` 320 for the base of the repository. 321 322git Commits 323~~~~~~~~~~~ 324'GIT_AUTHOR_NAME':: 325'GIT_AUTHOR_EMAIL':: 326'GIT_AUTHOR_DATE':: 327'GIT_COMMITTER_NAME':: 328'GIT_COMMITTER_EMAIL':: 329 see gitlink:git-commit-tree[1] 330 331git Diffs 332~~~~~~~~~ 333'GIT_DIFF_OPTS':: 334 Only valid setting is "--unified=??" or "-u??" to set the 335 number of context lines shown when a unified diff is created. 336 This takes precedence over any "-U" or "--unified" option 337 value passed on the git diff command line. 338 339'GIT_EXTERNAL_DIFF':: 340 When the environment variable 'GIT_EXTERNAL_DIFF' is set, the 341 program named by it is called, instead of the diff invocation 342 described above. For a path that is added, removed, or modified, 343 'GIT_EXTERNAL_DIFF' is called with 7 parameters: 344 345 path old-file old-hex old-mode new-file new-hex new-mode 346+ 347where: 348 349 <old|new>-file:: are files GIT_EXTERNAL_DIFF can use to read the 350 contents of <old|new>, 351 <old|new>-hex:: are the 40-hexdigit SHA1 hashes, 352 <old|new>-mode:: are the octal representation of the file modes. 353 354+ 355The file parameters can point at the user's working file 356(e.g. `new-file` in "git-diff-files"), `/dev/null` (e.g. `old-file` 357when a new file is added), or a temporary file (e.g. `old-file` in the 358index). 'GIT_EXTERNAL_DIFF' should not worry about unlinking the 359temporary file --- it is removed when 'GIT_EXTERNAL_DIFF' exits. 360+ 361For a path that is unmerged, 'GIT_EXTERNAL_DIFF' is called with 1 362parameter, <path>. 363 364other 365~~~~~ 366'GIT_PAGER':: 367 This environment variable overrides `$PAGER`. 368 369'GIT_TRACE':: 370 If this variable is set to "1", "2" or "true" (comparison 371 is case insensitive), git will print `trace:` messages on 372 stderr telling about alias expansion, built-in command 373 execution and external command execution. 374 If this variable is set to an integer value greater than 1 375 and lower than 10 (strictly) then git will interpret this 376 value as an open file descriptor and will try to write the 377 trace messages into this file descriptor. 378 Alternatively, if this variable is set to an absolute path 379 (starting with a '/' character), git will interpret this 380 as a file path and will try to write the trace messages 381 into it. 382 383Discussion[[Discussion]] 384------------------------ 385include::core-intro.txt[] 386 387Authors 388------- 389* git's founding father is Linus Torvalds <torvalds@osdl.org>. 390* The current git nurse is Junio C Hamano <junkio@cox.net>. 391* The git potty was written by Andres Ericsson <ae@op5.se>. 392* General upbringing is handled by the git-list <git@vger.kernel.org>. 393 394Documentation 395-------------- 396The documentation for git suite was started by David Greaves 397<david@dgreaves.com>, and later enhanced greatly by the 398contributors on the git-list <git@vger.kernel.org>. 399 400GIT 401--- 402Part of the gitlink:git[7] suite 403