Documentation / git.txton commit ref-filter: abstract ref format into its own struct (4a68e36)
   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    [--super-prefix=<path>]
  17    <command> [<args>]
  18
  19DESCRIPTION
  20-----------
  21Git is a fast, scalable, distributed revision control system with an
  22unusually rich command set that provides both high-level operations
  23and full access to internals.
  24
  25See linkgit:gittutorial[7] to get started, then see
  26linkgit:giteveryday[7] for a useful minimum set of
  27commands.  The link:user-manual.html[Git User's Manual] has a more
  28in-depth introduction.
  29
  30After you mastered the basic concepts, you can come back to this
  31page to learn what commands Git offers.  You can learn more about
  32individual Git commands with "git help command".  linkgit:gitcli[7]
  33manual page gives you an overview of the command-line command syntax.
  34
  35A formatted and hyperlinked copy of the latest Git documentation
  36can be viewed at `https://git.github.io/htmldocs/git.html`.
  37
  38
  39OPTIONS
  40-------
  41--version::
  42        Prints the Git suite version that the 'git' program came from.
  43
  44--help::
  45        Prints the synopsis and a list of the most commonly used
  46        commands. If the option `--all` or `-a` is given then all
  47        available commands are printed. If a Git command is named this
  48        option will bring up the manual page for that command.
  49+
  50Other options are available to control how the manual page is
  51displayed. See linkgit:git-help[1] for more information,
  52because `git --help ...` is converted internally into `git
  53help ...`.
  54
  55-C <path>::
  56        Run as if git was started in '<path>' instead of the current working
  57        directory.  When multiple `-C` options are given, each subsequent
  58        non-absolute `-C <path>` is interpreted relative to the preceding `-C
  59        <path>`.
  60+
  61This option affects options that expect path name like `--git-dir` and
  62`--work-tree` in that their interpretations of the path names would be
  63made relative to the working directory caused by the `-C` option. For
  64example the following invocations are equivalent:
  65
  66    git --git-dir=a.git --work-tree=b -C c status
  67    git --git-dir=c/a.git --work-tree=c/b status
  68
  69-c <name>=<value>::
  70        Pass a configuration parameter to the command. The value
  71        given will override values from configuration files.
  72        The <name> is expected in the same format as listed by
  73        'git config' (subkeys separated by dots).
  74+
  75Note that omitting the `=` in `git -c foo.bar ...` is allowed and sets
  76`foo.bar` to the boolean true value (just like `[foo]bar` would in a
  77config file). Including the equals but with an empty value (like `git -c
  78foo.bar= ...`) sets `foo.bar` to the empty string.
  79
  80--exec-path[=<path>]::
  81        Path to wherever your core Git programs are installed.
  82        This can also be controlled by setting the GIT_EXEC_PATH
  83        environment variable. If no path is given, 'git' will print
  84        the current setting and then exit.
  85
  86--html-path::
  87        Print the path, without trailing slash, where Git's HTML
  88        documentation is installed and exit.
  89
  90--man-path::
  91        Print the manpath (see `man(1)`) for the man pages for
  92        this version of Git and exit.
  93
  94--info-path::
  95        Print the path where the Info files documenting this
  96        version of Git are installed and exit.
  97
  98-p::
  99--paginate::
 100        Pipe all output into 'less' (or if set, $PAGER) if standard
 101        output is a terminal.  This overrides the `pager.<cmd>`
 102        configuration options (see the "Configuration Mechanism" section
 103        below).
 104
 105--no-pager::
 106        Do not pipe Git output into a pager.
 107
 108--git-dir=<path>::
 109        Set the path to the repository. This can also be controlled by
 110        setting the `GIT_DIR` environment variable. It can be an absolute
 111        path or relative path to current working directory.
 112
 113--work-tree=<path>::
 114        Set the path to the working tree. It can be an absolute path
 115        or a path relative to the current working directory.
 116        This can also be controlled by setting the GIT_WORK_TREE
 117        environment variable and the core.worktree configuration
 118        variable (see core.worktree in linkgit:git-config[1] for a
 119        more detailed discussion).
 120
 121--namespace=<path>::
 122        Set the Git namespace.  See linkgit:gitnamespaces[7] for more
 123        details.  Equivalent to setting the `GIT_NAMESPACE` environment
 124        variable.
 125
 126--super-prefix=<path>::
 127        Currently for internal use only.  Set a prefix which gives a path from
 128        above a repository down to its root.  One use is to give submodules
 129        context about the superproject that invoked it.
 130
 131--bare::
 132        Treat the repository as a bare repository.  If GIT_DIR
 133        environment is not set, it is set to the current working
 134        directory.
 135
 136--no-replace-objects::
 137        Do not use replacement refs to replace Git objects. See
 138        linkgit:git-replace[1] for more information.
 139
 140--literal-pathspecs::
 141        Treat pathspecs literally (i.e. no globbing, no pathspec magic).
 142        This is equivalent to setting the `GIT_LITERAL_PATHSPECS` environment
 143        variable to `1`.
 144
 145--glob-pathspecs::
 146        Add "glob" magic to all pathspec. This is equivalent to setting
 147        the `GIT_GLOB_PATHSPECS` environment variable to `1`. Disabling
 148        globbing on individual pathspecs can be done using pathspec
 149        magic ":(literal)"
 150
 151--noglob-pathspecs::
 152        Add "literal" magic to all pathspec. This is equivalent to setting
 153        the `GIT_NOGLOB_PATHSPECS` environment variable to `1`. Enabling
 154        globbing on individual pathspecs can be done using pathspec
 155        magic ":(glob)"
 156
 157--icase-pathspecs::
 158        Add "icase" magic to all pathspec. This is equivalent to setting
 159        the `GIT_ICASE_PATHSPECS` environment variable to `1`.
 160
 161GIT COMMANDS
 162------------
 163
 164We divide Git into high level ("porcelain") commands and low level
 165("plumbing") commands.
 166
 167High-level commands (porcelain)
 168-------------------------------
 169
 170We separate the porcelain commands into the main commands and some
 171ancillary user utilities.
 172
 173Main porcelain commands
 174~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 175
 176include::cmds-mainporcelain.txt[]
 177
 178Ancillary Commands
 179~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 180Manipulators:
 181
 182include::cmds-ancillarymanipulators.txt[]
 183
 184Interrogators:
 185
 186include::cmds-ancillaryinterrogators.txt[]
 187
 188
 189Interacting with Others
 190~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 191
 192These commands are to interact with foreign SCM and with other
 193people via patch over e-mail.
 194
 195include::cmds-foreignscminterface.txt[]
 196
 197
 198Low-level commands (plumbing)
 199-----------------------------
 200
 201Although Git includes its
 202own porcelain layer, its low-level commands are sufficient to support
 203development of alternative porcelains.  Developers of such porcelains
 204might start by reading about linkgit:git-update-index[1] and
 205linkgit:git-read-tree[1].
 206
 207The interface (input, output, set of options and the semantics)
 208to these low-level commands are meant to be a lot more stable
 209than Porcelain level commands, because these commands are
 210primarily for scripted use.  The interface to Porcelain commands
 211on the other hand are subject to change in order to improve the
 212end user experience.
 213
 214The following description divides
 215the low-level commands into commands that manipulate objects (in
 216the repository, index, and working tree), commands that interrogate and
 217compare objects, and commands that move objects and references between
 218repositories.
 219
 220
 221Manipulation commands
 222~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 223
 224include::cmds-plumbingmanipulators.txt[]
 225
 226
 227Interrogation commands
 228~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 229
 230include::cmds-plumbinginterrogators.txt[]
 231
 232In general, the interrogate commands do not touch the files in
 233the working tree.
 234
 235
 236Synching repositories
 237~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 238
 239include::cmds-synchingrepositories.txt[]
 240
 241The following are helper commands used by the above; end users
 242typically do not use them directly.
 243
 244include::cmds-synchelpers.txt[]
 245
 246
 247Internal helper commands
 248~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 249
 250These are internal helper commands used by other commands; end
 251users typically do not use them directly.
 252
 253include::cmds-purehelpers.txt[]
 254
 255
 256Configuration Mechanism
 257-----------------------
 258
 259Git uses a simple text format to store customizations that are per
 260repository and are per user.  Such a configuration file may look
 261like this:
 262
 263------------
 264#
 265# A '#' or ';' character indicates a comment.
 266#
 267
 268; core variables
 269[core]
 270        ; Don't trust file modes
 271        filemode = false
 272
 273; user identity
 274[user]
 275        name = "Junio C Hamano"
 276        email = "gitster@pobox.com"
 277
 278------------
 279
 280Various commands read from the configuration file and adjust
 281their operation accordingly.  See linkgit:git-config[1] for a
 282list and more details about the configuration mechanism.
 283
 284
 285Identifier Terminology
 286----------------------
 287<object>::
 288        Indicates the object name for any type of object.
 289
 290<blob>::
 291        Indicates a blob object name.
 292
 293<tree>::
 294        Indicates a tree object name.
 295
 296<commit>::
 297        Indicates a commit object name.
 298
 299<tree-ish>::
 300        Indicates a tree, commit or tag object name.  A
 301        command that takes a <tree-ish> argument ultimately wants to
 302        operate on a <tree> object but automatically dereferences
 303        <commit> and <tag> objects that point at a <tree>.
 304
 305<commit-ish>::
 306        Indicates a commit or tag object name.  A
 307        command that takes a <commit-ish> argument ultimately wants to
 308        operate on a <commit> object but automatically dereferences
 309        <tag> objects that point at a <commit>.
 310
 311<type>::
 312        Indicates that an object type is required.
 313        Currently one of: `blob`, `tree`, `commit`, or `tag`.
 314
 315<file>::
 316        Indicates a filename - almost always relative to the
 317        root of the tree structure `GIT_INDEX_FILE` describes.
 318
 319Symbolic Identifiers
 320--------------------
 321Any Git command accepting any <object> can also use the following
 322symbolic notation:
 323
 324HEAD::
 325        indicates the head of the current branch.
 326
 327<tag>::
 328        a valid tag 'name'
 329        (i.e. a `refs/tags/<tag>` reference).
 330
 331<head>::
 332        a valid head 'name'
 333        (i.e. a `refs/heads/<head>` reference).
 334
 335For a more complete list of ways to spell object names, see
 336"SPECIFYING REVISIONS" section in linkgit:gitrevisions[7].
 337
 338
 339File/Directory Structure
 340------------------------
 341
 342Please see the linkgit:gitrepository-layout[5] document.
 343
 344Read linkgit:githooks[5] for more details about each hook.
 345
 346Higher level SCMs may provide and manage additional information in the
 347`$GIT_DIR`.
 348
 349
 350Terminology
 351-----------
 352Please see linkgit:gitglossary[7].
 353
 354
 355Environment Variables
 356---------------------
 357Various Git commands use the following environment variables:
 358
 359The Git Repository
 360~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 361These environment variables apply to 'all' core Git commands. Nb: it
 362is worth noting that they may be used/overridden by SCMS sitting above
 363Git so take care if using a foreign front-end.
 364
 365`GIT_INDEX_FILE`::
 366        This environment allows the specification of an alternate
 367        index file. If not specified, the default of `$GIT_DIR/index`
 368        is used.
 369
 370`GIT_INDEX_VERSION`::
 371        This environment variable allows the specification of an index
 372        version for new repositories.  It won't affect existing index
 373        files.  By default index file version 2 or 3 is used. See
 374        linkgit:git-update-index[1] for more information.
 375
 376`GIT_OBJECT_DIRECTORY`::
 377        If the object storage directory is specified via this
 378        environment variable then the sha1 directories are created
 379        underneath - otherwise the default `$GIT_DIR/objects`
 380        directory is used.
 381
 382`GIT_ALTERNATE_OBJECT_DIRECTORIES`::
 383        Due to the immutable nature of Git objects, old objects can be
 384        archived into shared, read-only directories. This variable
 385        specifies a ":" separated (on Windows ";" separated) list
 386        of Git object directories which can be used to search for Git
 387        objects. New objects will not be written to these directories.
 388+
 389        Entries that begin with `"` (double-quote) will be interpreted
 390        as C-style quoted paths, removing leading and trailing
 391        double-quotes and respecting backslash escapes. E.g., the value
 392        `"path-with-\"-and-:-in-it":vanilla-path` has two paths:
 393        `path-with-"-and-:-in-it` and `vanilla-path`.
 394
 395`GIT_DIR`::
 396        If the `GIT_DIR` environment variable is set then it
 397        specifies a path to use instead of the default `.git`
 398        for the base of the repository.
 399        The `--git-dir` command-line option also sets this value.
 400
 401`GIT_WORK_TREE`::
 402        Set the path to the root of the working tree.
 403        This can also be controlled by the `--work-tree` command-line
 404        option and the core.worktree configuration variable.
 405
 406`GIT_NAMESPACE`::
 407        Set the Git namespace; see linkgit:gitnamespaces[7] for details.
 408        The `--namespace` command-line option also sets this value.
 409
 410`GIT_CEILING_DIRECTORIES`::
 411        This should be a colon-separated list of absolute paths.  If
 412        set, it is a list of directories that Git should not chdir up
 413        into while looking for a repository directory (useful for
 414        excluding slow-loading network directories).  It will not
 415        exclude the current working directory or a GIT_DIR set on the
 416        command line or in the environment.  Normally, Git has to read
 417        the entries in this list and resolve any symlink that
 418        might be present in order to compare them with the current
 419        directory.  However, if even this access is slow, you
 420        can add an empty entry to the list to tell Git that the
 421        subsequent entries are not symlinks and needn't be resolved;
 422        e.g.,
 423        `GIT_CEILING_DIRECTORIES=/maybe/symlink::/very/slow/non/symlink`.
 424
 425`GIT_DISCOVERY_ACROSS_FILESYSTEM`::
 426        When run in a directory that does not have ".git" repository
 427        directory, Git tries to find such a directory in the parent
 428        directories to find the top of the working tree, but by default it
 429        does not cross filesystem boundaries.  This environment variable
 430        can be set to true to tell Git not to stop at filesystem
 431        boundaries.  Like `GIT_CEILING_DIRECTORIES`, this will not affect
 432        an explicit repository directory set via `GIT_DIR` or on the
 433        command line.
 434
 435`GIT_COMMON_DIR`::
 436        If this variable is set to a path, non-worktree files that are
 437        normally in $GIT_DIR will be taken from this path
 438        instead. Worktree-specific files such as HEAD or index are
 439        taken from $GIT_DIR. See linkgit:gitrepository-layout[5] and
 440        linkgit:git-worktree[1] for
 441        details. This variable has lower precedence than other path
 442        variables such as GIT_INDEX_FILE, GIT_OBJECT_DIRECTORY...
 443
 444Git Commits
 445~~~~~~~~~~~
 446`GIT_AUTHOR_NAME`::
 447`GIT_AUTHOR_EMAIL`::
 448`GIT_AUTHOR_DATE`::
 449`GIT_COMMITTER_NAME`::
 450`GIT_COMMITTER_EMAIL`::
 451`GIT_COMMITTER_DATE`::
 452'EMAIL'::
 453        see linkgit:git-commit-tree[1]
 454
 455Git Diffs
 456~~~~~~~~~
 457`GIT_DIFF_OPTS`::
 458        Only valid setting is "--unified=??" or "-u??" to set the
 459        number of context lines shown when a unified diff is created.
 460        This takes precedence over any "-U" or "--unified" option
 461        value passed on the Git diff command line.
 462
 463`GIT_EXTERNAL_DIFF`::
 464        When the environment variable `GIT_EXTERNAL_DIFF` is set, the
 465        program named by it is called, instead of the diff invocation
 466        described above.  For a path that is added, removed, or modified,
 467        `GIT_EXTERNAL_DIFF` is called with 7 parameters:
 468
 469        path old-file old-hex old-mode new-file new-hex new-mode
 470+
 471where:
 472
 473        <old|new>-file:: are files GIT_EXTERNAL_DIFF can use to read the
 474                         contents of <old|new>,
 475        <old|new>-hex:: are the 40-hexdigit SHA-1 hashes,
 476        <old|new>-mode:: are the octal representation of the file modes.
 477+
 478The file parameters can point at the user's working file
 479(e.g. `new-file` in "git-diff-files"), `/dev/null` (e.g. `old-file`
 480when a new file is added), or a temporary file (e.g. `old-file` in the
 481index).  `GIT_EXTERNAL_DIFF` should not worry about unlinking the
 482temporary file --- it is removed when `GIT_EXTERNAL_DIFF` exits.
 483+
 484For a path that is unmerged, `GIT_EXTERNAL_DIFF` is called with 1
 485parameter, <path>.
 486+
 487For each path `GIT_EXTERNAL_DIFF` is called, two environment variables,
 488`GIT_DIFF_PATH_COUNTER` and `GIT_DIFF_PATH_TOTAL` are set.
 489
 490`GIT_DIFF_PATH_COUNTER`::
 491        A 1-based counter incremented by one for every path.
 492
 493`GIT_DIFF_PATH_TOTAL`::
 494        The total number of paths.
 495
 496other
 497~~~~~
 498`GIT_MERGE_VERBOSITY`::
 499        A number controlling the amount of output shown by
 500        the recursive merge strategy.  Overrides merge.verbosity.
 501        See linkgit:git-merge[1]
 502
 503`GIT_PAGER`::
 504        This environment variable overrides `$PAGER`. If it is set
 505        to an empty string or to the value "cat", Git will not launch
 506        a pager.  See also the `core.pager` option in
 507        linkgit:git-config[1].
 508
 509`GIT_EDITOR`::
 510        This environment variable overrides `$EDITOR` and `$VISUAL`.
 511        It is used by several Git commands when, on interactive mode,
 512        an editor is to be launched. See also linkgit:git-var[1]
 513        and the `core.editor` option in linkgit:git-config[1].
 514
 515`GIT_SSH`::
 516`GIT_SSH_COMMAND`::
 517        If either of these environment variables is set then 'git fetch'
 518        and 'git push' will use the specified command instead of 'ssh'
 519        when they need to connect to a remote system.
 520        The command will be given exactly two or four arguments: the
 521        'username@host' (or just 'host') from the URL and the shell
 522        command to execute on that remote system, optionally preceded by
 523        `-p` (literally) and the 'port' from the URL when it specifies
 524        something other than the default SSH port.
 525+
 526`$GIT_SSH_COMMAND` takes precedence over `$GIT_SSH`, and is interpreted
 527by the shell, which allows additional arguments to be included.
 528`$GIT_SSH` on the other hand must be just the path to a program
 529(which can be a wrapper shell script, if additional arguments are
 530needed).
 531+
 532Usually it is easier to configure any desired options through your
 533personal `.ssh/config` file.  Please consult your ssh documentation
 534for further details.
 535
 536`GIT_SSH_VARIANT`::
 537        If this environment variable is set, it overrides Git's autodetection
 538        whether `GIT_SSH`/`GIT_SSH_COMMAND`/`core.sshCommand` refer to OpenSSH,
 539        plink or tortoiseplink. This variable overrides the config setting
 540        `ssh.variant` that serves the same purpose.
 541
 542`GIT_ASKPASS`::
 543        If this environment variable is set, then Git commands which need to
 544        acquire passwords or passphrases (e.g. for HTTP or IMAP authentication)
 545        will call this program with a suitable prompt as command-line argument
 546        and read the password from its STDOUT. See also the `core.askPass`
 547        option in linkgit:git-config[1].
 548
 549`GIT_TERMINAL_PROMPT`::
 550        If this environment variable is set to `0`, git will not prompt
 551        on the terminal (e.g., when asking for HTTP authentication).
 552
 553`GIT_CONFIG_NOSYSTEM`::
 554        Whether to skip reading settings from the system-wide
 555        `$(prefix)/etc/gitconfig` file.  This environment variable can
 556        be used along with `$HOME` and `$XDG_CONFIG_HOME` to create a
 557        predictable environment for a picky script, or you can set it
 558        temporarily to avoid using a buggy `/etc/gitconfig` file while
 559        waiting for someone with sufficient permissions to fix it.
 560
 561`GIT_FLUSH`::
 562        If this environment variable is set to "1", then commands such
 563        as 'git blame' (in incremental mode), 'git rev-list', 'git log',
 564        'git check-attr' and 'git check-ignore' will
 565        force a flush of the output stream after each record have been
 566        flushed. If this
 567        variable is set to "0", the output of these commands will be done
 568        using completely buffered I/O.   If this environment variable is
 569        not set, Git will choose buffered or record-oriented flushing
 570        based on whether stdout appears to be redirected to a file or not.
 571
 572`GIT_TRACE`::
 573        Enables general trace messages, e.g. alias expansion, built-in
 574        command execution and external command execution.
 575+
 576If this variable is set to "1", "2" or "true" (comparison
 577is case insensitive), trace messages will be printed to
 578stderr.
 579+
 580If the variable is set to an integer value greater than 2
 581and lower than 10 (strictly) then Git will interpret this
 582value as an open file descriptor and will try to write the
 583trace messages into this file descriptor.
 584+
 585Alternatively, if the variable is set to an absolute path
 586(starting with a '/' character), Git will interpret this
 587as a file path and will try to write the trace messages
 588into it.
 589+
 590Unsetting the variable, or setting it to empty, "0" or
 591"false" (case insensitive) disables trace messages.
 592
 593`GIT_TRACE_PACK_ACCESS`::
 594        Enables trace messages for all accesses to any packs. For each
 595        access, the pack file name and an offset in the pack is
 596        recorded. This may be helpful for troubleshooting some
 597        pack-related performance problems.
 598        See `GIT_TRACE` for available trace output options.
 599
 600`GIT_TRACE_PACKET`::
 601        Enables trace messages for all packets coming in or out of a
 602        given program. This can help with debugging object negotiation
 603        or other protocol issues. Tracing is turned off at a packet
 604        starting with "PACK" (but see `GIT_TRACE_PACKFILE` below).
 605        See `GIT_TRACE` for available trace output options.
 606
 607`GIT_TRACE_PACKFILE`::
 608        Enables tracing of packfiles sent or received by a
 609        given program. Unlike other trace output, this trace is
 610        verbatim: no headers, and no quoting of binary data. You almost
 611        certainly want to direct into a file (e.g.,
 612        `GIT_TRACE_PACKFILE=/tmp/my.pack`) rather than displaying it on
 613        the terminal or mixing it with other trace output.
 614+
 615Note that this is currently only implemented for the client side
 616of clones and fetches.
 617
 618`GIT_TRACE_PERFORMANCE`::
 619        Enables performance related trace messages, e.g. total execution
 620        time of each Git command.
 621        See `GIT_TRACE` for available trace output options.
 622
 623`GIT_TRACE_SETUP`::
 624        Enables trace messages printing the .git, working tree and current
 625        working directory after Git has completed its setup phase.
 626        See `GIT_TRACE` for available trace output options.
 627
 628`GIT_TRACE_SHALLOW`::
 629        Enables trace messages that can help debugging fetching /
 630        cloning of shallow repositories.
 631        See `GIT_TRACE` for available trace output options.
 632
 633`GIT_TRACE_CURL`::
 634        Enables a curl full trace dump of all incoming and outgoing data,
 635        including descriptive information, of the git transport protocol.
 636        This is similar to doing curl `--trace-ascii` on the command line.
 637        This option overrides setting the `GIT_CURL_VERBOSE` environment
 638        variable.
 639        See `GIT_TRACE` for available trace output options.
 640
 641`GIT_LITERAL_PATHSPECS`::
 642        Setting this variable to `1` will cause Git to treat all
 643        pathspecs literally, rather than as glob patterns. For example,
 644        running `GIT_LITERAL_PATHSPECS=1 git log -- '*.c'` will search
 645        for commits that touch the path `*.c`, not any paths that the
 646        glob `*.c` matches. You might want this if you are feeding
 647        literal paths to Git (e.g., paths previously given to you by
 648        `git ls-tree`, `--raw` diff output, etc).
 649
 650`GIT_GLOB_PATHSPECS`::
 651        Setting this variable to `1` will cause Git to treat all
 652        pathspecs as glob patterns (aka "glob" magic).
 653
 654`GIT_NOGLOB_PATHSPECS`::
 655        Setting this variable to `1` will cause Git to treat all
 656        pathspecs as literal (aka "literal" magic).
 657
 658`GIT_ICASE_PATHSPECS`::
 659        Setting this variable to `1` will cause Git to treat all
 660        pathspecs as case-insensitive.
 661
 662`GIT_REFLOG_ACTION`::
 663        When a ref is updated, reflog entries are created to keep
 664        track of the reason why the ref was updated (which is
 665        typically the name of the high-level command that updated
 666        the ref), in addition to the old and new values of the ref.
 667        A scripted Porcelain command can use set_reflog_action
 668        helper function in `git-sh-setup` to set its name to this
 669        variable when it is invoked as the top level command by the
 670        end user, to be recorded in the body of the reflog.
 671
 672`GIT_REF_PARANOIA`::
 673        If set to `1`, include broken or badly named refs when iterating
 674        over lists of refs. In a normal, non-corrupted repository, this
 675        does nothing. However, enabling it may help git to detect and
 676        abort some operations in the presence of broken refs. Git sets
 677        this variable automatically when performing destructive
 678        operations like linkgit:git-prune[1]. You should not need to set
 679        it yourself unless you want to be paranoid about making sure
 680        an operation has touched every ref (e.g., because you are
 681        cloning a repository to make a backup).
 682
 683`GIT_ALLOW_PROTOCOL`::
 684        If set to a colon-separated list of protocols, behave as if
 685        `protocol.allow` is set to `never`, and each of the listed
 686        protocols has `protocol.<name>.allow` set to `always`
 687        (overriding any existing configuration). In other words, any
 688        protocol not mentioned will be disallowed (i.e., this is a
 689        whitelist, not a blacklist). See the description of
 690        `protocol.allow` in linkgit:git-config[1] for more details.
 691
 692`GIT_PROTOCOL_FROM_USER`::
 693        Set to 0 to prevent protocols used by fetch/push/clone which are
 694        configured to the `user` state.  This is useful to restrict recursive
 695        submodule initialization from an untrusted repository or for programs
 696        which feed potentially-untrusted URLS to git commands.  See
 697        linkgit:git-config[1] for more details.
 698
 699Discussion[[Discussion]]
 700------------------------
 701
 702More detail on the following is available from the
 703link:user-manual.html#git-concepts[Git concepts chapter of the
 704user-manual] and linkgit:gitcore-tutorial[7].
 705
 706A Git project normally consists of a working directory with a ".git"
 707subdirectory at the top level.  The .git directory contains, among other
 708things, a compressed object database representing the complete history
 709of the project, an "index" file which links that history to the current
 710contents of the working tree, and named pointers into that history such
 711as tags and branch heads.
 712
 713The object database contains objects of three main types: blobs, which
 714hold file data; trees, which point to blobs and other trees to build up
 715directory hierarchies; and commits, which each reference a single tree
 716and some number of parent commits.
 717
 718The commit, equivalent to what other systems call a "changeset" or
 719"version", represents a step in the project's history, and each parent
 720represents an immediately preceding step.  Commits with more than one
 721parent represent merges of independent lines of development.
 722
 723All objects are named by the SHA-1 hash of their contents, normally
 724written as a string of 40 hex digits.  Such names are globally unique.
 725The entire history leading up to a commit can be vouched for by signing
 726just that commit.  A fourth object type, the tag, is provided for this
 727purpose.
 728
 729When first created, objects are stored in individual files, but for
 730efficiency may later be compressed together into "pack files".
 731
 732Named pointers called refs mark interesting points in history.  A ref
 733may contain the SHA-1 name of an object or the name of another ref.  Refs
 734with names beginning `ref/head/` contain the SHA-1 name of the most
 735recent commit (or "head") of a branch under development.  SHA-1 names of
 736tags of interest are stored under `ref/tags/`.  A special ref named
 737`HEAD` contains the name of the currently checked-out branch.
 738
 739The index file is initialized with a list of all paths and, for each
 740path, a blob object and a set of attributes.  The blob object represents
 741the contents of the file as of the head of the current branch.  The
 742attributes (last modified time, size, etc.) are taken from the
 743corresponding file in the working tree.  Subsequent changes to the
 744working tree can be found by comparing these attributes.  The index may
 745be updated with new content, and new commits may be created from the
 746content stored in the index.
 747
 748The index is also capable of storing multiple entries (called "stages")
 749for a given pathname.  These stages are used to hold the various
 750unmerged version of a file when a merge is in progress.
 751
 752FURTHER DOCUMENTATION
 753---------------------
 754
 755See the references in the "description" section to get started
 756using Git.  The following is probably more detail than necessary
 757for a first-time user.
 758
 759The link:user-manual.html#git-concepts[Git concepts chapter of the
 760user-manual] and linkgit:gitcore-tutorial[7] both provide
 761introductions to the underlying Git architecture.
 762
 763See linkgit:gitworkflows[7] for an overview of recommended workflows.
 764
 765See also the link:howto-index.html[howto] documents for some useful
 766examples.
 767
 768The internals are documented in the
 769link:technical/api-index.html[Git API documentation].
 770
 771Users migrating from CVS may also want to
 772read linkgit:gitcvs-migration[7].
 773
 774
 775Authors
 776-------
 777Git was started by Linus Torvalds, and is currently maintained by Junio
 778C Hamano. Numerous contributions have come from the Git mailing list
 779<git@vger.kernel.org>.  http://www.openhub.net/p/git/contributors/summary
 780gives you a more complete list of contributors.
 781
 782If you have a clone of git.git itself, the
 783output of linkgit:git-shortlog[1] and linkgit:git-blame[1] can show you
 784the authors for specific parts of the project.
 785
 786Reporting Bugs
 787--------------
 788
 789Report bugs to the Git mailing list <git@vger.kernel.org> where the
 790development and maintenance is primarily done.  You do not have to be
 791subscribed to the list to send a message there.
 792
 793SEE ALSO
 794--------
 795linkgit:gittutorial[7], linkgit:gittutorial-2[7],
 796linkgit:giteveryday[7], linkgit:gitcvs-migration[7],
 797linkgit:gitglossary[7], linkgit:gitcore-tutorial[7],
 798linkgit:gitcli[7], link:user-manual.html[The Git User's Manual],
 799linkgit:gitworkflows[7]
 800
 801GIT
 802---
 803Part of the linkgit:git[1] suite