1git(1) 2====== 3 4NAME 5---- 6git - the stupid content tracker 7 8 9SYNOPSIS 10-------- 11[verse] 12'git' [--version] [--exec-path[=GIT_EXEC_PATH]] [--html-path] 13 [-p|--paginate|--no-pager] 14 [--bare] [--git-dir=GIT_DIR] [--work-tree=GIT_WORK_TREE] 15 [--help] COMMAND [ARGS] 16 17DESCRIPTION 18----------- 19Git is a fast, scalable, distributed revision control system with an 20unusually rich command set that provides both high-level operations 21and full access to internals. 22 23See linkgit:gittutorial[7] to get started, then see 24link:everyday.html[Everyday Git] for a useful minimum set of commands, and 25"man git-commandname" for documentation of each command. CVS users may 26also want to read linkgit:gitcvs-migration[7]. See 27the link:user-manual.html[Git User's Manual] for a more in-depth 28introduction. 29 30The COMMAND is either a name of a Git command (see below) or an alias 31as defined in the configuration file (see linkgit:git-config[1]). 32 33Formatted and hyperlinked version of the latest git 34documentation can be viewed at 35`http://www.kernel.org/pub/software/scm/git/docs/`. 36 37ifdef::stalenotes[] 38[NOTE] 39============ 40 41You are reading the documentation for the latest (possibly 42unreleased) version of git, that is available from 'master' 43branch of the `git.git` repository. 44Documentation for older releases are available here: 45 46* link:v1.6.4/git.html[documentation for release 1.6.4] 47 48* release notes for 49 link:RelNotes-1.6.4.txt[1.6.4]. 50 51* link:v1.6.3.4/git.html[documentation for release 1.6.3.4] 52 53* release notes for 54 link:RelNotes-1.6.3.4.txt[1.6.3.4], 55 link:RelNotes-1.6.3.3.txt[1.6.3.3], 56 link:RelNotes-1.6.3.2.txt[1.6.3.2], 57 link:RelNotes-1.6.3.1.txt[1.6.3.1], 58 link:RelNotes-1.6.3.txt[1.6.3]. 59 60* release notes for 61 link:RelNotes-1.6.2.5.txt[1.6.2.5], 62 link:RelNotes-1.6.2.4.txt[1.6.2.4], 63 link:RelNotes-1.6.2.3.txt[1.6.2.3], 64 link:RelNotes-1.6.2.2.txt[1.6.2.2], 65 link:RelNotes-1.6.2.1.txt[1.6.2.1], 66 link:RelNotes-1.6.2.txt[1.6.2]. 67 68* link:v1.6.1.3/git.html[documentation for release 1.6.1.3] 69 70* release notes for 71 link:RelNotes-1.6.1.3.txt[1.6.1.3], 72 link:RelNotes-1.6.1.2.txt[1.6.1.2], 73 link:RelNotes-1.6.1.1.txt[1.6.1.1], 74 link:RelNotes-1.6.1.txt[1.6.1]. 75 76* link:v1.6.0.6/git.html[documentation for release 1.6.0.6] 77 78* release notes for 79 link:RelNotes-1.6.0.6.txt[1.6.0.6], 80 link:RelNotes-1.6.0.5.txt[1.6.0.5], 81 link:RelNotes-1.6.0.4.txt[1.6.0.4], 82 link:RelNotes-1.6.0.3.txt[1.6.0.3], 83 link:RelNotes-1.6.0.2.txt[1.6.0.2], 84 link:RelNotes-1.6.0.1.txt[1.6.0.1], 85 link:RelNotes-1.6.0.txt[1.6.0]. 86 87* link:v1.5.6.6/git.html[documentation for release 1.5.6.6] 88 89* release notes for 90 link:RelNotes-1.5.6.6.txt[1.5.6.6], 91 link:RelNotes-1.5.6.5.txt[1.5.6.5], 92 link:RelNotes-1.5.6.4.txt[1.5.6.4], 93 link:RelNotes-1.5.6.3.txt[1.5.6.3], 94 link:RelNotes-1.5.6.2.txt[1.5.6.2], 95 link:RelNotes-1.5.6.1.txt[1.5.6.1], 96 link:RelNotes-1.5.6.txt[1.5.6]. 97 98* link:v1.5.5.6/git.html[documentation for release 1.5.5.6] 99 100* release notes for 101 link:RelNotes-1.5.5.6.txt[1.5.5.6], 102 link:RelNotes-1.5.5.5.txt[1.5.5.5], 103 link:RelNotes-1.5.5.4.txt[1.5.5.4], 104 link:RelNotes-1.5.5.3.txt[1.5.5.3], 105 link:RelNotes-1.5.5.2.txt[1.5.5.2], 106 link:RelNotes-1.5.5.1.txt[1.5.5.1], 107 link:RelNotes-1.5.5.txt[1.5.5]. 108 109* link:v1.5.4.7/git.html[documentation for release 1.5.4.7] 110 111* release notes for 112 link:RelNotes-1.5.4.7.txt[1.5.4.7], 113 link:RelNotes-1.5.4.6.txt[1.5.4.6], 114 link:RelNotes-1.5.4.5.txt[1.5.4.5], 115 link:RelNotes-1.5.4.4.txt[1.5.4.4], 116 link:RelNotes-1.5.4.3.txt[1.5.4.3], 117 link:RelNotes-1.5.4.2.txt[1.5.4.2], 118 link:RelNotes-1.5.4.1.txt[1.5.4.1], 119 link:RelNotes-1.5.4.txt[1.5.4]. 120 121* link:v1.5.3.8/git.html[documentation for release 1.5.3.8] 122 123* release notes for 124 link:RelNotes-1.5.3.8.txt[1.5.3.8], 125 link:RelNotes-1.5.3.7.txt[1.5.3.7], 126 link:RelNotes-1.5.3.6.txt[1.5.3.6], 127 link:RelNotes-1.5.3.5.txt[1.5.3.5], 128 link:RelNotes-1.5.3.4.txt[1.5.3.4], 129 link:RelNotes-1.5.3.3.txt[1.5.3.3], 130 link:RelNotes-1.5.3.2.txt[1.5.3.2], 131 link:RelNotes-1.5.3.1.txt[1.5.3.1], 132 link:RelNotes-1.5.3.txt[1.5.3]. 133 134* link:v1.5.2.5/git.html[documentation for release 1.5.2.5] 135 136* release notes for 137 link:RelNotes-1.5.2.5.txt[1.5.2.5], 138 link:RelNotes-1.5.2.4.txt[1.5.2.4], 139 link:RelNotes-1.5.2.3.txt[1.5.2.3], 140 link:RelNotes-1.5.2.2.txt[1.5.2.2], 141 link:RelNotes-1.5.2.1.txt[1.5.2.1], 142 link:RelNotes-1.5.2.txt[1.5.2]. 143 144* link:v1.5.1.6/git.html[documentation for release 1.5.1.6] 145 146* release notes for 147 link:RelNotes-1.5.1.6.txt[1.5.1.6], 148 link:RelNotes-1.5.1.5.txt[1.5.1.5], 149 link:RelNotes-1.5.1.4.txt[1.5.1.4], 150 link:RelNotes-1.5.1.3.txt[1.5.1.3], 151 link:RelNotes-1.5.1.2.txt[1.5.1.2], 152 link:RelNotes-1.5.1.1.txt[1.5.1.1], 153 link:RelNotes-1.5.1.txt[1.5.1]. 154 155* link:v1.5.0.7/git.html[documentation for release 1.5.0.7] 156 157* release notes for 158 link:RelNotes-1.5.0.7.txt[1.5.0.7], 159 link:RelNotes-1.5.0.6.txt[1.5.0.6], 160 link:RelNotes-1.5.0.5.txt[1.5.0.5], 161 link:RelNotes-1.5.0.3.txt[1.5.0.3], 162 link:RelNotes-1.5.0.2.txt[1.5.0.2], 163 link:RelNotes-1.5.0.1.txt[1.5.0.1], 164 link:RelNotes-1.5.0.txt[1.5.0]. 165 166* documentation for release link:v1.4.4.4/git.html[1.4.4.4], 167 link:v1.3.3/git.html[1.3.3], 168 link:v1.2.6/git.html[1.2.6], 169 link:v1.0.13/git.html[1.0.13]. 170 171============ 172 173endif::stalenotes[] 174 175OPTIONS 176------- 177--version:: 178 Prints the git suite version that the 'git' program came from. 179 180--help:: 181 Prints the synopsis and a list of the most commonly used 182 commands. If the option '--all' or '-a' is given then all 183 available commands are printed. If a git command is named this 184 option will bring up the manual page for that command. 185+ 186Other options are available to control how the manual page is 187displayed. See linkgit:git-help[1] for more information, 188because `git --help ...` is converted internally into `git 189help ...`. 190 191--exec-path:: 192 Path to wherever your core git programs are installed. 193 This can also be controlled by setting the GIT_EXEC_PATH 194 environment variable. If no path is given, 'git' will print 195 the current setting and then exit. 196 197--html-path:: 198 Print the path to wherever your git HTML documentation is installed 199 and exit. 200 201-p:: 202--paginate:: 203 Pipe all output into 'less' (or if set, $PAGER). 204 205--no-pager:: 206 Do not pipe git output into a pager. 207 208--git-dir=<path>:: 209 Set the path to the repository. This can also be controlled by 210 setting the GIT_DIR environment variable. It can be an absolute 211 path or relative path to current working directory. 212 213--work-tree=<path>:: 214 Set the path to the working tree. The value will not be 215 used in combination with repositories found automatically in 216 a .git directory (i.e. $GIT_DIR is not set). 217 This can also be controlled by setting the GIT_WORK_TREE 218 environment variable and the core.worktree configuration 219 variable. It can be an absolute path or relative path to 220 the directory specified by --git-dir or GIT_DIR. 221 Note: If --git-dir or GIT_DIR are specified but none of 222 --work-tree, GIT_WORK_TREE and core.worktree is specified, 223 the current working directory is regarded as the top directory 224 of your working tree. 225 226--bare:: 227 Treat the repository as a bare repository. If GIT_DIR 228 environment is not set, it is set to the current working 229 directory. 230 231 232FURTHER DOCUMENTATION 233--------------------- 234 235See the references above to get started using git. The following is 236probably more detail than necessary for a first-time user. 237 238The link:user-manual.html#git-concepts[git concepts chapter of the 239user-manual] and linkgit:gitcore-tutorial[7] both provide 240introductions to the underlying git architecture. 241 242See linkgit:gitworkflows[7] for an overview of recommended workflows. 243 244See also the link:howto-index.html[howto] documents for some useful 245examples. 246 247The internals are documented in the 248link:technical/api-index.html[GIT API documentation]. 249 250GIT COMMANDS 251------------ 252 253We divide git into high level ("porcelain") commands and low level 254("plumbing") commands. 255 256High-level commands (porcelain) 257------------------------------- 258 259We separate the porcelain commands into the main commands and some 260ancillary user utilities. 261 262Main porcelain commands 263~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 264 265include::cmds-mainporcelain.txt[] 266 267Ancillary Commands 268~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 269Manipulators: 270 271include::cmds-ancillarymanipulators.txt[] 272 273Interrogators: 274 275include::cmds-ancillaryinterrogators.txt[] 276 277 278Interacting with Others 279~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 280 281These commands are to interact with foreign SCM and with other 282people via patch over e-mail. 283 284include::cmds-foreignscminterface.txt[] 285 286 287Low-level commands (plumbing) 288----------------------------- 289 290Although git includes its 291own porcelain layer, its low-level commands are sufficient to support 292development of alternative porcelains. Developers of such porcelains 293might start by reading about linkgit:git-update-index[1] and 294linkgit:git-read-tree[1]. 295 296The interface (input, output, set of options and the semantics) 297to these low-level commands are meant to be a lot more stable 298than Porcelain level commands, because these commands are 299primarily for scripted use. The interface to Porcelain commands 300on the other hand are subject to change in order to improve the 301end user experience. 302 303The following description divides 304the low-level commands into commands that manipulate objects (in 305the repository, index, and working tree), commands that interrogate and 306compare objects, and commands that move objects and references between 307repositories. 308 309 310Manipulation commands 311~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 312 313include::cmds-plumbingmanipulators.txt[] 314 315 316Interrogation commands 317~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 318 319include::cmds-plumbinginterrogators.txt[] 320 321In general, the interrogate commands do not touch the files in 322the working tree. 323 324 325Synching repositories 326~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 327 328include::cmds-synchingrepositories.txt[] 329 330The following are helper programs used by the above; end users 331typically do not use them directly. 332 333include::cmds-synchelpers.txt[] 334 335 336Internal helper commands 337~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 338 339These are internal helper commands used by other commands; end 340users typically do not use them directly. 341 342include::cmds-purehelpers.txt[] 343 344 345Configuration Mechanism 346----------------------- 347 348Starting from 0.99.9 (actually mid 0.99.8.GIT), `.git/config` file 349is used to hold per-repository configuration options. It is a 350simple text file modeled after `.ini` format familiar to some 351people. Here is an example: 352 353------------ 354# 355# A '#' or ';' character indicates a comment. 356# 357 358; core variables 359[core] 360 ; Don't trust file modes 361 filemode = false 362 363; user identity 364[user] 365 name = "Junio C Hamano" 366 email = "junkio@twinsun.com" 367 368------------ 369 370Various commands read from the configuration file and adjust 371their operation accordingly. 372 373 374Identifier Terminology 375---------------------- 376<object>:: 377 Indicates the object name for any type of object. 378 379<blob>:: 380 Indicates a blob object name. 381 382<tree>:: 383 Indicates a tree object name. 384 385<commit>:: 386 Indicates a commit object name. 387 388<tree-ish>:: 389 Indicates a tree, commit or tag object name. A 390 command that takes a <tree-ish> argument ultimately wants to 391 operate on a <tree> object but automatically dereferences 392 <commit> and <tag> objects that point at a <tree>. 393 394<commit-ish>:: 395 Indicates a commit or tag object name. A 396 command that takes a <commit-ish> argument ultimately wants to 397 operate on a <commit> object but automatically dereferences 398 <tag> objects that point at a <commit>. 399 400<type>:: 401 Indicates that an object type is required. 402 Currently one of: `blob`, `tree`, `commit`, or `tag`. 403 404<file>:: 405 Indicates a filename - almost always relative to the 406 root of the tree structure `GIT_INDEX_FILE` describes. 407 408Symbolic Identifiers 409-------------------- 410Any git command accepting any <object> can also use the following 411symbolic notation: 412 413HEAD:: 414 indicates the head of the current branch (i.e. the 415 contents of `$GIT_DIR/HEAD`). 416 417<tag>:: 418 a valid tag 'name' 419 (i.e. the contents of `$GIT_DIR/refs/tags/<tag>`). 420 421<head>:: 422 a valid head 'name' 423 (i.e. the contents of `$GIT_DIR/refs/heads/<head>`). 424 425For a more complete list of ways to spell object names, see 426"SPECIFYING REVISIONS" section in linkgit:git-rev-parse[1]. 427 428 429File/Directory Structure 430------------------------ 431 432Please see the linkgit:gitrepository-layout[5] document. 433 434Read linkgit:githooks[5] for more details about each hook. 435 436Higher level SCMs may provide and manage additional information in the 437`$GIT_DIR`. 438 439 440Terminology 441----------- 442Please see linkgit:gitglossary[7]. 443 444 445Environment Variables 446--------------------- 447Various git commands use the following environment variables: 448 449The git Repository 450~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 451These environment variables apply to 'all' core git commands. Nb: it 452is worth noting that they may be used/overridden by SCMS sitting above 453git so take care if using Cogito etc. 454 455'GIT_INDEX_FILE':: 456 This environment allows the specification of an alternate 457 index file. If not specified, the default of `$GIT_DIR/index` 458 is used. 459 460'GIT_OBJECT_DIRECTORY':: 461 If the object storage directory is specified via this 462 environment variable then the sha1 directories are created 463 underneath - otherwise the default `$GIT_DIR/objects` 464 directory is used. 465 466'GIT_ALTERNATE_OBJECT_DIRECTORIES':: 467 Due to the immutable nature of git objects, old objects can be 468 archived into shared, read-only directories. This variable 469 specifies a ":" separated (on Windows ";" separated) list 470 of git object directories which can be used to search for git 471 objects. New objects will not be written to these directories. 472 473'GIT_DIR':: 474 If the 'GIT_DIR' environment variable is set then it 475 specifies a path to use instead of the default `.git` 476 for the base of the repository. 477 478'GIT_WORK_TREE':: 479 Set the path to the working tree. The value will not be 480 used in combination with repositories found automatically in 481 a .git directory (i.e. $GIT_DIR is not set). 482 This can also be controlled by the '--work-tree' command line 483 option and the core.worktree configuration variable. 484 485'GIT_CEILING_DIRECTORIES':: 486 This should be a colon-separated list of absolute paths. 487 If set, it is a list of directories that git should not chdir 488 up into while looking for a repository directory. 489 It will not exclude the current working directory or 490 a GIT_DIR set on the command line or in the environment. 491 (Useful for excluding slow-loading network directories.) 492 493git Commits 494~~~~~~~~~~~ 495'GIT_AUTHOR_NAME':: 496'GIT_AUTHOR_EMAIL':: 497'GIT_AUTHOR_DATE':: 498'GIT_COMMITTER_NAME':: 499'GIT_COMMITTER_EMAIL':: 500'GIT_COMMITTER_DATE':: 501'EMAIL':: 502 see linkgit:git-commit-tree[1] 503 504git Diffs 505~~~~~~~~~ 506'GIT_DIFF_OPTS':: 507 Only valid setting is "--unified=??" or "-u??" to set the 508 number of context lines shown when a unified diff is created. 509 This takes precedence over any "-U" or "--unified" option 510 value passed on the git diff command line. 511 512'GIT_EXTERNAL_DIFF':: 513 When the environment variable 'GIT_EXTERNAL_DIFF' is set, the 514 program named by it is called, instead of the diff invocation 515 described above. For a path that is added, removed, or modified, 516 'GIT_EXTERNAL_DIFF' is called with 7 parameters: 517 518 path old-file old-hex old-mode new-file new-hex new-mode 519+ 520where: 521 522 <old|new>-file:: are files GIT_EXTERNAL_DIFF can use to read the 523 contents of <old|new>, 524 <old|new>-hex:: are the 40-hexdigit SHA1 hashes, 525 <old|new>-mode:: are the octal representation of the file modes. 526 527+ 528The file parameters can point at the user's working file 529(e.g. `new-file` in "git-diff-files"), `/dev/null` (e.g. `old-file` 530when a new file is added), or a temporary file (e.g. `old-file` in the 531index). 'GIT_EXTERNAL_DIFF' should not worry about unlinking the 532temporary file --- it is removed when 'GIT_EXTERNAL_DIFF' exits. 533+ 534For a path that is unmerged, 'GIT_EXTERNAL_DIFF' is called with 1 535parameter, <path>. 536 537other 538~~~~~ 539'GIT_MERGE_VERBOSITY':: 540 A number controlling the amount of output shown by 541 the recursive merge strategy. Overrides merge.verbosity. 542 See linkgit:git-merge[1] 543 544'GIT_PAGER':: 545 This environment variable overrides `$PAGER`. If it is set 546 to an empty string or to the value "cat", git will not launch 547 a pager. See also the `core.pager` option in 548 linkgit:git-config[1]. 549 550'GIT_SSH':: 551 If this environment variable is set then 'git-fetch' 552 and 'git-push' will use this command instead 553 of 'ssh' when they need to connect to a remote system. 554 The '$GIT_SSH' command will be given exactly two arguments: 555 the 'username@host' (or just 'host') from the URL and the 556 shell command to execute on that remote system. 557+ 558To pass options to the program that you want to list in GIT_SSH 559you will need to wrap the program and options into a shell script, 560then set GIT_SSH to refer to the shell script. 561+ 562Usually it is easier to configure any desired options through your 563personal `.ssh/config` file. Please consult your ssh documentation 564for further details. 565 566'GIT_FLUSH':: 567 If this environment variable is set to "1", then commands such 568 as 'git-blame' (in incremental mode), 'git-rev-list', 'git-log', 569 and 'git-whatchanged' will force a flush of the output stream 570 after each commit-oriented record have been flushed. If this 571 variable is set to "0", the output of these commands will be done 572 using completely buffered I/O. If this environment variable is 573 not set, git will choose buffered or record-oriented flushing 574 based on whether stdout appears to be redirected to a file or not. 575 576'GIT_TRACE':: 577 If this variable is set to "1", "2" or "true" (comparison 578 is case insensitive), git will print `trace:` messages on 579 stderr telling about alias expansion, built-in command 580 execution and external command execution. 581 If this variable is set to an integer value greater than 1 582 and lower than 10 (strictly) then git will interpret this 583 value as an open file descriptor and will try to write the 584 trace messages into this file descriptor. 585 Alternatively, if this variable is set to an absolute path 586 (starting with a '/' character), git will interpret this 587 as a file path and will try to write the trace messages 588 into it. 589 590Discussion[[Discussion]] 591------------------------ 592 593More detail on the following is available from the 594link:user-manual.html#git-concepts[git concepts chapter of the 595user-manual] and linkgit:gitcore-tutorial[7]. 596 597A git project normally consists of a working directory with a ".git" 598subdirectory at the top level. The .git directory contains, among other 599things, a compressed object database representing the complete history 600of the project, an "index" file which links that history to the current 601contents of the working tree, and named pointers into that history such 602as tags and branch heads. 603 604The object database contains objects of three main types: blobs, which 605hold file data; trees, which point to blobs and other trees to build up 606directory hierarchies; and commits, which each reference a single tree 607and some number of parent commits. 608 609The commit, equivalent to what other systems call a "changeset" or 610"version", represents a step in the project's history, and each parent 611represents an immediately preceding step. Commits with more than one 612parent represent merges of independent lines of development. 613 614All objects are named by the SHA1 hash of their contents, normally 615written as a string of 40 hex digits. Such names are globally unique. 616The entire history leading up to a commit can be vouched for by signing 617just that commit. A fourth object type, the tag, is provided for this 618purpose. 619 620When first created, objects are stored in individual files, but for 621efficiency may later be compressed together into "pack files". 622 623Named pointers called refs mark interesting points in history. A ref 624may contain the SHA1 name of an object or the name of another ref. Refs 625with names beginning `ref/head/` contain the SHA1 name of the most 626recent commit (or "head") of a branch under development. SHA1 names of 627tags of interest are stored under `ref/tags/`. A special ref named 628`HEAD` contains the name of the currently checked-out branch. 629 630The index file is initialized with a list of all paths and, for each 631path, a blob object and a set of attributes. The blob object represents 632the contents of the file as of the head of the current branch. The 633attributes (last modified time, size, etc.) are taken from the 634corresponding file in the working tree. Subsequent changes to the 635working tree can be found by comparing these attributes. The index may 636be updated with new content, and new commits may be created from the 637content stored in the index. 638 639The index is also capable of storing multiple entries (called "stages") 640for a given pathname. These stages are used to hold the various 641unmerged version of a file when a merge is in progress. 642 643Authors 644------- 645* git's founding father is Linus Torvalds <torvalds@osdl.org>. 646* The current git nurse is Junio C Hamano <gitster@pobox.com>. 647* The git potty was written by Andreas Ericsson <ae@op5.se>. 648* General upbringing is handled by the git-list <git@vger.kernel.org>. 649 650Documentation 651-------------- 652The documentation for git suite was started by David Greaves 653<david@dgreaves.com>, and later enhanced greatly by the 654contributors on the git-list <git@vger.kernel.org>. 655 656SEE ALSO 657-------- 658linkgit:gittutorial[7], linkgit:gittutorial-2[7], 659link:everyday.html[Everyday Git], linkgit:gitcvs-migration[7], 660linkgit:gitglossary[7], linkgit:gitcore-tutorial[7], 661linkgit:gitcli[7], link:user-manual.html[The Git User's Manual], 662linkgit:gitworkflows[7] 663 664GIT 665--- 666Part of the linkgit:git[1] suite