Documentation / git.txton commit Merge branch 'jw/make-arflags-customizable' into maint (4d2a301)
   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    <command> [<args>]
  17
  18DESCRIPTION
  19-----------
  20Git is a fast, scalable, distributed revision control system with an
  21unusually rich command set that provides both high-level operations
  22and full access to internals.
  23
  24See linkgit:gittutorial[7] to get started, then see
  25linkgit:giteveryday[7] for a useful minimum set of
  26commands.  The link:user-manual.html[Git User's Manual] has a more
  27in-depth introduction.
  28
  29After you mastered the basic concepts, you can come back to this
  30page to learn what commands Git offers.  You can learn more about
  31individual Git commands with "git help command".  linkgit:gitcli[7]
  32manual page gives you an overview of the command-line command syntax.
  33
  34Formatted and hyperlinked version of the latest Git documentation
  35can be viewed at `http://git-htmldocs.googlecode.com/git/git.html`.
  36
  37ifdef::stalenotes[]
  38[NOTE]
  39============
  40
  41You are reading the documentation for the latest (possibly
  42unreleased) version of Git, that is available from the 'master'
  43branch of the `git.git` repository.
  44Documentation for older releases are available here:
  45
  46* link:v2.6.1/git.html[documentation for release 2.6.1]
  47
  48* release notes for
  49  link:RelNotes/2.6.1.txt[2.6.1],
  50  link:RelNotes/2.6.0.txt[2.6].
  51
  52* link:v2.5.4/git.html[documentation for release 2.5.4]
  53
  54* release notes for
  55  link:RelNotes/2.5.4.txt[2.5.4],
  56  link:RelNotes/2.5.3.txt[2.5.3],
  57  link:RelNotes/2.5.2.txt[2.5.2],
  58  link:RelNotes/2.5.1.txt[2.5.1],
  59  link:RelNotes/2.5.0.txt[2.5].
  60
  61* link:v2.4.10/git.html[documentation for release 2.4.10]
  62
  63* release notes for
  64  link:RelNotes/2.4.10.txt[2.4.10],
  65  link:RelNotes/2.4.9.txt[2.4.9],
  66  link:RelNotes/2.4.8.txt[2.4.8],
  67  link:RelNotes/2.4.7.txt[2.4.7],
  68  link:RelNotes/2.4.6.txt[2.4.6],
  69  link:RelNotes/2.4.5.txt[2.4.5],
  70  link:RelNotes/2.4.4.txt[2.4.4],
  71  link:RelNotes/2.4.3.txt[2.4.3],
  72  link:RelNotes/2.4.2.txt[2.4.2],
  73  link:RelNotes/2.4.1.txt[2.4.1],
  74  link:RelNotes/2.4.0.txt[2.4].
  75
  76* link:v2.3.10/git.html[documentation for release 2.3.10]
  77
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  80  link:RelNotes/2.3.9.txt[2.3.9],
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  82  link:RelNotes/2.3.7.txt[2.3.7],
  83  link:RelNotes/2.3.6.txt[2.3.6],
  84  link:RelNotes/2.3.5.txt[2.3.5],
  85  link:RelNotes/2.3.4.txt[2.3.4],
  86  link:RelNotes/2.3.3.txt[2.3.3],
  87  link:RelNotes/2.3.2.txt[2.3.2],
  88  link:RelNotes/2.3.1.txt[2.3.1],
  89  link:RelNotes/2.3.0.txt[2.3].
  90
  91* link:v2.2.3/git.html[documentation for release 2.2.3]
  92
  93* release notes for
  94  link:RelNotes/2.2.3.txt[2.2.3],
  95  link:RelNotes/2.2.2.txt[2.2.2],
  96  link:RelNotes/2.2.1.txt[2.2.1],
  97  link:RelNotes/2.2.0.txt[2.2].
  98
  99* link:v2.1.4/git.html[documentation for release 2.1.4]
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 109
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 425
 426* link:v1.5.3.8/git.html[documentation for release 1.5.3.8]
 427
 428* release notes for
 429  link:RelNotes/1.5.3.8.txt[1.5.3.8],
 430  link:RelNotes/1.5.3.7.txt[1.5.3.7],
 431  link:RelNotes/1.5.3.6.txt[1.5.3.6],
 432  link:RelNotes/1.5.3.5.txt[1.5.3.5],
 433  link:RelNotes/1.5.3.4.txt[1.5.3.4],
 434  link:RelNotes/1.5.3.3.txt[1.5.3.3],
 435  link:RelNotes/1.5.3.2.txt[1.5.3.2],
 436  link:RelNotes/1.5.3.1.txt[1.5.3.1],
 437  link:RelNotes/1.5.3.txt[1.5.3].
 438
 439* link:v1.5.2.5/git.html[documentation for release 1.5.2.5]
 440
 441* release notes for
 442  link:RelNotes/1.5.2.5.txt[1.5.2.5],
 443  link:RelNotes/1.5.2.4.txt[1.5.2.4],
 444  link:RelNotes/1.5.2.3.txt[1.5.2.3],
 445  link:RelNotes/1.5.2.2.txt[1.5.2.2],
 446  link:RelNotes/1.5.2.1.txt[1.5.2.1],
 447  link:RelNotes/1.5.2.txt[1.5.2].
 448
 449* link:v1.5.1.6/git.html[documentation for release 1.5.1.6]
 450
 451* release notes for
 452  link:RelNotes/1.5.1.6.txt[1.5.1.6],
 453  link:RelNotes/1.5.1.5.txt[1.5.1.5],
 454  link:RelNotes/1.5.1.4.txt[1.5.1.4],
 455  link:RelNotes/1.5.1.3.txt[1.5.1.3],
 456  link:RelNotes/1.5.1.2.txt[1.5.1.2],
 457  link:RelNotes/1.5.1.1.txt[1.5.1.1],
 458  link:RelNotes/1.5.1.txt[1.5.1].
 459
 460* link:v1.5.0.7/git.html[documentation for release 1.5.0.7]
 461
 462* release notes for
 463  link:RelNotes/1.5.0.7.txt[1.5.0.7],
 464  link:RelNotes/1.5.0.6.txt[1.5.0.6],
 465  link:RelNotes/1.5.0.5.txt[1.5.0.5],
 466  link:RelNotes/1.5.0.3.txt[1.5.0.3],
 467  link:RelNotes/1.5.0.2.txt[1.5.0.2],
 468  link:RelNotes/1.5.0.1.txt[1.5.0.1],
 469  link:RelNotes/1.5.0.txt[1.5.0].
 470
 471* documentation for release link:v1.4.4.4/git.html[1.4.4.4],
 472  link:v1.3.3/git.html[1.3.3],
 473  link:v1.2.6/git.html[1.2.6],
 474  link:v1.0.13/git.html[1.0.13].
 475
 476============
 477
 478endif::stalenotes[]
 479
 480OPTIONS
 481-------
 482--version::
 483        Prints the Git suite version that the 'git' program came from.
 484
 485--help::
 486        Prints the synopsis and a list of the most commonly used
 487        commands. If the option '--all' or '-a' is given then all
 488        available commands are printed. If a Git command is named this
 489        option will bring up the manual page for that command.
 490+
 491Other options are available to control how the manual page is
 492displayed. See linkgit:git-help[1] for more information,
 493because `git --help ...` is converted internally into `git
 494help ...`.
 495
 496-C <path>::
 497        Run as if git was started in '<path>' instead of the current working
 498        directory.  When multiple `-C` options are given, each subsequent
 499        non-absolute `-C <path>` is interpreted relative to the preceding `-C
 500        <path>`.
 501+
 502This option affects options that expect path name like `--git-dir` and
 503`--work-tree` in that their interpretations of the path names would be
 504made relative to the working directory caused by the `-C` option. For
 505example the following invocations are equivalent:
 506
 507    git --git-dir=a.git --work-tree=b -C c status
 508    git --git-dir=c/a.git --work-tree=c/b status
 509
 510-c <name>=<value>::
 511        Pass a configuration parameter to the command. The value
 512        given will override values from configuration files.
 513        The <name> is expected in the same format as listed by
 514        'git config' (subkeys separated by dots).
 515+
 516Note that omitting the `=` in `git -c foo.bar ...` is allowed and sets
 517`foo.bar` to the boolean true value (just like `[foo]bar` would in a
 518config file). Including the equals but with an empty value (like `git -c
 519foo.bar= ...`) sets `foo.bar` to the empty string.
 520
 521--exec-path[=<path>]::
 522        Path to wherever your core Git programs are installed.
 523        This can also be controlled by setting the GIT_EXEC_PATH
 524        environment variable. If no path is given, 'git' will print
 525        the current setting and then exit.
 526
 527--html-path::
 528        Print the path, without trailing slash, where Git's HTML
 529        documentation is installed and exit.
 530
 531--man-path::
 532        Print the manpath (see `man(1)`) for the man pages for
 533        this version of Git and exit.
 534
 535--info-path::
 536        Print the path where the Info files documenting this
 537        version of Git are installed and exit.
 538
 539-p::
 540--paginate::
 541        Pipe all output into 'less' (or if set, $PAGER) if standard
 542        output is a terminal.  This overrides the `pager.<cmd>`
 543        configuration options (see the "Configuration Mechanism" section
 544        below).
 545
 546--no-pager::
 547        Do not pipe Git output into a pager.
 548
 549--git-dir=<path>::
 550        Set the path to the repository. This can also be controlled by
 551        setting the GIT_DIR environment variable. It can be an absolute
 552        path or relative path to current working directory.
 553
 554--work-tree=<path>::
 555        Set the path to the working tree. It can be an absolute path
 556        or a path relative to the current working directory.
 557        This can also be controlled by setting the GIT_WORK_TREE
 558        environment variable and the core.worktree configuration
 559        variable (see core.worktree in linkgit:git-config[1] for a
 560        more detailed discussion).
 561
 562--namespace=<path>::
 563        Set the Git namespace.  See linkgit:gitnamespaces[7] for more
 564        details.  Equivalent to setting the `GIT_NAMESPACE` environment
 565        variable.
 566
 567--bare::
 568        Treat the repository as a bare repository.  If GIT_DIR
 569        environment is not set, it is set to the current working
 570        directory.
 571
 572--no-replace-objects::
 573        Do not use replacement refs to replace Git objects. See
 574        linkgit:git-replace[1] for more information.
 575
 576--literal-pathspecs::
 577        Treat pathspecs literally (i.e. no globbing, no pathspec magic).
 578        This is equivalent to setting the `GIT_LITERAL_PATHSPECS` environment
 579        variable to `1`.
 580
 581--glob-pathspecs::
 582        Add "glob" magic to all pathspec. This is equivalent to setting
 583        the `GIT_GLOB_PATHSPECS` environment variable to `1`. Disabling
 584        globbing on individual pathspecs can be done using pathspec
 585        magic ":(literal)"
 586
 587--noglob-pathspecs::
 588        Add "literal" magic to all pathspec. This is equivalent to setting
 589        the `GIT_NOGLOB_PATHSPECS` environment variable to `1`. Enabling
 590        globbing on individual pathspecs can be done using pathspec
 591        magic ":(glob)"
 592
 593--icase-pathspecs::
 594        Add "icase" magic to all pathspec. This is equivalent to setting
 595        the `GIT_ICASE_PATHSPECS` environment variable to `1`.
 596
 597GIT COMMANDS
 598------------
 599
 600We divide Git into high level ("porcelain") commands and low level
 601("plumbing") commands.
 602
 603High-level commands (porcelain)
 604-------------------------------
 605
 606We separate the porcelain commands into the main commands and some
 607ancillary user utilities.
 608
 609Main porcelain commands
 610~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 611
 612include::cmds-mainporcelain.txt[]
 613
 614Ancillary Commands
 615~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 616Manipulators:
 617
 618include::cmds-ancillarymanipulators.txt[]
 619
 620Interrogators:
 621
 622include::cmds-ancillaryinterrogators.txt[]
 623
 624
 625Interacting with Others
 626~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 627
 628These commands are to interact with foreign SCM and with other
 629people via patch over e-mail.
 630
 631include::cmds-foreignscminterface.txt[]
 632
 633
 634Low-level commands (plumbing)
 635-----------------------------
 636
 637Although Git includes its
 638own porcelain layer, its low-level commands are sufficient to support
 639development of alternative porcelains.  Developers of such porcelains
 640might start by reading about linkgit:git-update-index[1] and
 641linkgit:git-read-tree[1].
 642
 643The interface (input, output, set of options and the semantics)
 644to these low-level commands are meant to be a lot more stable
 645than Porcelain level commands, because these commands are
 646primarily for scripted use.  The interface to Porcelain commands
 647on the other hand are subject to change in order to improve the
 648end user experience.
 649
 650The following description divides
 651the low-level commands into commands that manipulate objects (in
 652the repository, index, and working tree), commands that interrogate and
 653compare objects, and commands that move objects and references between
 654repositories.
 655
 656
 657Manipulation commands
 658~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 659
 660include::cmds-plumbingmanipulators.txt[]
 661
 662
 663Interrogation commands
 664~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 665
 666include::cmds-plumbinginterrogators.txt[]
 667
 668In general, the interrogate commands do not touch the files in
 669the working tree.
 670
 671
 672Synching repositories
 673~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 674
 675include::cmds-synchingrepositories.txt[]
 676
 677The following are helper commands used by the above; end users
 678typically do not use them directly.
 679
 680include::cmds-synchelpers.txt[]
 681
 682
 683Internal helper commands
 684~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 685
 686These are internal helper commands used by other commands; end
 687users typically do not use them directly.
 688
 689include::cmds-purehelpers.txt[]
 690
 691
 692Configuration Mechanism
 693-----------------------
 694
 695Git uses a simple text format to store customizations that are per
 696repository and are per user.  Such a configuration file may look
 697like this:
 698
 699------------
 700#
 701# A '#' or ';' character indicates a comment.
 702#
 703
 704; core variables
 705[core]
 706        ; Don't trust file modes
 707        filemode = false
 708
 709; user identity
 710[user]
 711        name = "Junio C Hamano"
 712        email = "gitster@pobox.com"
 713
 714------------
 715
 716Various commands read from the configuration file and adjust
 717their operation accordingly.  See linkgit:git-config[1] for a
 718list and more details about the configuration mechanism.
 719
 720
 721Identifier Terminology
 722----------------------
 723<object>::
 724        Indicates the object name for any type of object.
 725
 726<blob>::
 727        Indicates a blob object name.
 728
 729<tree>::
 730        Indicates a tree object name.
 731
 732<commit>::
 733        Indicates a commit object name.
 734
 735<tree-ish>::
 736        Indicates a tree, commit or tag object name.  A
 737        command that takes a <tree-ish> argument ultimately wants to
 738        operate on a <tree> object but automatically dereferences
 739        <commit> and <tag> objects that point at a <tree>.
 740
 741<commit-ish>::
 742        Indicates a commit or tag object name.  A
 743        command that takes a <commit-ish> argument ultimately wants to
 744        operate on a <commit> object but automatically dereferences
 745        <tag> objects that point at a <commit>.
 746
 747<type>::
 748        Indicates that an object type is required.
 749        Currently one of: `blob`, `tree`, `commit`, or `tag`.
 750
 751<file>::
 752        Indicates a filename - almost always relative to the
 753        root of the tree structure `GIT_INDEX_FILE` describes.
 754
 755Symbolic Identifiers
 756--------------------
 757Any Git command accepting any <object> can also use the following
 758symbolic notation:
 759
 760HEAD::
 761        indicates the head of the current branch.
 762
 763<tag>::
 764        a valid tag 'name'
 765        (i.e. a `refs/tags/<tag>` reference).
 766
 767<head>::
 768        a valid head 'name'
 769        (i.e. a `refs/heads/<head>` reference).
 770
 771For a more complete list of ways to spell object names, see
 772"SPECIFYING REVISIONS" section in linkgit:gitrevisions[7].
 773
 774
 775File/Directory Structure
 776------------------------
 777
 778Please see the linkgit:gitrepository-layout[5] document.
 779
 780Read linkgit:githooks[5] for more details about each hook.
 781
 782Higher level SCMs may provide and manage additional information in the
 783`$GIT_DIR`.
 784
 785
 786Terminology
 787-----------
 788Please see linkgit:gitglossary[7].
 789
 790
 791Environment Variables
 792---------------------
 793Various Git commands use the following environment variables:
 794
 795The Git Repository
 796~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 797These environment variables apply to 'all' core Git commands. Nb: it
 798is worth noting that they may be used/overridden by SCMS sitting above
 799Git so take care if using a foreign front-end.
 800
 801'GIT_INDEX_FILE'::
 802        This environment allows the specification of an alternate
 803        index file. If not specified, the default of `$GIT_DIR/index`
 804        is used.
 805
 806'GIT_INDEX_VERSION'::
 807        This environment variable allows the specification of an index
 808        version for new repositories.  It won't affect existing index
 809        files.  By default index file version 2 or 3 is used. See
 810        linkgit:git-update-index[1] for more information.
 811
 812'GIT_OBJECT_DIRECTORY'::
 813        If the object storage directory is specified via this
 814        environment variable then the sha1 directories are created
 815        underneath - otherwise the default `$GIT_DIR/objects`
 816        directory is used.
 817
 818'GIT_ALTERNATE_OBJECT_DIRECTORIES'::
 819        Due to the immutable nature of Git objects, old objects can be
 820        archived into shared, read-only directories. This variable
 821        specifies a ":" separated (on Windows ";" separated) list
 822        of Git object directories which can be used to search for Git
 823        objects. New objects will not be written to these directories.
 824
 825'GIT_DIR'::
 826        If the 'GIT_DIR' environment variable is set then it
 827        specifies a path to use instead of the default `.git`
 828        for the base of the repository.
 829        The '--git-dir' command-line option also sets this value.
 830
 831'GIT_WORK_TREE'::
 832        Set the path to the root of the working tree.
 833        This can also be controlled by the '--work-tree' command-line
 834        option and the core.worktree configuration variable.
 835
 836'GIT_NAMESPACE'::
 837        Set the Git namespace; see linkgit:gitnamespaces[7] for details.
 838        The '--namespace' command-line option also sets this value.
 839
 840'GIT_CEILING_DIRECTORIES'::
 841        This should be a colon-separated list of absolute paths.  If
 842        set, it is a list of directories that Git should not chdir up
 843        into while looking for a repository directory (useful for
 844        excluding slow-loading network directories).  It will not
 845        exclude the current working directory or a GIT_DIR set on the
 846        command line or in the environment.  Normally, Git has to read
 847        the entries in this list and resolve any symlink that
 848        might be present in order to compare them with the current
 849        directory.  However, if even this access is slow, you
 850        can add an empty entry to the list to tell Git that the
 851        subsequent entries are not symlinks and needn't be resolved;
 852        e.g.,
 853        'GIT_CEILING_DIRECTORIES=/maybe/symlink::/very/slow/non/symlink'.
 854
 855'GIT_DISCOVERY_ACROSS_FILESYSTEM'::
 856        When run in a directory that does not have ".git" repository
 857        directory, Git tries to find such a directory in the parent
 858        directories to find the top of the working tree, but by default it
 859        does not cross filesystem boundaries.  This environment variable
 860        can be set to true to tell Git not to stop at filesystem
 861        boundaries.  Like 'GIT_CEILING_DIRECTORIES', this will not affect
 862        an explicit repository directory set via 'GIT_DIR' or on the
 863        command line.
 864
 865'GIT_COMMON_DIR'::
 866        If this variable is set to a path, non-worktree files that are
 867        normally in $GIT_DIR will be taken from this path
 868        instead. Worktree-specific files such as HEAD or index are
 869        taken from $GIT_DIR. See linkgit:gitrepository-layout[5] and
 870        linkgit:git-worktree[1] for
 871        details. This variable has lower precedence than other path
 872        variables such as GIT_INDEX_FILE, GIT_OBJECT_DIRECTORY...
 873
 874Git Commits
 875~~~~~~~~~~~
 876'GIT_AUTHOR_NAME'::
 877'GIT_AUTHOR_EMAIL'::
 878'GIT_AUTHOR_DATE'::
 879'GIT_COMMITTER_NAME'::
 880'GIT_COMMITTER_EMAIL'::
 881'GIT_COMMITTER_DATE'::
 882'EMAIL'::
 883        see linkgit:git-commit-tree[1]
 884
 885Git Diffs
 886~~~~~~~~~
 887'GIT_DIFF_OPTS'::
 888        Only valid setting is "--unified=??" or "-u??" to set the
 889        number of context lines shown when a unified diff is created.
 890        This takes precedence over any "-U" or "--unified" option
 891        value passed on the Git diff command line.
 892
 893'GIT_EXTERNAL_DIFF'::
 894        When the environment variable 'GIT_EXTERNAL_DIFF' is set, the
 895        program named by it is called, instead of the diff invocation
 896        described above.  For a path that is added, removed, or modified,
 897        'GIT_EXTERNAL_DIFF' is called with 7 parameters:
 898
 899        path old-file old-hex old-mode new-file new-hex new-mode
 900+
 901where:
 902
 903        <old|new>-file:: are files GIT_EXTERNAL_DIFF can use to read the
 904                         contents of <old|new>,
 905        <old|new>-hex:: are the 40-hexdigit SHA-1 hashes,
 906        <old|new>-mode:: are the octal representation of the file modes.
 907+
 908The file parameters can point at the user's working file
 909(e.g. `new-file` in "git-diff-files"), `/dev/null` (e.g. `old-file`
 910when a new file is added), or a temporary file (e.g. `old-file` in the
 911index).  'GIT_EXTERNAL_DIFF' should not worry about unlinking the
 912temporary file --- it is removed when 'GIT_EXTERNAL_DIFF' exits.
 913+
 914For a path that is unmerged, 'GIT_EXTERNAL_DIFF' is called with 1
 915parameter, <path>.
 916+
 917For each path 'GIT_EXTERNAL_DIFF' is called, two environment variables,
 918'GIT_DIFF_PATH_COUNTER' and 'GIT_DIFF_PATH_TOTAL' are set.
 919
 920'GIT_DIFF_PATH_COUNTER'::
 921        A 1-based counter incremented by one for every path.
 922
 923'GIT_DIFF_PATH_TOTAL'::
 924        The total number of paths.
 925
 926other
 927~~~~~
 928'GIT_MERGE_VERBOSITY'::
 929        A number controlling the amount of output shown by
 930        the recursive merge strategy.  Overrides merge.verbosity.
 931        See linkgit:git-merge[1]
 932
 933'GIT_PAGER'::
 934        This environment variable overrides `$PAGER`. If it is set
 935        to an empty string or to the value "cat", Git will not launch
 936        a pager.  See also the `core.pager` option in
 937        linkgit:git-config[1].
 938
 939'GIT_EDITOR'::
 940        This environment variable overrides `$EDITOR` and `$VISUAL`.
 941        It is used by several Git commands when, on interactive mode,
 942        an editor is to be launched. See also linkgit:git-var[1]
 943        and the `core.editor` option in linkgit:git-config[1].
 944
 945'GIT_SSH'::
 946'GIT_SSH_COMMAND'::
 947        If either of these environment variables is set then 'git fetch'
 948        and 'git push' will use the specified command instead of 'ssh'
 949        when they need to connect to a remote system.
 950        The command will be given exactly two or four arguments: the
 951        'username@host' (or just 'host') from the URL and the shell
 952        command to execute on that remote system, optionally preceded by
 953        '-p' (literally) and the 'port' from the URL when it specifies
 954        something other than the default SSH port.
 955+
 956`$GIT_SSH_COMMAND` takes precedence over `$GIT_SSH`, and is interpreted
 957by the shell, which allows additional arguments to be included.
 958`$GIT_SSH` on the other hand must be just the path to a program
 959(which can be a wrapper shell script, if additional arguments are
 960needed).
 961+
 962Usually it is easier to configure any desired options through your
 963personal `.ssh/config` file.  Please consult your ssh documentation
 964for further details.
 965
 966'GIT_ASKPASS'::
 967        If this environment variable is set, then Git commands which need to
 968        acquire passwords or passphrases (e.g. for HTTP or IMAP authentication)
 969        will call this program with a suitable prompt as command-line argument
 970        and read the password from its STDOUT. See also the 'core.askPass'
 971        option in linkgit:git-config[1].
 972
 973'GIT_TERMINAL_PROMPT'::
 974        If this environment variable is set to `0`, git will not prompt
 975        on the terminal (e.g., when asking for HTTP authentication).
 976
 977'GIT_CONFIG_NOSYSTEM'::
 978        Whether to skip reading settings from the system-wide
 979        `$(prefix)/etc/gitconfig` file.  This environment variable can
 980        be used along with `$HOME` and `$XDG_CONFIG_HOME` to create a
 981        predictable environment for a picky script, or you can set it
 982        temporarily to avoid using a buggy `/etc/gitconfig` file while
 983        waiting for someone with sufficient permissions to fix it.
 984
 985'GIT_FLUSH'::
 986        If this environment variable is set to "1", then commands such
 987        as 'git blame' (in incremental mode), 'git rev-list', 'git log',
 988        'git check-attr' and 'git check-ignore' will
 989        force a flush of the output stream after each record have been
 990        flushed. If this
 991        variable is set to "0", the output of these commands will be done
 992        using completely buffered I/O.   If this environment variable is
 993        not set, Git will choose buffered or record-oriented flushing
 994        based on whether stdout appears to be redirected to a file or not.
 995
 996'GIT_TRACE'::
 997        Enables general trace messages, e.g. alias expansion, built-in
 998        command execution and external command execution.
 999+
1000If this variable is set to "1", "2" or "true" (comparison
1001is case insensitive), trace messages will be printed to
1002stderr.
1003+
1004If the variable is set to an integer value greater than 2
1005and lower than 10 (strictly) then Git will interpret this
1006value as an open file descriptor and will try to write the
1007trace messages into this file descriptor.
1008+
1009Alternatively, if the variable is set to an absolute path
1010(starting with a '/' character), Git will interpret this
1011as a file path and will try to write the trace messages
1012into it.
1013+
1014Unsetting the variable, or setting it to empty, "0" or
1015"false" (case insensitive) disables trace messages.
1016
1017'GIT_TRACE_PACK_ACCESS'::
1018        Enables trace messages for all accesses to any packs. For each
1019        access, the pack file name and an offset in the pack is
1020        recorded. This may be helpful for troubleshooting some
1021        pack-related performance problems.
1022        See 'GIT_TRACE' for available trace output options.
1023
1024'GIT_TRACE_PACKET'::
1025        Enables trace messages for all packets coming in or out of a
1026        given program. This can help with debugging object negotiation
1027        or other protocol issues. Tracing is turned off at a packet
1028        starting with "PACK" (but see 'GIT_TRACE_PACKFILE' below).
1029        See 'GIT_TRACE' for available trace output options.
1030
1031'GIT_TRACE_PACKFILE'::
1032        Enables tracing of packfiles sent or received by a
1033        given program. Unlike other trace output, this trace is
1034        verbatim: no headers, and no quoting of binary data. You almost
1035        certainly want to direct into a file (e.g.,
1036        `GIT_TRACE_PACKFILE=/tmp/my.pack`) rather than displaying it on
1037        the terminal or mixing it with other trace output.
1038+
1039Note that this is currently only implemented for the client side
1040of clones and fetches.
1041
1042'GIT_TRACE_PERFORMANCE'::
1043        Enables performance related trace messages, e.g. total execution
1044        time of each Git command.
1045        See 'GIT_TRACE' for available trace output options.
1046
1047'GIT_TRACE_SETUP'::
1048        Enables trace messages printing the .git, working tree and current
1049        working directory after Git has completed its setup phase.
1050        See 'GIT_TRACE' for available trace output options.
1051
1052'GIT_TRACE_SHALLOW'::
1053        Enables trace messages that can help debugging fetching /
1054        cloning of shallow repositories.
1055        See 'GIT_TRACE' for available trace output options.
1056
1057GIT_LITERAL_PATHSPECS::
1058        Setting this variable to `1` will cause Git to treat all
1059        pathspecs literally, rather than as glob patterns. For example,
1060        running `GIT_LITERAL_PATHSPECS=1 git log -- '*.c'` will search
1061        for commits that touch the path `*.c`, not any paths that the
1062        glob `*.c` matches. You might want this if you are feeding
1063        literal paths to Git (e.g., paths previously given to you by
1064        `git ls-tree`, `--raw` diff output, etc).
1065
1066GIT_GLOB_PATHSPECS::
1067        Setting this variable to `1` will cause Git to treat all
1068        pathspecs as glob patterns (aka "glob" magic).
1069
1070GIT_NOGLOB_PATHSPECS::
1071        Setting this variable to `1` will cause Git to treat all
1072        pathspecs as literal (aka "literal" magic).
1073
1074GIT_ICASE_PATHSPECS::
1075        Setting this variable to `1` will cause Git to treat all
1076        pathspecs as case-insensitive.
1077
1078'GIT_REFLOG_ACTION'::
1079        When a ref is updated, reflog entries are created to keep
1080        track of the reason why the ref was updated (which is
1081        typically the name of the high-level command that updated
1082        the ref), in addition to the old and new values of the ref.
1083        A scripted Porcelain command can use set_reflog_action
1084        helper function in `git-sh-setup` to set its name to this
1085        variable when it is invoked as the top level command by the
1086        end user, to be recorded in the body of the reflog.
1087
1088`GIT_REF_PARANOIA`::
1089        If set to `1`, include broken or badly named refs when iterating
1090        over lists of refs. In a normal, non-corrupted repository, this
1091        does nothing. However, enabling it may help git to detect and
1092        abort some operations in the presence of broken refs. Git sets
1093        this variable automatically when performing destructive
1094        operations like linkgit:git-prune[1]. You should not need to set
1095        it yourself unless you want to be paranoid about making sure
1096        an operation has touched every ref (e.g., because you are
1097        cloning a repository to make a backup).
1098
1099`GIT_ALLOW_PROTOCOL`::
1100        If set, provide a colon-separated list of protocols which are
1101        allowed to be used with fetch/push/clone. This is useful to
1102        restrict recursive submodule initialization from an untrusted
1103        repository. Any protocol not mentioned will be disallowed (i.e.,
1104        this is a whitelist, not a blacklist). If the variable is not
1105        set at all, all protocols are enabled.  The protocol names
1106        currently used by git are:
1107
1108          - `file`: any local file-based path (including `file://` URLs,
1109            or local paths)
1110
1111          - `git`: the anonymous git protocol over a direct TCP
1112            connection (or proxy, if configured)
1113
1114          - `ssh`: git over ssh (including `host:path` syntax,
1115            `git+ssh://`, etc).
1116
1117          - `rsync`: git over rsync
1118
1119          - `http`: git over http, both "smart http" and "dumb http".
1120            Note that this does _not_ include `https`; if you want both,
1121            you should specify both as `http:https`.
1122
1123          - any external helpers are named by their protocol (e.g., use
1124            `hg` to allow the `git-remote-hg` helper)
1125
1126
1127Discussion[[Discussion]]
1128------------------------
1129
1130More detail on the following is available from the
1131link:user-manual.html#git-concepts[Git concepts chapter of the
1132user-manual] and linkgit:gitcore-tutorial[7].
1133
1134A Git project normally consists of a working directory with a ".git"
1135subdirectory at the top level.  The .git directory contains, among other
1136things, a compressed object database representing the complete history
1137of the project, an "index" file which links that history to the current
1138contents of the working tree, and named pointers into that history such
1139as tags and branch heads.
1140
1141The object database contains objects of three main types: blobs, which
1142hold file data; trees, which point to blobs and other trees to build up
1143directory hierarchies; and commits, which each reference a single tree
1144and some number of parent commits.
1145
1146The commit, equivalent to what other systems call a "changeset" or
1147"version", represents a step in the project's history, and each parent
1148represents an immediately preceding step.  Commits with more than one
1149parent represent merges of independent lines of development.
1150
1151All objects are named by the SHA-1 hash of their contents, normally
1152written as a string of 40 hex digits.  Such names are globally unique.
1153The entire history leading up to a commit can be vouched for by signing
1154just that commit.  A fourth object type, the tag, is provided for this
1155purpose.
1156
1157When first created, objects are stored in individual files, but for
1158efficiency may later be compressed together into "pack files".
1159
1160Named pointers called refs mark interesting points in history.  A ref
1161may contain the SHA-1 name of an object or the name of another ref.  Refs
1162with names beginning `ref/head/` contain the SHA-1 name of the most
1163recent commit (or "head") of a branch under development.  SHA-1 names of
1164tags of interest are stored under `ref/tags/`.  A special ref named
1165`HEAD` contains the name of the currently checked-out branch.
1166
1167The index file is initialized with a list of all paths and, for each
1168path, a blob object and a set of attributes.  The blob object represents
1169the contents of the file as of the head of the current branch.  The
1170attributes (last modified time, size, etc.) are taken from the
1171corresponding file in the working tree.  Subsequent changes to the
1172working tree can be found by comparing these attributes.  The index may
1173be updated with new content, and new commits may be created from the
1174content stored in the index.
1175
1176The index is also capable of storing multiple entries (called "stages")
1177for a given pathname.  These stages are used to hold the various
1178unmerged version of a file when a merge is in progress.
1179
1180FURTHER DOCUMENTATION
1181---------------------
1182
1183See the references in the "description" section to get started
1184using Git.  The following is probably more detail than necessary
1185for a first-time user.
1186
1187The link:user-manual.html#git-concepts[Git concepts chapter of the
1188user-manual] and linkgit:gitcore-tutorial[7] both provide
1189introductions to the underlying Git architecture.
1190
1191See linkgit:gitworkflows[7] for an overview of recommended workflows.
1192
1193See also the link:howto-index.html[howto] documents for some useful
1194examples.
1195
1196The internals are documented in the
1197link:technical/api-index.html[Git API documentation].
1198
1199Users migrating from CVS may also want to
1200read linkgit:gitcvs-migration[7].
1201
1202
1203Authors
1204-------
1205Git was started by Linus Torvalds, and is currently maintained by Junio
1206C Hamano. Numerous contributions have come from the Git mailing list
1207<git@vger.kernel.org>.  http://www.openhub.net/p/git/contributors/summary
1208gives you a more complete list of contributors.
1209
1210If you have a clone of git.git itself, the
1211output of linkgit:git-shortlog[1] and linkgit:git-blame[1] can show you
1212the authors for specific parts of the project.
1213
1214Reporting Bugs
1215--------------
1216
1217Report bugs to the Git mailing list <git@vger.kernel.org> where the
1218development and maintenance is primarily done.  You do not have to be
1219subscribed to the list to send a message there.
1220
1221SEE ALSO
1222--------
1223linkgit:gittutorial[7], linkgit:gittutorial-2[7],
1224linkgit:giteveryday[7], linkgit:gitcvs-migration[7],
1225linkgit:gitglossary[7], linkgit:gitcore-tutorial[7],
1226linkgit:gitcli[7], link:user-manual.html[The Git User's Manual],
1227linkgit:gitworkflows[7]
1228
1229GIT
1230---
1231Part of the linkgit:git[1] suite