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] [--no-replace-objects] 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:v1.7.0.6/git.html[documentation for release 1.7.0.6] 47 48* release notes for 49 link:RelNotes-1.7.0.6.txt[1.7.0.6], 50 link:RelNotes-1.7.0.5.txt[1.7.0.5], 51 link:RelNotes-1.7.0.4.txt[1.7.0.4], 52 link:RelNotes-1.7.0.3.txt[1.7.0.3], 53 link:RelNotes-1.7.0.2.txt[1.7.0.2], 54 link:RelNotes-1.7.0.1.txt[1.7.0.1], 55 link:RelNotes-1.7.0.txt[1.7.0]. 56 57* link:v1.6.6.2/git.html[documentation for release 1.6.6.2] 58 59* release notes for 60 link:RelNotes-1.6.6.2.txt[1.6.6.2], 61 link:RelNotes-1.6.6.1.txt[1.6.6.1], 62 link:RelNotes-1.6.6.txt[1.6.6]. 63 64* link:v1.6.5.8/git.html[documentation for release 1.6.5.8] 65 66* release notes for 67 link:RelNotes-1.6.5.8.txt[1.6.5.8], 68 link:RelNotes-1.6.5.7.txt[1.6.5.7], 69 link:RelNotes-1.6.5.6.txt[1.6.5.6], 70 link:RelNotes-1.6.5.5.txt[1.6.5.5], 71 link:RelNotes-1.6.5.4.txt[1.6.5.4], 72 link:RelNotes-1.6.5.3.txt[1.6.5.3], 73 link:RelNotes-1.6.5.2.txt[1.6.5.2], 74 link:RelNotes-1.6.5.1.txt[1.6.5.1], 75 link:RelNotes-1.6.5.txt[1.6.5]. 76 77* link:v1.6.4.4/git.html[documentation for release 1.6.4.4] 78 79* release notes for 80 link:RelNotes-1.6.4.4.txt[1.6.4.4], 81 link:RelNotes-1.6.4.3.txt[1.6.4.3], 82 link:RelNotes-1.6.4.2.txt[1.6.4.2], 83 link:RelNotes-1.6.4.1.txt[1.6.4.1], 84 link:RelNotes-1.6.4.txt[1.6.4]. 85 86* link:v1.6.3.4/git.html[documentation for release 1.6.3.4] 87 88* release notes for 89 link:RelNotes-1.6.3.4.txt[1.6.3.4], 90 link:RelNotes-1.6.3.3.txt[1.6.3.3], 91 link:RelNotes-1.6.3.2.txt[1.6.3.2], 92 link:RelNotes-1.6.3.1.txt[1.6.3.1], 93 link:RelNotes-1.6.3.txt[1.6.3]. 94 95* release notes for 96 link:RelNotes-1.6.2.5.txt[1.6.2.5], 97 link:RelNotes-1.6.2.4.txt[1.6.2.4], 98 link:RelNotes-1.6.2.3.txt[1.6.2.3], 99 link:RelNotes-1.6.2.2.txt[1.6.2.2], 100 link:RelNotes-1.6.2.1.txt[1.6.2.1], 101 link:RelNotes-1.6.2.txt[1.6.2]. 102 103* link:v1.6.1.3/git.html[documentation for release 1.6.1.3] 104 105* release notes for 106 link:RelNotes-1.6.1.3.txt[1.6.1.3], 107 link:RelNotes-1.6.1.2.txt[1.6.1.2], 108 link:RelNotes-1.6.1.1.txt[1.6.1.1], 109 link:RelNotes-1.6.1.txt[1.6.1]. 110 111* link:v1.6.0.6/git.html[documentation for release 1.6.0.6] 112 113* release notes for 114 link:RelNotes-1.6.0.6.txt[1.6.0.6], 115 link:RelNotes-1.6.0.5.txt[1.6.0.5], 116 link:RelNotes-1.6.0.4.txt[1.6.0.4], 117 link:RelNotes-1.6.0.3.txt[1.6.0.3], 118 link:RelNotes-1.6.0.2.txt[1.6.0.2], 119 link:RelNotes-1.6.0.1.txt[1.6.0.1], 120 link:RelNotes-1.6.0.txt[1.6.0]. 121 122* link:v1.5.6.6/git.html[documentation for release 1.5.6.6] 123 124* release notes for 125 link:RelNotes-1.5.6.6.txt[1.5.6.6], 126 link:RelNotes-1.5.6.5.txt[1.5.6.5], 127 link:RelNotes-1.5.6.4.txt[1.5.6.4], 128 link:RelNotes-1.5.6.3.txt[1.5.6.3], 129 link:RelNotes-1.5.6.2.txt[1.5.6.2], 130 link:RelNotes-1.5.6.1.txt[1.5.6.1], 131 link:RelNotes-1.5.6.txt[1.5.6]. 132 133* link:v1.5.5.6/git.html[documentation for release 1.5.5.6] 134 135* release notes for 136 link:RelNotes-1.5.5.6.txt[1.5.5.6], 137 link:RelNotes-1.5.5.5.txt[1.5.5.5], 138 link:RelNotes-1.5.5.4.txt[1.5.5.4], 139 link:RelNotes-1.5.5.3.txt[1.5.5.3], 140 link:RelNotes-1.5.5.2.txt[1.5.5.2], 141 link:RelNotes-1.5.5.1.txt[1.5.5.1], 142 link:RelNotes-1.5.5.txt[1.5.5]. 143 144* link:v1.5.4.7/git.html[documentation for release 1.5.4.7] 145 146* release notes for 147 link:RelNotes-1.5.4.7.txt[1.5.4.7], 148 link:RelNotes-1.5.4.6.txt[1.5.4.6], 149 link:RelNotes-1.5.4.5.txt[1.5.4.5], 150 link:RelNotes-1.5.4.4.txt[1.5.4.4], 151 link:RelNotes-1.5.4.3.txt[1.5.4.3], 152 link:RelNotes-1.5.4.2.txt[1.5.4.2], 153 link:RelNotes-1.5.4.1.txt[1.5.4.1], 154 link:RelNotes-1.5.4.txt[1.5.4]. 155 156* link:v1.5.3.8/git.html[documentation for release 1.5.3.8] 157 158* release notes for 159 link:RelNotes-1.5.3.8.txt[1.5.3.8], 160 link:RelNotes-1.5.3.7.txt[1.5.3.7], 161 link:RelNotes-1.5.3.6.txt[1.5.3.6], 162 link:RelNotes-1.5.3.5.txt[1.5.3.5], 163 link:RelNotes-1.5.3.4.txt[1.5.3.4], 164 link:RelNotes-1.5.3.3.txt[1.5.3.3], 165 link:RelNotes-1.5.3.2.txt[1.5.3.2], 166 link:RelNotes-1.5.3.1.txt[1.5.3.1], 167 link:RelNotes-1.5.3.txt[1.5.3]. 168 169* link:v1.5.2.5/git.html[documentation for release 1.5.2.5] 170 171* release notes for 172 link:RelNotes-1.5.2.5.txt[1.5.2.5], 173 link:RelNotes-1.5.2.4.txt[1.5.2.4], 174 link:RelNotes-1.5.2.3.txt[1.5.2.3], 175 link:RelNotes-1.5.2.2.txt[1.5.2.2], 176 link:RelNotes-1.5.2.1.txt[1.5.2.1], 177 link:RelNotes-1.5.2.txt[1.5.2]. 178 179* link:v1.5.1.6/git.html[documentation for release 1.5.1.6] 180 181* release notes for 182 link:RelNotes-1.5.1.6.txt[1.5.1.6], 183 link:RelNotes-1.5.1.5.txt[1.5.1.5], 184 link:RelNotes-1.5.1.4.txt[1.5.1.4], 185 link:RelNotes-1.5.1.3.txt[1.5.1.3], 186 link:RelNotes-1.5.1.2.txt[1.5.1.2], 187 link:RelNotes-1.5.1.1.txt[1.5.1.1], 188 link:RelNotes-1.5.1.txt[1.5.1]. 189 190* link:v1.5.0.7/git.html[documentation for release 1.5.0.7] 191 192* release notes for 193 link:RelNotes-1.5.0.7.txt[1.5.0.7], 194 link:RelNotes-1.5.0.6.txt[1.5.0.6], 195 link:RelNotes-1.5.0.5.txt[1.5.0.5], 196 link:RelNotes-1.5.0.3.txt[1.5.0.3], 197 link:RelNotes-1.5.0.2.txt[1.5.0.2], 198 link:RelNotes-1.5.0.1.txt[1.5.0.1], 199 link:RelNotes-1.5.0.txt[1.5.0]. 200 201* documentation for release link:v1.4.4.4/git.html[1.4.4.4], 202 link:v1.3.3/git.html[1.3.3], 203 link:v1.2.6/git.html[1.2.6], 204 link:v1.0.13/git.html[1.0.13]. 205 206============ 207 208endif::stalenotes[] 209 210OPTIONS 211------- 212--version:: 213 Prints the git suite version that the 'git' program came from. 214 215--help:: 216 Prints the synopsis and a list of the most commonly used 217 commands. If the option '--all' or '-a' is given then all 218 available commands are printed. If a git command is named this 219 option will bring up the manual page for that command. 220+ 221Other options are available to control how the manual page is 222displayed. See linkgit:git-help[1] for more information, 223because `git --help ...` is converted internally into `git 224help ...`. 225 226--exec-path:: 227 Path to wherever your core git programs are installed. 228 This can also be controlled by setting the GIT_EXEC_PATH 229 environment variable. If no path is given, 'git' will print 230 the current setting and then exit. 231 232--html-path:: 233 Print the path to wherever your git HTML documentation is installed 234 and exit. 235 236-p:: 237--paginate:: 238 Pipe all output into 'less' (or if set, $PAGER) if standard 239 output is a terminal. This overrides the `pager.<cmd>` 240 configuration options (see the "Configuration Mechanism" section 241 below). 242 243--no-pager:: 244 Do not pipe git output into a pager. 245 246--git-dir=<path>:: 247 Set the path to the repository. This can also be controlled by 248 setting the GIT_DIR environment variable. It can be an absolute 249 path or relative path to current working directory. 250 251--work-tree=<path>:: 252 Set the path to the working tree. The value will not be 253 used in combination with repositories found automatically in 254 a .git directory (i.e. $GIT_DIR is not set). 255 This can also be controlled by setting the GIT_WORK_TREE 256 environment variable and the core.worktree configuration 257 variable. It can be an absolute path or relative path to 258 the directory specified by --git-dir or GIT_DIR. 259 Note: If --git-dir or GIT_DIR are specified but none of 260 --work-tree, GIT_WORK_TREE and core.worktree is specified, 261 the current working directory is regarded as the top directory 262 of your working tree. 263 264--bare:: 265 Treat the repository as a bare repository. If GIT_DIR 266 environment is not set, it is set to the current working 267 directory. 268 269--no-replace-objects:: 270 Do not use replacement refs to replace git objects. See 271 linkgit:git-replace[1] for more information. 272 273 274FURTHER DOCUMENTATION 275--------------------- 276 277See the references above to get started using git. The following is 278probably more detail than necessary for a first-time user. 279 280The link:user-manual.html#git-concepts[git concepts chapter of the 281user-manual] and linkgit:gitcore-tutorial[7] both provide 282introductions to the underlying git architecture. 283 284See linkgit:gitworkflows[7] for an overview of recommended workflows. 285 286See also the link:howto-index.html[howto] documents for some useful 287examples. 288 289The internals are documented in the 290link:technical/api-index.html[GIT API documentation]. 291 292GIT COMMANDS 293------------ 294 295We divide git into high level ("porcelain") commands and low level 296("plumbing") commands. 297 298High-level commands (porcelain) 299------------------------------- 300 301We separate the porcelain commands into the main commands and some 302ancillary user utilities. 303 304Main porcelain commands 305~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 306 307include::cmds-mainporcelain.txt[] 308 309Ancillary Commands 310~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 311Manipulators: 312 313include::cmds-ancillarymanipulators.txt[] 314 315Interrogators: 316 317include::cmds-ancillaryinterrogators.txt[] 318 319 320Interacting with Others 321~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 322 323These commands are to interact with foreign SCM and with other 324people via patch over e-mail. 325 326include::cmds-foreignscminterface.txt[] 327 328 329Low-level commands (plumbing) 330----------------------------- 331 332Although git includes its 333own porcelain layer, its low-level commands are sufficient to support 334development of alternative porcelains. Developers of such porcelains 335might start by reading about linkgit:git-update-index[1] and 336linkgit:git-read-tree[1]. 337 338The interface (input, output, set of options and the semantics) 339to these low-level commands are meant to be a lot more stable 340than Porcelain level commands, because these commands are 341primarily for scripted use. The interface to Porcelain commands 342on the other hand are subject to change in order to improve the 343end user experience. 344 345The following description divides 346the low-level commands into commands that manipulate objects (in 347the repository, index, and working tree), commands that interrogate and 348compare objects, and commands that move objects and references between 349repositories. 350 351 352Manipulation commands 353~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 354 355include::cmds-plumbingmanipulators.txt[] 356 357 358Interrogation commands 359~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 360 361include::cmds-plumbinginterrogators.txt[] 362 363In general, the interrogate commands do not touch the files in 364the working tree. 365 366 367Synching repositories 368~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 369 370include::cmds-synchingrepositories.txt[] 371 372The following are helper commands used by the above; end users 373typically do not use them directly. 374 375include::cmds-synchelpers.txt[] 376 377 378Internal helper commands 379~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 380 381These are internal helper commands used by other commands; end 382users typically do not use them directly. 383 384include::cmds-purehelpers.txt[] 385 386 387Configuration Mechanism 388----------------------- 389 390Starting from 0.99.9 (actually mid 0.99.8.GIT), `.git/config` file 391is used to hold per-repository configuration options. It is a 392simple text file modeled after `.ini` format familiar to some 393people. Here is an example: 394 395------------ 396# 397# A '#' or ';' character indicates a comment. 398# 399 400; core variables 401[core] 402 ; Don't trust file modes 403 filemode = false 404 405; user identity 406[user] 407 name = "Junio C Hamano" 408 email = "junkio@twinsun.com" 409 410------------ 411 412Various commands read from the configuration file and adjust 413their operation accordingly. See linkgit:git-config[1] for a 414list. 415 416 417Identifier Terminology 418---------------------- 419<object>:: 420 Indicates the object name for any type of object. 421 422<blob>:: 423 Indicates a blob object name. 424 425<tree>:: 426 Indicates a tree object name. 427 428<commit>:: 429 Indicates a commit object name. 430 431<tree-ish>:: 432 Indicates a tree, commit or tag object name. A 433 command that takes a <tree-ish> argument ultimately wants to 434 operate on a <tree> object but automatically dereferences 435 <commit> and <tag> objects that point at a <tree>. 436 437<commit-ish>:: 438 Indicates a commit or tag object name. A 439 command that takes a <commit-ish> argument ultimately wants to 440 operate on a <commit> object but automatically dereferences 441 <tag> objects that point at a <commit>. 442 443<type>:: 444 Indicates that an object type is required. 445 Currently one of: `blob`, `tree`, `commit`, or `tag`. 446 447<file>:: 448 Indicates a filename - almost always relative to the 449 root of the tree structure `GIT_INDEX_FILE` describes. 450 451Symbolic Identifiers 452-------------------- 453Any git command accepting any <object> can also use the following 454symbolic notation: 455 456HEAD:: 457 indicates the head of the current branch (i.e. the 458 contents of `$GIT_DIR/HEAD`). 459 460<tag>:: 461 a valid tag 'name' 462 (i.e. the contents of `$GIT_DIR/refs/tags/<tag>`). 463 464<head>:: 465 a valid head 'name' 466 (i.e. the contents of `$GIT_DIR/refs/heads/<head>`). 467 468For a more complete list of ways to spell object names, see 469"SPECIFYING REVISIONS" section in linkgit:git-rev-parse[1]. 470 471 472File/Directory Structure 473------------------------ 474 475Please see the linkgit:gitrepository-layout[5] document. 476 477Read linkgit:githooks[5] for more details about each hook. 478 479Higher level SCMs may provide and manage additional information in the 480`$GIT_DIR`. 481 482 483Terminology 484----------- 485Please see linkgit:gitglossary[7]. 486 487 488Environment Variables 489--------------------- 490Various git commands use the following environment variables: 491 492The git Repository 493~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 494These environment variables apply to 'all' core git commands. Nb: it 495is worth noting that they may be used/overridden by SCMS sitting above 496git so take care if using Cogito etc. 497 498'GIT_INDEX_FILE':: 499 This environment allows the specification of an alternate 500 index file. If not specified, the default of `$GIT_DIR/index` 501 is used. 502 503'GIT_OBJECT_DIRECTORY':: 504 If the object storage directory is specified via this 505 environment variable then the sha1 directories are created 506 underneath - otherwise the default `$GIT_DIR/objects` 507 directory is used. 508 509'GIT_ALTERNATE_OBJECT_DIRECTORIES':: 510 Due to the immutable nature of git objects, old objects can be 511 archived into shared, read-only directories. This variable 512 specifies a ":" separated (on Windows ";" separated) list 513 of git object directories which can be used to search for git 514 objects. New objects will not be written to these directories. 515 516'GIT_DIR':: 517 If the 'GIT_DIR' environment variable is set then it 518 specifies a path to use instead of the default `.git` 519 for the base of the repository. 520 521'GIT_WORK_TREE':: 522 Set the path to the working tree. The value will not be 523 used in combination with repositories found automatically in 524 a .git directory (i.e. $GIT_DIR is not set). 525 This can also be controlled by the '--work-tree' command line 526 option and the core.worktree configuration variable. 527 528'GIT_CEILING_DIRECTORIES':: 529 This should be a colon-separated list of absolute paths. 530 If set, it is a list of directories that git should not chdir 531 up into while looking for a repository directory. 532 It will not exclude the current working directory or 533 a GIT_DIR set on the command line or in the environment. 534 (Useful for excluding slow-loading network directories.) 535 536git Commits 537~~~~~~~~~~~ 538'GIT_AUTHOR_NAME':: 539'GIT_AUTHOR_EMAIL':: 540'GIT_AUTHOR_DATE':: 541'GIT_COMMITTER_NAME':: 542'GIT_COMMITTER_EMAIL':: 543'GIT_COMMITTER_DATE':: 544'EMAIL':: 545 see linkgit:git-commit-tree[1] 546 547git Diffs 548~~~~~~~~~ 549'GIT_DIFF_OPTS':: 550 Only valid setting is "--unified=??" or "-u??" to set the 551 number of context lines shown when a unified diff is created. 552 This takes precedence over any "-U" or "--unified" option 553 value passed on the git diff command line. 554 555'GIT_EXTERNAL_DIFF':: 556 When the environment variable 'GIT_EXTERNAL_DIFF' is set, the 557 program named by it is called, instead of the diff invocation 558 described above. For a path that is added, removed, or modified, 559 'GIT_EXTERNAL_DIFF' is called with 7 parameters: 560 561 path old-file old-hex old-mode new-file new-hex new-mode 562+ 563where: 564 565 <old|new>-file:: are files GIT_EXTERNAL_DIFF can use to read the 566 contents of <old|new>, 567 <old|new>-hex:: are the 40-hexdigit SHA1 hashes, 568 <old|new>-mode:: are the octal representation of the file modes. 569 570+ 571The file parameters can point at the user's working file 572(e.g. `new-file` in "git-diff-files"), `/dev/null` (e.g. `old-file` 573when a new file is added), or a temporary file (e.g. `old-file` in the 574index). 'GIT_EXTERNAL_DIFF' should not worry about unlinking the 575temporary file --- it is removed when 'GIT_EXTERNAL_DIFF' exits. 576+ 577For a path that is unmerged, 'GIT_EXTERNAL_DIFF' is called with 1 578parameter, <path>. 579 580other 581~~~~~ 582'GIT_MERGE_VERBOSITY':: 583 A number controlling the amount of output shown by 584 the recursive merge strategy. Overrides merge.verbosity. 585 See linkgit:git-merge[1] 586 587'GIT_PAGER':: 588 This environment variable overrides `$PAGER`. If it is set 589 to an empty string or to the value "cat", git will not launch 590 a pager. See also the `core.pager` option in 591 linkgit:git-config[1]. 592 593'GIT_SSH':: 594 If this environment variable is set then 'git fetch' 595 and 'git push' will use this command instead 596 of 'ssh' when they need to connect to a remote system. 597 The '$GIT_SSH' command will be given exactly two arguments: 598 the 'username@host' (or just 'host') from the URL and the 599 shell command to execute on that remote system. 600+ 601To pass options to the program that you want to list in GIT_SSH 602you will need to wrap the program and options into a shell script, 603then set GIT_SSH to refer to the shell script. 604+ 605Usually it is easier to configure any desired options through your 606personal `.ssh/config` file. Please consult your ssh documentation 607for further details. 608 609'GIT_FLUSH':: 610 If this environment variable is set to "1", then commands such 611 as 'git blame' (in incremental mode), 'git rev-list', 'git log', 612 and 'git whatchanged' will force a flush of the output stream 613 after each commit-oriented record have been flushed. If this 614 variable is set to "0", the output of these commands will be done 615 using completely buffered I/O. If this environment variable is 616 not set, git will choose buffered or record-oriented flushing 617 based on whether stdout appears to be redirected to a file or not. 618 619'GIT_TRACE':: 620 If this variable is set to "1", "2" or "true" (comparison 621 is case insensitive), git will print `trace:` messages on 622 stderr telling about alias expansion, built-in command 623 execution and external command execution. 624 If this variable is set to an integer value greater than 1 625 and lower than 10 (strictly) then git will interpret this 626 value as an open file descriptor and will try to write the 627 trace messages into this file descriptor. 628 Alternatively, if this variable is set to an absolute path 629 (starting with a '/' character), git will interpret this 630 as a file path and will try to write the trace messages 631 into it. 632 633Discussion[[Discussion]] 634------------------------ 635 636More detail on the following is available from the 637link:user-manual.html#git-concepts[git concepts chapter of the 638user-manual] and linkgit:gitcore-tutorial[7]. 639 640A git project normally consists of a working directory with a ".git" 641subdirectory at the top level. The .git directory contains, among other 642things, a compressed object database representing the complete history 643of the project, an "index" file which links that history to the current 644contents of the working tree, and named pointers into that history such 645as tags and branch heads. 646 647The object database contains objects of three main types: blobs, which 648hold file data; trees, which point to blobs and other trees to build up 649directory hierarchies; and commits, which each reference a single tree 650and some number of parent commits. 651 652The commit, equivalent to what other systems call a "changeset" or 653"version", represents a step in the project's history, and each parent 654represents an immediately preceding step. Commits with more than one 655parent represent merges of independent lines of development. 656 657All objects are named by the SHA1 hash of their contents, normally 658written as a string of 40 hex digits. Such names are globally unique. 659The entire history leading up to a commit can be vouched for by signing 660just that commit. A fourth object type, the tag, is provided for this 661purpose. 662 663When first created, objects are stored in individual files, but for 664efficiency may later be compressed together into "pack files". 665 666Named pointers called refs mark interesting points in history. A ref 667may contain the SHA1 name of an object or the name of another ref. Refs 668with names beginning `ref/head/` contain the SHA1 name of the most 669recent commit (or "head") of a branch under development. SHA1 names of 670tags of interest are stored under `ref/tags/`. A special ref named 671`HEAD` contains the name of the currently checked-out branch. 672 673The index file is initialized with a list of all paths and, for each 674path, a blob object and a set of attributes. The blob object represents 675the contents of the file as of the head of the current branch. The 676attributes (last modified time, size, etc.) are taken from the 677corresponding file in the working tree. Subsequent changes to the 678working tree can be found by comparing these attributes. The index may 679be updated with new content, and new commits may be created from the 680content stored in the index. 681 682The index is also capable of storing multiple entries (called "stages") 683for a given pathname. These stages are used to hold the various 684unmerged version of a file when a merge is in progress. 685 686Authors 687------- 688* git's founding father is Linus Torvalds <torvalds@osdl.org>. 689* The current git nurse is Junio C Hamano <gitster@pobox.com>. 690* The git potty was written by Andreas Ericsson <ae@op5.se>. 691* General upbringing is handled by the git-list <git@vger.kernel.org>. 692 693Documentation 694-------------- 695The documentation for git suite was started by David Greaves 696<david@dgreaves.com>, and later enhanced greatly by the 697contributors on the git-list <git@vger.kernel.org>. 698 699SEE ALSO 700-------- 701linkgit:gittutorial[7], linkgit:gittutorial-2[7], 702link:everyday.html[Everyday Git], linkgit:gitcvs-migration[7], 703linkgit:gitglossary[7], linkgit:gitcore-tutorial[7], 704linkgit:gitcli[7], link:user-manual.html[The Git User's Manual], 705linkgit:gitworkflows[7] 706 707GIT 708--- 709Part of the linkgit:git[1] suite