Documentation / git-grep.txton commit transport: list refs before fetch if necessary (6ab4055)
   1git-grep(1)
   2===========
   3
   4NAME
   5----
   6git-grep - Print lines matching a pattern
   7
   8
   9SYNOPSIS
  10--------
  11[verse]
  12'git grep' [-a | --text] [-I] [--textconv] [-i | --ignore-case] [-w | --word-regexp]
  13           [-v | --invert-match] [-h|-H] [--full-name]
  14           [-E | --extended-regexp] [-G | --basic-regexp]
  15           [-P | --perl-regexp]
  16           [-F | --fixed-strings] [-n | --line-number] [--column]
  17           [-l | --files-with-matches] [-L | --files-without-match]
  18           [(-O | --open-files-in-pager) [<pager>]]
  19           [-z | --null]
  20           [ -o | --only-matching ] [-c | --count] [--all-match] [-q | --quiet]
  21           [--max-depth <depth>]
  22           [--color[=<when>] | --no-color]
  23           [--break] [--heading] [-p | --show-function]
  24           [-A <post-context>] [-B <pre-context>] [-C <context>]
  25           [-W | --function-context]
  26           [--threads <num>]
  27           [-f <file>] [-e] <pattern>
  28           [--and|--or|--not|(|)|-e <pattern>...]
  29           [--recurse-submodules] [--parent-basename <basename>]
  30           [ [--[no-]exclude-standard] [--cached | --no-index | --untracked] | <tree>...]
  31           [--] [<pathspec>...]
  32
  33DESCRIPTION
  34-----------
  35Look for specified patterns in the tracked files in the work tree, blobs
  36registered in the index file, or blobs in given tree objects.  Patterns
  37are lists of one or more search expressions separated by newline
  38characters.  An empty string as search expression matches all lines.
  39
  40
  41CONFIGURATION
  42-------------
  43
  44grep.lineNumber::
  45        If set to true, enable `-n` option by default.
  46
  47grep.column::
  48        If set to true, enable the `--column` option by default.
  49
  50grep.patternType::
  51        Set the default matching behavior. Using a value of 'basic', 'extended',
  52        'fixed', or 'perl' will enable the `--basic-regexp`, `--extended-regexp`,
  53        `--fixed-strings`, or `--perl-regexp` option accordingly, while the
  54        value 'default' will return to the default matching behavior.
  55
  56grep.extendedRegexp::
  57        If set to true, enable `--extended-regexp` option by default. This
  58        option is ignored when the `grep.patternType` option is set to a value
  59        other than 'default'.
  60
  61grep.threads::
  62        Number of grep worker threads to use.  If unset (or set to 0),
  63        8 threads are used by default (for now).
  64
  65grep.fullName::
  66        If set to true, enable `--full-name` option by default.
  67
  68grep.fallbackToNoIndex::
  69        If set to true, fall back to git grep --no-index if git grep
  70        is executed outside of a git repository.  Defaults to false.
  71
  72
  73OPTIONS
  74-------
  75--cached::
  76        Instead of searching tracked files in the working tree, search
  77        blobs registered in the index file.
  78
  79--no-index::
  80        Search files in the current directory that is not managed by Git.
  81
  82--untracked::
  83        In addition to searching in the tracked files in the working
  84        tree, search also in untracked files.
  85
  86--no-exclude-standard::
  87        Also search in ignored files by not honoring the `.gitignore`
  88        mechanism. Only useful with `--untracked`.
  89
  90--exclude-standard::
  91        Do not pay attention to ignored files specified via the `.gitignore`
  92        mechanism.  Only useful when searching files in the current directory
  93        with `--no-index`.
  94
  95--recurse-submodules::
  96        Recursively search in each submodule that has been initialized and
  97        checked out in the repository.  When used in combination with the
  98        <tree> option the prefix of all submodule output will be the name of
  99        the parent project's <tree> object.
 100
 101-a::
 102--text::
 103        Process binary files as if they were text.
 104
 105--textconv::
 106        Honor textconv filter settings.
 107
 108--no-textconv::
 109        Do not honor textconv filter settings.
 110        This is the default.
 111
 112-i::
 113--ignore-case::
 114        Ignore case differences between the patterns and the
 115        files.
 116
 117-I::
 118        Don't match the pattern in binary files.
 119
 120--max-depth <depth>::
 121        For each <pathspec> given on command line, descend at most <depth>
 122        levels of directories. A negative value means no limit.
 123        This option is ignored if <pathspec> contains active wildcards.
 124        In other words if "a*" matches a directory named "a*",
 125        "*" is matched literally so --max-depth is still effective.
 126
 127-w::
 128--word-regexp::
 129        Match the pattern only at word boundary (either begin at the
 130        beginning of a line, or preceded by a non-word character; end at
 131        the end of a line or followed by a non-word character).
 132
 133-v::
 134--invert-match::
 135        Select non-matching lines.
 136
 137-h::
 138-H::
 139        By default, the command shows the filename for each
 140        match.  `-h` option is used to suppress this output.
 141        `-H` is there for completeness and does not do anything
 142        except it overrides `-h` given earlier on the command
 143        line.
 144
 145--full-name::
 146        When run from a subdirectory, the command usually
 147        outputs paths relative to the current directory.  This
 148        option forces paths to be output relative to the project
 149        top directory.
 150
 151-E::
 152--extended-regexp::
 153-G::
 154--basic-regexp::
 155        Use POSIX extended/basic regexp for patterns.  Default
 156        is to use basic regexp.
 157
 158-P::
 159--perl-regexp::
 160        Use Perl-compatible regular expressions for patterns.
 161+
 162Support for these types of regular expressions is an optional
 163compile-time dependency. If Git wasn't compiled with support for them
 164providing this option will cause it to die.
 165
 166-F::
 167--fixed-strings::
 168        Use fixed strings for patterns (don't interpret pattern
 169        as a regex).
 170
 171-n::
 172--line-number::
 173        Prefix the line number to matching lines.
 174
 175--column::
 176        Prefix the 1-indexed byte-offset of the first match from the start of the
 177        matching line.
 178
 179-l::
 180--files-with-matches::
 181--name-only::
 182-L::
 183--files-without-match::
 184        Instead of showing every matched line, show only the
 185        names of files that contain (or do not contain) matches.
 186        For better compatibility with 'git diff', `--name-only` is a
 187        synonym for `--files-with-matches`.
 188
 189-O[<pager>]::
 190--open-files-in-pager[=<pager>]::
 191        Open the matching files in the pager (not the output of 'grep').
 192        If the pager happens to be "less" or "vi", and the user
 193        specified only one pattern, the first file is positioned at
 194        the first match automatically. The `pager` argument is
 195        optional; if specified, it must be stuck to the option
 196        without a space. If `pager` is unspecified, the default pager
 197        will be used (see `core.pager` in linkgit:git-config[1]).
 198
 199-z::
 200--null::
 201        Output \0 instead of the character that normally follows a
 202        file name.
 203
 204-o::
 205--only-matching::
 206        Print only the matched (non-empty) parts of a matching line, with each such
 207        part on a separate output line.
 208
 209-c::
 210--count::
 211        Instead of showing every matched line, show the number of
 212        lines that match.
 213
 214--color[=<when>]::
 215        Show colored matches.
 216        The value must be always (the default), never, or auto.
 217
 218--no-color::
 219        Turn off match highlighting, even when the configuration file
 220        gives the default to color output.
 221        Same as `--color=never`.
 222
 223--break::
 224        Print an empty line between matches from different files.
 225
 226--heading::
 227        Show the filename above the matches in that file instead of
 228        at the start of each shown line.
 229
 230-p::
 231--show-function::
 232        Show the preceding line that contains the function name of
 233        the match, unless the matching line is a function name itself.
 234        The name is determined in the same way as 'git diff' works out
 235        patch hunk headers (see 'Defining a custom hunk-header' in
 236        linkgit:gitattributes[5]).
 237
 238-<num>::
 239-C <num>::
 240--context <num>::
 241        Show <num> leading and trailing lines, and place a line
 242        containing `--` between contiguous groups of matches.
 243
 244-A <num>::
 245--after-context <num>::
 246        Show <num> trailing lines, and place a line containing
 247        `--` between contiguous groups of matches.
 248
 249-B <num>::
 250--before-context <num>::
 251        Show <num> leading lines, and place a line containing
 252        `--` between contiguous groups of matches.
 253
 254-W::
 255--function-context::
 256        Show the surrounding text from the previous line containing a
 257        function name up to the one before the next function name,
 258        effectively showing the whole function in which the match was
 259        found.
 260
 261--threads <num>::
 262        Number of grep worker threads to use.
 263        See `grep.threads` in 'CONFIGURATION' for more information.
 264
 265-f <file>::
 266        Read patterns from <file>, one per line.
 267
 268-e::
 269        The next parameter is the pattern. This option has to be
 270        used for patterns starting with `-` and should be used in
 271        scripts passing user input to grep.  Multiple patterns are
 272        combined by 'or'.
 273
 274--and::
 275--or::
 276--not::
 277( ... )::
 278        Specify how multiple patterns are combined using Boolean
 279        expressions.  `--or` is the default operator.  `--and` has
 280        higher precedence than `--or`.  `-e` has to be used for all
 281        patterns.
 282
 283--all-match::
 284        When giving multiple pattern expressions combined with `--or`,
 285        this flag is specified to limit the match to files that
 286        have lines to match all of them.
 287
 288-q::
 289--quiet::
 290        Do not output matched lines; instead, exit with status 0 when
 291        there is a match and with non-zero status when there isn't.
 292
 293<tree>...::
 294        Instead of searching tracked files in the working tree, search
 295        blobs in the given trees.
 296
 297\--::
 298        Signals the end of options; the rest of the parameters
 299        are <pathspec> limiters.
 300
 301<pathspec>...::
 302        If given, limit the search to paths matching at least one pattern.
 303        Both leading paths match and glob(7) patterns are supported.
 304+
 305For more details about the <pathspec> syntax, see the 'pathspec' entry
 306in linkgit:gitglossary[7].
 307
 308EXAMPLES
 309--------
 310
 311`git grep 'time_t' -- '*.[ch]'`::
 312        Looks for `time_t` in all tracked .c and .h files in the working
 313        directory and its subdirectories.
 314
 315`git grep -e '#define' --and \( -e MAX_PATH -e PATH_MAX \)`::
 316        Looks for a line that has `#define` and either `MAX_PATH` or
 317        `PATH_MAX`.
 318
 319`git grep --all-match -e NODE -e Unexpected`::
 320        Looks for a line that has `NODE` or `Unexpected` in
 321        files that have lines that match both.
 322
 323`git grep solution -- :^Documentation`::
 324        Looks for `solution`, excluding files in `Documentation`.
 325
 326GIT
 327---
 328Part of the linkgit:git[1] suite