Documentation / git-stash.txton commit Merge branch 'ms/remote-tracking-branches-in-doc' (778e4b8)
   1git-stash(1)
   2============
   3
   4NAME
   5----
   6git-stash - Stash the changes in a dirty working directory away
   7
   8SYNOPSIS
   9--------
  10[verse]
  11'git stash' list [<options>]
  12'git stash' show [<stash>]
  13'git stash' drop [-q|--quiet] [<stash>]
  14'git stash' ( pop | apply ) [--index] [-q|--quiet] [<stash>]
  15'git stash' branch <branchname> [<stash>]
  16'git stash' [save [-p|--patch] [-k|--[no-]keep-index] [-q|--quiet]
  17             [-u|--include-untracked] [-a|--all] [-f|--force]
  18             [<message>]]
  19'git stash' clear
  20'git stash' create [<message>]
  21'git stash' store [-m|--message <message>] [-q|--quiet] <commit>
  22
  23DESCRIPTION
  24-----------
  25
  26Use `git stash` when you want to record the current state of the
  27working directory and the index, but want to go back to a clean
  28working directory.  The command saves your local modifications away
  29and reverts the working directory to match the `HEAD` commit.
  30
  31The modifications stashed away by this command can be listed with
  32`git stash list`, inspected with `git stash show`, and restored
  33(potentially on top of a different commit) with `git stash apply`.
  34Calling `git stash` without any arguments is equivalent to `git stash save`.
  35A stash is by default listed as "WIP on 'branchname' ...", but
  36you can give a more descriptive message on the command line when
  37you create one.
  38
  39The latest stash you created is stored in `refs/stash`; older
  40stashes are found in the reflog of this reference and can be named using
  41the usual reflog syntax (e.g. `stash@{0}` is the most recently
  42created stash, `stash@{1}` is the one before it, `stash@{2.hours.ago}`
  43is also possible).
  44
  45OPTIONS
  46-------
  47
  48save [-p|--patch] [--[no-]keep-index] [-u|--include-untracked] [-a|--all] [-q|--quiet] [-f|--force] [<message>]::
  49
  50        Save your local modifications to a new 'stash', and run `git reset
  51        --hard` to revert them.  The <message> part is optional and gives
  52        the description along with the stashed state.  For quickly making
  53        a snapshot, you can omit _both_ "save" and <message>, but giving
  54        only <message> does not trigger this action to prevent a misspelled
  55        subcommand from making an unwanted stash.
  56+
  57If the `--keep-index` option is used, all changes already added to the
  58index are left intact.
  59+
  60If the `--include-untracked` option is used, all untracked files are also
  61stashed and then cleaned up with `git clean`, leaving the working directory
  62in a very clean state. If the `--all` option is used instead then the
  63ignored files are stashed and cleaned in addition to the untracked files.
  64+
  65With `--patch`, you can interactively select hunks from the diff
  66between HEAD and the working tree to be stashed.  The stash entry is
  67constructed such that its index state is the same as the index state
  68of your repository, and its worktree contains only the changes you
  69selected interactively.  The selected changes are then rolled back
  70from your worktree. See the ``Interactive Mode'' section of
  71linkgit:git-add[1] to learn how to operate the `--patch` mode.
  72+
  73The `--patch` option implies `--keep-index`.  You can use
  74`--no-keep-index` to override this.
  75+
  76In some cases, saving a stash could mean irretrievably removing some
  77data - if a directory with untracked files replaces a tracked file of
  78the same name, the new untracked files are not saved (except in case
  79of `--include-untracked`) but the original tracked file shall be restored.
  80By default, `stash save` will abort in such a case; `--force` will allow
  81it to remove the untracked files.
  82
  83list [<options>]::
  84
  85        List the stashes that you currently have.  Each 'stash' is listed
  86        with its name (e.g. `stash@{0}` is the latest stash, `stash@{1}` is
  87        the one before, etc.), the name of the branch that was current when the
  88        stash was made, and a short description of the commit the stash was
  89        based on.
  90+
  91----------------------------------------------------------------
  92stash@{0}: WIP on submit: 6ebd0e2... Update git-stash documentation
  93stash@{1}: On master: 9cc0589... Add git-stash
  94----------------------------------------------------------------
  95+
  96The command takes options applicable to the 'git log'
  97command to control what is shown and how. See linkgit:git-log[1].
  98
  99show [<stash>]::
 100
 101        Show the changes recorded in the stash as a diff between the
 102        stashed state and its original parent. When no `<stash>` is given,
 103        shows the latest one. By default, the command shows the diffstat, but
 104        it will accept any format known to 'git diff' (e.g., `git stash show
 105        -p stash@{1}` to view the second most recent stash in patch form).
 106
 107pop [--index] [-q|--quiet] [<stash>]::
 108
 109        Remove a single stashed state from the stash list and apply it
 110        on top of the current working tree state, i.e., do the inverse
 111        operation of `git stash save`. The working directory must
 112        match the index.
 113+
 114Applying the state can fail with conflicts; in this case, it is not
 115removed from the stash list. You need to resolve the conflicts by hand
 116and call `git stash drop` manually afterwards.
 117+
 118If the `--index` option is used, then tries to reinstate not only the working
 119tree's changes, but also the index's ones. However, this can fail, when you
 120have conflicts (which are stored in the index, where you therefore can no
 121longer apply the changes as they were originally).
 122+
 123When no `<stash>` is given, `stash@{0}` is assumed, otherwise `<stash>` must
 124be a reference of the form `stash@{<revision>}`.
 125
 126apply [--index] [-q|--quiet] [<stash>]::
 127
 128        Like `pop`, but do not remove the state from the stash list. Unlike `pop`,
 129        `<stash>` may be any commit that looks like a commit created by
 130        `stash save` or `stash create`.
 131
 132branch <branchname> [<stash>]::
 133
 134        Creates and checks out a new branch named `<branchname>` starting from
 135        the commit at which the `<stash>` was originally created, applies the
 136        changes recorded in `<stash>` to the new working tree and index.
 137        If that succeeds, and `<stash>` is a reference of the form
 138        `stash@{<revision>}`, it then drops the `<stash>`. When no `<stash>`
 139        is given, applies the latest one.
 140+
 141This is useful if the branch on which you ran `git stash save` has
 142changed enough that `git stash apply` fails due to conflicts. Since
 143the stash is applied on top of the commit that was HEAD at the time
 144`git stash` was run, it restores the originally stashed state with
 145no conflicts.
 146
 147clear::
 148        Remove all the stashed states. Note that those states will then
 149        be subject to pruning, and may be impossible to recover (see
 150        'Examples' below for a possible strategy).
 151
 152drop [-q|--quiet] [<stash>]::
 153
 154        Remove a single stashed state from the stash list. When no `<stash>`
 155        is given, it removes the latest one. i.e. `stash@{0}`, otherwise
 156        `<stash>` must be a valid stash log reference of the form
 157        `stash@{<revision>}`.
 158
 159create::
 160
 161        Create a stash (which is a regular commit object) and return its
 162        object name, without storing it anywhere in the ref namespace.
 163        This is intended to be useful for scripts.  It is probably not
 164        the command you want to use; see "save" above.
 165
 166store::
 167
 168        Store a given stash created via 'git stash create' (which is a
 169        dangling merge commit) in the stash ref, updating the stash
 170        reflog.  This is intended to be useful for scripts.  It is
 171        probably not the command you want to use; see "save" above.
 172
 173DISCUSSION
 174----------
 175
 176A stash is represented as a commit whose tree records the state of the
 177working directory, and its first parent is the commit at `HEAD` when
 178the stash was created.  The tree of the second parent records the
 179state of the index when the stash is made, and it is made a child of
 180the `HEAD` commit.  The ancestry graph looks like this:
 181
 182            .----W
 183           /    /
 184     -----H----I
 185
 186where `H` is the `HEAD` commit, `I` is a commit that records the state
 187of the index, and `W` is a commit that records the state of the working
 188tree.
 189
 190
 191EXAMPLES
 192--------
 193
 194Pulling into a dirty tree::
 195
 196When you are in the middle of something, you learn that there are
 197upstream changes that are possibly relevant to what you are
 198doing.  When your local changes do not conflict with the changes in
 199the upstream, a simple `git pull` will let you move forward.
 200+
 201However, there are cases in which your local changes do conflict with
 202the upstream changes, and `git pull` refuses to overwrite your
 203changes.  In such a case, you can stash your changes away,
 204perform a pull, and then unstash, like this:
 205+
 206----------------------------------------------------------------
 207$ git pull
 208 ...
 209file foobar not up to date, cannot merge.
 210$ git stash
 211$ git pull
 212$ git stash pop
 213----------------------------------------------------------------
 214
 215Interrupted workflow::
 216
 217When you are in the middle of something, your boss comes in and
 218demands that you fix something immediately.  Traditionally, you would
 219make a commit to a temporary branch to store your changes away, and
 220return to your original branch to make the emergency fix, like this:
 221+
 222----------------------------------------------------------------
 223# ... hack hack hack ...
 224$ git checkout -b my_wip
 225$ git commit -a -m "WIP"
 226$ git checkout master
 227$ edit emergency fix
 228$ git commit -a -m "Fix in a hurry"
 229$ git checkout my_wip
 230$ git reset --soft HEAD^
 231# ... continue hacking ...
 232----------------------------------------------------------------
 233+
 234You can use 'git stash' to simplify the above, like this:
 235+
 236----------------------------------------------------------------
 237# ... hack hack hack ...
 238$ git stash
 239$ edit emergency fix
 240$ git commit -a -m "Fix in a hurry"
 241$ git stash pop
 242# ... continue hacking ...
 243----------------------------------------------------------------
 244
 245Testing partial commits::
 246
 247You can use `git stash save --keep-index` when you want to make two or
 248more commits out of the changes in the work tree, and you want to test
 249each change before committing:
 250+
 251----------------------------------------------------------------
 252# ... hack hack hack ...
 253$ git add --patch foo            # add just first part to the index
 254$ git stash save --keep-index    # save all other changes to the stash
 255$ edit/build/test first part
 256$ git commit -m 'First part'     # commit fully tested change
 257$ git stash pop                  # prepare to work on all other changes
 258# ... repeat above five steps until one commit remains ...
 259$ edit/build/test remaining parts
 260$ git commit foo -m 'Remaining parts'
 261----------------------------------------------------------------
 262
 263Recovering stashes that were cleared/dropped erroneously::
 264
 265If you mistakenly drop or clear stashes, they cannot be recovered
 266through the normal safety mechanisms.  However, you can try the
 267following incantation to get a list of stashes that are still in your
 268repository, but not reachable any more:
 269+
 270----------------------------------------------------------------
 271git fsck --unreachable |
 272grep commit | cut -d\  -f3 |
 273xargs git log --merges --no-walk --grep=WIP
 274----------------------------------------------------------------
 275
 276
 277SEE ALSO
 278--------
 279linkgit:git-checkout[1],
 280linkgit:git-commit[1],
 281linkgit:git-reflog[1],
 282linkgit:git-reset[1]
 283
 284GIT
 285---
 286Part of the linkgit:git[1] suite