Documentation / git-config.txton commit Update draft release notes to 1.8.2 (77d07f5)
   1git-config(1)
   2=============
   3
   4NAME
   5----
   6git-config - Get and set repository or global options
   7
   8
   9SYNOPSIS
  10--------
  11[verse]
  12'git config' [<file-option>] [type] [-z|--null] name [value [value_regex]]
  13'git config' [<file-option>] [type] --add name value
  14'git config' [<file-option>] [type] --replace-all name value [value_regex]
  15'git config' [<file-option>] [type] [-z|--null] --get name [value_regex]
  16'git config' [<file-option>] [type] [-z|--null] --get-all name [value_regex]
  17'git config' [<file-option>] [type] [-z|--null] --get-regexp name_regex [value_regex]
  18'git config' [<file-option>] --unset name [value_regex]
  19'git config' [<file-option>] --unset-all name [value_regex]
  20'git config' [<file-option>] --rename-section old_name new_name
  21'git config' [<file-option>] --remove-section name
  22'git config' [<file-option>] [-z|--null] -l | --list
  23'git config' [<file-option>] --get-color name [default]
  24'git config' [<file-option>] --get-colorbool name [stdout-is-tty]
  25'git config' [<file-option>] -e | --edit
  26
  27DESCRIPTION
  28-----------
  29You can query/set/replace/unset options with this command. The name is
  30actually the section and the key separated by a dot, and the value will be
  31escaped.
  32
  33Multiple lines can be added to an option by using the '--add' option.
  34If you want to update or unset an option which can occur on multiple
  35lines, a POSIX regexp `value_regex` needs to be given.  Only the
  36existing values that match the regexp are updated or unset.  If
  37you want to handle the lines that do *not* match the regex, just
  38prepend a single exclamation mark in front (see also <<EXAMPLES>>).
  39
  40The type specifier can be either '--int' or '--bool', to make
  41'git config' ensure that the variable(s) are of the given type and
  42convert the value to the canonical form (simple decimal number for int,
  43a "true" or "false" string for bool), or '--path', which does some
  44path expansion (see '--path' below).  If no type specifier is passed, no
  45checks or transformations are performed on the value.
  46
  47When reading, the values are read from the system, global and
  48repository local configuration files by default, and options
  49'--system', '--global', '--local' and '--file <filename>' can be
  50used to tell the command to read from only that location (see <<FILES>>).
  51
  52When writing, the new value is written to the repository local
  53configuration file by default, and options '--system', '--global',
  54'--file <filename>' can be used to tell the command to write to
  55that location (you can say '--local' but that is the default).
  56
  57This command will fail with non-zero status upon error.  Some exit
  58codes are:
  59
  60. The config file is invalid (ret=3),
  61. can not write to the config file (ret=4),
  62. no section or name was provided (ret=2),
  63. the section or key is invalid (ret=1),
  64. you try to unset an option which does not exist (ret=5),
  65. you try to unset/set an option for which multiple lines match (ret=5), or
  66. you try to use an invalid regexp (ret=6).
  67
  68On success, the command returns the exit code 0.
  69
  70OPTIONS
  71-------
  72
  73--replace-all::
  74        Default behavior is to replace at most one line. This replaces
  75        all lines matching the key (and optionally the value_regex).
  76
  77--add::
  78        Adds a new line to the option without altering any existing
  79        values.  This is the same as providing '^$' as the value_regex
  80        in `--replace-all`.
  81
  82--get::
  83        Get the value for a given key (optionally filtered by a regex
  84        matching the value). Returns error code 1 if the key was not
  85        found and error code 2 if multiple key values were found.
  86
  87--get-all::
  88        Like get, but does not fail if the number of values for the key
  89        is not exactly one.
  90
  91--get-regexp::
  92        Like --get-all, but interprets the name as a regular expression and
  93        writes out the key names.  Regular expression matching is currently
  94        case-sensitive and done against a canonicalized version of the key
  95        in which section and variable names are lowercased, but subsection
  96        names are not.
  97
  98--global::
  99        For writing options: write to global ~/.gitconfig file rather than
 100        the repository .git/config, write to $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/git/config file
 101        if this file exists and the ~/.gitconfig file doesn't.
 102+
 103For reading options: read only from global ~/.gitconfig and from
 104$XDG_CONFIG_HOME/git/config rather than from all available files.
 105+
 106See also <<FILES>>.
 107
 108--system::
 109        For writing options: write to system-wide $(prefix)/etc/gitconfig
 110        rather than the repository .git/config.
 111+
 112For reading options: read only from system-wide $(prefix)/etc/gitconfig
 113rather than from all available files.
 114+
 115See also <<FILES>>.
 116
 117-f config-file::
 118--file config-file::
 119        Use the given config file instead of the one specified by GIT_CONFIG.
 120
 121--remove-section::
 122        Remove the given section from the configuration file.
 123
 124--rename-section::
 125        Rename the given section to a new name.
 126
 127--unset::
 128        Remove the line matching the key from config file.
 129
 130--unset-all::
 131        Remove all lines matching the key from config file.
 132
 133-l::
 134--list::
 135        List all variables set in config file.
 136
 137--bool::
 138        'git config' will ensure that the output is "true" or "false"
 139
 140--int::
 141        'git config' will ensure that the output is a simple
 142        decimal number.  An optional value suffix of 'k', 'm', or 'g'
 143        in the config file will cause the value to be multiplied
 144        by 1024, 1048576, or 1073741824 prior to output.
 145
 146--bool-or-int::
 147        'git config' will ensure that the output matches the format of
 148        either --bool or --int, as described above.
 149
 150--path::
 151        'git-config' will expand leading '{tilde}' to the value of
 152        '$HOME', and '{tilde}user' to the home directory for the
 153        specified user.  This option has no effect when setting the
 154        value (but you can use 'git config bla {tilde}/' from the
 155        command line to let your shell do the expansion).
 156
 157-z::
 158--null::
 159        For all options that output values and/or keys, always
 160        end values with the null character (instead of a
 161        newline). Use newline instead as a delimiter between
 162        key and value. This allows for secure parsing of the
 163        output without getting confused e.g. by values that
 164        contain line breaks.
 165
 166--get-colorbool name [stdout-is-tty]::
 167
 168        Find the color setting for `name` (e.g. `color.diff`) and output
 169        "true" or "false".  `stdout-is-tty` should be either "true" or
 170        "false", and is taken into account when configuration says
 171        "auto".  If `stdout-is-tty` is missing, then checks the standard
 172        output of the command itself, and exits with status 0 if color
 173        is to be used, or exits with status 1 otherwise.
 174        When the color setting for `name` is undefined, the command uses
 175        `color.ui` as fallback.
 176
 177--get-color name [default]::
 178
 179        Find the color configured for `name` (e.g. `color.diff.new`) and
 180        output it as the ANSI color escape sequence to the standard
 181        output.  The optional `default` parameter is used instead, if
 182        there is no color configured for `name`.
 183
 184-e::
 185--edit::
 186        Opens an editor to modify the specified config file; either
 187        '--system', '--global', or repository (default).
 188
 189--includes::
 190--no-includes::
 191        Respect `include.*` directives in config files when looking up
 192        values. Defaults to on.
 193
 194[[FILES]]
 195FILES
 196-----
 197
 198If not set explicitly with '--file', there are four files where
 199'git config' will search for configuration options:
 200
 201$GIT_DIR/config::
 202        Repository specific configuration file.
 203
 204~/.gitconfig::
 205        User-specific configuration file. Also called "global"
 206        configuration file.
 207
 208$XDG_CONFIG_HOME/git/config::
 209        Second user-specific configuration file. If $XDG_CONFIG_HOME is not set
 210        or empty, $HOME/.config/git/config will be used. Any single-valued
 211        variable set in this file will be overwritten by whatever is in
 212        ~/.gitconfig.  It is a good idea not to create this file if
 213        you sometimes use older versions of Git, as support for this
 214        file was added fairly recently.
 215
 216$(prefix)/etc/gitconfig::
 217        System-wide configuration file.
 218
 219If no further options are given, all reading options will read all of these
 220files that are available. If the global or the system-wide configuration
 221file are not available they will be ignored. If the repository configuration
 222file is not available or readable, 'git config' will exit with a non-zero
 223error code. However, in neither case will an error message be issued.
 224
 225All writing options will per default write to the repository specific
 226configuration file. Note that this also affects options like '--replace-all'
 227and '--unset'. *'git config' will only ever change one file at a time*.
 228
 229You can override these rules either by command line options or by environment
 230variables. The '--global' and the '--system' options will limit the file used
 231to the global or system-wide file respectively. The GIT_CONFIG environment
 232variable has a similar effect, but you can specify any filename you want.
 233
 234
 235ENVIRONMENT
 236-----------
 237
 238GIT_CONFIG::
 239        Take the configuration from the given file instead of .git/config.
 240        Using the "--global" option forces this to ~/.gitconfig. Using the
 241        "--system" option forces this to $(prefix)/etc/gitconfig.
 242
 243GIT_CONFIG_NOSYSTEM::
 244        Whether to skip reading settings from the system-wide
 245        $(prefix)/etc/gitconfig file. See linkgit:git[1] for details.
 246
 247See also <<FILES>>.
 248
 249
 250[[EXAMPLES]]
 251EXAMPLES
 252--------
 253
 254Given a .git/config like this:
 255
 256        #
 257        # This is the config file, and
 258        # a '#' or ';' character indicates
 259        # a comment
 260        #
 261
 262        ; core variables
 263        [core]
 264                ; Don't trust file modes
 265                filemode = false
 266
 267        ; Our diff algorithm
 268        [diff]
 269                external = /usr/local/bin/diff-wrapper
 270                renames = true
 271
 272        ; Proxy settings
 273        [core]
 274                gitproxy=proxy-command for kernel.org
 275                gitproxy=default-proxy ; for all the rest
 276
 277you can set the filemode to true with
 278
 279------------
 280% git config core.filemode true
 281------------
 282
 283The hypothetical proxy command entries actually have a postfix to discern
 284what URL they apply to. Here is how to change the entry for kernel.org
 285to "ssh".
 286
 287------------
 288% git config core.gitproxy '"ssh" for kernel.org' 'for kernel.org$'
 289------------
 290
 291This makes sure that only the key/value pair for kernel.org is replaced.
 292
 293To delete the entry for renames, do
 294
 295------------
 296% git config --unset diff.renames
 297------------
 298
 299If you want to delete an entry for a multivar (like core.gitproxy above),
 300you have to provide a regex matching the value of exactly one line.
 301
 302To query the value for a given key, do
 303
 304------------
 305% git config --get core.filemode
 306------------
 307
 308or
 309
 310------------
 311% git config core.filemode
 312------------
 313
 314or, to query a multivar:
 315
 316------------
 317% git config --get core.gitproxy "for kernel.org$"
 318------------
 319
 320If you want to know all the values for a multivar, do:
 321
 322------------
 323% git config --get-all core.gitproxy
 324------------
 325
 326If you like to live dangerously, you can replace *all* core.gitproxy by a
 327new one with
 328
 329------------
 330% git config --replace-all core.gitproxy ssh
 331------------
 332
 333However, if you really only want to replace the line for the default proxy,
 334i.e. the one without a "for ..." postfix, do something like this:
 335
 336------------
 337% git config core.gitproxy ssh '! for '
 338------------
 339
 340To actually match only values with an exclamation mark, you have to
 341
 342------------
 343% git config section.key value '[!]'
 344------------
 345
 346To add a new proxy, without altering any of the existing ones, use
 347
 348------------
 349% git config --add core.gitproxy '"proxy-command" for example.com'
 350------------
 351
 352An example to use customized color from the configuration in your
 353script:
 354
 355------------
 356#!/bin/sh
 357WS=$(git config --get-color color.diff.whitespace "blue reverse")
 358RESET=$(git config --get-color "" "reset")
 359echo "${WS}your whitespace color or blue reverse${RESET}"
 360------------
 361
 362include::config.txt[]
 363
 364GIT
 365---
 366Part of the linkgit:git[1] suite