1git-pack-refs(1) 2================ 3 4NAME 5---- 6git-pack-refs - Pack heads and tags for efficient repository access 7 8SYNOPSIS 9-------- 10[verse] 11'git pack-refs' [--all] [--no-prune] 12 13DESCRIPTION 14----------- 15 16Traditionally, tips of branches and tags (collectively known as 17'refs') were stored one file per ref in a (sub)directory 18under `$GIT_DIR/refs` 19directory. While many branch tips tend to be updated often, 20most tags and some branch tips are never updated. When a 21repository has hundreds or thousands of tags, this 22one-file-per-ref format both wastes storage and hurts 23performance. 24 25This command is used to solve the storage and performance 26problem by storing the refs in a single file, 27`$GIT_DIR/packed-refs`. When a ref is missing from the 28traditional `$GIT_DIR/refs` directory hierarchy, it is looked 29up in this 30file and used if found. 31 32Subsequent updates to branches always create new files under 33`$GIT_DIR/refs` directory hierarchy. 34 35A recommended practice to deal with a repository with too many 36refs is to pack its refs with `--all --prune` once, and 37occasionally run `git pack-refs --prune`. Tags are by 38definition stationary and are not expected to change. Branch 39heads will be packed with the initial `pack-refs --all`, but 40only the currently active branch heads will become unpacked, 41and the next `pack-refs` (without `--all`) will leave them 42unpacked. 43 44 45OPTIONS 46------- 47 48--all:: 49 50The command by default packs all tags and refs that are already 51packed, and leaves other refs 52alone. This is because branches are expected to be actively 53developed and packing their tips does not help performance. 54This option causes branch tips to be packed as well. Useful for 55a repository with many branches of historical interests. 56 57--no-prune:: 58 59The command usually removes loose refs under `$GIT_DIR/refs` 60hierarchy after packing them. This option tells it not to. 61 62 63BUGS 64---- 65 66Older documentation written before the packed-refs mechanism was 67introduced may still say things like ".git/refs/heads/<branch> file 68exists" when it means "branch <branch> exists". 69 70 71GIT 72--- 73Part of the linkgit:git[1] suite