Documentation / git-config.txton commit git-config(1): clarify precedence of multiple values (7da9800)
   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--[no-]includes::
 190        Respect `include.*` directives in config files when looking up
 191        values. Defaults to on.
 192
 193[[FILES]]
 194FILES
 195-----
 196
 197If not set explicitly with '--file', there are four files where
 198'git config' will search for configuration options:
 199
 200$(prefix)/etc/gitconfig::
 201        System-wide configuration file.
 202
 203$XDG_CONFIG_HOME/git/config::
 204        Second user-specific configuration file. If $XDG_CONFIG_HOME is not set
 205        or empty, $HOME/.config/git/config will be used. Any single-valued
 206        variable set in this file will be overwritten by whatever is in
 207        ~/.gitconfig.  It is a good idea not to create this file if
 208        you sometimes use older versions of Git, as support for this
 209        file was added fairly recently.
 210
 211~/.gitconfig::
 212        User-specific configuration file. Also called "global"
 213        configuration file.
 214
 215$GIT_DIR/config::
 216        Repository specific configuration file.
 217
 218If no further options are given, all reading options will read all of these
 219files that are available. If the global or the system-wide configuration
 220file are not available they will be ignored. If the repository configuration
 221file is not available or readable, 'git config' will exit with a non-zero
 222error code. However, in neither case will an error message be issued.
 223
 224The files are read in the order given above, with last value found taking
 225precedence over values read earlier.  When multiple values are taken then all
 226values of a key from all files will be used.
 227
 228All writing options will per default write to the repository specific
 229configuration file. Note that this also affects options like '--replace-all'
 230and '--unset'. *'git config' will only ever change one file at a time*.
 231
 232You can override these rules either by command line options or by environment
 233variables. The '--global' and the '--system' options will limit the file used
 234to the global or system-wide file respectively. The GIT_CONFIG environment
 235variable has a similar effect, but you can specify any filename you want.
 236
 237
 238ENVIRONMENT
 239-----------
 240
 241GIT_CONFIG::
 242        Take the configuration from the given file instead of .git/config.
 243        Using the "--global" option forces this to ~/.gitconfig. Using the
 244        "--system" option forces this to $(prefix)/etc/gitconfig.
 245
 246GIT_CONFIG_NOSYSTEM::
 247        Whether to skip reading settings from the system-wide
 248        $(prefix)/etc/gitconfig file. See linkgit:git[1] for details.
 249
 250See also <<FILES>>.
 251
 252
 253[[EXAMPLES]]
 254EXAMPLES
 255--------
 256
 257Given a .git/config like this:
 258
 259        #
 260        # This is the config file, and
 261        # a '#' or ';' character indicates
 262        # a comment
 263        #
 264
 265        ; core variables
 266        [core]
 267                ; Don't trust file modes
 268                filemode = false
 269
 270        ; Our diff algorithm
 271        [diff]
 272                external = /usr/local/bin/diff-wrapper
 273                renames = true
 274
 275        ; Proxy settings
 276        [core]
 277                gitproxy=proxy-command for kernel.org
 278                gitproxy=default-proxy ; for all the rest
 279
 280you can set the filemode to true with
 281
 282------------
 283% git config core.filemode true
 284------------
 285
 286The hypothetical proxy command entries actually have a postfix to discern
 287what URL they apply to. Here is how to change the entry for kernel.org
 288to "ssh".
 289
 290------------
 291% git config core.gitproxy '"ssh" for kernel.org' 'for kernel.org$'
 292------------
 293
 294This makes sure that only the key/value pair for kernel.org is replaced.
 295
 296To delete the entry for renames, do
 297
 298------------
 299% git config --unset diff.renames
 300------------
 301
 302If you want to delete an entry for a multivar (like core.gitproxy above),
 303you have to provide a regex matching the value of exactly one line.
 304
 305To query the value for a given key, do
 306
 307------------
 308% git config --get core.filemode
 309------------
 310
 311or
 312
 313------------
 314% git config core.filemode
 315------------
 316
 317or, to query a multivar:
 318
 319------------
 320% git config --get core.gitproxy "for kernel.org$"
 321------------
 322
 323If you want to know all the values for a multivar, do:
 324
 325------------
 326% git config --get-all core.gitproxy
 327------------
 328
 329If you like to live dangerously, you can replace *all* core.gitproxy by a
 330new one with
 331
 332------------
 333% git config --replace-all core.gitproxy ssh
 334------------
 335
 336However, if you really only want to replace the line for the default proxy,
 337i.e. the one without a "for ..." postfix, do something like this:
 338
 339------------
 340% git config core.gitproxy ssh '! for '
 341------------
 342
 343To actually match only values with an exclamation mark, you have to
 344
 345------------
 346% git config section.key value '[!]'
 347------------
 348
 349To add a new proxy, without altering any of the existing ones, use
 350
 351------------
 352% git config --add core.gitproxy '"proxy-command" for example.com'
 353------------
 354
 355An example to use customized color from the configuration in your
 356script:
 357
 358------------
 359#!/bin/sh
 360WS=$(git config --get-color color.diff.whitespace "blue reverse")
 361RESET=$(git config --get-color "" "reset")
 362echo "${WS}your whitespace color or blue reverse${RESET}"
 363------------
 364
 365include::config.txt[]
 366
 367GIT
 368---
 369Part of the linkgit:git[1] suite