Documentation / git-config.txton commit RelNotes/1.8.5: direct script writers to "git status --porcelain" (9cd755b)
   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>] [type] [-z|--null] --get-urlmatch name URL
  19'git config' [<file-option>] --unset name [value_regex]
  20'git config' [<file-option>] --unset-all name [value_regex]
  21'git config' [<file-option>] --rename-section old_name new_name
  22'git config' [<file-option>] --remove-section name
  23'git config' [<file-option>] [-z|--null] -l | --list
  24'git config' [<file-option>] --get-color name [default]
  25'git config' [<file-option>] --get-colorbool name [stdout-is-tty]
  26'git config' [<file-option>] -e | --edit
  27
  28DESCRIPTION
  29-----------
  30You can query/set/replace/unset options with this command. The name is
  31actually the section and the key separated by a dot, and the value will be
  32escaped.
  33
  34Multiple lines can be added to an option by using the '--add' option.
  35If you want to update or unset an option which can occur on multiple
  36lines, a POSIX regexp `value_regex` needs to be given.  Only the
  37existing values that match the regexp are updated or unset.  If
  38you want to handle the lines that do *not* match the regex, just
  39prepend a single exclamation mark in front (see also <<EXAMPLES>>).
  40
  41The type specifier can be either '--int' or '--bool', to make
  42'git config' ensure that the variable(s) are of the given type and
  43convert the value to the canonical form (simple decimal number for int,
  44a "true" or "false" string for bool), or '--path', which does some
  45path expansion (see '--path' below).  If no type specifier is passed, no
  46checks or transformations are performed on the value.
  47
  48When reading, the values are read from the system, global and
  49repository local configuration files by default, and options
  50'--system', '--global', '--local' and '--file <filename>' can be
  51used to tell the command to read from only that location (see <<FILES>>).
  52
  53When writing, the new value is written to the repository local
  54configuration file by default, and options '--system', '--global',
  55'--file <filename>' can be used to tell the command to write to
  56that location (you can say '--local' but that is the default).
  57
  58This command will fail with non-zero status upon error.  Some exit
  59codes are:
  60
  61. The config file is invalid (ret=3),
  62. can not write to the config file (ret=4),
  63. no section or name was provided (ret=2),
  64. the section or key is invalid (ret=1),
  65. you try to unset an option which does not exist (ret=5),
  66. you try to unset/set an option for which multiple lines match (ret=5), or
  67. you try to use an invalid regexp (ret=6).
  68
  69On success, the command returns the exit code 0.
  70
  71OPTIONS
  72-------
  73
  74--replace-all::
  75        Default behavior is to replace at most one line. This replaces
  76        all lines matching the key (and optionally the value_regex).
  77
  78--add::
  79        Adds a new line to the option without altering any existing
  80        values.  This is the same as providing '^$' as the value_regex
  81        in `--replace-all`.
  82
  83--get::
  84        Get the value for a given key (optionally filtered by a regex
  85        matching the value). Returns error code 1 if the key was not
  86        found and the last value if multiple key values were found.
  87
  88--get-all::
  89        Like get, but does not fail if the number of values for the key
  90        is not exactly one.
  91
  92--get-regexp::
  93        Like --get-all, but interprets the name as a regular expression and
  94        writes out the key names.  Regular expression matching is currently
  95        case-sensitive and done against a canonicalized version of the key
  96        in which section and variable names are lowercased, but subsection
  97        names are not.
  98
  99--get-urlmatch name URL::
 100        When given a two-part name section.key, the value for
 101        section.<url>.key whose <url> part matches the best to the
 102        given URL is returned (if no such key exists, the value for
 103        section.key is used as a fallback).  When given just the
 104        section as name, do so for all the keys in the section and
 105        list them.
 106
 107--global::
 108        For writing options: write to global `~/.gitconfig` file
 109        rather than the repository `.git/config`, write to
 110        `$XDG_CONFIG_HOME/git/config` file if this file exists and the
 111        `~/.gitconfig` file doesn't.
 112+
 113For reading options: read only from global `~/.gitconfig` and from
 114`$XDG_CONFIG_HOME/git/config` rather than from all available files.
 115+
 116See also <<FILES>>.
 117
 118--system::
 119        For writing options: write to system-wide
 120        `$(prefix)/etc/gitconfig` rather than the repository
 121        `.git/config`.
 122+
 123For reading options: read only from system-wide `$(prefix)/etc/gitconfig`
 124rather than from all available files.
 125+
 126See also <<FILES>>.
 127
 128--local::
 129        For writing options: write to the repository `.git/config` file.
 130        This is the default behavior.
 131+
 132For reading options: read only from the repository `.git/config` rather than
 133from all available files.
 134+
 135See also <<FILES>>.
 136
 137-f config-file::
 138--file config-file::
 139        Use the given config file instead of the one specified by GIT_CONFIG.
 140
 141--blob blob::
 142        Similar to '--file' but use the given blob instead of a file. E.g.
 143        you can use 'master:.gitmodules' to read values from the file
 144        '.gitmodules' in the master branch. See "SPECIFYING REVISIONS"
 145        section in linkgit:gitrevisions[7] for a more complete list of
 146        ways to spell blob names.
 147
 148--remove-section::
 149        Remove the given section from the configuration file.
 150
 151--rename-section::
 152        Rename the given section to a new name.
 153
 154--unset::
 155        Remove the line matching the key from config file.
 156
 157--unset-all::
 158        Remove all lines matching the key from config file.
 159
 160-l::
 161--list::
 162        List all variables set in config file.
 163
 164--bool::
 165        'git config' will ensure that the output is "true" or "false"
 166
 167--int::
 168        'git config' will ensure that the output is a simple
 169        decimal number.  An optional value suffix of 'k', 'm', or 'g'
 170        in the config file will cause the value to be multiplied
 171        by 1024, 1048576, or 1073741824 prior to output.
 172
 173--bool-or-int::
 174        'git config' will ensure that the output matches the format of
 175        either --bool or --int, as described above.
 176
 177--path::
 178        'git-config' will expand leading '{tilde}' to the value of
 179        '$HOME', and '{tilde}user' to the home directory for the
 180        specified user.  This option has no effect when setting the
 181        value (but you can use 'git config bla {tilde}/' from the
 182        command line to let your shell do the expansion).
 183
 184-z::
 185--null::
 186        For all options that output values and/or keys, always
 187        end values with the null character (instead of a
 188        newline). Use newline instead as a delimiter between
 189        key and value. This allows for secure parsing of the
 190        output without getting confused e.g. by values that
 191        contain line breaks.
 192
 193--get-colorbool name [stdout-is-tty]::
 194
 195        Find the color setting for `name` (e.g. `color.diff`) and output
 196        "true" or "false".  `stdout-is-tty` should be either "true" or
 197        "false", and is taken into account when configuration says
 198        "auto".  If `stdout-is-tty` is missing, then checks the standard
 199        output of the command itself, and exits with status 0 if color
 200        is to be used, or exits with status 1 otherwise.
 201        When the color setting for `name` is undefined, the command uses
 202        `color.ui` as fallback.
 203
 204--get-color name [default]::
 205
 206        Find the color configured for `name` (e.g. `color.diff.new`) and
 207        output it as the ANSI color escape sequence to the standard
 208        output.  The optional `default` parameter is used instead, if
 209        there is no color configured for `name`.
 210
 211-e::
 212--edit::
 213        Opens an editor to modify the specified config file; either
 214        '--system', '--global', or repository (default).
 215
 216--[no-]includes::
 217        Respect `include.*` directives in config files when looking up
 218        values. Defaults to on.
 219
 220[[FILES]]
 221FILES
 222-----
 223
 224If not set explicitly with '--file', there are four files where
 225'git config' will search for configuration options:
 226
 227$(prefix)/etc/gitconfig::
 228        System-wide configuration file.
 229
 230$XDG_CONFIG_HOME/git/config::
 231        Second user-specific configuration file. If $XDG_CONFIG_HOME is not set
 232        or empty, `$HOME/.config/git/config` will be used. Any single-valued
 233        variable set in this file will be overwritten by whatever is in
 234        `~/.gitconfig`.  It is a good idea not to create this file if
 235        you sometimes use older versions of Git, as support for this
 236        file was added fairly recently.
 237
 238~/.gitconfig::
 239        User-specific configuration file. Also called "global"
 240        configuration file.
 241
 242$GIT_DIR/config::
 243        Repository specific configuration file.
 244
 245If no further options are given, all reading options will read all of these
 246files that are available. If the global or the system-wide configuration
 247file are not available they will be ignored. If the repository configuration
 248file is not available or readable, 'git config' will exit with a non-zero
 249error code. However, in neither case will an error message be issued.
 250
 251The files are read in the order given above, with last value found taking
 252precedence over values read earlier.  When multiple values are taken then all
 253values of a key from all files will be used.
 254
 255All writing options will per default write to the repository specific
 256configuration file. Note that this also affects options like '--replace-all'
 257and '--unset'. *'git config' will only ever change one file at a time*.
 258
 259You can override these rules either by command line options or by environment
 260variables. The '--global' and the '--system' options will limit the file used
 261to the global or system-wide file respectively. The GIT_CONFIG environment
 262variable has a similar effect, but you can specify any filename you want.
 263
 264
 265ENVIRONMENT
 266-----------
 267
 268GIT_CONFIG::
 269        Take the configuration from the given file instead of .git/config.
 270        Using the "--global" option forces this to ~/.gitconfig. Using the
 271        "--system" option forces this to $(prefix)/etc/gitconfig.
 272
 273GIT_CONFIG_NOSYSTEM::
 274        Whether to skip reading settings from the system-wide
 275        $(prefix)/etc/gitconfig file. See linkgit:git[1] for details.
 276
 277See also <<FILES>>.
 278
 279
 280[[EXAMPLES]]
 281EXAMPLES
 282--------
 283
 284Given a .git/config like this:
 285
 286        #
 287        # This is the config file, and
 288        # a '#' or ';' character indicates
 289        # a comment
 290        #
 291
 292        ; core variables
 293        [core]
 294                ; Don't trust file modes
 295                filemode = false
 296
 297        ; Our diff algorithm
 298        [diff]
 299                external = /usr/local/bin/diff-wrapper
 300                renames = true
 301
 302        ; Proxy settings
 303        [core]
 304                gitproxy=proxy-command for kernel.org
 305                gitproxy=default-proxy ; for all the rest
 306
 307        ; HTTP
 308        [http]
 309                sslVerify
 310        [http "https://weak.example.com"]
 311                sslVerify = false
 312                cookieFile = /tmp/cookie.txt
 313
 314you can set the filemode to true with
 315
 316------------
 317% git config core.filemode true
 318------------
 319
 320The hypothetical proxy command entries actually have a postfix to discern
 321what URL they apply to. Here is how to change the entry for kernel.org
 322to "ssh".
 323
 324------------
 325% git config core.gitproxy '"ssh" for kernel.org' 'for kernel.org$'
 326------------
 327
 328This makes sure that only the key/value pair for kernel.org is replaced.
 329
 330To delete the entry for renames, do
 331
 332------------
 333% git config --unset diff.renames
 334------------
 335
 336If you want to delete an entry for a multivar (like core.gitproxy above),
 337you have to provide a regex matching the value of exactly one line.
 338
 339To query the value for a given key, do
 340
 341------------
 342% git config --get core.filemode
 343------------
 344
 345or
 346
 347------------
 348% git config core.filemode
 349------------
 350
 351or, to query a multivar:
 352
 353------------
 354% git config --get core.gitproxy "for kernel.org$"
 355------------
 356
 357If you want to know all the values for a multivar, do:
 358
 359------------
 360% git config --get-all core.gitproxy
 361------------
 362
 363If you like to live dangerously, you can replace *all* core.gitproxy by a
 364new one with
 365
 366------------
 367% git config --replace-all core.gitproxy ssh
 368------------
 369
 370However, if you really only want to replace the line for the default proxy,
 371i.e. the one without a "for ..." postfix, do something like this:
 372
 373------------
 374% git config core.gitproxy ssh '! for '
 375------------
 376
 377To actually match only values with an exclamation mark, you have to
 378
 379------------
 380% git config section.key value '[!]'
 381------------
 382
 383To add a new proxy, without altering any of the existing ones, use
 384
 385------------
 386% git config --add core.gitproxy '"proxy-command" for example.com'
 387------------
 388
 389An example to use customized color from the configuration in your
 390script:
 391
 392------------
 393#!/bin/sh
 394WS=$(git config --get-color color.diff.whitespace "blue reverse")
 395RESET=$(git config --get-color "" "reset")
 396echo "${WS}your whitespace color or blue reverse${RESET}"
 397------------
 398
 399For URLs in `https://weak.example.com`, `http.sslVerify` is set to
 400false, while it is set to `true` for all others:
 401
 402------------
 403% git config --bool --get-urlmatch http.sslverify https://good.example.com
 404true
 405% git config --bool --get-urlmatch http.sslverify https://weak.example.com
 406false
 407% git config --get-urlmatch http https://weak.example.com
 408http.cookiefile /tmp/cookie.txt
 409http.sslverify false
 410------------
 411
 412include::config.txt[]
 413
 414GIT
 415---
 416Part of the linkgit:git[1] suite