Documentation / git.txton commit color: support strike-through attribute (9dc3515)
   1git(1)
   2======
   3
   4NAME
   5----
   6git - the stupid content tracker
   7
   8
   9SYNOPSIS
  10--------
  11[verse]
  12'git' [--version] [--help] [-C <path>] [-c <name>=<value>]
  13    [--exec-path[=<path>]] [--html-path] [--man-path] [--info-path]
  14    [-p|--paginate|--no-pager] [--no-replace-objects] [--bare]
  15    [--git-dir=<path>] [--work-tree=<path>] [--namespace=<name>]
  16    <command> [<args>]
  17
  18DESCRIPTION
  19-----------
  20Git is a fast, scalable, distributed revision control system with an
  21unusually rich command set that provides both high-level operations
  22and full access to internals.
  23
  24See linkgit:gittutorial[7] to get started, then see
  25linkgit:giteveryday[7] for a useful minimum set of
  26commands.  The link:user-manual.html[Git User's Manual] has a more
  27in-depth introduction.
  28
  29After you mastered the basic concepts, you can come back to this
  30page to learn what commands Git offers.  You can learn more about
  31individual Git commands with "git help command".  linkgit:gitcli[7]
  32manual page gives you an overview of the command-line command syntax.
  33
  34Formatted and hyperlinked version of the latest Git documentation
  35can be viewed at `http://git-htmldocs.googlecode.com/git/git.html`.
  36
  37ifdef::stalenotes[]
  38[NOTE]
  39============
  40
  41You are reading the documentation for the latest (possibly
  42unreleased) version of Git, that is available from the 'master'
  43branch of the `git.git` repository.
  44Documentation for older releases are available here:
  45
  46* link:v2.4.11/git.html[documentation for release 2.4.11]
  47
  48* release notes for
  49  link:RelNotes/2.4.11.txt[2.4.11],
  50  link:RelNotes/2.4.10.txt[2.4.10],
  51  link:RelNotes/2.4.9.txt[2.4.9],
  52  link:RelNotes/2.4.8.txt[2.4.8],
  53  link:RelNotes/2.4.7.txt[2.4.7],
  54  link:RelNotes/2.4.6.txt[2.4.6],
  55  link:RelNotes/2.4.5.txt[2.4.5],
  56  link:RelNotes/2.4.4.txt[2.4.4],
  57  link:RelNotes/2.4.3.txt[2.4.3],
  58  link:RelNotes/2.4.2.txt[2.4.2],
  59  link:RelNotes/2.4.1.txt[2.4.1],
  60  link:RelNotes/2.4.0.txt[2.4].
  61
  62* link:v2.3.10/git.html[documentation for release 2.3.10]
  63
  64* release notes for
  65  link:RelNotes/2.3.10.txt[2.3.10],
  66  link:RelNotes/2.3.9.txt[2.3.9],
  67  link:RelNotes/2.3.8.txt[2.3.8],
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  70  link:RelNotes/2.3.5.txt[2.3.5],
  71  link:RelNotes/2.3.4.txt[2.3.4],
  72  link:RelNotes/2.3.3.txt[2.3.3],
  73  link:RelNotes/2.3.2.txt[2.3.2],
  74  link:RelNotes/2.3.1.txt[2.3.1],
  75  link:RelNotes/2.3.0.txt[2.3].
  76
  77* link:v2.2.3/git.html[documentation for release 2.2.3]
  78
  79* release notes for
  80  link:RelNotes/2.2.3.txt[2.2.3],
  81  link:RelNotes/2.2.2.txt[2.2.2],
  82  link:RelNotes/2.2.1.txt[2.2.1],
  83  link:RelNotes/2.2.0.txt[2.2].
  84
  85* link:v2.1.4/git.html[documentation for release 2.1.4]
  86
  87* release notes for
  88  link:RelNotes/2.1.4.txt[2.1.4],
  89  link:RelNotes/2.1.3.txt[2.1.3],
  90  link:RelNotes/2.1.2.txt[2.1.2],
  91  link:RelNotes/2.1.1.txt[2.1.1],
  92  link:RelNotes/2.1.0.txt[2.1].
  93
  94* link:v2.0.5/git.html[documentation for release 2.0.5]
  95
  96* release notes for
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  98  link:RelNotes/2.0.4.txt[2.0.4],
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 420  link:RelNotes/1.5.3.3.txt[1.5.3.3],
 421  link:RelNotes/1.5.3.2.txt[1.5.3.2],
 422  link:RelNotes/1.5.3.1.txt[1.5.3.1],
 423  link:RelNotes/1.5.3.txt[1.5.3].
 424
 425* link:v1.5.2.5/git.html[documentation for release 1.5.2.5]
 426
 427* release notes for
 428  link:RelNotes/1.5.2.5.txt[1.5.2.5],
 429  link:RelNotes/1.5.2.4.txt[1.5.2.4],
 430  link:RelNotes/1.5.2.3.txt[1.5.2.3],
 431  link:RelNotes/1.5.2.2.txt[1.5.2.2],
 432  link:RelNotes/1.5.2.1.txt[1.5.2.1],
 433  link:RelNotes/1.5.2.txt[1.5.2].
 434
 435* link:v1.5.1.6/git.html[documentation for release 1.5.1.6]
 436
 437* release notes for
 438  link:RelNotes/1.5.1.6.txt[1.5.1.6],
 439  link:RelNotes/1.5.1.5.txt[1.5.1.5],
 440  link:RelNotes/1.5.1.4.txt[1.5.1.4],
 441  link:RelNotes/1.5.1.3.txt[1.5.1.3],
 442  link:RelNotes/1.5.1.2.txt[1.5.1.2],
 443  link:RelNotes/1.5.1.1.txt[1.5.1.1],
 444  link:RelNotes/1.5.1.txt[1.5.1].
 445
 446* link:v1.5.0.7/git.html[documentation for release 1.5.0.7]
 447
 448* release notes for
 449  link:RelNotes/1.5.0.7.txt[1.5.0.7],
 450  link:RelNotes/1.5.0.6.txt[1.5.0.6],
 451  link:RelNotes/1.5.0.5.txt[1.5.0.5],
 452  link:RelNotes/1.5.0.3.txt[1.5.0.3],
 453  link:RelNotes/1.5.0.2.txt[1.5.0.2],
 454  link:RelNotes/1.5.0.1.txt[1.5.0.1],
 455  link:RelNotes/1.5.0.txt[1.5.0].
 456
 457* documentation for release link:v1.4.4.4/git.html[1.4.4.4],
 458  link:v1.3.3/git.html[1.3.3],
 459  link:v1.2.6/git.html[1.2.6],
 460  link:v1.0.13/git.html[1.0.13].
 461
 462============
 463
 464endif::stalenotes[]
 465
 466OPTIONS
 467-------
 468--version::
 469        Prints the Git suite version that the 'git' program came from.
 470
 471--help::
 472        Prints the synopsis and a list of the most commonly used
 473        commands. If the option '--all' or '-a' is given then all
 474        available commands are printed. If a Git command is named this
 475        option will bring up the manual page for that command.
 476+
 477Other options are available to control how the manual page is
 478displayed. See linkgit:git-help[1] for more information,
 479because `git --help ...` is converted internally into `git
 480help ...`.
 481
 482-C <path>::
 483        Run as if git was started in '<path>' instead of the current working
 484        directory.  When multiple `-C` options are given, each subsequent
 485        non-absolute `-C <path>` is interpreted relative to the preceding `-C
 486        <path>`.
 487+
 488This option affects options that expect path name like `--git-dir` and
 489`--work-tree` in that their interpretations of the path names would be
 490made relative to the working directory caused by the `-C` option. For
 491example the following invocations are equivalent:
 492
 493    git --git-dir=a.git --work-tree=b -C c status
 494    git --git-dir=c/a.git --work-tree=c/b status
 495
 496-c <name>=<value>::
 497        Pass a configuration parameter to the command. The value
 498        given will override values from configuration files.
 499        The <name> is expected in the same format as listed by
 500        'git config' (subkeys separated by dots).
 501+
 502Note that omitting the `=` in `git -c foo.bar ...` is allowed and sets
 503`foo.bar` to the boolean true value (just like `[foo]bar` would in a
 504config file). Including the equals but with an empty value (like `git -c
 505foo.bar= ...`) sets `foo.bar` to the empty string.
 506
 507--exec-path[=<path>]::
 508        Path to wherever your core Git programs are installed.
 509        This can also be controlled by setting the GIT_EXEC_PATH
 510        environment variable. If no path is given, 'git' will print
 511        the current setting and then exit.
 512
 513--html-path::
 514        Print the path, without trailing slash, where Git's HTML
 515        documentation is installed and exit.
 516
 517--man-path::
 518        Print the manpath (see `man(1)`) for the man pages for
 519        this version of Git and exit.
 520
 521--info-path::
 522        Print the path where the Info files documenting this
 523        version of Git are installed and exit.
 524
 525-p::
 526--paginate::
 527        Pipe all output into 'less' (or if set, $PAGER) if standard
 528        output is a terminal.  This overrides the `pager.<cmd>`
 529        configuration options (see the "Configuration Mechanism" section
 530        below).
 531
 532--no-pager::
 533        Do not pipe Git output into a pager.
 534
 535--git-dir=<path>::
 536        Set the path to the repository. This can also be controlled by
 537        setting the GIT_DIR environment variable. It can be an absolute
 538        path or relative path to current working directory.
 539
 540--work-tree=<path>::
 541        Set the path to the working tree. It can be an absolute path
 542        or a path relative to the current working directory.
 543        This can also be controlled by setting the GIT_WORK_TREE
 544        environment variable and the core.worktree configuration
 545        variable (see core.worktree in linkgit:git-config[1] for a
 546        more detailed discussion).
 547
 548--namespace=<path>::
 549        Set the Git namespace.  See linkgit:gitnamespaces[7] for more
 550        details.  Equivalent to setting the `GIT_NAMESPACE` environment
 551        variable.
 552
 553--bare::
 554        Treat the repository as a bare repository.  If GIT_DIR
 555        environment is not set, it is set to the current working
 556        directory.
 557
 558--no-replace-objects::
 559        Do not use replacement refs to replace Git objects. See
 560        linkgit:git-replace[1] for more information.
 561
 562--literal-pathspecs::
 563        Treat pathspecs literally (i.e. no globbing, no pathspec magic).
 564        This is equivalent to setting the `GIT_LITERAL_PATHSPECS` environment
 565        variable to `1`.
 566
 567--glob-pathspecs::
 568        Add "glob" magic to all pathspec. This is equivalent to setting
 569        the `GIT_GLOB_PATHSPECS` environment variable to `1`. Disabling
 570        globbing on individual pathspecs can be done using pathspec
 571        magic ":(literal)"
 572
 573--noglob-pathspecs::
 574        Add "literal" magic to all pathspec. This is equivalent to setting
 575        the `GIT_NOGLOB_PATHSPECS` environment variable to `1`. Enabling
 576        globbing on individual pathspecs can be done using pathspec
 577        magic ":(glob)"
 578
 579--icase-pathspecs::
 580        Add "icase" magic to all pathspec. This is equivalent to setting
 581        the `GIT_ICASE_PATHSPECS` environment variable to `1`.
 582
 583GIT COMMANDS
 584------------
 585
 586We divide Git into high level ("porcelain") commands and low level
 587("plumbing") commands.
 588
 589High-level commands (porcelain)
 590-------------------------------
 591
 592We separate the porcelain commands into the main commands and some
 593ancillary user utilities.
 594
 595Main porcelain commands
 596~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 597
 598include::cmds-mainporcelain.txt[]
 599
 600Ancillary Commands
 601~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 602Manipulators:
 603
 604include::cmds-ancillarymanipulators.txt[]
 605
 606Interrogators:
 607
 608include::cmds-ancillaryinterrogators.txt[]
 609
 610
 611Interacting with Others
 612~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 613
 614These commands are to interact with foreign SCM and with other
 615people via patch over e-mail.
 616
 617include::cmds-foreignscminterface.txt[]
 618
 619
 620Low-level commands (plumbing)
 621-----------------------------
 622
 623Although Git includes its
 624own porcelain layer, its low-level commands are sufficient to support
 625development of alternative porcelains.  Developers of such porcelains
 626might start by reading about linkgit:git-update-index[1] and
 627linkgit:git-read-tree[1].
 628
 629The interface (input, output, set of options and the semantics)
 630to these low-level commands are meant to be a lot more stable
 631than Porcelain level commands, because these commands are
 632primarily for scripted use.  The interface to Porcelain commands
 633on the other hand are subject to change in order to improve the
 634end user experience.
 635
 636The following description divides
 637the low-level commands into commands that manipulate objects (in
 638the repository, index, and working tree), commands that interrogate and
 639compare objects, and commands that move objects and references between
 640repositories.
 641
 642
 643Manipulation commands
 644~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 645
 646include::cmds-plumbingmanipulators.txt[]
 647
 648
 649Interrogation commands
 650~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 651
 652include::cmds-plumbinginterrogators.txt[]
 653
 654In general, the interrogate commands do not touch the files in
 655the working tree.
 656
 657
 658Synching repositories
 659~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 660
 661include::cmds-synchingrepositories.txt[]
 662
 663The following are helper commands used by the above; end users
 664typically do not use them directly.
 665
 666include::cmds-synchelpers.txt[]
 667
 668
 669Internal helper commands
 670~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 671
 672These are internal helper commands used by other commands; end
 673users typically do not use them directly.
 674
 675include::cmds-purehelpers.txt[]
 676
 677
 678Configuration Mechanism
 679-----------------------
 680
 681Git uses a simple text format to store customizations that are per
 682repository and are per user.  Such a configuration file may look
 683like this:
 684
 685------------
 686#
 687# A '#' or ';' character indicates a comment.
 688#
 689
 690; core variables
 691[core]
 692        ; Don't trust file modes
 693        filemode = false
 694
 695; user identity
 696[user]
 697        name = "Junio C Hamano"
 698        email = "gitster@pobox.com"
 699
 700------------
 701
 702Various commands read from the configuration file and adjust
 703their operation accordingly.  See linkgit:git-config[1] for a
 704list and more details about the configuration mechanism.
 705
 706
 707Identifier Terminology
 708----------------------
 709<object>::
 710        Indicates the object name for any type of object.
 711
 712<blob>::
 713        Indicates a blob object name.
 714
 715<tree>::
 716        Indicates a tree object name.
 717
 718<commit>::
 719        Indicates a commit object name.
 720
 721<tree-ish>::
 722        Indicates a tree, commit or tag object name.  A
 723        command that takes a <tree-ish> argument ultimately wants to
 724        operate on a <tree> object but automatically dereferences
 725        <commit> and <tag> objects that point at a <tree>.
 726
 727<commit-ish>::
 728        Indicates a commit or tag object name.  A
 729        command that takes a <commit-ish> argument ultimately wants to
 730        operate on a <commit> object but automatically dereferences
 731        <tag> objects that point at a <commit>.
 732
 733<type>::
 734        Indicates that an object type is required.
 735        Currently one of: `blob`, `tree`, `commit`, or `tag`.
 736
 737<file>::
 738        Indicates a filename - almost always relative to the
 739        root of the tree structure `GIT_INDEX_FILE` describes.
 740
 741Symbolic Identifiers
 742--------------------
 743Any Git command accepting any <object> can also use the following
 744symbolic notation:
 745
 746HEAD::
 747        indicates the head of the current branch.
 748
 749<tag>::
 750        a valid tag 'name'
 751        (i.e. a `refs/tags/<tag>` reference).
 752
 753<head>::
 754        a valid head 'name'
 755        (i.e. a `refs/heads/<head>` reference).
 756
 757For a more complete list of ways to spell object names, see
 758"SPECIFYING REVISIONS" section in linkgit:gitrevisions[7].
 759
 760
 761File/Directory Structure
 762------------------------
 763
 764Please see the linkgit:gitrepository-layout[5] document.
 765
 766Read linkgit:githooks[5] for more details about each hook.
 767
 768Higher level SCMs may provide and manage additional information in the
 769`$GIT_DIR`.
 770
 771
 772Terminology
 773-----------
 774Please see linkgit:gitglossary[7].
 775
 776
 777Environment Variables
 778---------------------
 779Various Git commands use the following environment variables:
 780
 781The Git Repository
 782~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 783These environment variables apply to 'all' core Git commands. Nb: it
 784is worth noting that they may be used/overridden by SCMS sitting above
 785Git so take care if using Cogito etc.
 786
 787'GIT_INDEX_FILE'::
 788        This environment allows the specification of an alternate
 789        index file. If not specified, the default of `$GIT_DIR/index`
 790        is used.
 791
 792'GIT_INDEX_VERSION'::
 793        This environment variable allows the specification of an index
 794        version for new repositories.  It won't affect existing index
 795        files.  By default index file version 2 or 3 is used. See
 796        linkgit:git-update-index[1] for more information.
 797
 798'GIT_OBJECT_DIRECTORY'::
 799        If the object storage directory is specified via this
 800        environment variable then the sha1 directories are created
 801        underneath - otherwise the default `$GIT_DIR/objects`
 802        directory is used.
 803
 804'GIT_ALTERNATE_OBJECT_DIRECTORIES'::
 805        Due to the immutable nature of Git objects, old objects can be
 806        archived into shared, read-only directories. This variable
 807        specifies a ":" separated (on Windows ";" separated) list
 808        of Git object directories which can be used to search for Git
 809        objects. New objects will not be written to these directories.
 810
 811'GIT_DIR'::
 812        If the 'GIT_DIR' environment variable is set then it
 813        specifies a path to use instead of the default `.git`
 814        for the base of the repository.
 815        The '--git-dir' command-line option also sets this value.
 816
 817'GIT_WORK_TREE'::
 818        Set the path to the root of the working tree.
 819        This can also be controlled by the '--work-tree' command-line
 820        option and the core.worktree configuration variable.
 821
 822'GIT_NAMESPACE'::
 823        Set the Git namespace; see linkgit:gitnamespaces[7] for details.
 824        The '--namespace' command-line option also sets this value.
 825
 826'GIT_CEILING_DIRECTORIES'::
 827        This should be a colon-separated list of absolute paths.  If
 828        set, it is a list of directories that Git should not chdir up
 829        into while looking for a repository directory (useful for
 830        excluding slow-loading network directories).  It will not
 831        exclude the current working directory or a GIT_DIR set on the
 832        command line or in the environment.  Normally, Git has to read
 833        the entries in this list and resolve any symlink that
 834        might be present in order to compare them with the current
 835        directory.  However, if even this access is slow, you
 836        can add an empty entry to the list to tell Git that the
 837        subsequent entries are not symlinks and needn't be resolved;
 838        e.g.,
 839        'GIT_CEILING_DIRECTORIES=/maybe/symlink::/very/slow/non/symlink'.
 840
 841'GIT_DISCOVERY_ACROSS_FILESYSTEM'::
 842        When run in a directory that does not have ".git" repository
 843        directory, Git tries to find such a directory in the parent
 844        directories to find the top of the working tree, but by default it
 845        does not cross filesystem boundaries.  This environment variable
 846        can be set to true to tell Git not to stop at filesystem
 847        boundaries.  Like 'GIT_CEILING_DIRECTORIES', this will not affect
 848        an explicit repository directory set via 'GIT_DIR' or on the
 849        command line.
 850
 851Git Commits
 852~~~~~~~~~~~
 853'GIT_AUTHOR_NAME'::
 854'GIT_AUTHOR_EMAIL'::
 855'GIT_AUTHOR_DATE'::
 856'GIT_COMMITTER_NAME'::
 857'GIT_COMMITTER_EMAIL'::
 858'GIT_COMMITTER_DATE'::
 859'EMAIL'::
 860        see linkgit:git-commit-tree[1]
 861
 862Git Diffs
 863~~~~~~~~~
 864'GIT_DIFF_OPTS'::
 865        Only valid setting is "--unified=??" or "-u??" to set the
 866        number of context lines shown when a unified diff is created.
 867        This takes precedence over any "-U" or "--unified" option
 868        value passed on the Git diff command line.
 869
 870'GIT_EXTERNAL_DIFF'::
 871        When the environment variable 'GIT_EXTERNAL_DIFF' is set, the
 872        program named by it is called, instead of the diff invocation
 873        described above.  For a path that is added, removed, or modified,
 874        'GIT_EXTERNAL_DIFF' is called with 7 parameters:
 875
 876        path old-file old-hex old-mode new-file new-hex new-mode
 877+
 878where:
 879
 880        <old|new>-file:: are files GIT_EXTERNAL_DIFF can use to read the
 881                         contents of <old|new>,
 882        <old|new>-hex:: are the 40-hexdigit SHA-1 hashes,
 883        <old|new>-mode:: are the octal representation of the file modes.
 884+
 885The file parameters can point at the user's working file
 886(e.g. `new-file` in "git-diff-files"), `/dev/null` (e.g. `old-file`
 887when a new file is added), or a temporary file (e.g. `old-file` in the
 888index).  'GIT_EXTERNAL_DIFF' should not worry about unlinking the
 889temporary file --- it is removed when 'GIT_EXTERNAL_DIFF' exits.
 890+
 891For a path that is unmerged, 'GIT_EXTERNAL_DIFF' is called with 1
 892parameter, <path>.
 893+
 894For each path 'GIT_EXTERNAL_DIFF' is called, two environment variables,
 895'GIT_DIFF_PATH_COUNTER' and 'GIT_DIFF_PATH_TOTAL' are set.
 896
 897'GIT_DIFF_PATH_COUNTER'::
 898        A 1-based counter incremented by one for every path.
 899
 900'GIT_DIFF_PATH_TOTAL'::
 901        The total number of paths.
 902
 903other
 904~~~~~
 905'GIT_MERGE_VERBOSITY'::
 906        A number controlling the amount of output shown by
 907        the recursive merge strategy.  Overrides merge.verbosity.
 908        See linkgit:git-merge[1]
 909
 910'GIT_PAGER'::
 911        This environment variable overrides `$PAGER`. If it is set
 912        to an empty string or to the value "cat", Git will not launch
 913        a pager.  See also the `core.pager` option in
 914        linkgit:git-config[1].
 915
 916'GIT_EDITOR'::
 917        This environment variable overrides `$EDITOR` and `$VISUAL`.
 918        It is used by several Git commands when, on interactive mode,
 919        an editor is to be launched. See also linkgit:git-var[1]
 920        and the `core.editor` option in linkgit:git-config[1].
 921
 922'GIT_SSH'::
 923'GIT_SSH_COMMAND'::
 924        If either of these environment variables is set then 'git fetch'
 925        and 'git push' will use the specified command instead of 'ssh'
 926        when they need to connect to a remote system.
 927        The command will be given exactly two or four arguments: the
 928        'username@host' (or just 'host') from the URL and the shell
 929        command to execute on that remote system, optionally preceded by
 930        '-p' (literally) and the 'port' from the URL when it specifies
 931        something other than the default SSH port.
 932+
 933`$GIT_SSH_COMMAND` takes precedence over `$GIT_SSH`, and is interpreted
 934by the shell, which allows additional arguments to be included.
 935`$GIT_SSH` on the other hand must be just the path to a program
 936(which can be a wrapper shell script, if additional arguments are
 937needed).
 938+
 939Usually it is easier to configure any desired options through your
 940personal `.ssh/config` file.  Please consult your ssh documentation
 941for further details.
 942
 943'GIT_ASKPASS'::
 944        If this environment variable is set, then Git commands which need to
 945        acquire passwords or passphrases (e.g. for HTTP or IMAP authentication)
 946        will call this program with a suitable prompt as command-line argument
 947        and read the password from its STDOUT. See also the 'core.askPass'
 948        option in linkgit:git-config[1].
 949
 950'GIT_TERMINAL_PROMPT'::
 951        If this environment variable is set to `0`, git will not prompt
 952        on the terminal (e.g., when asking for HTTP authentication).
 953
 954'GIT_CONFIG_NOSYSTEM'::
 955        Whether to skip reading settings from the system-wide
 956        `$(prefix)/etc/gitconfig` file.  This environment variable can
 957        be used along with `$HOME` and `$XDG_CONFIG_HOME` to create a
 958        predictable environment for a picky script, or you can set it
 959        temporarily to avoid using a buggy `/etc/gitconfig` file while
 960        waiting for someone with sufficient permissions to fix it.
 961
 962'GIT_FLUSH'::
 963        If this environment variable is set to "1", then commands such
 964        as 'git blame' (in incremental mode), 'git rev-list', 'git log',
 965        'git check-attr' and 'git check-ignore' will
 966        force a flush of the output stream after each record have been
 967        flushed. If this
 968        variable is set to "0", the output of these commands will be done
 969        using completely buffered I/O.   If this environment variable is
 970        not set, Git will choose buffered or record-oriented flushing
 971        based on whether stdout appears to be redirected to a file or not.
 972
 973'GIT_TRACE'::
 974        Enables general trace messages, e.g. alias expansion, built-in
 975        command execution and external command execution.
 976+
 977If this variable is set to "1", "2" or "true" (comparison
 978is case insensitive), trace messages will be printed to
 979stderr.
 980+
 981If the variable is set to an integer value greater than 2
 982and lower than 10 (strictly) then Git will interpret this
 983value as an open file descriptor and will try to write the
 984trace messages into this file descriptor.
 985+
 986Alternatively, if the variable is set to an absolute path
 987(starting with a '/' character), Git will interpret this
 988as a file path and will try to write the trace messages
 989into it.
 990+
 991Unsetting the variable, or setting it to empty, "0" or
 992"false" (case insensitive) disables trace messages.
 993
 994'GIT_TRACE_PACK_ACCESS'::
 995        Enables trace messages for all accesses to any packs. For each
 996        access, the pack file name and an offset in the pack is
 997        recorded. This may be helpful for troubleshooting some
 998        pack-related performance problems.
 999        See 'GIT_TRACE' for available trace output options.
1000
1001'GIT_TRACE_PACKET'::
1002        Enables trace messages for all packets coming in or out of a
1003        given program. This can help with debugging object negotiation
1004        or other protocol issues. Tracing is turned off at a packet
1005        starting with "PACK".
1006        See 'GIT_TRACE' for available trace output options.
1007
1008'GIT_TRACE_PERFORMANCE'::
1009        Enables performance related trace messages, e.g. total execution
1010        time of each Git command.
1011        See 'GIT_TRACE' for available trace output options.
1012
1013'GIT_TRACE_SETUP'::
1014        Enables trace messages printing the .git, working tree and current
1015        working directory after Git has completed its setup phase.
1016        See 'GIT_TRACE' for available trace output options.
1017
1018'GIT_TRACE_SHALLOW'::
1019        Enables trace messages that can help debugging fetching /
1020        cloning of shallow repositories.
1021        See 'GIT_TRACE' for available trace output options.
1022
1023GIT_LITERAL_PATHSPECS::
1024        Setting this variable to `1` will cause Git to treat all
1025        pathspecs literally, rather than as glob patterns. For example,
1026        running `GIT_LITERAL_PATHSPECS=1 git log -- '*.c'` will search
1027        for commits that touch the path `*.c`, not any paths that the
1028        glob `*.c` matches. You might want this if you are feeding
1029        literal paths to Git (e.g., paths previously given to you by
1030        `git ls-tree`, `--raw` diff output, etc).
1031
1032GIT_GLOB_PATHSPECS::
1033        Setting this variable to `1` will cause Git to treat all
1034        pathspecs as glob patterns (aka "glob" magic).
1035
1036GIT_NOGLOB_PATHSPECS::
1037        Setting this variable to `1` will cause Git to treat all
1038        pathspecs as literal (aka "literal" magic).
1039
1040GIT_ICASE_PATHSPECS::
1041        Setting this variable to `1` will cause Git to treat all
1042        pathspecs as case-insensitive.
1043
1044'GIT_REFLOG_ACTION'::
1045        When a ref is updated, reflog entries are created to keep
1046        track of the reason why the ref was updated (which is
1047        typically the name of the high-level command that updated
1048        the ref), in addition to the old and new values of the ref.
1049        A scripted Porcelain command can use set_reflog_action
1050        helper function in `git-sh-setup` to set its name to this
1051        variable when it is invoked as the top level command by the
1052        end user, to be recorded in the body of the reflog.
1053
1054`GIT_REF_PARANOIA`::
1055        If set to `1`, include broken or badly named refs when iterating
1056        over lists of refs. In a normal, non-corrupted repository, this
1057        does nothing. However, enabling it may help git to detect and
1058        abort some operations in the presence of broken refs. Git sets
1059        this variable automatically when performing destructive
1060        operations like linkgit:git-prune[1]. You should not need to set
1061        it yourself unless you want to be paranoid about making sure
1062        an operation has touched every ref (e.g., because you are
1063        cloning a repository to make a backup).
1064
1065`GIT_ALLOW_PROTOCOL`::
1066        If set, provide a colon-separated list of protocols which are
1067        allowed to be used with fetch/push/clone. This is useful to
1068        restrict recursive submodule initialization from an untrusted
1069        repository. Any protocol not mentioned will be disallowed (i.e.,
1070        this is a whitelist, not a blacklist). If the variable is not
1071        set at all, all protocols are enabled.  The protocol names
1072        currently used by git are:
1073
1074          - `file`: any local file-based path (including `file://` URLs,
1075            or local paths)
1076
1077          - `git`: the anonymous git protocol over a direct TCP
1078            connection (or proxy, if configured)
1079
1080          - `ssh`: git over ssh (including `host:path` syntax,
1081            `git+ssh://`, etc).
1082
1083          - `rsync`: git over rsync
1084
1085          - `http`: git over http, both "smart http" and "dumb http".
1086            Note that this does _not_ include `https`; if you want both,
1087            you should specify both as `http:https`.
1088
1089          - any external helpers are named by their protocol (e.g., use
1090            `hg` to allow the `git-remote-hg` helper)
1091
1092
1093Discussion[[Discussion]]
1094------------------------
1095
1096More detail on the following is available from the
1097link:user-manual.html#git-concepts[Git concepts chapter of the
1098user-manual] and linkgit:gitcore-tutorial[7].
1099
1100A Git project normally consists of a working directory with a ".git"
1101subdirectory at the top level.  The .git directory contains, among other
1102things, a compressed object database representing the complete history
1103of the project, an "index" file which links that history to the current
1104contents of the working tree, and named pointers into that history such
1105as tags and branch heads.
1106
1107The object database contains objects of three main types: blobs, which
1108hold file data; trees, which point to blobs and other trees to build up
1109directory hierarchies; and commits, which each reference a single tree
1110and some number of parent commits.
1111
1112The commit, equivalent to what other systems call a "changeset" or
1113"version", represents a step in the project's history, and each parent
1114represents an immediately preceding step.  Commits with more than one
1115parent represent merges of independent lines of development.
1116
1117All objects are named by the SHA-1 hash of their contents, normally
1118written as a string of 40 hex digits.  Such names are globally unique.
1119The entire history leading up to a commit can be vouched for by signing
1120just that commit.  A fourth object type, the tag, is provided for this
1121purpose.
1122
1123When first created, objects are stored in individual files, but for
1124efficiency may later be compressed together into "pack files".
1125
1126Named pointers called refs mark interesting points in history.  A ref
1127may contain the SHA-1 name of an object or the name of another ref.  Refs
1128with names beginning `ref/head/` contain the SHA-1 name of the most
1129recent commit (or "head") of a branch under development.  SHA-1 names of
1130tags of interest are stored under `ref/tags/`.  A special ref named
1131`HEAD` contains the name of the currently checked-out branch.
1132
1133The index file is initialized with a list of all paths and, for each
1134path, a blob object and a set of attributes.  The blob object represents
1135the contents of the file as of the head of the current branch.  The
1136attributes (last modified time, size, etc.) are taken from the
1137corresponding file in the working tree.  Subsequent changes to the
1138working tree can be found by comparing these attributes.  The index may
1139be updated with new content, and new commits may be created from the
1140content stored in the index.
1141
1142The index is also capable of storing multiple entries (called "stages")
1143for a given pathname.  These stages are used to hold the various
1144unmerged version of a file when a merge is in progress.
1145
1146FURTHER DOCUMENTATION
1147---------------------
1148
1149See the references in the "description" section to get started
1150using Git.  The following is probably more detail than necessary
1151for a first-time user.
1152
1153The link:user-manual.html#git-concepts[Git concepts chapter of the
1154user-manual] and linkgit:gitcore-tutorial[7] both provide
1155introductions to the underlying Git architecture.
1156
1157See linkgit:gitworkflows[7] for an overview of recommended workflows.
1158
1159See also the link:howto-index.html[howto] documents for some useful
1160examples.
1161
1162The internals are documented in the
1163link:technical/api-index.html[Git API documentation].
1164
1165Users migrating from CVS may also want to
1166read linkgit:gitcvs-migration[7].
1167
1168
1169Authors
1170-------
1171Git was started by Linus Torvalds, and is currently maintained by Junio
1172C Hamano. Numerous contributions have come from the Git mailing list
1173<git@vger.kernel.org>.  http://www.openhub.net/p/git/contributors/summary
1174gives you a more complete list of contributors.
1175
1176If you have a clone of git.git itself, the
1177output of linkgit:git-shortlog[1] and linkgit:git-blame[1] can show you
1178the authors for specific parts of the project.
1179
1180Reporting Bugs
1181--------------
1182
1183Report bugs to the Git mailing list <git@vger.kernel.org> where the
1184development and maintenance is primarily done.  You do not have to be
1185subscribed to the list to send a message there.
1186
1187SEE ALSO
1188--------
1189linkgit:gittutorial[7], linkgit:gittutorial-2[7],
1190linkgit:giteveryday[7], linkgit:gitcvs-migration[7],
1191linkgit:gitglossary[7], linkgit:gitcore-tutorial[7],
1192linkgit:gitcli[7], link:user-manual.html[The Git User's Manual],
1193linkgit:gitworkflows[7]
1194
1195GIT
1196---
1197Part of the linkgit:git[1] suite