Documentation / git.txton commit Merge branch 'po/doc-branch-desc' (a265435)
   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:v2.5.2/git.html[documentation for release 2.5.2]
  47
  48* release notes for
  49  link:RelNotes/2.5.2.txt[2.5.2],
  50  link:RelNotes/2.5.1.txt[2.5.1],
  51  link:RelNotes/2.5.0.txt[2.5].
  52
  53* link:v2.4.9/git.html[documentation for release 2.4.9]
  54
  55* release notes for
  56  link:RelNotes/2.4.9.txt[2.4.9],
  57  link:RelNotes/2.4.8.txt[2.4.8],
  58  link:RelNotes/2.4.7.txt[2.4.7],
  59  link:RelNotes/2.4.6.txt[2.4.6],
  60  link:RelNotes/2.4.5.txt[2.4.5],
  61  link:RelNotes/2.4.4.txt[2.4.4],
  62  link:RelNotes/2.4.3.txt[2.4.3],
  63  link:RelNotes/2.4.2.txt[2.4.2],
  64  link:RelNotes/2.4.1.txt[2.4.1],
  65  link:RelNotes/2.4.0.txt[2.4].
  66
  67* link:v2.3.9/git.html[documentation for release 2.3.9]
  68
  69* release notes for
  70  link:RelNotes/2.3.9.txt[2.3.9],
  71  link:RelNotes/2.3.8.txt[2.3.8],
  72  link:RelNotes/2.3.7.txt[2.3.7],
  73  link:RelNotes/2.3.6.txt[2.3.6],
  74  link:RelNotes/2.3.5.txt[2.3.5],
  75  link:RelNotes/2.3.4.txt[2.3.4],
  76  link:RelNotes/2.3.3.txt[2.3.3],
  77  link:RelNotes/2.3.2.txt[2.3.2],
  78  link:RelNotes/2.3.1.txt[2.3.1],
  79  link:RelNotes/2.3.0.txt[2.3].
  80
  81* link:v2.2.3/git.html[documentation for release 2.2.3]
  82
  83* release notes for
  84  link:RelNotes/2.2.3.txt[2.2.3],
  85  link:RelNotes/2.2.2.txt[2.2.2],
  86  link:RelNotes/2.2.1.txt[2.2.1],
  87  link:RelNotes/2.2.0.txt[2.2].
  88
  89* link:v2.1.4/git.html[documentation for release 2.1.4]
  90
  91* release notes for
  92  link:RelNotes/2.1.4.txt[2.1.4],
  93  link:RelNotes/2.1.3.txt[2.1.3],
  94  link:RelNotes/2.1.2.txt[2.1.2],
  95  link:RelNotes/2.1.1.txt[2.1.1],
  96  link:RelNotes/2.1.0.txt[2.1].
  97
  98* link:v2.0.5/git.html[documentation for release 2.0.5]
  99
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 109
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 137  link:RelNotes/1.8.4.txt[1.8.4].
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 423  link:RelNotes/1.5.3.4.txt[1.5.3.4],
 424  link:RelNotes/1.5.3.3.txt[1.5.3.3],
 425  link:RelNotes/1.5.3.2.txt[1.5.3.2],
 426  link:RelNotes/1.5.3.1.txt[1.5.3.1],
 427  link:RelNotes/1.5.3.txt[1.5.3].
 428
 429* link:v1.5.2.5/git.html[documentation for release 1.5.2.5]
 430
 431* release notes for
 432  link:RelNotes/1.5.2.5.txt[1.5.2.5],
 433  link:RelNotes/1.5.2.4.txt[1.5.2.4],
 434  link:RelNotes/1.5.2.3.txt[1.5.2.3],
 435  link:RelNotes/1.5.2.2.txt[1.5.2.2],
 436  link:RelNotes/1.5.2.1.txt[1.5.2.1],
 437  link:RelNotes/1.5.2.txt[1.5.2].
 438
 439* link:v1.5.1.6/git.html[documentation for release 1.5.1.6]
 440
 441* release notes for
 442  link:RelNotes/1.5.1.6.txt[1.5.1.6],
 443  link:RelNotes/1.5.1.5.txt[1.5.1.5],
 444  link:RelNotes/1.5.1.4.txt[1.5.1.4],
 445  link:RelNotes/1.5.1.3.txt[1.5.1.3],
 446  link:RelNotes/1.5.1.2.txt[1.5.1.2],
 447  link:RelNotes/1.5.1.1.txt[1.5.1.1],
 448  link:RelNotes/1.5.1.txt[1.5.1].
 449
 450* link:v1.5.0.7/git.html[documentation for release 1.5.0.7]
 451
 452* release notes for
 453  link:RelNotes/1.5.0.7.txt[1.5.0.7],
 454  link:RelNotes/1.5.0.6.txt[1.5.0.6],
 455  link:RelNotes/1.5.0.5.txt[1.5.0.5],
 456  link:RelNotes/1.5.0.3.txt[1.5.0.3],
 457  link:RelNotes/1.5.0.2.txt[1.5.0.2],
 458  link:RelNotes/1.5.0.1.txt[1.5.0.1],
 459  link:RelNotes/1.5.0.txt[1.5.0].
 460
 461* documentation for release link:v1.4.4.4/git.html[1.4.4.4],
 462  link:v1.3.3/git.html[1.3.3],
 463  link:v1.2.6/git.html[1.2.6],
 464  link:v1.0.13/git.html[1.0.13].
 465
 466============
 467
 468endif::stalenotes[]
 469
 470OPTIONS
 471-------
 472--version::
 473        Prints the Git suite version that the 'git' program came from.
 474
 475--help::
 476        Prints the synopsis and a list of the most commonly used
 477        commands. If the option '--all' or '-a' is given then all
 478        available commands are printed. If a Git command is named this
 479        option will bring up the manual page for that command.
 480+
 481Other options are available to control how the manual page is
 482displayed. See linkgit:git-help[1] for more information,
 483because `git --help ...` is converted internally into `git
 484help ...`.
 485
 486-C <path>::
 487        Run as if git was started in '<path>' instead of the current working
 488        directory.  When multiple `-C` options are given, each subsequent
 489        non-absolute `-C <path>` is interpreted relative to the preceding `-C
 490        <path>`.
 491+
 492This option affects options that expect path name like `--git-dir` and
 493`--work-tree` in that their interpretations of the path names would be
 494made relative to the working directory caused by the `-C` option. For
 495example the following invocations are equivalent:
 496
 497    git --git-dir=a.git --work-tree=b -C c status
 498    git --git-dir=c/a.git --work-tree=c/b status
 499
 500-c <name>=<value>::
 501        Pass a configuration parameter to the command. The value
 502        given will override values from configuration files.
 503        The <name> is expected in the same format as listed by
 504        'git config' (subkeys separated by dots).
 505+
 506Note that omitting the `=` in `git -c foo.bar ...` is allowed and sets
 507`foo.bar` to the boolean true value (just like `[foo]bar` would in a
 508config file). Including the equals but with an empty value (like `git -c
 509foo.bar= ...`) sets `foo.bar` to the empty string.
 510
 511--exec-path[=<path>]::
 512        Path to wherever your core Git programs are installed.
 513        This can also be controlled by setting the GIT_EXEC_PATH
 514        environment variable. If no path is given, 'git' will print
 515        the current setting and then exit.
 516
 517--html-path::
 518        Print the path, without trailing slash, where Git's HTML
 519        documentation is installed and exit.
 520
 521--man-path::
 522        Print the manpath (see `man(1)`) for the man pages for
 523        this version of Git and exit.
 524
 525--info-path::
 526        Print the path where the Info files documenting this
 527        version of Git are installed and exit.
 528
 529-p::
 530--paginate::
 531        Pipe all output into 'less' (or if set, $PAGER) if standard
 532        output is a terminal.  This overrides the `pager.<cmd>`
 533        configuration options (see the "Configuration Mechanism" section
 534        below).
 535
 536--no-pager::
 537        Do not pipe Git output into a pager.
 538
 539--git-dir=<path>::
 540        Set the path to the repository. This can also be controlled by
 541        setting the GIT_DIR environment variable. It can be an absolute
 542        path or relative path to current working directory.
 543
 544--work-tree=<path>::
 545        Set the path to the working tree. It can be an absolute path
 546        or a path relative to the current working directory.
 547        This can also be controlled by setting the GIT_WORK_TREE
 548        environment variable and the core.worktree configuration
 549        variable (see core.worktree in linkgit:git-config[1] for a
 550        more detailed discussion).
 551
 552--namespace=<path>::
 553        Set the Git namespace.  See linkgit:gitnamespaces[7] for more
 554        details.  Equivalent to setting the `GIT_NAMESPACE` environment
 555        variable.
 556
 557--bare::
 558        Treat the repository as a bare repository.  If GIT_DIR
 559        environment is not set, it is set to the current working
 560        directory.
 561
 562--no-replace-objects::
 563        Do not use replacement refs to replace Git objects. See
 564        linkgit:git-replace[1] for more information.
 565
 566--literal-pathspecs::
 567        Treat pathspecs literally (i.e. no globbing, no pathspec magic).
 568        This is equivalent to setting the `GIT_LITERAL_PATHSPECS` environment
 569        variable to `1`.
 570
 571--glob-pathspecs::
 572        Add "glob" magic to all pathspec. This is equivalent to setting
 573        the `GIT_GLOB_PATHSPECS` environment variable to `1`. Disabling
 574        globbing on individual pathspecs can be done using pathspec
 575        magic ":(literal)"
 576
 577--noglob-pathspecs::
 578        Add "literal" magic to all pathspec. This is equivalent to setting
 579        the `GIT_NOGLOB_PATHSPECS` environment variable to `1`. Enabling
 580        globbing on individual pathspecs can be done using pathspec
 581        magic ":(glob)"
 582
 583--icase-pathspecs::
 584        Add "icase" magic to all pathspec. This is equivalent to setting
 585        the `GIT_ICASE_PATHSPECS` environment variable to `1`.
 586
 587GIT COMMANDS
 588------------
 589
 590We divide Git into high level ("porcelain") commands and low level
 591("plumbing") commands.
 592
 593High-level commands (porcelain)
 594-------------------------------
 595
 596We separate the porcelain commands into the main commands and some
 597ancillary user utilities.
 598
 599Main porcelain commands
 600~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 601
 602include::cmds-mainporcelain.txt[]
 603
 604Ancillary Commands
 605~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 606Manipulators:
 607
 608include::cmds-ancillarymanipulators.txt[]
 609
 610Interrogators:
 611
 612include::cmds-ancillaryinterrogators.txt[]
 613
 614
 615Interacting with Others
 616~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 617
 618These commands are to interact with foreign SCM and with other
 619people via patch over e-mail.
 620
 621include::cmds-foreignscminterface.txt[]
 622
 623
 624Low-level commands (plumbing)
 625-----------------------------
 626
 627Although Git includes its
 628own porcelain layer, its low-level commands are sufficient to support
 629development of alternative porcelains.  Developers of such porcelains
 630might start by reading about linkgit:git-update-index[1] and
 631linkgit:git-read-tree[1].
 632
 633The interface (input, output, set of options and the semantics)
 634to these low-level commands are meant to be a lot more stable
 635than Porcelain level commands, because these commands are
 636primarily for scripted use.  The interface to Porcelain commands
 637on the other hand are subject to change in order to improve the
 638end user experience.
 639
 640The following description divides
 641the low-level commands into commands that manipulate objects (in
 642the repository, index, and working tree), commands that interrogate and
 643compare objects, and commands that move objects and references between
 644repositories.
 645
 646
 647Manipulation commands
 648~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 649
 650include::cmds-plumbingmanipulators.txt[]
 651
 652
 653Interrogation commands
 654~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 655
 656include::cmds-plumbinginterrogators.txt[]
 657
 658In general, the interrogate commands do not touch the files in
 659the working tree.
 660
 661
 662Synching repositories
 663~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 664
 665include::cmds-synchingrepositories.txt[]
 666
 667The following are helper commands used by the above; end users
 668typically do not use them directly.
 669
 670include::cmds-synchelpers.txt[]
 671
 672
 673Internal helper commands
 674~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 675
 676These are internal helper commands used by other commands; end
 677users typically do not use them directly.
 678
 679include::cmds-purehelpers.txt[]
 680
 681
 682Configuration Mechanism
 683-----------------------
 684
 685Git uses a simple text format to store customizations that are per
 686repository and are per user.  Such a configuration file may look
 687like this:
 688
 689------------
 690#
 691# A '#' or ';' character indicates a comment.
 692#
 693
 694; core variables
 695[core]
 696        ; Don't trust file modes
 697        filemode = false
 698
 699; user identity
 700[user]
 701        name = "Junio C Hamano"
 702        email = "gitster@pobox.com"
 703
 704------------
 705
 706Various commands read from the configuration file and adjust
 707their operation accordingly.  See linkgit:git-config[1] for a
 708list and more details about the configuration mechanism.
 709
 710
 711Identifier Terminology
 712----------------------
 713<object>::
 714        Indicates the object name for any type of object.
 715
 716<blob>::
 717        Indicates a blob object name.
 718
 719<tree>::
 720        Indicates a tree object name.
 721
 722<commit>::
 723        Indicates a commit object name.
 724
 725<tree-ish>::
 726        Indicates a tree, commit or tag object name.  A
 727        command that takes a <tree-ish> argument ultimately wants to
 728        operate on a <tree> object but automatically dereferences
 729        <commit> and <tag> objects that point at a <tree>.
 730
 731<commit-ish>::
 732        Indicates a commit or tag object name.  A
 733        command that takes a <commit-ish> argument ultimately wants to
 734        operate on a <commit> object but automatically dereferences
 735        <tag> objects that point at a <commit>.
 736
 737<type>::
 738        Indicates that an object type is required.
 739        Currently one of: `blob`, `tree`, `commit`, or `tag`.
 740
 741<file>::
 742        Indicates a filename - almost always relative to the
 743        root of the tree structure `GIT_INDEX_FILE` describes.
 744
 745Symbolic Identifiers
 746--------------------
 747Any Git command accepting any <object> can also use the following
 748symbolic notation:
 749
 750HEAD::
 751        indicates the head of the current branch.
 752
 753<tag>::
 754        a valid tag 'name'
 755        (i.e. a `refs/tags/<tag>` reference).
 756
 757<head>::
 758        a valid head 'name'
 759        (i.e. a `refs/heads/<head>` reference).
 760
 761For a more complete list of ways to spell object names, see
 762"SPECIFYING REVISIONS" section in linkgit:gitrevisions[7].
 763
 764
 765File/Directory Structure
 766------------------------
 767
 768Please see the linkgit:gitrepository-layout[5] document.
 769
 770Read linkgit:githooks[5] for more details about each hook.
 771
 772Higher level SCMs may provide and manage additional information in the
 773`$GIT_DIR`.
 774
 775
 776Terminology
 777-----------
 778Please see linkgit:gitglossary[7].
 779
 780
 781Environment Variables
 782---------------------
 783Various Git commands use the following environment variables:
 784
 785The Git Repository
 786~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 787These environment variables apply to 'all' core Git commands. Nb: it
 788is worth noting that they may be used/overridden by SCMS sitting above
 789Git so take care if using a foreign front-end.
 790
 791'GIT_INDEX_FILE'::
 792        This environment allows the specification of an alternate
 793        index file. If not specified, the default of `$GIT_DIR/index`
 794        is used.
 795
 796'GIT_INDEX_VERSION'::
 797        This environment variable allows the specification of an index
 798        version for new repositories.  It won't affect existing index
 799        files.  By default index file version 2 or 3 is used. See
 800        linkgit:git-update-index[1] for more information.
 801
 802'GIT_OBJECT_DIRECTORY'::
 803        If the object storage directory is specified via this
 804        environment variable then the sha1 directories are created
 805        underneath - otherwise the default `$GIT_DIR/objects`
 806        directory is used.
 807
 808'GIT_ALTERNATE_OBJECT_DIRECTORIES'::
 809        Due to the immutable nature of Git objects, old objects can be
 810        archived into shared, read-only directories. This variable
 811        specifies a ":" separated (on Windows ";" separated) list
 812        of Git object directories which can be used to search for Git
 813        objects. New objects will not be written to these directories.
 814
 815'GIT_DIR'::
 816        If the 'GIT_DIR' environment variable is set then it
 817        specifies a path to use instead of the default `.git`
 818        for the base of the repository.
 819        The '--git-dir' command-line option also sets this value.
 820
 821'GIT_WORK_TREE'::
 822        Set the path to the root of the working tree.
 823        This can also be controlled by the '--work-tree' command-line
 824        option and the core.worktree configuration variable.
 825
 826'GIT_NAMESPACE'::
 827        Set the Git namespace; see linkgit:gitnamespaces[7] for details.
 828        The '--namespace' command-line option also sets this value.
 829
 830'GIT_CEILING_DIRECTORIES'::
 831        This should be a colon-separated list of absolute paths.  If
 832        set, it is a list of directories that Git should not chdir up
 833        into while looking for a repository directory (useful for
 834        excluding slow-loading network directories).  It will not
 835        exclude the current working directory or a GIT_DIR set on the
 836        command line or in the environment.  Normally, Git has to read
 837        the entries in this list and resolve any symlink that
 838        might be present in order to compare them with the current
 839        directory.  However, if even this access is slow, you
 840        can add an empty entry to the list to tell Git that the
 841        subsequent entries are not symlinks and needn't be resolved;
 842        e.g.,
 843        'GIT_CEILING_DIRECTORIES=/maybe/symlink::/very/slow/non/symlink'.
 844
 845'GIT_DISCOVERY_ACROSS_FILESYSTEM'::
 846        When run in a directory that does not have ".git" repository
 847        directory, Git tries to find such a directory in the parent
 848        directories to find the top of the working tree, but by default it
 849        does not cross filesystem boundaries.  This environment variable
 850        can be set to true to tell Git not to stop at filesystem
 851        boundaries.  Like 'GIT_CEILING_DIRECTORIES', this will not affect
 852        an explicit repository directory set via 'GIT_DIR' or on the
 853        command line.
 854
 855'GIT_COMMON_DIR'::
 856        If this variable is set to a path, non-worktree files that are
 857        normally in $GIT_DIR will be taken from this path
 858        instead. Worktree-specific files such as HEAD or index are
 859        taken from $GIT_DIR. See linkgit:gitrepository-layout[5] and
 860        linkgit:git-worktree[1] for
 861        details. This variable has lower precedence than other path
 862        variables such as GIT_INDEX_FILE, GIT_OBJECT_DIRECTORY...
 863
 864Git Commits
 865~~~~~~~~~~~
 866'GIT_AUTHOR_NAME'::
 867'GIT_AUTHOR_EMAIL'::
 868'GIT_AUTHOR_DATE'::
 869'GIT_COMMITTER_NAME'::
 870'GIT_COMMITTER_EMAIL'::
 871'GIT_COMMITTER_DATE'::
 872'EMAIL'::
 873        see linkgit:git-commit-tree[1]
 874
 875Git Diffs
 876~~~~~~~~~
 877'GIT_DIFF_OPTS'::
 878        Only valid setting is "--unified=??" or "-u??" to set the
 879        number of context lines shown when a unified diff is created.
 880        This takes precedence over any "-U" or "--unified" option
 881        value passed on the Git diff command line.
 882
 883'GIT_EXTERNAL_DIFF'::
 884        When the environment variable 'GIT_EXTERNAL_DIFF' is set, the
 885        program named by it is called, instead of the diff invocation
 886        described above.  For a path that is added, removed, or modified,
 887        'GIT_EXTERNAL_DIFF' is called with 7 parameters:
 888
 889        path old-file old-hex old-mode new-file new-hex new-mode
 890+
 891where:
 892
 893        <old|new>-file:: are files GIT_EXTERNAL_DIFF can use to read the
 894                         contents of <old|new>,
 895        <old|new>-hex:: are the 40-hexdigit SHA-1 hashes,
 896        <old|new>-mode:: are the octal representation of the file modes.
 897+
 898The file parameters can point at the user's working file
 899(e.g. `new-file` in "git-diff-files"), `/dev/null` (e.g. `old-file`
 900when a new file is added), or a temporary file (e.g. `old-file` in the
 901index).  'GIT_EXTERNAL_DIFF' should not worry about unlinking the
 902temporary file --- it is removed when 'GIT_EXTERNAL_DIFF' exits.
 903+
 904For a path that is unmerged, 'GIT_EXTERNAL_DIFF' is called with 1
 905parameter, <path>.
 906+
 907For each path 'GIT_EXTERNAL_DIFF' is called, two environment variables,
 908'GIT_DIFF_PATH_COUNTER' and 'GIT_DIFF_PATH_TOTAL' are set.
 909
 910'GIT_DIFF_PATH_COUNTER'::
 911        A 1-based counter incremented by one for every path.
 912
 913'GIT_DIFF_PATH_TOTAL'::
 914        The total number of paths.
 915
 916other
 917~~~~~
 918'GIT_MERGE_VERBOSITY'::
 919        A number controlling the amount of output shown by
 920        the recursive merge strategy.  Overrides merge.verbosity.
 921        See linkgit:git-merge[1]
 922
 923'GIT_PAGER'::
 924        This environment variable overrides `$PAGER`. If it is set
 925        to an empty string or to the value "cat", Git will not launch
 926        a pager.  See also the `core.pager` option in
 927        linkgit:git-config[1].
 928
 929'GIT_EDITOR'::
 930        This environment variable overrides `$EDITOR` and `$VISUAL`.
 931        It is used by several Git commands when, on interactive mode,
 932        an editor is to be launched. See also linkgit:git-var[1]
 933        and the `core.editor` option in linkgit:git-config[1].
 934
 935'GIT_SSH'::
 936'GIT_SSH_COMMAND'::
 937        If either of these environment variables is set then 'git fetch'
 938        and 'git push' will use the specified command instead of 'ssh'
 939        when they need to connect to a remote system.
 940        The command will be given exactly two or four arguments: the
 941        'username@host' (or just 'host') from the URL and the shell
 942        command to execute on that remote system, optionally preceded by
 943        '-p' (literally) and the 'port' from the URL when it specifies
 944        something other than the default SSH port.
 945+
 946`$GIT_SSH_COMMAND` takes precedence over `$GIT_SSH`, and is interpreted
 947by the shell, which allows additional arguments to be included.
 948`$GIT_SSH` on the other hand must be just the path to a program
 949(which can be a wrapper shell script, if additional arguments are
 950needed).
 951+
 952Usually it is easier to configure any desired options through your
 953personal `.ssh/config` file.  Please consult your ssh documentation
 954for further details.
 955
 956'GIT_ASKPASS'::
 957        If this environment variable is set, then Git commands which need to
 958        acquire passwords or passphrases (e.g. for HTTP or IMAP authentication)
 959        will call this program with a suitable prompt as command-line argument
 960        and read the password from its STDOUT. See also the 'core.askPass'
 961        option in linkgit:git-config[1].
 962
 963'GIT_TERMINAL_PROMPT'::
 964        If this environment variable is set to `0`, git will not prompt
 965        on the terminal (e.g., when asking for HTTP authentication).
 966
 967'GIT_CONFIG_NOSYSTEM'::
 968        Whether to skip reading settings from the system-wide
 969        `$(prefix)/etc/gitconfig` file.  This environment variable can
 970        be used along with `$HOME` and `$XDG_CONFIG_HOME` to create a
 971        predictable environment for a picky script, or you can set it
 972        temporarily to avoid using a buggy `/etc/gitconfig` file while
 973        waiting for someone with sufficient permissions to fix it.
 974
 975'GIT_FLUSH'::
 976        If this environment variable is set to "1", then commands such
 977        as 'git blame' (in incremental mode), 'git rev-list', 'git log',
 978        'git check-attr' and 'git check-ignore' will
 979        force a flush of the output stream after each record have been
 980        flushed. If this
 981        variable is set to "0", the output of these commands will be done
 982        using completely buffered I/O.   If this environment variable is
 983        not set, Git will choose buffered or record-oriented flushing
 984        based on whether stdout appears to be redirected to a file or not.
 985
 986'GIT_TRACE'::
 987        Enables general trace messages, e.g. alias expansion, built-in
 988        command execution and external command execution.
 989+
 990If this variable is set to "1", "2" or "true" (comparison
 991is case insensitive), trace messages will be printed to
 992stderr.
 993+
 994If the variable is set to an integer value greater than 2
 995and lower than 10 (strictly) then Git will interpret this
 996value as an open file descriptor and will try to write the
 997trace messages into this file descriptor.
 998+
 999Alternatively, if the variable is set to an absolute path
1000(starting with a '/' character), Git will interpret this
1001as a file path and will try to write the trace messages
1002into it.
1003+
1004Unsetting the variable, or setting it to empty, "0" or
1005"false" (case insensitive) disables trace messages.
1006
1007'GIT_TRACE_PACK_ACCESS'::
1008        Enables trace messages for all accesses to any packs. For each
1009        access, the pack file name and an offset in the pack is
1010        recorded. This may be helpful for troubleshooting some
1011        pack-related performance problems.
1012        See 'GIT_TRACE' for available trace output options.
1013
1014'GIT_TRACE_PACKET'::
1015        Enables trace messages for all packets coming in or out of a
1016        given program. This can help with debugging object negotiation
1017        or other protocol issues. Tracing is turned off at a packet
1018        starting with "PACK" (but see 'GIT_TRACE_PACKFILE' below).
1019        See 'GIT_TRACE' for available trace output options.
1020
1021'GIT_TRACE_PACKFILE'::
1022        Enables tracing of packfiles sent or received by a
1023        given program. Unlike other trace output, this trace is
1024        verbatim: no headers, and no quoting of binary data. You almost
1025        certainly want to direct into a file (e.g.,
1026        `GIT_TRACE_PACKFILE=/tmp/my.pack`) rather than displaying it on
1027        the terminal or mixing it with other trace output.
1028+
1029Note that this is currently only implemented for the client side
1030of clones and fetches.
1031
1032'GIT_TRACE_PERFORMANCE'::
1033        Enables performance related trace messages, e.g. total execution
1034        time of each Git command.
1035        See 'GIT_TRACE' for available trace output options.
1036
1037'GIT_TRACE_SETUP'::
1038        Enables trace messages printing the .git, working tree and current
1039        working directory after Git has completed its setup phase.
1040        See 'GIT_TRACE' for available trace output options.
1041
1042'GIT_TRACE_SHALLOW'::
1043        Enables trace messages that can help debugging fetching /
1044        cloning of shallow repositories.
1045        See 'GIT_TRACE' for available trace output options.
1046
1047GIT_LITERAL_PATHSPECS::
1048        Setting this variable to `1` will cause Git to treat all
1049        pathspecs literally, rather than as glob patterns. For example,
1050        running `GIT_LITERAL_PATHSPECS=1 git log -- '*.c'` will search
1051        for commits that touch the path `*.c`, not any paths that the
1052        glob `*.c` matches. You might want this if you are feeding
1053        literal paths to Git (e.g., paths previously given to you by
1054        `git ls-tree`, `--raw` diff output, etc).
1055
1056GIT_GLOB_PATHSPECS::
1057        Setting this variable to `1` will cause Git to treat all
1058        pathspecs as glob patterns (aka "glob" magic).
1059
1060GIT_NOGLOB_PATHSPECS::
1061        Setting this variable to `1` will cause Git to treat all
1062        pathspecs as literal (aka "literal" magic).
1063
1064GIT_ICASE_PATHSPECS::
1065        Setting this variable to `1` will cause Git to treat all
1066        pathspecs as case-insensitive.
1067
1068'GIT_REFLOG_ACTION'::
1069        When a ref is updated, reflog entries are created to keep
1070        track of the reason why the ref was updated (which is
1071        typically the name of the high-level command that updated
1072        the ref), in addition to the old and new values of the ref.
1073        A scripted Porcelain command can use set_reflog_action
1074        helper function in `git-sh-setup` to set its name to this
1075        variable when it is invoked as the top level command by the
1076        end user, to be recorded in the body of the reflog.
1077
1078`GIT_REF_PARANOIA`::
1079        If set to `1`, include broken or badly named refs when iterating
1080        over lists of refs. In a normal, non-corrupted repository, this
1081        does nothing. However, enabling it may help git to detect and
1082        abort some operations in the presence of broken refs. Git sets
1083        this variable automatically when performing destructive
1084        operations like linkgit:git-prune[1]. You should not need to set
1085        it yourself unless you want to be paranoid about making sure
1086        an operation has touched every ref (e.g., because you are
1087        cloning a repository to make a backup).
1088
1089
1090Discussion[[Discussion]]
1091------------------------
1092
1093More detail on the following is available from the
1094link:user-manual.html#git-concepts[Git concepts chapter of the
1095user-manual] and linkgit:gitcore-tutorial[7].
1096
1097A Git project normally consists of a working directory with a ".git"
1098subdirectory at the top level.  The .git directory contains, among other
1099things, a compressed object database representing the complete history
1100of the project, an "index" file which links that history to the current
1101contents of the working tree, and named pointers into that history such
1102as tags and branch heads.
1103
1104The object database contains objects of three main types: blobs, which
1105hold file data; trees, which point to blobs and other trees to build up
1106directory hierarchies; and commits, which each reference a single tree
1107and some number of parent commits.
1108
1109The commit, equivalent to what other systems call a "changeset" or
1110"version", represents a step in the project's history, and each parent
1111represents an immediately preceding step.  Commits with more than one
1112parent represent merges of independent lines of development.
1113
1114All objects are named by the SHA-1 hash of their contents, normally
1115written as a string of 40 hex digits.  Such names are globally unique.
1116The entire history leading up to a commit can be vouched for by signing
1117just that commit.  A fourth object type, the tag, is provided for this
1118purpose.
1119
1120When first created, objects are stored in individual files, but for
1121efficiency may later be compressed together into "pack files".
1122
1123Named pointers called refs mark interesting points in history.  A ref
1124may contain the SHA-1 name of an object or the name of another ref.  Refs
1125with names beginning `ref/head/` contain the SHA-1 name of the most
1126recent commit (or "head") of a branch under development.  SHA-1 names of
1127tags of interest are stored under `ref/tags/`.  A special ref named
1128`HEAD` contains the name of the currently checked-out branch.
1129
1130The index file is initialized with a list of all paths and, for each
1131path, a blob object and a set of attributes.  The blob object represents
1132the contents of the file as of the head of the current branch.  The
1133attributes (last modified time, size, etc.) are taken from the
1134corresponding file in the working tree.  Subsequent changes to the
1135working tree can be found by comparing these attributes.  The index may
1136be updated with new content, and new commits may be created from the
1137content stored in the index.
1138
1139The index is also capable of storing multiple entries (called "stages")
1140for a given pathname.  These stages are used to hold the various
1141unmerged version of a file when a merge is in progress.
1142
1143FURTHER DOCUMENTATION
1144---------------------
1145
1146See the references in the "description" section to get started
1147using Git.  The following is probably more detail than necessary
1148for a first-time user.
1149
1150The link:user-manual.html#git-concepts[Git concepts chapter of the
1151user-manual] and linkgit:gitcore-tutorial[7] both provide
1152introductions to the underlying Git architecture.
1153
1154See linkgit:gitworkflows[7] for an overview of recommended workflows.
1155
1156See also the link:howto-index.html[howto] documents for some useful
1157examples.
1158
1159The internals are documented in the
1160link:technical/api-index.html[Git API documentation].
1161
1162Users migrating from CVS may also want to
1163read linkgit:gitcvs-migration[7].
1164
1165
1166Authors
1167-------
1168Git was started by Linus Torvalds, and is currently maintained by Junio
1169C Hamano. Numerous contributions have come from the Git mailing list
1170<git@vger.kernel.org>.  http://www.openhub.net/p/git/contributors/summary
1171gives you a more complete list of contributors.
1172
1173If you have a clone of git.git itself, the
1174output of linkgit:git-shortlog[1] and linkgit:git-blame[1] can show you
1175the authors for specific parts of the project.
1176
1177Reporting Bugs
1178--------------
1179
1180Report bugs to the Git mailing list <git@vger.kernel.org> where the
1181development and maintenance is primarily done.  You do not have to be
1182subscribed to the list to send a message there.
1183
1184SEE ALSO
1185--------
1186linkgit:gittutorial[7], linkgit:gittutorial-2[7],
1187linkgit:giteveryday[7], linkgit:gitcvs-migration[7],
1188linkgit:gitglossary[7], linkgit:gitcore-tutorial[7],
1189linkgit:gitcli[7], link:user-manual.html[The Git User's Manual],
1190linkgit:gitworkflows[7]
1191
1192GIT
1193---
1194Part of the linkgit:git[1] suite