1git-branch(1) 2============= 3 4NAME 5---- 6git-branch - List, create, or delete branches 7 8SYNOPSIS 9-------- 10[verse] 11'git branch' [--color[=<when>] | --no-color] [-r | -a] 12 [--list] [--show-current] [-v [--abbrev=<length> | --no-abbrev]] 13 [--column[=<options>] | --no-column] [--sort=<key>] 14 [(--merged | --no-merged) [<commit>]] 15 [--contains [<commit]] [--no-contains [<commit>]] 16 [--points-at <object>] [--format=<format>] [<pattern>...] 17'git branch' [--track | --no-track] [-f] <branchname> [<start-point>] 18'git branch' (--set-upstream-to=<upstream> | -u <upstream>) [<branchname>] 19'git branch' --unset-upstream [<branchname>] 20'git branch' (-m | -M) [<oldbranch>] <newbranch> 21'git branch' (-c | -C) [<oldbranch>] <newbranch> 22'git branch' (-d | -D) [-r] <branchname>... 23'git branch' --edit-description [<branchname>] 24 25DESCRIPTION 26----------- 27 28If `--list` is given, or if there are no non-option arguments, existing 29branches are listed; the current branch will be highlighted in green and 30marked with an asterisk. Any branches checked out in linked worktrees will 31be highlighted in cyan and marked with a plus sign. Option `-r` causes the 32remote-tracking branches to be listed, 33and option `-a` shows both local and remote branches. If a `<pattern>` 34is given, it is used as a shell wildcard to restrict the output to 35matching branches. If multiple patterns are given, a branch is shown if 36it matches any of the patterns. Note that when providing a 37`<pattern>`, you must use `--list`; otherwise the command is interpreted 38as branch creation. 39 40With `--contains`, shows only the branches that contain the named commit 41(in other words, the branches whose tip commits are descendants of the 42named commit), `--no-contains` inverts it. With `--merged`, only branches 43merged into the named commit (i.e. the branches whose tip commits are 44reachable from the named commit) will be listed. With `--no-merged` only 45branches not merged into the named commit will be listed. If the <commit> 46argument is missing it defaults to `HEAD` (i.e. the tip of the current 47branch). 48 49The command's second form creates a new branch head named <branchname> 50which points to the current `HEAD`, or <start-point> if given. 51 52Note that this will create the new branch, but it will not switch the 53working tree to it; use "git checkout <newbranch>" to switch to the 54new branch. 55 56When a local branch is started off a remote-tracking branch, Git sets up the 57branch (specifically the `branch.<name>.remote` and `branch.<name>.merge` 58configuration entries) so that 'git pull' will appropriately merge from 59the remote-tracking branch. This behavior may be changed via the global 60`branch.autoSetupMerge` configuration flag. That setting can be 61overridden by using the `--track` and `--no-track` options, and 62changed later using `git branch --set-upstream-to`. 63 64With a `-m` or `-M` option, <oldbranch> will be renamed to <newbranch>. 65If <oldbranch> had a corresponding reflog, it is renamed to match 66<newbranch>, and a reflog entry is created to remember the branch 67renaming. If <newbranch> exists, -M must be used to force the rename 68to happen. 69 70The `-c` and `-C` options have the exact same semantics as `-m` and 71`-M`, except instead of the branch being renamed it along with its 72config and reflog will be copied to a new name. 73 74With a `-d` or `-D` option, `<branchname>` will be deleted. You may 75specify more than one branch for deletion. If the branch currently 76has a reflog then the reflog will also be deleted. 77 78Use `-r` together with `-d` to delete remote-tracking branches. Note, that it 79only makes sense to delete remote-tracking branches if they no longer exist 80in the remote repository or if 'git fetch' was configured not to fetch 81them again. See also the 'prune' subcommand of linkgit:git-remote[1] for a 82way to clean up all obsolete remote-tracking branches. 83 84 85OPTIONS 86------- 87-d:: 88--delete:: 89 Delete a branch. The branch must be fully merged in its 90 upstream branch, or in `HEAD` if no upstream was set with 91 `--track` or `--set-upstream-to`. 92 93-D:: 94 Shortcut for `--delete --force`. 95 96--create-reflog:: 97 Create the branch's reflog. This activates recording of 98 all changes made to the branch ref, enabling use of date 99 based sha1 expressions such as "<branchname>@\{yesterday}". 100 Note that in non-bare repositories, reflogs are usually 101 enabled by default by the `core.logAllRefUpdates` config option. 102 The negated form `--no-create-reflog` only overrides an earlier 103 `--create-reflog`, but currently does not negate the setting of 104 `core.logAllRefUpdates`. 105 106-f:: 107--force:: 108 Reset <branchname> to <startpoint>, even if <branchname> exists 109 already. Without `-f`, 'git branch' refuses to change an existing branch. 110 In combination with `-d` (or `--delete`), allow deleting the 111 branch irrespective of its merged status. In combination with 112 `-m` (or `--move`), allow renaming the branch even if the new 113 branch name already exists, the same applies for `-c` (or `--copy`). 114 115-m:: 116--move:: 117 Move/rename a branch and the corresponding reflog. 118 119-M:: 120 Shortcut for `--move --force`. 121 122-c:: 123--copy:: 124 Copy a branch and the corresponding reflog. 125 126-C:: 127 Shortcut for `--copy --force`. 128 129--color[=<when>]:: 130 Color branches to highlight current, local, and 131 remote-tracking branches. 132 The value must be always (the default), never, or auto. 133 134--no-color:: 135 Turn off branch colors, even when the configuration file gives the 136 default to color output. 137 Same as `--color=never`. 138 139-i:: 140--ignore-case:: 141 Sorting and filtering branches are case insensitive. 142 143--column[=<options>]:: 144--no-column:: 145 Display branch listing in columns. See configuration variable 146 column.branch for option syntax.`--column` and `--no-column` 147 without options are equivalent to 'always' and 'never' respectively. 148+ 149This option is only applicable in non-verbose mode. 150 151-r:: 152--remotes:: 153 List or delete (if used with -d) the remote-tracking branches. 154 155-a:: 156--all:: 157 List both remote-tracking branches and local branches. 158 159-l:: 160--list:: 161 List branches. With optional `<pattern>...`, e.g. `git 162 branch --list 'maint-*'`, list only the branches that match 163 the pattern(s). 164 165--show-current:: 166 Print the name of the current branch. In detached HEAD state, 167 nothing is printed. 168 169-v:: 170-vv:: 171--verbose:: 172 When in list mode, 173 show sha1 and commit subject line for each head, along with 174 relationship to upstream branch (if any). If given twice, print 175 the name of the upstream branch, as well (see also `git remote 176 show <remote>`). 177 178-q:: 179--quiet:: 180 Be more quiet when creating or deleting a branch, suppressing 181 non-error messages. 182 183--abbrev=<length>:: 184 Alter the sha1's minimum display length in the output listing. 185 The default value is 7 and can be overridden by the `core.abbrev` 186 config option. 187 188--no-abbrev:: 189 Display the full sha1s in the output listing rather than abbreviating them. 190 191-t:: 192--track:: 193 When creating a new branch, set up `branch.<name>.remote` and 194 `branch.<name>.merge` configuration entries to mark the 195 start-point branch as "upstream" from the new branch. This 196 configuration will tell git to show the relationship between the 197 two branches in `git status` and `git branch -v`. Furthermore, 198 it directs `git pull` without arguments to pull from the 199 upstream when the new branch is checked out. 200+ 201This behavior is the default when the start point is a remote-tracking branch. 202Set the branch.autoSetupMerge configuration variable to `false` if you 203want `git checkout` and `git branch` to always behave as if `--no-track` 204were given. Set it to `always` if you want this behavior when the 205start-point is either a local or remote-tracking branch. 206 207--no-track:: 208 Do not set up "upstream" configuration, even if the 209 branch.autoSetupMerge configuration variable is true. 210 211--set-upstream:: 212 As this option had confusing syntax, it is no longer supported. 213 Please use `--track` or `--set-upstream-to` instead. 214 215-u <upstream>:: 216--set-upstream-to=<upstream>:: 217 Set up <branchname>'s tracking information so <upstream> is 218 considered <branchname>'s upstream branch. If no <branchname> 219 is specified, then it defaults to the current branch. 220 221--unset-upstream:: 222 Remove the upstream information for <branchname>. If no branch 223 is specified it defaults to the current branch. 224 225--edit-description:: 226 Open an editor and edit the text to explain what the branch is 227 for, to be used by various other commands (e.g. `format-patch`, 228 `request-pull`, and `merge` (if enabled)). Multi-line explanations 229 may be used. 230 231--contains [<commit>]:: 232 Only list branches which contain the specified commit (HEAD 233 if not specified). Implies `--list`. 234 235--no-contains [<commit>]:: 236 Only list branches which don't contain the specified commit 237 (HEAD if not specified). Implies `--list`. 238 239--merged [<commit>]:: 240 Only list branches whose tips are reachable from the 241 specified commit (HEAD if not specified). Implies `--list`, 242 incompatible with `--no-merged`. 243 244--no-merged [<commit>]:: 245 Only list branches whose tips are not reachable from the 246 specified commit (HEAD if not specified). Implies `--list`, 247 incompatible with `--merged`. 248 249<branchname>:: 250 The name of the branch to create or delete. 251 The new branch name must pass all checks defined by 252 linkgit:git-check-ref-format[1]. Some of these checks 253 may restrict the characters allowed in a branch name. 254 255<start-point>:: 256 The new branch head will point to this commit. It may be 257 given as a branch name, a commit-id, or a tag. If this 258 option is omitted, the current HEAD will be used instead. 259 260<oldbranch>:: 261 The name of an existing branch to rename. 262 263<newbranch>:: 264 The new name for an existing branch. The same restrictions as for 265 <branchname> apply. 266 267--sort=<key>:: 268 Sort based on the key given. Prefix `-` to sort in descending 269 order of the value. You may use the --sort=<key> option 270 multiple times, in which case the last key becomes the primary 271 key. The keys supported are the same as those in `git 272 for-each-ref`. Sort order defaults to the value configured for the 273 `branch.sort` variable if exists, or to sorting based on the 274 full refname (including `refs/...` prefix). This lists 275 detached HEAD (if present) first, then local branches and 276 finally remote-tracking branches. See linkgit:git-config[1]. 277 278 279--points-at <object>:: 280 Only list branches of the given object. 281 282--format <format>:: 283 A string that interpolates `%(fieldname)` from a branch ref being shown 284 and the object it points at. The format is the same as 285 that of linkgit:git-for-each-ref[1]. 286 287CONFIGURATION 288------------- 289`pager.branch` is only respected when listing branches, i.e., when 290`--list` is used or implied. The default is to use a pager. 291See linkgit:git-config[1]. 292 293EXAMPLES 294-------- 295 296Start development from a known tag:: 297+ 298------------ 299$ git clone git://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/.../linux-2.6 my2.6 300$ cd my2.6 301$ git branch my2.6.14 v2.6.14 <1> 302$ git checkout my2.6.14 303------------ 304+ 305<1> This step and the next one could be combined into a single step with 306 "checkout -b my2.6.14 v2.6.14". 307 308Delete an unneeded branch:: 309+ 310------------ 311$ git clone git://git.kernel.org/.../git.git my.git 312$ cd my.git 313$ git branch -d -r origin/todo origin/html origin/man <1> 314$ git branch -D test <2> 315------------ 316+ 317<1> Delete the remote-tracking branches "todo", "html" and "man". The next 318 'fetch' or 'pull' will create them again unless you configure them not to. 319 See linkgit:git-fetch[1]. 320<2> Delete the "test" branch even if the "master" branch (or whichever branch 321 is currently checked out) does not have all commits from the test branch. 322 323 324NOTES 325----- 326 327If you are creating a branch that you want to checkout immediately, it is 328easier to use the git checkout command with its `-b` option to create 329a branch and check it out with a single command. 330 331The options `--contains`, `--no-contains`, `--merged` and `--no-merged` 332serve four related but different purposes: 333 334- `--contains <commit>` is used to find all branches which will need 335 special attention if <commit> were to be rebased or amended, since those 336 branches contain the specified <commit>. 337 338- `--no-contains <commit>` is the inverse of that, i.e. branches that don't 339 contain the specified <commit>. 340 341- `--merged` is used to find all branches which can be safely deleted, 342 since those branches are fully contained by HEAD. 343 344- `--no-merged` is used to find branches which are candidates for merging 345 into HEAD, since those branches are not fully contained by HEAD. 346 347SEE ALSO 348-------- 349linkgit:git-check-ref-format[1], 350linkgit:git-fetch[1], 351linkgit:git-remote[1], 352link:user-manual.html#what-is-a-branch[``Understanding history: What is 353a branch?''] in the Git User's Manual. 354 355GIT 356--- 357Part of the linkgit:git[1] suite