Documentation / git.txton commit Git 2.5.6 (ac33201)
   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:v2.5.6/git.html[documentation for release 2.5.6]
  47
  48* release notes for
  49  link:RelNotes/2.5.6.txt[2.5.6],
  50  link:RelNotes/2.5.5.txt[2.5.5],
  51  link:RelNotes/2.5.4.txt[2.5.4],
  52  link:RelNotes/2.5.3.txt[2.5.3],
  53  link:RelNotes/2.5.2.txt[2.5.2],
  54  link:RelNotes/2.5.1.txt[2.5.1],
  55  link:RelNotes/2.5.0.txt[2.5].
  56
  57* link:v2.4.12/git.html[documentation for release 2.4.12]
  58
  59* release notes for
  60  link:RelNotes/2.4.12.txt[2.4.12],
  61  link:RelNotes/2.4.11.txt[2.4.11],
  62  link:RelNotes/2.4.10.txt[2.4.10],
  63  link:RelNotes/2.4.9.txt[2.4.9],
  64  link:RelNotes/2.4.8.txt[2.4.8],
  65  link:RelNotes/2.4.7.txt[2.4.7],
  66  link:RelNotes/2.4.6.txt[2.4.6],
  67  link:RelNotes/2.4.5.txt[2.4.5],
  68  link:RelNotes/2.4.4.txt[2.4.4],
  69  link:RelNotes/2.4.3.txt[2.4.3],
  70  link:RelNotes/2.4.2.txt[2.4.2],
  71  link:RelNotes/2.4.1.txt[2.4.1],
  72  link:RelNotes/2.4.0.txt[2.4].
  73
  74* link:v2.3.10/git.html[documentation for release 2.3.10]
  75
  76* release notes for
  77  link:RelNotes/2.3.10.txt[2.3.10],
  78  link:RelNotes/2.3.9.txt[2.3.9],
  79  link:RelNotes/2.3.8.txt[2.3.8],
  80  link:RelNotes/2.3.7.txt[2.3.7],
  81  link:RelNotes/2.3.6.txt[2.3.6],
  82  link:RelNotes/2.3.5.txt[2.3.5],
  83  link:RelNotes/2.3.4.txt[2.3.4],
  84  link:RelNotes/2.3.3.txt[2.3.3],
  85  link:RelNotes/2.3.2.txt[2.3.2],
  86  link:RelNotes/2.3.1.txt[2.3.1],
  87  link:RelNotes/2.3.0.txt[2.3].
  88
  89* link:v2.2.3/git.html[documentation for release 2.2.3]
  90
  91* release notes for
  92  link:RelNotes/2.2.3.txt[2.2.3],
  93  link:RelNotes/2.2.2.txt[2.2.2],
  94  link:RelNotes/2.2.1.txt[2.2.1],
  95  link:RelNotes/2.2.0.txt[2.2].
  96
  97* link:v2.1.4/git.html[documentation for release 2.1.4]
  98
  99* release notes for
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 424* link:v1.5.3.8/git.html[documentation for release 1.5.3.8]
 425
 426* release notes for
 427  link:RelNotes/1.5.3.8.txt[1.5.3.8],
 428  link:RelNotes/1.5.3.7.txt[1.5.3.7],
 429  link:RelNotes/1.5.3.6.txt[1.5.3.6],
 430  link:RelNotes/1.5.3.5.txt[1.5.3.5],
 431  link:RelNotes/1.5.3.4.txt[1.5.3.4],
 432  link:RelNotes/1.5.3.3.txt[1.5.3.3],
 433  link:RelNotes/1.5.3.2.txt[1.5.3.2],
 434  link:RelNotes/1.5.3.1.txt[1.5.3.1],
 435  link:RelNotes/1.5.3.txt[1.5.3].
 436
 437* link:v1.5.2.5/git.html[documentation for release 1.5.2.5]
 438
 439* release notes for
 440  link:RelNotes/1.5.2.5.txt[1.5.2.5],
 441  link:RelNotes/1.5.2.4.txt[1.5.2.4],
 442  link:RelNotes/1.5.2.3.txt[1.5.2.3],
 443  link:RelNotes/1.5.2.2.txt[1.5.2.2],
 444  link:RelNotes/1.5.2.1.txt[1.5.2.1],
 445  link:RelNotes/1.5.2.txt[1.5.2].
 446
 447* link:v1.5.1.6/git.html[documentation for release 1.5.1.6]
 448
 449* release notes for
 450  link:RelNotes/1.5.1.6.txt[1.5.1.6],
 451  link:RelNotes/1.5.1.5.txt[1.5.1.5],
 452  link:RelNotes/1.5.1.4.txt[1.5.1.4],
 453  link:RelNotes/1.5.1.3.txt[1.5.1.3],
 454  link:RelNotes/1.5.1.2.txt[1.5.1.2],
 455  link:RelNotes/1.5.1.1.txt[1.5.1.1],
 456  link:RelNotes/1.5.1.txt[1.5.1].
 457
 458* link:v1.5.0.7/git.html[documentation for release 1.5.0.7]
 459
 460* release notes for
 461  link:RelNotes/1.5.0.7.txt[1.5.0.7],
 462  link:RelNotes/1.5.0.6.txt[1.5.0.6],
 463  link:RelNotes/1.5.0.5.txt[1.5.0.5],
 464  link:RelNotes/1.5.0.3.txt[1.5.0.3],
 465  link:RelNotes/1.5.0.2.txt[1.5.0.2],
 466  link:RelNotes/1.5.0.1.txt[1.5.0.1],
 467  link:RelNotes/1.5.0.txt[1.5.0].
 468
 469* documentation for release link:v1.4.4.4/git.html[1.4.4.4],
 470  link:v1.3.3/git.html[1.3.3],
 471  link:v1.2.6/git.html[1.2.6],
 472  link:v1.0.13/git.html[1.0.13].
 473
 474============
 475
 476endif::stalenotes[]
 477
 478OPTIONS
 479-------
 480--version::
 481        Prints the Git suite version that the 'git' program came from.
 482
 483--help::
 484        Prints the synopsis and a list of the most commonly used
 485        commands. If the option '--all' or '-a' is given then all
 486        available commands are printed. If a Git command is named this
 487        option will bring up the manual page for that command.
 488+
 489Other options are available to control how the manual page is
 490displayed. See linkgit:git-help[1] for more information,
 491because `git --help ...` is converted internally into `git
 492help ...`.
 493
 494-C <path>::
 495        Run as if git was started in '<path>' instead of the current working
 496        directory.  When multiple `-C` options are given, each subsequent
 497        non-absolute `-C <path>` is interpreted relative to the preceding `-C
 498        <path>`.
 499+
 500This option affects options that expect path name like `--git-dir` and
 501`--work-tree` in that their interpretations of the path names would be
 502made relative to the working directory caused by the `-C` option. For
 503example the following invocations are equivalent:
 504
 505    git --git-dir=a.git --work-tree=b -C c status
 506    git --git-dir=c/a.git --work-tree=c/b status
 507
 508-c <name>=<value>::
 509        Pass a configuration parameter to the command. The value
 510        given will override values from configuration files.
 511        The <name> is expected in the same format as listed by
 512        'git config' (subkeys separated by dots).
 513+
 514Note that omitting the `=` in `git -c foo.bar ...` is allowed and sets
 515`foo.bar` to the boolean true value (just like `[foo]bar` would in a
 516config file). Including the equals but with an empty value (like `git -c
 517foo.bar= ...`) sets `foo.bar` to the empty string.
 518
 519--exec-path[=<path>]::
 520        Path to wherever your core Git programs are installed.
 521        This can also be controlled by setting the GIT_EXEC_PATH
 522        environment variable. If no path is given, 'git' will print
 523        the current setting and then exit.
 524
 525--html-path::
 526        Print the path, without trailing slash, where Git's HTML
 527        documentation is installed and exit.
 528
 529--man-path::
 530        Print the manpath (see `man(1)`) for the man pages for
 531        this version of Git and exit.
 532
 533--info-path::
 534        Print the path where the Info files documenting this
 535        version of Git are installed and exit.
 536
 537-p::
 538--paginate::
 539        Pipe all output into 'less' (or if set, $PAGER) if standard
 540        output is a terminal.  This overrides the `pager.<cmd>`
 541        configuration options (see the "Configuration Mechanism" section
 542        below).
 543
 544--no-pager::
 545        Do not pipe Git output into a pager.
 546
 547--git-dir=<path>::
 548        Set the path to the repository. This can also be controlled by
 549        setting the GIT_DIR environment variable. It can be an absolute
 550        path or relative path to current working directory.
 551
 552--work-tree=<path>::
 553        Set the path to the working tree. It can be an absolute path
 554        or a path relative to the current working directory.
 555        This can also be controlled by setting the GIT_WORK_TREE
 556        environment variable and the core.worktree configuration
 557        variable (see core.worktree in linkgit:git-config[1] for a
 558        more detailed discussion).
 559
 560--namespace=<path>::
 561        Set the Git namespace.  See linkgit:gitnamespaces[7] for more
 562        details.  Equivalent to setting the `GIT_NAMESPACE` environment
 563        variable.
 564
 565--bare::
 566        Treat the repository as a bare repository.  If GIT_DIR
 567        environment is not set, it is set to the current working
 568        directory.
 569
 570--no-replace-objects::
 571        Do not use replacement refs to replace Git objects. See
 572        linkgit:git-replace[1] for more information.
 573
 574--literal-pathspecs::
 575        Treat pathspecs literally (i.e. no globbing, no pathspec magic).
 576        This is equivalent to setting the `GIT_LITERAL_PATHSPECS` environment
 577        variable to `1`.
 578
 579--glob-pathspecs::
 580        Add "glob" magic to all pathspec. This is equivalent to setting
 581        the `GIT_GLOB_PATHSPECS` environment variable to `1`. Disabling
 582        globbing on individual pathspecs can be done using pathspec
 583        magic ":(literal)"
 584
 585--noglob-pathspecs::
 586        Add "literal" magic to all pathspec. This is equivalent to setting
 587        the `GIT_NOGLOB_PATHSPECS` environment variable to `1`. Enabling
 588        globbing on individual pathspecs can be done using pathspec
 589        magic ":(glob)"
 590
 591--icase-pathspecs::
 592        Add "icase" magic to all pathspec. This is equivalent to setting
 593        the `GIT_ICASE_PATHSPECS` environment variable to `1`.
 594
 595GIT COMMANDS
 596------------
 597
 598We divide Git into high level ("porcelain") commands and low level
 599("plumbing") commands.
 600
 601High-level commands (porcelain)
 602-------------------------------
 603
 604We separate the porcelain commands into the main commands and some
 605ancillary user utilities.
 606
 607Main porcelain commands
 608~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 609
 610include::cmds-mainporcelain.txt[]
 611
 612Ancillary Commands
 613~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 614Manipulators:
 615
 616include::cmds-ancillarymanipulators.txt[]
 617
 618Interrogators:
 619
 620include::cmds-ancillaryinterrogators.txt[]
 621
 622
 623Interacting with Others
 624~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 625
 626These commands are to interact with foreign SCM and with other
 627people via patch over e-mail.
 628
 629include::cmds-foreignscminterface.txt[]
 630
 631
 632Low-level commands (plumbing)
 633-----------------------------
 634
 635Although Git includes its
 636own porcelain layer, its low-level commands are sufficient to support
 637development of alternative porcelains.  Developers of such porcelains
 638might start by reading about linkgit:git-update-index[1] and
 639linkgit:git-read-tree[1].
 640
 641The interface (input, output, set of options and the semantics)
 642to these low-level commands are meant to be a lot more stable
 643than Porcelain level commands, because these commands are
 644primarily for scripted use.  The interface to Porcelain commands
 645on the other hand are subject to change in order to improve the
 646end user experience.
 647
 648The following description divides
 649the low-level commands into commands that manipulate objects (in
 650the repository, index, and working tree), commands that interrogate and
 651compare objects, and commands that move objects and references between
 652repositories.
 653
 654
 655Manipulation commands
 656~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 657
 658include::cmds-plumbingmanipulators.txt[]
 659
 660
 661Interrogation commands
 662~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 663
 664include::cmds-plumbinginterrogators.txt[]
 665
 666In general, the interrogate commands do not touch the files in
 667the working tree.
 668
 669
 670Synching repositories
 671~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 672
 673include::cmds-synchingrepositories.txt[]
 674
 675The following are helper commands used by the above; end users
 676typically do not use them directly.
 677
 678include::cmds-synchelpers.txt[]
 679
 680
 681Internal helper commands
 682~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 683
 684These are internal helper commands used by other commands; end
 685users typically do not use them directly.
 686
 687include::cmds-purehelpers.txt[]
 688
 689
 690Configuration Mechanism
 691-----------------------
 692
 693Git uses a simple text format to store customizations that are per
 694repository and are per user.  Such a configuration file may look
 695like this:
 696
 697------------
 698#
 699# A '#' or ';' character indicates a comment.
 700#
 701
 702; core variables
 703[core]
 704        ; Don't trust file modes
 705        filemode = false
 706
 707; user identity
 708[user]
 709        name = "Junio C Hamano"
 710        email = "gitster@pobox.com"
 711
 712------------
 713
 714Various commands read from the configuration file and adjust
 715their operation accordingly.  See linkgit:git-config[1] for a
 716list and more details about the configuration mechanism.
 717
 718
 719Identifier Terminology
 720----------------------
 721<object>::
 722        Indicates the object name for any type of object.
 723
 724<blob>::
 725        Indicates a blob object name.
 726
 727<tree>::
 728        Indicates a tree object name.
 729
 730<commit>::
 731        Indicates a commit object name.
 732
 733<tree-ish>::
 734        Indicates a tree, commit or tag object name.  A
 735        command that takes a <tree-ish> argument ultimately wants to
 736        operate on a <tree> object but automatically dereferences
 737        <commit> and <tag> objects that point at a <tree>.
 738
 739<commit-ish>::
 740        Indicates a commit or tag object name.  A
 741        command that takes a <commit-ish> argument ultimately wants to
 742        operate on a <commit> object but automatically dereferences
 743        <tag> objects that point at a <commit>.
 744
 745<type>::
 746        Indicates that an object type is required.
 747        Currently one of: `blob`, `tree`, `commit`, or `tag`.
 748
 749<file>::
 750        Indicates a filename - almost always relative to the
 751        root of the tree structure `GIT_INDEX_FILE` describes.
 752
 753Symbolic Identifiers
 754--------------------
 755Any Git command accepting any <object> can also use the following
 756symbolic notation:
 757
 758HEAD::
 759        indicates the head of the current branch.
 760
 761<tag>::
 762        a valid tag 'name'
 763        (i.e. a `refs/tags/<tag>` reference).
 764
 765<head>::
 766        a valid head 'name'
 767        (i.e. a `refs/heads/<head>` reference).
 768
 769For a more complete list of ways to spell object names, see
 770"SPECIFYING REVISIONS" section in linkgit:gitrevisions[7].
 771
 772
 773File/Directory Structure
 774------------------------
 775
 776Please see the linkgit:gitrepository-layout[5] document.
 777
 778Read linkgit:githooks[5] for more details about each hook.
 779
 780Higher level SCMs may provide and manage additional information in the
 781`$GIT_DIR`.
 782
 783
 784Terminology
 785-----------
 786Please see linkgit:gitglossary[7].
 787
 788
 789Environment Variables
 790---------------------
 791Various Git commands use the following environment variables:
 792
 793The Git Repository
 794~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 795These environment variables apply to 'all' core Git commands. Nb: it
 796is worth noting that they may be used/overridden by SCMS sitting above
 797Git so take care if using a foreign front-end.
 798
 799'GIT_INDEX_FILE'::
 800        This environment allows the specification of an alternate
 801        index file. If not specified, the default of `$GIT_DIR/index`
 802        is used.
 803
 804'GIT_INDEX_VERSION'::
 805        This environment variable allows the specification of an index
 806        version for new repositories.  It won't affect existing index
 807        files.  By default index file version 2 or 3 is used. See
 808        linkgit:git-update-index[1] for more information.
 809
 810'GIT_OBJECT_DIRECTORY'::
 811        If the object storage directory is specified via this
 812        environment variable then the sha1 directories are created
 813        underneath - otherwise the default `$GIT_DIR/objects`
 814        directory is used.
 815
 816'GIT_ALTERNATE_OBJECT_DIRECTORIES'::
 817        Due to the immutable nature of Git objects, old objects can be
 818        archived into shared, read-only directories. This variable
 819        specifies a ":" separated (on Windows ";" separated) list
 820        of Git object directories which can be used to search for Git
 821        objects. New objects will not be written to these directories.
 822
 823'GIT_DIR'::
 824        If the 'GIT_DIR' environment variable is set then it
 825        specifies a path to use instead of the default `.git`
 826        for the base of the repository.
 827        The '--git-dir' command-line option also sets this value.
 828
 829'GIT_WORK_TREE'::
 830        Set the path to the root of the working tree.
 831        This can also be controlled by the '--work-tree' command-line
 832        option and the core.worktree configuration variable.
 833
 834'GIT_NAMESPACE'::
 835        Set the Git namespace; see linkgit:gitnamespaces[7] for details.
 836        The '--namespace' command-line option also sets this value.
 837
 838'GIT_CEILING_DIRECTORIES'::
 839        This should be a colon-separated list of absolute paths.  If
 840        set, it is a list of directories that Git should not chdir up
 841        into while looking for a repository directory (useful for
 842        excluding slow-loading network directories).  It will not
 843        exclude the current working directory or a GIT_DIR set on the
 844        command line or in the environment.  Normally, Git has to read
 845        the entries in this list and resolve any symlink that
 846        might be present in order to compare them with the current
 847        directory.  However, if even this access is slow, you
 848        can add an empty entry to the list to tell Git that the
 849        subsequent entries are not symlinks and needn't be resolved;
 850        e.g.,
 851        'GIT_CEILING_DIRECTORIES=/maybe/symlink::/very/slow/non/symlink'.
 852
 853'GIT_DISCOVERY_ACROSS_FILESYSTEM'::
 854        When run in a directory that does not have ".git" repository
 855        directory, Git tries to find such a directory in the parent
 856        directories to find the top of the working tree, but by default it
 857        does not cross filesystem boundaries.  This environment variable
 858        can be set to true to tell Git not to stop at filesystem
 859        boundaries.  Like 'GIT_CEILING_DIRECTORIES', this will not affect
 860        an explicit repository directory set via 'GIT_DIR' or on the
 861        command line.
 862
 863'GIT_COMMON_DIR'::
 864        If this variable is set to a path, non-worktree files that are
 865        normally in $GIT_DIR will be taken from this path
 866        instead. Worktree-specific files such as HEAD or index are
 867        taken from $GIT_DIR. See linkgit:gitrepository-layout[5] and
 868        linkgit:git-worktree[1] for
 869        details. This variable has lower precedence than other path
 870        variables such as GIT_INDEX_FILE, GIT_OBJECT_DIRECTORY...
 871
 872Git Commits
 873~~~~~~~~~~~
 874'GIT_AUTHOR_NAME'::
 875'GIT_AUTHOR_EMAIL'::
 876'GIT_AUTHOR_DATE'::
 877'GIT_COMMITTER_NAME'::
 878'GIT_COMMITTER_EMAIL'::
 879'GIT_COMMITTER_DATE'::
 880'EMAIL'::
 881        see linkgit:git-commit-tree[1]
 882
 883Git Diffs
 884~~~~~~~~~
 885'GIT_DIFF_OPTS'::
 886        Only valid setting is "--unified=??" or "-u??" to set the
 887        number of context lines shown when a unified diff is created.
 888        This takes precedence over any "-U" or "--unified" option
 889        value passed on the Git diff command line.
 890
 891'GIT_EXTERNAL_DIFF'::
 892        When the environment variable 'GIT_EXTERNAL_DIFF' is set, the
 893        program named by it is called, instead of the diff invocation
 894        described above.  For a path that is added, removed, or modified,
 895        'GIT_EXTERNAL_DIFF' is called with 7 parameters:
 896
 897        path old-file old-hex old-mode new-file new-hex new-mode
 898+
 899where:
 900
 901        <old|new>-file:: are files GIT_EXTERNAL_DIFF can use to read the
 902                         contents of <old|new>,
 903        <old|new>-hex:: are the 40-hexdigit SHA-1 hashes,
 904        <old|new>-mode:: are the octal representation of the file modes.
 905+
 906The file parameters can point at the user's working file
 907(e.g. `new-file` in "git-diff-files"), `/dev/null` (e.g. `old-file`
 908when a new file is added), or a temporary file (e.g. `old-file` in the
 909index).  'GIT_EXTERNAL_DIFF' should not worry about unlinking the
 910temporary file --- it is removed when 'GIT_EXTERNAL_DIFF' exits.
 911+
 912For a path that is unmerged, 'GIT_EXTERNAL_DIFF' is called with 1
 913parameter, <path>.
 914+
 915For each path 'GIT_EXTERNAL_DIFF' is called, two environment variables,
 916'GIT_DIFF_PATH_COUNTER' and 'GIT_DIFF_PATH_TOTAL' are set.
 917
 918'GIT_DIFF_PATH_COUNTER'::
 919        A 1-based counter incremented by one for every path.
 920
 921'GIT_DIFF_PATH_TOTAL'::
 922        The total number of paths.
 923
 924other
 925~~~~~
 926'GIT_MERGE_VERBOSITY'::
 927        A number controlling the amount of output shown by
 928        the recursive merge strategy.  Overrides merge.verbosity.
 929        See linkgit:git-merge[1]
 930
 931'GIT_PAGER'::
 932        This environment variable overrides `$PAGER`. If it is set
 933        to an empty string or to the value "cat", Git will not launch
 934        a pager.  See also the `core.pager` option in
 935        linkgit:git-config[1].
 936
 937'GIT_EDITOR'::
 938        This environment variable overrides `$EDITOR` and `$VISUAL`.
 939        It is used by several Git commands when, on interactive mode,
 940        an editor is to be launched. See also linkgit:git-var[1]
 941        and the `core.editor` option in linkgit:git-config[1].
 942
 943'GIT_SSH'::
 944'GIT_SSH_COMMAND'::
 945        If either of these environment variables is set then 'git fetch'
 946        and 'git push' will use the specified command instead of 'ssh'
 947        when they need to connect to a remote system.
 948        The command will be given exactly two or four arguments: the
 949        'username@host' (or just 'host') from the URL and the shell
 950        command to execute on that remote system, optionally preceded by
 951        '-p' (literally) and the 'port' from the URL when it specifies
 952        something other than the default SSH port.
 953+
 954`$GIT_SSH_COMMAND` takes precedence over `$GIT_SSH`, and is interpreted
 955by the shell, which allows additional arguments to be included.
 956`$GIT_SSH` on the other hand must be just the path to a program
 957(which can be a wrapper shell script, if additional arguments are
 958needed).
 959+
 960Usually it is easier to configure any desired options through your
 961personal `.ssh/config` file.  Please consult your ssh documentation
 962for further details.
 963
 964'GIT_ASKPASS'::
 965        If this environment variable is set, then Git commands which need to
 966        acquire passwords or passphrases (e.g. for HTTP or IMAP authentication)
 967        will call this program with a suitable prompt as command-line argument
 968        and read the password from its STDOUT. See also the 'core.askPass'
 969        option in linkgit:git-config[1].
 970
 971'GIT_TERMINAL_PROMPT'::
 972        If this environment variable is set to `0`, git will not prompt
 973        on the terminal (e.g., when asking for HTTP authentication).
 974
 975'GIT_CONFIG_NOSYSTEM'::
 976        Whether to skip reading settings from the system-wide
 977        `$(prefix)/etc/gitconfig` file.  This environment variable can
 978        be used along with `$HOME` and `$XDG_CONFIG_HOME` to create a
 979        predictable environment for a picky script, or you can set it
 980        temporarily to avoid using a buggy `/etc/gitconfig` file while
 981        waiting for someone with sufficient permissions to fix it.
 982
 983'GIT_FLUSH'::
 984        If this environment variable is set to "1", then commands such
 985        as 'git blame' (in incremental mode), 'git rev-list', 'git log',
 986        'git check-attr' and 'git check-ignore' will
 987        force a flush of the output stream after each record have been
 988        flushed. If this
 989        variable is set to "0", the output of these commands will be done
 990        using completely buffered I/O.   If this environment variable is
 991        not set, Git will choose buffered or record-oriented flushing
 992        based on whether stdout appears to be redirected to a file or not.
 993
 994'GIT_TRACE'::
 995        Enables general trace messages, e.g. alias expansion, built-in
 996        command execution and external command execution.
 997+
 998If this variable is set to "1", "2" or "true" (comparison
 999is case insensitive), trace messages will be printed to
1000stderr.
1001+
1002If the variable is set to an integer value greater than 2
1003and lower than 10 (strictly) then Git will interpret this
1004value as an open file descriptor and will try to write the
1005trace messages into this file descriptor.
1006+
1007Alternatively, if the variable is set to an absolute path
1008(starting with a '/' character), Git will interpret this
1009as a file path and will try to write the trace messages
1010into it.
1011+
1012Unsetting the variable, or setting it to empty, "0" or
1013"false" (case insensitive) disables trace messages.
1014
1015'GIT_TRACE_PACK_ACCESS'::
1016        Enables trace messages for all accesses to any packs. For each
1017        access, the pack file name and an offset in the pack is
1018        recorded. This may be helpful for troubleshooting some
1019        pack-related performance problems.
1020        See 'GIT_TRACE' for available trace output options.
1021
1022'GIT_TRACE_PACKET'::
1023        Enables trace messages for all packets coming in or out of a
1024        given program. This can help with debugging object negotiation
1025        or other protocol issues. Tracing is turned off at a packet
1026        starting with "PACK".
1027        See 'GIT_TRACE' for available trace output options.
1028
1029'GIT_TRACE_PERFORMANCE'::
1030        Enables performance related trace messages, e.g. total execution
1031        time of each Git command.
1032        See 'GIT_TRACE' for available trace output options.
1033
1034'GIT_TRACE_SETUP'::
1035        Enables trace messages printing the .git, working tree and current
1036        working directory after Git has completed its setup phase.
1037        See 'GIT_TRACE' for available trace output options.
1038
1039'GIT_TRACE_SHALLOW'::
1040        Enables trace messages that can help debugging fetching /
1041        cloning of shallow repositories.
1042        See 'GIT_TRACE' for available trace output options.
1043
1044GIT_LITERAL_PATHSPECS::
1045        Setting this variable to `1` will cause Git to treat all
1046        pathspecs literally, rather than as glob patterns. For example,
1047        running `GIT_LITERAL_PATHSPECS=1 git log -- '*.c'` will search
1048        for commits that touch the path `*.c`, not any paths that the
1049        glob `*.c` matches. You might want this if you are feeding
1050        literal paths to Git (e.g., paths previously given to you by
1051        `git ls-tree`, `--raw` diff output, etc).
1052
1053GIT_GLOB_PATHSPECS::
1054        Setting this variable to `1` will cause Git to treat all
1055        pathspecs as glob patterns (aka "glob" magic).
1056
1057GIT_NOGLOB_PATHSPECS::
1058        Setting this variable to `1` will cause Git to treat all
1059        pathspecs as literal (aka "literal" magic).
1060
1061GIT_ICASE_PATHSPECS::
1062        Setting this variable to `1` will cause Git to treat all
1063        pathspecs as case-insensitive.
1064
1065'GIT_REFLOG_ACTION'::
1066        When a ref is updated, reflog entries are created to keep
1067        track of the reason why the ref was updated (which is
1068        typically the name of the high-level command that updated
1069        the ref), in addition to the old and new values of the ref.
1070        A scripted Porcelain command can use set_reflog_action
1071        helper function in `git-sh-setup` to set its name to this
1072        variable when it is invoked as the top level command by the
1073        end user, to be recorded in the body of the reflog.
1074
1075`GIT_REF_PARANOIA`::
1076        If set to `1`, include broken or badly named refs when iterating
1077        over lists of refs. In a normal, non-corrupted repository, this
1078        does nothing. However, enabling it may help git to detect and
1079        abort some operations in the presence of broken refs. Git sets
1080        this variable automatically when performing destructive
1081        operations like linkgit:git-prune[1]. You should not need to set
1082        it yourself unless you want to be paranoid about making sure
1083        an operation has touched every ref (e.g., because you are
1084        cloning a repository to make a backup).
1085
1086`GIT_ALLOW_PROTOCOL`::
1087        If set, provide a colon-separated list of protocols which are
1088        allowed to be used with fetch/push/clone. This is useful to
1089        restrict recursive submodule initialization from an untrusted
1090        repository. Any protocol not mentioned will be disallowed (i.e.,
1091        this is a whitelist, not a blacklist). If the variable is not
1092        set at all, all protocols are enabled.  The protocol names
1093        currently used by git are:
1094
1095          - `file`: any local file-based path (including `file://` URLs,
1096            or local paths)
1097
1098          - `git`: the anonymous git protocol over a direct TCP
1099            connection (or proxy, if configured)
1100
1101          - `ssh`: git over ssh (including `host:path` syntax,
1102            `git+ssh://`, etc).
1103
1104          - `rsync`: git over rsync
1105
1106          - `http`: git over http, both "smart http" and "dumb http".
1107            Note that this does _not_ include `https`; if you want both,
1108            you should specify both as `http:https`.
1109
1110          - any external helpers are named by their protocol (e.g., use
1111            `hg` to allow the `git-remote-hg` helper)
1112
1113
1114Discussion[[Discussion]]
1115------------------------
1116
1117More detail on the following is available from the
1118link:user-manual.html#git-concepts[Git concepts chapter of the
1119user-manual] and linkgit:gitcore-tutorial[7].
1120
1121A Git project normally consists of a working directory with a ".git"
1122subdirectory at the top level.  The .git directory contains, among other
1123things, a compressed object database representing the complete history
1124of the project, an "index" file which links that history to the current
1125contents of the working tree, and named pointers into that history such
1126as tags and branch heads.
1127
1128The object database contains objects of three main types: blobs, which
1129hold file data; trees, which point to blobs and other trees to build up
1130directory hierarchies; and commits, which each reference a single tree
1131and some number of parent commits.
1132
1133The commit, equivalent to what other systems call a "changeset" or
1134"version", represents a step in the project's history, and each parent
1135represents an immediately preceding step.  Commits with more than one
1136parent represent merges of independent lines of development.
1137
1138All objects are named by the SHA-1 hash of their contents, normally
1139written as a string of 40 hex digits.  Such names are globally unique.
1140The entire history leading up to a commit can be vouched for by signing
1141just that commit.  A fourth object type, the tag, is provided for this
1142purpose.
1143
1144When first created, objects are stored in individual files, but for
1145efficiency may later be compressed together into "pack files".
1146
1147Named pointers called refs mark interesting points in history.  A ref
1148may contain the SHA-1 name of an object or the name of another ref.  Refs
1149with names beginning `ref/head/` contain the SHA-1 name of the most
1150recent commit (or "head") of a branch under development.  SHA-1 names of
1151tags of interest are stored under `ref/tags/`.  A special ref named
1152`HEAD` contains the name of the currently checked-out branch.
1153
1154The index file is initialized with a list of all paths and, for each
1155path, a blob object and a set of attributes.  The blob object represents
1156the contents of the file as of the head of the current branch.  The
1157attributes (last modified time, size, etc.) are taken from the
1158corresponding file in the working tree.  Subsequent changes to the
1159working tree can be found by comparing these attributes.  The index may
1160be updated with new content, and new commits may be created from the
1161content stored in the index.
1162
1163The index is also capable of storing multiple entries (called "stages")
1164for a given pathname.  These stages are used to hold the various
1165unmerged version of a file when a merge is in progress.
1166
1167FURTHER DOCUMENTATION
1168---------------------
1169
1170See the references in the "description" section to get started
1171using Git.  The following is probably more detail than necessary
1172for a first-time user.
1173
1174The link:user-manual.html#git-concepts[Git concepts chapter of the
1175user-manual] and linkgit:gitcore-tutorial[7] both provide
1176introductions to the underlying Git architecture.
1177
1178See linkgit:gitworkflows[7] for an overview of recommended workflows.
1179
1180See also the link:howto-index.html[howto] documents for some useful
1181examples.
1182
1183The internals are documented in the
1184link:technical/api-index.html[Git API documentation].
1185
1186Users migrating from CVS may also want to
1187read linkgit:gitcvs-migration[7].
1188
1189
1190Authors
1191-------
1192Git was started by Linus Torvalds, and is currently maintained by Junio
1193C Hamano. Numerous contributions have come from the Git mailing list
1194<git@vger.kernel.org>.  http://www.openhub.net/p/git/contributors/summary
1195gives you a more complete list of contributors.
1196
1197If you have a clone of git.git itself, the
1198output of linkgit:git-shortlog[1] and linkgit:git-blame[1] can show you
1199the authors for specific parts of the project.
1200
1201Reporting Bugs
1202--------------
1203
1204Report bugs to the Git mailing list <git@vger.kernel.org> where the
1205development and maintenance is primarily done.  You do not have to be
1206subscribed to the list to send a message there.
1207
1208SEE ALSO
1209--------
1210linkgit:gittutorial[7], linkgit:gittutorial-2[7],
1211linkgit:giteveryday[7], linkgit:gitcvs-migration[7],
1212linkgit:gitglossary[7], linkgit:gitcore-tutorial[7],
1213linkgit:gitcli[7], link:user-manual.html[The Git User's Manual],
1214linkgit:gitworkflows[7]
1215
1216GIT
1217---
1218Part of the linkgit:git[1] suite