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