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