Documentation / git-stash.txton commit Merge branch 'jn/vcs-svn-cleanup' into next (c184f08)
   1git-stash(1)
   2============
   3
   4NAME
   5----
   6git-stash - Stash the changes in a dirty working directory away
   7
   8SYNOPSIS
   9--------
  10[verse]
  11'git stash' list [<options>]
  12'git stash' show [<stash>]
  13'git stash' drop [-q|--quiet] [<stash>]
  14'git stash' ( pop | apply ) [--index] [-q|--quiet] [<stash>]
  15'git stash' branch <branchname> [<stash>]
  16'git stash' save [-p|--patch] [-k|--[no-]keep-index] [-q|--quiet]
  17             [-u|--include-untracked] [-a|--all] [<message>]
  18'git stash' [push [-p|--patch] [-k|--[no-]keep-index] [-q|--quiet]
  19             [-u|--include-untracked] [-a|--all] [-m|--message <message>]]
  20             [--] [<pathspec>...]]
  21'git stash' clear
  22'git stash' create [<message>]
  23'git stash' store [-m|--message <message>] [-q|--quiet] <commit>
  24
  25DESCRIPTION
  26-----------
  27
  28Use `git stash` when you want to record the current state of the
  29working directory and the index, but want to go back to a clean
  30working directory.  The command saves your local modifications away
  31and reverts the working directory to match the `HEAD` commit.
  32
  33The modifications stashed away by this command can be listed with
  34`git stash list`, inspected with `git stash show`, and restored
  35(potentially on top of a different commit) with `git stash apply`.
  36Calling `git stash` without any arguments is equivalent to `git stash save`.
  37A stash is by default listed as "WIP on 'branchname' ...", but
  38you can give a more descriptive message on the command line when
  39you create one.
  40
  41The latest stash you created is stored in `refs/stash`; older
  42stashes are found in the reflog of this reference and can be named using
  43the usual reflog syntax (e.g. `stash@{0}` is the most recently
  44created stash, `stash@{1}` is the one before it, `stash@{2.hours.ago}`
  45is also possible). Stashes may also be referenced by specifying just the
  46stash index (e.g. the integer `n` is equivalent to `stash@{n}`).
  47
  48OPTIONS
  49-------
  50
  51save [-p|--patch] [-k|--[no-]keep-index] [-u|--include-untracked] [-a|--all] [-q|--quiet] [<message>]::
  52push [-p|--patch] [-k|--[no-]keep-index] [-u|--include-untracked] [-a|--all] [-q|--quiet] [-m|--message <message>] [--] [<pathspec>...]::
  53
  54        Save your local modifications to a new 'stash entry' and roll them
  55        back to HEAD (in the working tree and in the index).
  56        The <message> part is optional and gives
  57        the description along with the stashed state.
  58+
  59For quickly making a snapshot, you can omit "push".  In this mode,
  60non-option arguments are not allowed to prevent a misspelled
  61subcommand from making an unwanted stash entry.  The two exceptions to this
  62are `stash -p` which acts as alias for `stash push -p` and pathspecs,
  63which are allowed after a double hyphen `--` for disambiguation.
  64+
  65When pathspec is given to 'git stash push', the new stash entry records the
  66modified states only for the files that match the pathspec.  The index
  67entries and working tree files are then rolled back to the state in
  68HEAD only for these files, too, leaving files that do not match the
  69pathspec intact.
  70+
  71If the `--keep-index` option is used, all changes already added to the
  72index are left intact.
  73+
  74If the `--include-untracked` option is used, all untracked files are also
  75stashed and then cleaned up with `git clean`, leaving the working directory
  76in a very clean state. If the `--all` option is used instead then the
  77ignored files are stashed and cleaned in addition to the untracked files.
  78+
  79With `--patch`, you can interactively select hunks from the diff
  80between HEAD and the working tree to be stashed.  The stash entry is
  81constructed such that its index state is the same as the index state
  82of your repository, and its worktree contains only the changes you
  83selected interactively.  The selected changes are then rolled back
  84from your worktree. See the ``Interactive Mode'' section of
  85linkgit:git-add[1] to learn how to operate the `--patch` mode.
  86+
  87The `--patch` option implies `--keep-index`.  You can use
  88`--no-keep-index` to override this.
  89
  90list [<options>]::
  91
  92        List the stash entries that you currently have.  Each 'stash entry' is
  93        listed with its name (e.g. `stash@{0}` is the latest entry, `stash@{1}` is
  94        the one before, etc.), the name of the branch that was current when the
  95        entry was made, and a short description of the commit the entry was
  96        based on.
  97+
  98----------------------------------------------------------------
  99stash@{0}: WIP on submit: 6ebd0e2... Update git-stash documentation
 100stash@{1}: On master: 9cc0589... Add git-stash
 101----------------------------------------------------------------
 102+
 103The command takes options applicable to the 'git log'
 104command to control what is shown and how. See linkgit:git-log[1].
 105
 106show [<stash>]::
 107
 108        Show the changes recorded in the stash entry as a diff between the
 109        stashed contents and the commit back when the stash entry was first
 110        created. When no `<stash>` is given, it shows the latest one.
 111        By default, the command shows the diffstat, but it will accept any
 112        format known to 'git diff' (e.g., `git stash show -p stash@{1}`
 113        to view the second most recent entry in patch form).
 114        You can use stash.showStat and/or stash.showPatch config variables
 115        to change the default behavior.
 116
 117pop [--index] [-q|--quiet] [<stash>]::
 118
 119        Remove a single stashed state from the stash list and apply it
 120        on top of the current working tree state, i.e., do the inverse
 121        operation of `git stash save`. The working directory must
 122        match the index.
 123+
 124Applying the state can fail with conflicts; in this case, it is not
 125removed from the stash list. You need to resolve the conflicts by hand
 126and call `git stash drop` manually afterwards.
 127+
 128If the `--index` option is used, then tries to reinstate not only the working
 129tree's changes, but also the index's ones. However, this can fail, when you
 130have conflicts (which are stored in the index, where you therefore can no
 131longer apply the changes as they were originally).
 132+
 133When no `<stash>` is given, `stash@{0}` is assumed, otherwise `<stash>` must
 134be a reference of the form `stash@{<revision>}`.
 135
 136apply [--index] [-q|--quiet] [<stash>]::
 137
 138        Like `pop`, but do not remove the state from the stash list. Unlike `pop`,
 139        `<stash>` may be any commit that looks like a commit created by
 140        `stash save` or `stash create`.
 141
 142branch <branchname> [<stash>]::
 143
 144        Creates and checks out a new branch named `<branchname>` starting from
 145        the commit at which the `<stash>` was originally created, applies the
 146        changes recorded in `<stash>` to the new working tree and index.
 147        If that succeeds, and `<stash>` is a reference of the form
 148        `stash@{<revision>}`, it then drops the `<stash>`. When no `<stash>`
 149        is given, applies the latest one.
 150+
 151This is useful if the branch on which you ran `git stash save` has
 152changed enough that `git stash apply` fails due to conflicts. Since
 153the stash entry is applied on top of the commit that was HEAD at the
 154time `git stash` was run, it restores the originally stashed state
 155with no conflicts.
 156
 157clear::
 158        Remove all the stash entries. Note that those entries will then
 159        be subject to pruning, and may be impossible to recover (see
 160        'Examples' below for a possible strategy).
 161
 162drop [-q|--quiet] [<stash>]::
 163
 164        Remove a single stash entry from the list of stash entries.
 165        When no `<stash>` is given, it removes the latest one.
 166        i.e. `stash@{0}`, otherwise `<stash>` must be a valid stash
 167        log reference of the form `stash@{<revision>}`.
 168
 169create::
 170
 171        Create a stash entry (which is a regular commit object) and
 172        return its object name, without storing it anywhere in the ref
 173        namespace.
 174        This is intended to be useful for scripts.  It is probably not
 175        the command you want to use; see "save" above.
 176
 177store::
 178
 179        Store a given stash created via 'git stash create' (which is a
 180        dangling merge commit) in the stash ref, updating the stash
 181        reflog.  This is intended to be useful for scripts.  It is
 182        probably not the command you want to use; see "save" above.
 183
 184DISCUSSION
 185----------
 186
 187A stash entry is represented as a commit whose tree records the state
 188of the working directory, and its first parent is the commit at `HEAD`
 189when the entry was created.  The tree of the second parent records the
 190state of the index when the entry is made, and it is made a child of
 191the `HEAD` commit.  The ancestry graph looks like this:
 192
 193            .----W
 194           /    /
 195     -----H----I
 196
 197where `H` is the `HEAD` commit, `I` is a commit that records the state
 198of the index, and `W` is a commit that records the state of the working
 199tree.
 200
 201
 202EXAMPLES
 203--------
 204
 205Pulling into a dirty tree::
 206
 207When you are in the middle of something, you learn that there are
 208upstream changes that are possibly relevant to what you are
 209doing.  When your local changes do not conflict with the changes in
 210the upstream, a simple `git pull` will let you move forward.
 211+
 212However, there are cases in which your local changes do conflict with
 213the upstream changes, and `git pull` refuses to overwrite your
 214changes.  In such a case, you can stash your changes away,
 215perform a pull, and then unstash, like this:
 216+
 217----------------------------------------------------------------
 218$ git pull
 219 ...
 220file foobar not up to date, cannot merge.
 221$ git stash
 222$ git pull
 223$ git stash pop
 224----------------------------------------------------------------
 225
 226Interrupted workflow::
 227
 228When you are in the middle of something, your boss comes in and
 229demands that you fix something immediately.  Traditionally, you would
 230make a commit to a temporary branch to store your changes away, and
 231return to your original branch to make the emergency fix, like this:
 232+
 233----------------------------------------------------------------
 234# ... hack hack hack ...
 235$ git checkout -b my_wip
 236$ git commit -a -m "WIP"
 237$ git checkout master
 238$ edit emergency fix
 239$ git commit -a -m "Fix in a hurry"
 240$ git checkout my_wip
 241$ git reset --soft HEAD^
 242# ... continue hacking ...
 243----------------------------------------------------------------
 244+
 245You can use 'git stash' to simplify the above, like this:
 246+
 247----------------------------------------------------------------
 248# ... hack hack hack ...
 249$ git stash
 250$ edit emergency fix
 251$ git commit -a -m "Fix in a hurry"
 252$ git stash pop
 253# ... continue hacking ...
 254----------------------------------------------------------------
 255
 256Testing partial commits::
 257
 258You can use `git stash save --keep-index` when you want to make two or
 259more commits out of the changes in the work tree, and you want to test
 260each change before committing:
 261+
 262----------------------------------------------------------------
 263# ... hack hack hack ...
 264$ git add --patch foo            # add just first part to the index
 265$ git stash save --keep-index    # save all other changes to the stash
 266$ edit/build/test first part
 267$ git commit -m 'First part'     # commit fully tested change
 268$ git stash pop                  # prepare to work on all other changes
 269# ... repeat above five steps until one commit remains ...
 270$ edit/build/test remaining parts
 271$ git commit foo -m 'Remaining parts'
 272----------------------------------------------------------------
 273
 274Recovering stash entries that were cleared/dropped erroneously::
 275
 276If you mistakenly drop or clear stash entries, they cannot be recovered
 277through the normal safety mechanisms.  However, you can try the
 278following incantation to get a list of stash entries that are still in
 279your repository, but not reachable any more:
 280+
 281----------------------------------------------------------------
 282git fsck --unreachable |
 283grep commit | cut -d\  -f3 |
 284xargs git log --merges --no-walk --grep=WIP
 285----------------------------------------------------------------
 286
 287
 288SEE ALSO
 289--------
 290linkgit:git-checkout[1],
 291linkgit:git-commit[1],
 292linkgit:git-reflog[1],
 293linkgit:git-reset[1]
 294
 295GIT
 296---
 297Part of the linkgit:git[1] suite