Documentation / git-stash.txton commit Merge branch 'dt/gc-ignore-old-gc-logs' (c96bc18)
   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' clear
  19'git stash' create [<message>]
  20'git stash' store [-m|--message <message>] [-q|--quiet] <commit>
  21
  22DESCRIPTION
  23-----------
  24
  25Use `git stash` when you want to record the current state of the
  26working directory and the index, but want to go back to a clean
  27working directory.  The command saves your local modifications away
  28and reverts the working directory to match the `HEAD` commit.
  29
  30The modifications stashed away by this command can be listed with
  31`git stash list`, inspected with `git stash show`, and restored
  32(potentially on top of a different commit) with `git stash apply`.
  33Calling `git stash` without any arguments is equivalent to `git stash save`.
  34A stash is by default listed as "WIP on 'branchname' ...", but
  35you can give a more descriptive message on the command line when
  36you create one.
  37
  38The latest stash you created is stored in `refs/stash`; older
  39stashes are found in the reflog of this reference and can be named using
  40the usual reflog syntax (e.g. `stash@{0}` is the most recently
  41created stash, `stash@{1}` is the one before it, `stash@{2.hours.ago}`
  42is also possible). Stashes may also be referenced by specifying just the
  43stash index (e.g. the integer `n` is equivalent to `stash@{n}`).
  44
  45OPTIONS
  46-------
  47
  48save [-p|--patch] [-k|--[no-]keep-index] [-u|--include-untracked] [-a|--all] [-q|--quiet] [<message>]::
  49
  50        Save your local modifications to a new 'stash' and roll them
  51        back to HEAD (in the working tree and in the index).
  52        The <message> part is optional and gives
  53        the description along with the stashed state.  For quickly making
  54        a snapshot, you can omit _both_ "save" and <message>, but giving
  55        only <message> does not trigger this action to prevent a misspelled
  56        subcommand from making an unwanted stash.
  57+
  58If the `--keep-index` option is used, all changes already added to the
  59index are left intact.
  60+
  61If the `--include-untracked` option is used, all untracked files are also
  62stashed and then cleaned up with `git clean`, leaving the working directory
  63in a very clean state. If the `--all` option is used instead then the
  64ignored files are stashed and cleaned in addition to the untracked files.
  65+
  66With `--patch`, you can interactively select hunks from the diff
  67between HEAD and the working tree to be stashed.  The stash entry is
  68constructed such that its index state is the same as the index state
  69of your repository, and its worktree contains only the changes you
  70selected interactively.  The selected changes are then rolled back
  71from your worktree. See the ``Interactive Mode'' section of
  72linkgit:git-add[1] to learn how to operate the `--patch` mode.
  73+
  74The `--patch` option implies `--keep-index`.  You can use
  75`--no-keep-index` to override this.
  76
  77list [<options>]::
  78
  79        List the stashes that you currently have.  Each 'stash' is listed
  80        with its name (e.g. `stash@{0}` is the latest stash, `stash@{1}` is
  81        the one before, etc.), the name of the branch that was current when the
  82        stash was made, and a short description of the commit the stash was
  83        based on.
  84+
  85----------------------------------------------------------------
  86stash@{0}: WIP on submit: 6ebd0e2... Update git-stash documentation
  87stash@{1}: On master: 9cc0589... Add git-stash
  88----------------------------------------------------------------
  89+
  90The command takes options applicable to the 'git log'
  91command to control what is shown and how. See linkgit:git-log[1].
  92
  93show [<stash>]::
  94
  95        Show the changes recorded in the stash as a diff between the
  96        stashed state and its original parent. When no `<stash>` is given,
  97        shows the latest one. By default, the command shows the diffstat, but
  98        it will accept any format known to 'git diff' (e.g., `git stash show
  99        -p stash@{1}` to view the second most recent stash in patch form).
 100        You can use stash.showStat and/or stash.showPatch config variables
 101        to change the default behavior.
 102
 103pop [--index] [-q|--quiet] [<stash>]::
 104
 105        Remove a single stashed state from the stash list and apply it
 106        on top of the current working tree state, i.e., do the inverse
 107        operation of `git stash save`. The working directory must
 108        match the index.
 109+
 110Applying the state can fail with conflicts; in this case, it is not
 111removed from the stash list. You need to resolve the conflicts by hand
 112and call `git stash drop` manually afterwards.
 113+
 114If the `--index` option is used, then tries to reinstate not only the working
 115tree's changes, but also the index's ones. However, this can fail, when you
 116have conflicts (which are stored in the index, where you therefore can no
 117longer apply the changes as they were originally).
 118+
 119When no `<stash>` is given, `stash@{0}` is assumed, otherwise `<stash>` must
 120be a reference of the form `stash@{<revision>}`.
 121
 122apply [--index] [-q|--quiet] [<stash>]::
 123
 124        Like `pop`, but do not remove the state from the stash list. Unlike `pop`,
 125        `<stash>` may be any commit that looks like a commit created by
 126        `stash save` or `stash create`.
 127
 128branch <branchname> [<stash>]::
 129
 130        Creates and checks out a new branch named `<branchname>` starting from
 131        the commit at which the `<stash>` was originally created, applies the
 132        changes recorded in `<stash>` to the new working tree and index.
 133        If that succeeds, and `<stash>` is a reference of the form
 134        `stash@{<revision>}`, it then drops the `<stash>`. When no `<stash>`
 135        is given, applies the latest one.
 136+
 137This is useful if the branch on which you ran `git stash save` has
 138changed enough that `git stash apply` fails due to conflicts. Since
 139the stash is applied on top of the commit that was HEAD at the time
 140`git stash` was run, it restores the originally stashed state with
 141no conflicts.
 142
 143clear::
 144        Remove all the stashed states. Note that those states will then
 145        be subject to pruning, and may be impossible to recover (see
 146        'Examples' below for a possible strategy).
 147
 148drop [-q|--quiet] [<stash>]::
 149
 150        Remove a single stashed state from the stash list. When no `<stash>`
 151        is given, it removes the latest one. i.e. `stash@{0}`, otherwise
 152        `<stash>` must be a valid stash log reference of the form
 153        `stash@{<revision>}`.
 154
 155create::
 156
 157        Create a stash (which is a regular commit object) and return its
 158        object name, without storing it anywhere in the ref namespace.
 159        This is intended to be useful for scripts.  It is probably not
 160        the command you want to use; see "save" above.
 161
 162store::
 163
 164        Store a given stash created via 'git stash create' (which is a
 165        dangling merge commit) in the stash ref, updating the stash
 166        reflog.  This is intended to be useful for scripts.  It is
 167        probably not the command you want to use; see "save" above.
 168
 169DISCUSSION
 170----------
 171
 172A stash is represented as a commit whose tree records the state of the
 173working directory, and its first parent is the commit at `HEAD` when
 174the stash was created.  The tree of the second parent records the
 175state of the index when the stash is made, and it is made a child of
 176the `HEAD` commit.  The ancestry graph looks like this:
 177
 178            .----W
 179           /    /
 180     -----H----I
 181
 182where `H` is the `HEAD` commit, `I` is a commit that records the state
 183of the index, and `W` is a commit that records the state of the working
 184tree.
 185
 186
 187EXAMPLES
 188--------
 189
 190Pulling into a dirty tree::
 191
 192When you are in the middle of something, you learn that there are
 193upstream changes that are possibly relevant to what you are
 194doing.  When your local changes do not conflict with the changes in
 195the upstream, a simple `git pull` will let you move forward.
 196+
 197However, there are cases in which your local changes do conflict with
 198the upstream changes, and `git pull` refuses to overwrite your
 199changes.  In such a case, you can stash your changes away,
 200perform a pull, and then unstash, like this:
 201+
 202----------------------------------------------------------------
 203$ git pull
 204 ...
 205file foobar not up to date, cannot merge.
 206$ git stash
 207$ git pull
 208$ git stash pop
 209----------------------------------------------------------------
 210
 211Interrupted workflow::
 212
 213When you are in the middle of something, your boss comes in and
 214demands that you fix something immediately.  Traditionally, you would
 215make a commit to a temporary branch to store your changes away, and
 216return to your original branch to make the emergency fix, like this:
 217+
 218----------------------------------------------------------------
 219# ... hack hack hack ...
 220$ git checkout -b my_wip
 221$ git commit -a -m "WIP"
 222$ git checkout master
 223$ edit emergency fix
 224$ git commit -a -m "Fix in a hurry"
 225$ git checkout my_wip
 226$ git reset --soft HEAD^
 227# ... continue hacking ...
 228----------------------------------------------------------------
 229+
 230You can use 'git stash' to simplify the above, like this:
 231+
 232----------------------------------------------------------------
 233# ... hack hack hack ...
 234$ git stash
 235$ edit emergency fix
 236$ git commit -a -m "Fix in a hurry"
 237$ git stash pop
 238# ... continue hacking ...
 239----------------------------------------------------------------
 240
 241Testing partial commits::
 242
 243You can use `git stash save --keep-index` when you want to make two or
 244more commits out of the changes in the work tree, and you want to test
 245each change before committing:
 246+
 247----------------------------------------------------------------
 248# ... hack hack hack ...
 249$ git add --patch foo            # add just first part to the index
 250$ git stash save --keep-index    # save all other changes to the stash
 251$ edit/build/test first part
 252$ git commit -m 'First part'     # commit fully tested change
 253$ git stash pop                  # prepare to work on all other changes
 254# ... repeat above five steps until one commit remains ...
 255$ edit/build/test remaining parts
 256$ git commit foo -m 'Remaining parts'
 257----------------------------------------------------------------
 258
 259Recovering stashes that were cleared/dropped erroneously::
 260
 261If you mistakenly drop or clear stashes, they cannot be recovered
 262through the normal safety mechanisms.  However, you can try the
 263following incantation to get a list of stashes that are still in your
 264repository, but not reachable any more:
 265+
 266----------------------------------------------------------------
 267git fsck --unreachable |
 268grep commit | cut -d\  -f3 |
 269xargs git log --merges --no-walk --grep=WIP
 270----------------------------------------------------------------
 271
 272
 273SEE ALSO
 274--------
 275linkgit:git-checkout[1],
 276linkgit:git-commit[1],
 277linkgit:git-reflog[1],
 278linkgit:git-reset[1]
 279
 280GIT
 281---
 282Part of the linkgit:git[1] suite