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 [(--merged | --no-merged | --contains) [<commit>]] [<pattern>...] 14'git branch' [--set-upstream | --track | --no-track] [-l] [-f] <branchname> [<start-point>] 15'git branch' (-m | -M) [<oldbranch>] <newbranch> 16'git branch' (-d | -D) [-r] <branchname>... 17'git branch' --edit-description [<branchname>] 18 19DESCRIPTION 20----------- 21 22With no arguments, existing branches are listed and the current branch will 23be highlighted with an asterisk. Option `-r` causes the remote-tracking 24branches to be listed, and option `-a` shows both. This list mode is also 25activated by the `--list` option (see below). 26<pattern> restricts the output to matching branches, the pattern is a shell 27wildcard (i.e., matched using fnmatch(3)). 28Multiple patterns may be given; if any of them matches, the branch is shown. 29 30With `--contains`, shows only the branches that contain the named commit 31(in other words, the branches whose tip commits are descendants of the 32named commit). With `--merged`, only branches merged into the named 33commit (i.e. the branches whose tip commits are reachable from the named 34commit) will be listed. With `--no-merged` only branches not merged into 35the named commit will be listed. If the <commit> argument is missing it 36defaults to 'HEAD' (i.e. the tip of the current branch). 37 38The command's second form creates a new branch head named <branchname> 39which points to the current 'HEAD', or <start-point> if given. 40 41Note that this will create the new branch, but it will not switch the 42working tree to it; use "git checkout <newbranch>" to switch to the 43new branch. 44 45When a local branch is started off a remote-tracking branch, git sets up the 46branch so that 'git pull' will appropriately merge from 47the remote-tracking branch. This behavior may be changed via the global 48`branch.autosetupmerge` configuration flag. That setting can be 49overridden by using the `--track` and `--no-track` options, and 50changed later using `git branch --set-upstream`. 51 52With a `-m` or `-M` option, <oldbranch> will be renamed to <newbranch>. 53If <oldbranch> had a corresponding reflog, it is renamed to match 54<newbranch>, and a reflog entry is created to remember the branch 55renaming. If <newbranch> exists, -M must be used to force the rename 56to happen. 57 58With a `-d` or `-D` option, `<branchname>` will be deleted. You may 59specify more than one branch for deletion. If the branch currently 60has a reflog then the reflog will also be deleted. 61 62Use `-r` together with `-d` to delete remote-tracking branches. Note, that it 63only makes sense to delete remote-tracking branches if they no longer exist 64in the remote repository or if 'git fetch' was configured not to fetch 65them again. See also the 'prune' subcommand of linkgit:git-remote[1] for a 66way to clean up all obsolete remote-tracking branches. 67 68 69OPTIONS 70------- 71-d:: 72--delete:: 73 Delete a branch. The branch must be fully merged in its 74 upstream branch, or in `HEAD` if no upstream was set with 75 `--track` or `--set-upstream`. 76 77-D:: 78 Delete a branch irrespective of its merged status. 79 80-l:: 81--create-reflog:: 82 Create the branch's reflog. This activates recording of 83 all changes made to the branch ref, enabling use of date 84 based sha1 expressions such as "<branchname>@\{yesterday}". 85 Note that in non-bare repositories, reflogs are usually 86 enabled by default by the `core.logallrefupdates` config option. 87 88-f:: 89--force:: 90 Reset <branchname> to <startpoint> if <branchname> exists 91 already. Without `-f` 'git branch' refuses to change an existing branch. 92 93-m:: 94--move:: 95 Move/rename a branch and the corresponding reflog. 96 97-M:: 98 Move/rename a branch even if the new branch name already exists. 99 100--color[=<when>]:: 101 Color branches to highlight current, local, and 102 remote-tracking branches. 103 The value must be always (the default), never, or auto. 104 105--no-color:: 106 Turn off branch colors, even when the configuration file gives the 107 default to color output. 108 Same as `--color=never`. 109 110-r:: 111--remotes:: 112 List or delete (if used with -d) the remote-tracking branches. 113 114-a:: 115--all:: 116 List both remote-tracking branches and local branches. 117 118--list:: 119 Activate the list mode. `git branch <pattern>` would try to create a branch, 120 use `git branch --list <pattern>` to list matching branches. 121 122-v:: 123--verbose:: 124 When in list mode, 125 show sha1 and commit subject line for each head, along with 126 relationship to upstream branch (if any). If given twice, print 127 the name of the upstream branch, as well. 128 129--abbrev=<length>:: 130 Alter the sha1's minimum display length in the output listing. 131 The default value is 7 and can be overridden by the `core.abbrev` 132 config option. 133 134--no-abbrev:: 135 Display the full sha1s in the output listing rather than abbreviating them. 136 137-t:: 138--track:: 139 When creating a new branch, set up configuration to mark the 140 start-point branch as "upstream" from the new branch. This 141 configuration will tell git to show the relationship between the 142 two branches in `git status` and `git branch -v`. Furthermore, 143 it directs `git pull` without arguments to pull from the 144 upstream when the new branch is checked out. 145+ 146This behavior is the default when the start point is a remote-tracking branch. 147Set the branch.autosetupmerge configuration variable to `false` if you 148want `git checkout` and `git branch` to always behave as if '--no-track' 149were given. Set it to `always` if you want this behavior when the 150start-point is either a local or remote-tracking branch. 151 152--no-track:: 153 Do not set up "upstream" configuration, even if the 154 branch.autosetupmerge configuration variable is true. 155 156--set-upstream:: 157 If specified branch does not exist yet or if `--force` has been 158 given, acts exactly like `--track`. Otherwise sets up configuration 159 like `--track` would when creating the branch, except that where 160 branch points to is not changed. 161 162--edit-description:: 163 Open an editor and edit the text to explain what the branch is 164 for, to be used by various other commands (e.g. `request-pull`). 165 166--contains <commit>:: 167 Only list branches which contain the specified commit. 168 169--merged [<commit>]:: 170 Only list branches whose tips are reachable from the 171 specified commit (HEAD if not specified). 172 173--no-merged [<commit>]:: 174 Only list branches whose tips are not reachable from the 175 specified commit (HEAD if not specified). 176 177<branchname>:: 178 The name of the branch to create or delete. 179 The new branch name must pass all checks defined by 180 linkgit:git-check-ref-format[1]. Some of these checks 181 may restrict the characters allowed in a branch name. 182 183<start-point>:: 184 The new branch head will point to this commit. It may be 185 given as a branch name, a commit-id, or a tag. If this 186 option is omitted, the current HEAD will be used instead. 187 188<oldbranch>:: 189 The name of an existing branch to rename. 190 191<newbranch>:: 192 The new name for an existing branch. The same restrictions as for 193 <branchname> apply. 194 195 196Examples 197-------- 198 199Start development from a known tag:: 200+ 201------------ 202$ git clone git://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/.../linux-2.6 my2.6 203$ cd my2.6 204$ git branch my2.6.14 v2.6.14 <1> 205$ git checkout my2.6.14 206------------ 207+ 208<1> This step and the next one could be combined into a single step with 209"checkout -b my2.6.14 v2.6.14". 210 211Delete an unneeded branch:: 212+ 213------------ 214$ git clone git://git.kernel.org/.../git.git my.git 215$ cd my.git 216$ git branch -d -r origin/todo origin/html origin/man <1> 217$ git branch -D test <2> 218------------ 219+ 220<1> Delete the remote-tracking branches "todo", "html" and "man". The next 221'fetch' or 'pull' will create them again unless you configure them not to. 222See linkgit:git-fetch[1]. 223<2> Delete the "test" branch even if the "master" branch (or whichever branch 224is currently checked out) does not have all commits from the test branch. 225 226 227Notes 228----- 229 230If you are creating a branch that you want to checkout immediately, it is 231easier to use the git checkout command with its `-b` option to create 232a branch and check it out with a single command. 233 234The options `--contains`, `--merged` and `--no-merged` serve three related 235but different purposes: 236 237- `--contains <commit>` is used to find all branches which will need 238 special attention if <commit> were to be rebased or amended, since those 239 branches contain the specified <commit>. 240 241- `--merged` is used to find all branches which can be safely deleted, 242 since those branches are fully contained by HEAD. 243 244- `--no-merged` is used to find branches which are candidates for merging 245 into HEAD, since those branches are not fully contained by HEAD. 246 247SEE ALSO 248-------- 249linkgit:git-check-ref-format[1], 250linkgit:git-fetch[1], 251linkgit:git-remote[1], 252link:user-manual.html#what-is-a-branch[``Understanding history: What is 253a branch?''] in the Git User's Manual. 254 255GIT 256--- 257Part of the linkgit:git[1] suite