1git(7) 2====== 3 4NAME 5---- 6git - the stupid content tracker 7 8 9SYNOPSIS 10-------- 11'git-<command>' <args> 12 13DESCRIPTION 14----------- 15 16This is reference information for the core git commands. 17 18Before reading this cover to cover, you may want to take a look 19at the link:tutorial.html[tutorial] document. 20 21The <<Discussion>> section below contains much useful definition and 22clarification info - read that first. And of the commands, I suggest 23reading gitlink:git-update-index[1] and 24gitlink:git-read-tree[1] first - I wish I had! 25 26If you are migrating from CVS, link:cvs-migration.html[cvs migration] 27document may be helpful after you finish the tutorial. 28 29After you get the general feel from the tutorial and this 30overview page, you may want to take a look at the 31link:howto-index.html[howto] documents. 32 33 34David Greaves <david@dgreaves.com> 3508/05/05 36 37Updated by Junio C Hamano <junkio@cox.net> on 2005-05-05 to 38reflect recent changes. 39 40Commands Overview 41----------------- 42The git commands can helpfully be split into those that manipulate 43the repository, the cache and the working fileset, those that 44interrogate and compare them, and those that moves objects and 45references between repositories. 46 47In addition, git itself comes with a spartan set of porcelain 48commands. They are usable but are not meant to compete with real 49Porcelains. 50 51There are also some ancillary programs that can be viewed as useful 52aids for using the core commands but which are unlikely to be used by 53SCMs layered over git. 54 55Manipulation commands 56~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 57gitlink:git-apply[1]:: 58 Reads a "diff -up1" or git generated patch file and 59 applies it to the working tree. 60 61gitlink:git-checkout-index[1]:: 62 Copy files from the cache to the working directory 63 Previously this command was known as git-checkout-cache. 64 65gitlink:git-commit-tree[1]:: 66 Creates a new commit object 67 68gitlink:git-hash-object[1]:: 69 Computes the object ID from a file. 70 71gitlink:git-index-pack.html[1]:: 72 Build pack index file for an existing packed archive. 73 74gitlink:git-init-db[1]:: 75 Creates an empty git object database 76 77gitlink:git-merge-index[1]:: 78 Runs a merge for files needing merging 79 Previously this command was known as git-merge-cache. 80 81gitlink:git-mktag[1]:: 82 Creates a tag object 83 84gitlink:git-pack-objects[1]:: 85 Creates a packed archive of objects. 86 87gitlink:git-prune-packed[1]:: 88 Remove extra objects that are already in pack files. 89 90gitlink:git-read-tree[1]:: 91 Reads tree information into the directory cache 92 93gitlink:git-unpack-objects[1]:: 94 Unpacks objects out of a packed archive. 95 96gitlink:git-update-index[1]:: 97 Modifies the index or directory cache 98 Previously this command was known as git-update-cache. 99 100gitlink:git-write-tree[1]:: 101 Creates a tree from the current cache 102 103 104Interrogation commands 105~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 106 107gitlink:git-cat-file[1]:: 108 Provide content or type information for repository objects 109 110gitlink:git-diff-index[1]:: 111 Compares content and mode of blobs between the cache and repository 112 Previously this command was known as git-diff-cache. 113 114gitlink:git-diff-files[1]:: 115 Compares files in the working tree and the cache 116 117gitlink:git-diff-stages[1]:: 118 Compares two "merge stages" in the index file. 119 120gitlink:git-diff-tree[1]:: 121 Compares the content and mode of blobs found via two tree objects 122 123gitlink:git-fsck-objects[1]:: 124 Verifies the connectivity and validity of the objects in the database 125 Previously this command was known as git-fsck-cache. 126 127gitlink:git-ls-files[1]:: 128 Information about files in the cache/working directory 129 130gitlink:git-ls-tree[1]:: 131 Displays a tree object in human readable form 132 133gitlink:git-merge-base[1]:: 134 Finds as good a common ancestor as possible for a merge 135 136gitlink:git-rev-list[1]:: 137 Lists commit objects in reverse chronological order 138 139gitlink:git-show-index[1]:: 140 Displays contents of a pack idx file. 141 142gitlink:git-tar-tree[1]:: 143 Creates a tar archive of the files in the named tree 144 145gitlink:git-unpack-file[1]:: 146 Creates a temporary file with a blob's contents 147 148gitlink:git-var[1]:: 149 Displays a git logical variable 150 151gitlink:git-verify-pack[1]:: 152 Validates packed git archive files 153 154The interrogate commands may create files - and you can force them to 155touch the working file set - but in general they don't 156 157 158Synching repositories 159~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 160 161gitlink:git-clone-pack[1]:: 162 Clones a repository into the current repository (engine 163 for ssh and local transport) 164 165gitlink:git-fetch-pack[1]:: 166 Updates from a remote repository. 167 168gitlink:git-http-fetch[1]:: 169 Downloads a remote git repository via HTTP 170 Previously this command was known as git-http-pull. 171 172gitlink:git-local-fetch[1]:: 173 Duplicates another git repository on a local system 174 Previously this command was known as git-local-pull. 175 176gitlink:git-peek-remote[1]:: 177 Lists references on a remote repository using upload-pack protocol. 178 179gitlink:git-receive-pack[1]:: 180 Invoked by 'git-send-pack' to receive what is pushed to it. 181 182gitlink:git-send-pack[1]:: 183 Pushes to a remote repository, intelligently. 184 185gitlink:git-shell[1]:: 186 Restricted shell for GIT-only SSH access. 187 188gitlink:git-ssh-fetch[1]:: 189 Pulls from a remote repository over ssh connection 190 Previously this command was known as git-ssh-pull. 191 192gitlink:git-ssh-upload[1]:: 193 Helper "server-side" program used by git-ssh-fetch 194 Previously this command was known as git-ssh-push. 195 196gitlink:git-update-server-info[1]:: 197 Updates auxiliary information on a dumb server to help 198 clients discover references and packs on it. 199 200gitlink:git-upload-pack[1]:: 201 Invoked by 'git-clone-pack' and 'git-fetch-pack' to push 202 what are asked for. 203 204 205Porcelain-ish Commands 206---------------------- 207 208gitlink:git-add[1]:: 209 Add paths to the index file. 210 Previously this command was known as git-add-script. 211 212gitlink:git-applymbox[1]:: 213 Apply patches from a mailbox. 214 215gitlink:git-bisect[1]:: 216 Find the change that introduced a bug. 217 Previously this command was known as git-bisect-script. 218 219gitlink:git-branch[1]:: 220 Create and Show branches. 221 Previously this command was known as git-branch-script. 222 223gitlink:git-checkout[1]:: 224 Checkout and switch to a branch. 225 Previously this command was known as git-checkout-script. 226 227gitlink:git-cherry-pick[1]:: 228 Cherry-pick the effect of an existing commit. 229 Previously this command was known as git-cherry-pick-script. 230 231gitlink:git-clone[1]:: 232 Clones a repository into a new directory. 233 Previously this command was known as git-clone-script. 234 235gitlink:git-commit[1]:: 236 Record changes to the repository. 237 Previously this command was known as git-commit-script. 238 239gitlink:git-diff[1]:: 240 Show changes between commits, commit and working tree, etc. 241 Previously this command was known as git-diff-script. 242 243gitlink:git-fetch[1]:: 244 Download from a remote repository via various protocols. 245 Previously this command was known as git-fetch-script. 246 247gitlink:git-format-patch[1]:: 248 Prepare patches for e-mail submission. 249 Previously this command was known as git-format-patch-script. 250 251gitlink:git-grep[1]:: 252 Print lines matching a pattern 253 254gitlink:git-log[1]:: 255 Shows commit logs. 256 Previously this command was known as git-log-script. 257 258gitlink:git-ls-remote[1]:: 259 Shows references in a remote or local repository. 260 Previously this command was known as git-ls-remote-script. 261 262gitlink:git-merge[1]:: 263 Grand unified merge driver. 264 265gitlink:git-octopus[1]:: 266 Merge more than two commits. 267 Previously this command was known as git-octopus-script. 268 269gitlink:git-pull[1]:: 270 Fetch from and merge with a remote repository. 271 Previously this command was known as git-pull-script. 272 273gitlink:git-push[1]:: 274 Update remote refs along with associated objects. 275 Previously this command was known as git-push-script. 276 277gitlink:git-rebase[1]:: 278 Rebase local commits to new upstream head. 279 Previously this command was known as git-rebase-script. 280 281gitlink:git-rename[1]:: 282 Rename files and directories. 283 Previously this command was known as git-rename-script. 284 285gitlink:git-repack[1]:: 286 Pack unpacked objects in a repository. 287 Previously this command was known as git-repack-script. 288 289gitlink:git-reset[1]:: 290 Reset current HEAD to the specified state. 291 Previously this command was known as git-reset-script. 292 293gitlink:git-resolve[1]:: 294 Merge two commits. 295 Previously this command was known as git-resolve-script. 296 297gitlink:git-revert[1]:: 298 Revert an existing commit. 299 Previously this command was known as git-revert-script. 300 301gitlink:git-shortlog[1]:: 302 Summarizes 'git log' output. 303 304gitlink:git-show-branch[1]:: 305 Show branches and their commits. 306 307gitlink:git-status[1]:: 308 Shows the working tree status. 309 Previously this command was known as git-status-script. 310 311gitlink:git-verify-tag[1]:: 312 Check the GPG signature of tag. 313 Previously this command was known as git-verify-tag-script. 314 315gitlink:git-whatchanged[1]:: 316 Shows commit logs and differences they introduce. 317 318 319Ancillary Commands 320------------------ 321Manipulators: 322 323gitlink:git-applypatch[1]:: 324 Apply one patch extracted from an e-mail. 325 326gitlink:git-archimport[1]:: 327 Import an arch repository into git. 328 Previously this command was known as git-archimport-script. 329 330gitlink:git-convert-objects[1]:: 331 Converts old-style git repository 332 Previously this command was known as git-convert-cache. 333 334gitlink:git-cvsimport[1]:: 335 Salvage your data out of another SCM people love to hate. 336 Previously this command was known as git-cvsimport-script. 337 338gitlink:git-merge-one-file[1]:: 339 The standard helper program to use with "git-merge-index" 340 Previously this command was known as git-merge-one-file-script. 341 342gitlink:git-prune[1]:: 343 Prunes all unreachable objects from the object database 344 Previously this command was known as git-prune-script. 345 346gitlink:git-relink[1]:: 347 Hardlink common objects in local repositories. 348 Previously this command was known as git-relink-script. 349 350gitlink:git-sh-setup[1]:: 351 Common git shell script setup code. 352 Previously this command was known as git-sh-setup-script. 353 354gitlink:git-tag[1]:: 355 An example script to create a tag object signed with GPG 356 Previously this command was known as git-tag-script. 357 358 359Interrogators: 360 361gitlink:git-cherry[1]:: 362 Find commits not merged upstream. 363 364gitlink:git-count-objects[1]:: 365 Count unpacked number of objects and their disk consumption. 366 Previously this command was known as git-count-objects-script. 367 368gitlink:git-daemon[1]:: 369 A really simple server for git repositories. 370 371gitlink:git-get-tar-commit-id[1]:: 372 Extract commit ID from an archive created using git-tar-tree. 373 374gitlink:git-mailinfo[1]:: 375 Extracts patch from a single e-mail message. 376 377gitlink:git-mailsplit[1]:: 378 git-mailsplit. 379 380gitlink:git-patch-id[1]:: 381 Compute unique ID for a patch. 382 383gitlink:git-parse-remote[1]:: 384 Routines to help parsing $GIT_DIR/remotes/ 385 Previously this command was known as git-parse-remote-script. 386 387gitlink:git-request-pull[1]:: 388 git-request-pull. 389 Previously this command was known as git-request-pull-script. 390 391gitlink:git-rev-parse[1]:: 392 Pick out and massage parameters. 393 394gitlink:git-send-email[1]:: 395 Send patch e-mails out of "format-patch --mbox" output. 396 Previously this command was known as git-send-email-script. 397 398gitlink:git-stripspace[1]:: 399 Filter out empty lines. 400 401 402Commands not yet documented 403--------------------------- 404 405gitlink:gitk[1]:: 406 gitk. 407 408 409Identifier Terminology 410---------------------- 411<object>:: 412 Indicates the sha1 identifier for any type of object 413 414<blob>:: 415 Indicates a blob object sha1 identifier 416 417<tree>:: 418 Indicates a tree object sha1 identifier 419 420<commit>:: 421 Indicates a commit object sha1 identifier 422 423<tree-ish>:: 424 Indicates a tree, commit or tag object sha1 identifier. A 425 command that takes a <tree-ish> argument ultimately wants to 426 operate on a <tree> object but automatically dereferences 427 <commit> and <tag> objects that point at a <tree>. 428 429<type>:: 430 Indicates that an object type is required. 431 Currently one of: blob/tree/commit/tag 432 433<file>:: 434 Indicates a filename - always relative to the root of 435 the tree structure GIT_INDEX_FILE describes. 436 437Symbolic Identifiers 438-------------------- 439Any git command accepting any <object> can also use the following 440symbolic notation: 441 442HEAD:: 443 indicates the head of the repository (ie the contents of 444 `$GIT_DIR/HEAD`) 445<tag>:: 446 a valid tag 'name'+ 447 (ie the contents of `$GIT_DIR/refs/tags/<tag>`) 448<head>:: 449 a valid head 'name'+ 450 (ie the contents of `$GIT_DIR/refs/heads/<head>`) 451<snap>:: 452 a valid snapshot 'name'+ 453 (ie the contents of `$GIT_DIR/refs/snap/<snap>`) 454 455 456File/Directory Structure 457------------------------ 458 459Please see link:repository-layout.html[repository layout] document. 460 461Higher level SCMs may provide and manage additional information in the 462GIT_DIR. 463 464 465Terminology 466----------- 467Please see link:glossary.html[glossary] document. 468 469 470Environment Variables 471--------------------- 472Various git commands use the following environment variables: 473 474The git Repository 475~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 476These environment variables apply to 'all' core git commands. Nb: it 477is worth noting that they may be used/overridden by SCMS sitting above 478git so take care if using Cogito etc 479 480'GIT_INDEX_FILE':: 481 This environment allows the specification of an alternate 482 cache/index file. If not specified, the default of 483 `$GIT_DIR/index` is used. 484 485'GIT_OBJECT_DIRECTORY':: 486 If the object storage directory is specified via this 487 environment variable then the sha1 directories are created 488 underneath - otherwise the default `$GIT_DIR/objects` 489 directory is used. 490 491'GIT_ALTERNATE_OBJECT_DIRECTORIES':: 492 Due to the immutable nature of git objects, old objects can be 493 archived into shared, read-only directories. This variable 494 specifies a ":" separated list of git object directories which 495 can be used to search for git objects. New objects will not be 496 written to these directories. 497 498'GIT_DIR':: 499 If the 'GIT_DIR' environment variable is set then it specifies 500 a path to use instead of `./.git` for the base of the 501 repository. 502 503git Commits 504~~~~~~~~~~~ 505'GIT_AUTHOR_NAME':: 506'GIT_AUTHOR_EMAIL':: 507'GIT_AUTHOR_DATE':: 508'GIT_COMMITTER_NAME':: 509'GIT_COMMITTER_EMAIL':: 510 see gitlink:git-commit-tree[1] 511 512git Diffs 513~~~~~~~~~ 514'GIT_DIFF_OPTS':: 515'GIT_EXTERNAL_DIFF':: 516 see the "generating patches" section in : 517 gitlink:git-diff-index[1]; 518 gitlink:git-diff-files[1]; 519 gitlink:git-diff-tree[1] 520 521Discussion[[Discussion]] 522------------------------ 523include::../README[] 524 525Author 526------ 527Written by Linus Torvalds <torvalds@osdl.org> and the git-list <git@vger.kernel.org>. 528 529Documentation 530-------------- 531Documentation by David Greaves, Junio C Hamano and the git-list <git@vger.kernel.org>. 532 533GIT 534--- 535Part of the gitlink:git[7] suite 536