Documentation / git-stash.txton commit Merge branch 'rg/doc-workflow' into maint (dc733ef)
   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 [--patch] [-k|--[no-]keep-index] [-q|--quiet] [<message>]]
  17'git stash' clear
  18'git stash' create
  19
  20DESCRIPTION
  21-----------
  22
  23Use 'git stash' when you want to record the current state of the
  24working directory and the index, but want to go back to a clean
  25working directory.  The command saves your local modifications away
  26and reverts the working directory to match the `HEAD` commit.
  27
  28The modifications stashed away by this command can be listed with
  29`git stash list`, inspected with `git stash show`, and restored
  30(potentially on top of a different commit) with `git stash apply`.
  31Calling `git stash` without any arguments is equivalent to `git stash save`.
  32A stash is by default listed as "WIP on 'branchname' ...", but
  33you can give a more descriptive message on the command line when
  34you create one.
  35
  36The latest stash you created is stored in `$GIT_DIR/refs/stash`; older
  37stashes are found in the reflog of this reference and can be named using
  38the usual reflog syntax (e.g. `stash@\{0}` is the most recently
  39created stash, `stash@\{1}` is the one before it, `stash@\{2.hours.ago}`
  40is also possible).
  41
  42OPTIONS
  43-------
  44
  45save [--patch] [--[no-]keep-index] [-q|--quiet] [<message>]::
  46
  47        Save your local modifications to a new 'stash', and run `git reset
  48        --hard` to revert them.  The <message> part is optional and gives
  49        the description along with the stashed state.  For quickly making
  50        a snapshot, you can omit _both_ "save" and <message>, but giving
  51        only <message> does not trigger this action to prevent a misspelled
  52        subcommand from making an unwanted stash.
  53+
  54If the `--keep-index` option is used, all changes already added to the
  55index are left intact.
  56+
  57With `--patch`, you can interactively select hunks from in the diff
  58between HEAD and the working tree to be stashed.  The stash entry is
  59constructed such that its index state is the same as the index state
  60of your repository, and its worktree contains only the changes you
  61selected interactively.  The selected changes are then rolled back
  62from your worktree.
  63+
  64The `--patch` option implies `--keep-index`.  You can use
  65`--no-keep-index` to override this.
  66
  67list [<options>]::
  68
  69        List the stashes that you currently have.  Each 'stash' is listed
  70        with its name (e.g. `stash@\{0}` is the latest stash, `stash@\{1}` is
  71        the one before, etc.), the name of the branch that was current when the
  72        stash was made, and a short description of the commit the stash was
  73        based on.
  74+
  75----------------------------------------------------------------
  76stash@{0}: WIP on submit: 6ebd0e2... Update git-stash documentation
  77stash@{1}: On master: 9cc0589... Add git-stash
  78----------------------------------------------------------------
  79+
  80The command takes options applicable to the 'git-log'
  81command to control what is shown and how. If no options are set, the
  82default is `-n 10`. See linkgit:git-log[1].
  83
  84show [<stash>]::
  85
  86        Show the changes recorded in the stash as a diff between the
  87        stashed state and its original parent. When no `<stash>` is given,
  88        shows the latest one. By default, the command shows the diffstat, but
  89        it will accept any format known to 'git-diff' (e.g., `git stash show
  90        -p stash@\{1}` to view the second most recent stash in patch form).
  91
  92pop [--index] [-q|--quiet] [<stash>]::
  93
  94        Remove a single stashed state from the stash list and apply it
  95        on top of the current working tree state, i.e., do the inverse
  96        operation of `git stash save`. The working directory must
  97        match the index.
  98+
  99Applying the state can fail with conflicts; in this case, it is not
 100removed from the stash list. You need to resolve the conflicts by hand
 101and call `git stash drop` manually afterwards.
 102+
 103If the `--index` option is used, then tries to reinstate not only the working
 104tree's changes, but also the index's ones. However, this can fail, when you
 105have conflicts (which are stored in the index, where you therefore can no
 106longer apply the changes as they were originally).
 107+
 108When no `<stash>` is given, `stash@\{0}` is assumed.
 109
 110apply [--index] [-q|--quiet] [<stash>]::
 111
 112        Like `pop`, but do not remove the state from the stash list.
 113
 114branch <branchname> [<stash>]::
 115
 116        Creates and checks out a new branch named `<branchname>` starting from
 117        the commit at which the `<stash>` was originally created, applies the
 118        changes recorded in `<stash>` to the new working tree and index, then
 119        drops the `<stash>` if that completes successfully. When no `<stash>`
 120        is given, applies the latest one.
 121+
 122This is useful if the branch on which you ran `git stash save` has
 123changed enough that `git stash apply` fails due to conflicts. Since
 124the stash is applied on top of the commit that was HEAD at the time
 125`git stash` was run, it restores the originally stashed state with
 126no conflicts.
 127
 128clear::
 129        Remove all the stashed states. Note that those states will then
 130        be subject to pruning, and may be impossible to recover (see
 131        'Examples' below for a possible strategy).
 132
 133drop [-q|--quiet] [<stash>]::
 134
 135        Remove a single stashed state from the stash list. When no `<stash>`
 136        is given, it removes the latest one. i.e. `stash@\{0}`
 137
 138create::
 139
 140        Create a stash (which is a regular commit object) and return its
 141        object name, without storing it anywhere in the ref namespace.
 142
 143
 144DISCUSSION
 145----------
 146
 147A stash is represented as a commit whose tree records the state of the
 148working directory, and its first parent is the commit at `HEAD` when
 149the stash was created.  The tree of the second parent records the
 150state of the index when the stash is made, and it is made a child of
 151the `HEAD` commit.  The ancestry graph looks like this:
 152
 153            .----W
 154           /    /
 155     -----H----I
 156
 157where `H` is the `HEAD` commit, `I` is a commit that records the state
 158of the index, and `W` is a commit that records the state of the working
 159tree.
 160
 161
 162EXAMPLES
 163--------
 164
 165Pulling into a dirty tree::
 166
 167When you are in the middle of something, you learn that there are
 168upstream changes that are possibly relevant to what you are
 169doing.  When your local changes do not conflict with the changes in
 170the upstream, a simple `git pull` will let you move forward.
 171+
 172However, there are cases in which your local changes do conflict with
 173the upstream changes, and `git pull` refuses to overwrite your
 174changes.  In such a case, you can stash your changes away,
 175perform a pull, and then unstash, like this:
 176+
 177----------------------------------------------------------------
 178$ git pull
 179 ...
 180file foobar not up to date, cannot merge.
 181$ git stash
 182$ git pull
 183$ git stash pop
 184----------------------------------------------------------------
 185
 186Interrupted workflow::
 187
 188When you are in the middle of something, your boss comes in and
 189demands that you fix something immediately.  Traditionally, you would
 190make a commit to a temporary branch to store your changes away, and
 191return to your original branch to make the emergency fix, like this:
 192+
 193----------------------------------------------------------------
 194# ... hack hack hack ...
 195$ git checkout -b my_wip
 196$ git commit -a -m "WIP"
 197$ git checkout master
 198$ edit emergency fix
 199$ git commit -a -m "Fix in a hurry"
 200$ git checkout my_wip
 201$ git reset --soft HEAD^
 202# ... continue hacking ...
 203----------------------------------------------------------------
 204+
 205You can use 'git-stash' to simplify the above, like this:
 206+
 207----------------------------------------------------------------
 208# ... hack hack hack ...
 209$ git stash
 210$ edit emergency fix
 211$ git commit -a -m "Fix in a hurry"
 212$ git stash pop
 213# ... continue hacking ...
 214----------------------------------------------------------------
 215
 216Testing partial commits::
 217
 218You can use `git stash save --keep-index` when you want to make two or
 219more commits out of the changes in the work tree, and you want to test
 220each change before committing:
 221+
 222----------------------------------------------------------------
 223# ... hack hack hack ...
 224$ git add --patch foo            # add just first part to the index
 225$ git stash save --keep-index    # save all other changes to the stash
 226$ edit/build/test first part
 227$ git commit -m 'First part'     # commit fully tested change
 228$ git stash pop                  # prepare to work on all other changes
 229# ... repeat above five steps until one commit remains ...
 230$ edit/build/test remaining parts
 231$ git commit foo -m 'Remaining parts'
 232----------------------------------------------------------------
 233
 234Recovering stashes that were cleared/dropped erroneously::
 235
 236If you mistakenly drop or clear stashes, they cannot be recovered
 237through the normal safety mechanisms.  However, you can try the
 238following incantation to get a list of stashes that are still in your
 239repository, but not reachable any more:
 240+
 241----------------------------------------------------------------
 242git fsck --unreachable |
 243grep commit | cut -d\  -f3 |
 244xargs git log --merges --no-walk --grep=WIP
 245----------------------------------------------------------------
 246
 247
 248SEE ALSO
 249--------
 250linkgit:git-checkout[1],
 251linkgit:git-commit[1],
 252linkgit:git-reflog[1],
 253linkgit:git-reset[1]
 254
 255AUTHOR
 256------
 257Written by Nanako Shiraishi <nanako3@bluebottle.com>
 258
 259GIT
 260---
 261Part of the linkgit:git[1] suite