Documentation / git.txton commit tag.c: implement '--format' option (df09474)
   1git(1)
   2======
   3
   4NAME
   5----
   6git - the stupid content tracker
   7
   8
   9SYNOPSIS
  10--------
  11[verse]
  12'git' [--version] [--help] [-C <path>] [-c <name>=<value>]
  13    [--exec-path[=<path>]] [--html-path] [--man-path] [--info-path]
  14    [-p|--paginate|--no-pager] [--no-replace-objects] [--bare]
  15    [--git-dir=<path>] [--work-tree=<path>] [--namespace=<name>]
  16    <command> [<args>]
  17
  18DESCRIPTION
  19-----------
  20Git is a fast, scalable, distributed revision control system with an
  21unusually rich command set that provides both high-level operations
  22and full access to internals.
  23
  24See linkgit:gittutorial[7] to get started, then see
  25linkgit:giteveryday[7] for a useful minimum set of
  26commands.  The link:user-manual.html[Git User's Manual] has a more
  27in-depth introduction.
  28
  29After you mastered the basic concepts, you can come back to this
  30page to learn what commands Git offers.  You can learn more about
  31individual Git commands with "git help command".  linkgit:gitcli[7]
  32manual page gives you an overview of the command-line command syntax.
  33
  34Formatted and hyperlinked version of the latest Git documentation
  35can be viewed at `http://git-htmldocs.googlecode.com/git/git.html`.
  36
  37ifdef::stalenotes[]
  38[NOTE]
  39============
  40
  41You are reading the documentation for the latest (possibly
  42unreleased) version of Git, that is available from the 'master'
  43branch of the `git.git` repository.
  44Documentation for older releases are available here:
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 425
 426* release notes for
 427  link:RelNotes/1.5.2.5.txt[1.5.2.5],
 428  link:RelNotes/1.5.2.4.txt[1.5.2.4],
 429  link:RelNotes/1.5.2.3.txt[1.5.2.3],
 430  link:RelNotes/1.5.2.2.txt[1.5.2.2],
 431  link:RelNotes/1.5.2.1.txt[1.5.2.1],
 432  link:RelNotes/1.5.2.txt[1.5.2].
 433
 434* link:v1.5.1.6/git.html[documentation for release 1.5.1.6]
 435
 436* release notes for
 437  link:RelNotes/1.5.1.6.txt[1.5.1.6],
 438  link:RelNotes/1.5.1.5.txt[1.5.1.5],
 439  link:RelNotes/1.5.1.4.txt[1.5.1.4],
 440  link:RelNotes/1.5.1.3.txt[1.5.1.3],
 441  link:RelNotes/1.5.1.2.txt[1.5.1.2],
 442  link:RelNotes/1.5.1.1.txt[1.5.1.1],
 443  link:RelNotes/1.5.1.txt[1.5.1].
 444
 445* link:v1.5.0.7/git.html[documentation for release 1.5.0.7]
 446
 447* release notes for
 448  link:RelNotes/1.5.0.7.txt[1.5.0.7],
 449  link:RelNotes/1.5.0.6.txt[1.5.0.6],
 450  link:RelNotes/1.5.0.5.txt[1.5.0.5],
 451  link:RelNotes/1.5.0.3.txt[1.5.0.3],
 452  link:RelNotes/1.5.0.2.txt[1.5.0.2],
 453  link:RelNotes/1.5.0.1.txt[1.5.0.1],
 454  link:RelNotes/1.5.0.txt[1.5.0].
 455
 456* documentation for release link:v1.4.4.4/git.html[1.4.4.4],
 457  link:v1.3.3/git.html[1.3.3],
 458  link:v1.2.6/git.html[1.2.6],
 459  link:v1.0.13/git.html[1.0.13].
 460
 461============
 462
 463endif::stalenotes[]
 464
 465OPTIONS
 466-------
 467--version::
 468        Prints the Git suite version that the 'git' program came from.
 469
 470--help::
 471        Prints the synopsis and a list of the most commonly used
 472        commands. If the option '--all' or '-a' is given then all
 473        available commands are printed. If a Git command is named this
 474        option will bring up the manual page for that command.
 475+
 476Other options are available to control how the manual page is
 477displayed. See linkgit:git-help[1] for more information,
 478because `git --help ...` is converted internally into `git
 479help ...`.
 480
 481-C <path>::
 482        Run as if git was started in '<path>' instead of the current working
 483        directory.  When multiple `-C` options are given, each subsequent
 484        non-absolute `-C <path>` is interpreted relative to the preceding `-C
 485        <path>`.
 486+
 487This option affects options that expect path name like `--git-dir` and
 488`--work-tree` in that their interpretations of the path names would be
 489made relative to the working directory caused by the `-C` option. For
 490example the following invocations are equivalent:
 491
 492    git --git-dir=a.git --work-tree=b -C c status
 493    git --git-dir=c/a.git --work-tree=c/b status
 494
 495-c <name>=<value>::
 496        Pass a configuration parameter to the command. The value
 497        given will override values from configuration files.
 498        The <name> is expected in the same format as listed by
 499        'git config' (subkeys separated by dots).
 500+
 501Note that omitting the `=` in `git -c foo.bar ...` is allowed and sets
 502`foo.bar` to the boolean true value (just like `[foo]bar` would in a
 503config file). Including the equals but with an empty value (like `git -c
 504foo.bar= ...`) sets `foo.bar` to the empty string.
 505
 506--exec-path[=<path>]::
 507        Path to wherever your core Git programs are installed.
 508        This can also be controlled by setting the GIT_EXEC_PATH
 509        environment variable. If no path is given, 'git' will print
 510        the current setting and then exit.
 511
 512--html-path::
 513        Print the path, without trailing slash, where Git's HTML
 514        documentation is installed and exit.
 515
 516--man-path::
 517        Print the manpath (see `man(1)`) for the man pages for
 518        this version of Git and exit.
 519
 520--info-path::
 521        Print the path where the Info files documenting this
 522        version of Git are installed and exit.
 523
 524-p::
 525--paginate::
 526        Pipe all output into 'less' (or if set, $PAGER) if standard
 527        output is a terminal.  This overrides the `pager.<cmd>`
 528        configuration options (see the "Configuration Mechanism" section
 529        below).
 530
 531--no-pager::
 532        Do not pipe Git output into a pager.
 533
 534--git-dir=<path>::
 535        Set the path to the repository. This can also be controlled by
 536        setting the GIT_DIR environment variable. It can be an absolute
 537        path or relative path to current working directory.
 538
 539--work-tree=<path>::
 540        Set the path to the working tree. It can be an absolute path
 541        or a path relative to the current working directory.
 542        This can also be controlled by setting the GIT_WORK_TREE
 543        environment variable and the core.worktree configuration
 544        variable (see core.worktree in linkgit:git-config[1] for a
 545        more detailed discussion).
 546
 547--namespace=<path>::
 548        Set the Git namespace.  See linkgit:gitnamespaces[7] for more
 549        details.  Equivalent to setting the `GIT_NAMESPACE` environment
 550        variable.
 551
 552--bare::
 553        Treat the repository as a bare repository.  If GIT_DIR
 554        environment is not set, it is set to the current working
 555        directory.
 556
 557--no-replace-objects::
 558        Do not use replacement refs to replace Git objects. See
 559        linkgit:git-replace[1] for more information.
 560
 561--literal-pathspecs::
 562        Treat pathspecs literally (i.e. no globbing, no pathspec magic).
 563        This is equivalent to setting the `GIT_LITERAL_PATHSPECS` environment
 564        variable to `1`.
 565
 566--glob-pathspecs::
 567        Add "glob" magic to all pathspec. This is equivalent to setting
 568        the `GIT_GLOB_PATHSPECS` environment variable to `1`. Disabling
 569        globbing on individual pathspecs can be done using pathspec
 570        magic ":(literal)"
 571
 572--noglob-pathspecs::
 573        Add "literal" magic to all pathspec. This is equivalent to setting
 574        the `GIT_NOGLOB_PATHSPECS` environment variable to `1`. Enabling
 575        globbing on individual pathspecs can be done using pathspec
 576        magic ":(glob)"
 577
 578--icase-pathspecs::
 579        Add "icase" magic to all pathspec. This is equivalent to setting
 580        the `GIT_ICASE_PATHSPECS` environment variable to `1`.
 581
 582GIT COMMANDS
 583------------
 584
 585We divide Git into high level ("porcelain") commands and low level
 586("plumbing") commands.
 587
 588High-level commands (porcelain)
 589-------------------------------
 590
 591We separate the porcelain commands into the main commands and some
 592ancillary user utilities.
 593
 594Main porcelain commands
 595~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 596
 597include::cmds-mainporcelain.txt[]
 598
 599Ancillary Commands
 600~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 601Manipulators:
 602
 603include::cmds-ancillarymanipulators.txt[]
 604
 605Interrogators:
 606
 607include::cmds-ancillaryinterrogators.txt[]
 608
 609
 610Interacting with Others
 611~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 612
 613These commands are to interact with foreign SCM and with other
 614people via patch over e-mail.
 615
 616include::cmds-foreignscminterface.txt[]
 617
 618
 619Low-level commands (plumbing)
 620-----------------------------
 621
 622Although Git includes its
 623own porcelain layer, its low-level commands are sufficient to support
 624development of alternative porcelains.  Developers of such porcelains
 625might start by reading about linkgit:git-update-index[1] and
 626linkgit:git-read-tree[1].
 627
 628The interface (input, output, set of options and the semantics)
 629to these low-level commands are meant to be a lot more stable
 630than Porcelain level commands, because these commands are
 631primarily for scripted use.  The interface to Porcelain commands
 632on the other hand are subject to change in order to improve the
 633end user experience.
 634
 635The following description divides
 636the low-level commands into commands that manipulate objects (in
 637the repository, index, and working tree), commands that interrogate and
 638compare objects, and commands that move objects and references between
 639repositories.
 640
 641
 642Manipulation commands
 643~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 644
 645include::cmds-plumbingmanipulators.txt[]
 646
 647
 648Interrogation commands
 649~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 650
 651include::cmds-plumbinginterrogators.txt[]
 652
 653In general, the interrogate commands do not touch the files in
 654the working tree.
 655
 656
 657Synching repositories
 658~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 659
 660include::cmds-synchingrepositories.txt[]
 661
 662The following are helper commands used by the above; end users
 663typically do not use them directly.
 664
 665include::cmds-synchelpers.txt[]
 666
 667
 668Internal helper commands
 669~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 670
 671These are internal helper commands used by other commands; end
 672users typically do not use them directly.
 673
 674include::cmds-purehelpers.txt[]
 675
 676
 677Configuration Mechanism
 678-----------------------
 679
 680Git uses a simple text format to store customizations that are per
 681repository and are per user.  Such a configuration file may look
 682like this:
 683
 684------------
 685#
 686# A '#' or ';' character indicates a comment.
 687#
 688
 689; core variables
 690[core]
 691        ; Don't trust file modes
 692        filemode = false
 693
 694; user identity
 695[user]
 696        name = "Junio C Hamano"
 697        email = "gitster@pobox.com"
 698
 699------------
 700
 701Various commands read from the configuration file and adjust
 702their operation accordingly.  See linkgit:git-config[1] for a
 703list and more details about the configuration mechanism.
 704
 705
 706Identifier Terminology
 707----------------------
 708<object>::
 709        Indicates the object name for any type of object.
 710
 711<blob>::
 712        Indicates a blob object name.
 713
 714<tree>::
 715        Indicates a tree object name.
 716
 717<commit>::
 718        Indicates a commit object name.
 719
 720<tree-ish>::
 721        Indicates a tree, commit or tag object name.  A
 722        command that takes a <tree-ish> argument ultimately wants to
 723        operate on a <tree> object but automatically dereferences
 724        <commit> and <tag> objects that point at a <tree>.
 725
 726<commit-ish>::
 727        Indicates a commit or tag object name.  A
 728        command that takes a <commit-ish> argument ultimately wants to
 729        operate on a <commit> object but automatically dereferences
 730        <tag> objects that point at a <commit>.
 731
 732<type>::
 733        Indicates that an object type is required.
 734        Currently one of: `blob`, `tree`, `commit`, or `tag`.
 735
 736<file>::
 737        Indicates a filename - almost always relative to the
 738        root of the tree structure `GIT_INDEX_FILE` describes.
 739
 740Symbolic Identifiers
 741--------------------
 742Any Git command accepting any <object> can also use the following
 743symbolic notation:
 744
 745HEAD::
 746        indicates the head of the current branch.
 747
 748<tag>::
 749        a valid tag 'name'
 750        (i.e. a `refs/tags/<tag>` reference).
 751
 752<head>::
 753        a valid head 'name'
 754        (i.e. a `refs/heads/<head>` reference).
 755
 756For a more complete list of ways to spell object names, see
 757"SPECIFYING REVISIONS" section in linkgit:gitrevisions[7].
 758
 759
 760File/Directory Structure
 761------------------------
 762
 763Please see the linkgit:gitrepository-layout[5] document.
 764
 765Read linkgit:githooks[5] for more details about each hook.
 766
 767Higher level SCMs may provide and manage additional information in the
 768`$GIT_DIR`.
 769
 770
 771Terminology
 772-----------
 773Please see linkgit:gitglossary[7].
 774
 775
 776Environment Variables
 777---------------------
 778Various Git commands use the following environment variables:
 779
 780The Git Repository
 781~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 782These environment variables apply to 'all' core Git commands. Nb: it
 783is worth noting that they may be used/overridden by SCMS sitting above
 784Git so take care if using a foreign front-end.
 785
 786'GIT_INDEX_FILE'::
 787        This environment allows the specification of an alternate
 788        index file. If not specified, the default of `$GIT_DIR/index`
 789        is used.
 790
 791'GIT_INDEX_VERSION'::
 792        This environment variable allows the specification of an index
 793        version for new repositories.  It won't affect existing index
 794        files.  By default index file version 2 or 3 is used. See
 795        linkgit:git-update-index[1] for more information.
 796
 797'GIT_OBJECT_DIRECTORY'::
 798        If the object storage directory is specified via this
 799        environment variable then the sha1 directories are created
 800        underneath - otherwise the default `$GIT_DIR/objects`
 801        directory is used.
 802
 803'GIT_ALTERNATE_OBJECT_DIRECTORIES'::
 804        Due to the immutable nature of Git objects, old objects can be
 805        archived into shared, read-only directories. This variable
 806        specifies a ":" separated (on Windows ";" separated) list
 807        of Git object directories which can be used to search for Git
 808        objects. New objects will not be written to these directories.
 809
 810'GIT_DIR'::
 811        If the 'GIT_DIR' environment variable is set then it
 812        specifies a path to use instead of the default `.git`
 813        for the base of the repository.
 814        The '--git-dir' command-line option also sets this value.
 815
 816'GIT_WORK_TREE'::
 817        Set the path to the root of the working tree.
 818        This can also be controlled by the '--work-tree' command-line
 819        option and the core.worktree configuration variable.
 820
 821'GIT_NAMESPACE'::
 822        Set the Git namespace; see linkgit:gitnamespaces[7] for details.
 823        The '--namespace' command-line option also sets this value.
 824
 825'GIT_CEILING_DIRECTORIES'::
 826        This should be a colon-separated list of absolute paths.  If
 827        set, it is a list of directories that Git should not chdir up
 828        into while looking for a repository directory (useful for
 829        excluding slow-loading network directories).  It will not
 830        exclude the current working directory or a GIT_DIR set on the
 831        command line or in the environment.  Normally, Git has to read
 832        the entries in this list and resolve any symlink that
 833        might be present in order to compare them with the current
 834        directory.  However, if even this access is slow, you
 835        can add an empty entry to the list to tell Git that the
 836        subsequent entries are not symlinks and needn't be resolved;
 837        e.g.,
 838        'GIT_CEILING_DIRECTORIES=/maybe/symlink::/very/slow/non/symlink'.
 839
 840'GIT_DISCOVERY_ACROSS_FILESYSTEM'::
 841        When run in a directory that does not have ".git" repository
 842        directory, Git tries to find such a directory in the parent
 843        directories to find the top of the working tree, but by default it
 844        does not cross filesystem boundaries.  This environment variable
 845        can be set to true to tell Git not to stop at filesystem
 846        boundaries.  Like 'GIT_CEILING_DIRECTORIES', this will not affect
 847        an explicit repository directory set via 'GIT_DIR' or on the
 848        command line.
 849
 850'GIT_COMMON_DIR'::
 851        If this variable is set to a path, non-worktree files that are
 852        normally in $GIT_DIR will be taken from this path
 853        instead. Worktree-specific files such as HEAD or index are
 854        taken from $GIT_DIR. See linkgit:gitrepository-layout[5] and
 855        linkgit:git-worktree[1] for
 856        details. This variable has lower precedence than other path
 857        variables such as GIT_INDEX_FILE, GIT_OBJECT_DIRECTORY...
 858
 859Git Commits
 860~~~~~~~~~~~
 861'GIT_AUTHOR_NAME'::
 862'GIT_AUTHOR_EMAIL'::
 863'GIT_AUTHOR_DATE'::
 864'GIT_COMMITTER_NAME'::
 865'GIT_COMMITTER_EMAIL'::
 866'GIT_COMMITTER_DATE'::
 867'EMAIL'::
 868        see linkgit:git-commit-tree[1]
 869
 870Git Diffs
 871~~~~~~~~~
 872'GIT_DIFF_OPTS'::
 873        Only valid setting is "--unified=??" or "-u??" to set the
 874        number of context lines shown when a unified diff is created.
 875        This takes precedence over any "-U" or "--unified" option
 876        value passed on the Git diff command line.
 877
 878'GIT_EXTERNAL_DIFF'::
 879        When the environment variable 'GIT_EXTERNAL_DIFF' is set, the
 880        program named by it is called, instead of the diff invocation
 881        described above.  For a path that is added, removed, or modified,
 882        'GIT_EXTERNAL_DIFF' is called with 7 parameters:
 883
 884        path old-file old-hex old-mode new-file new-hex new-mode
 885+
 886where:
 887
 888        <old|new>-file:: are files GIT_EXTERNAL_DIFF can use to read the
 889                         contents of <old|new>,
 890        <old|new>-hex:: are the 40-hexdigit SHA-1 hashes,
 891        <old|new>-mode:: are the octal representation of the file modes.
 892+
 893The file parameters can point at the user's working file
 894(e.g. `new-file` in "git-diff-files"), `/dev/null` (e.g. `old-file`
 895when a new file is added), or a temporary file (e.g. `old-file` in the
 896index).  'GIT_EXTERNAL_DIFF' should not worry about unlinking the
 897temporary file --- it is removed when 'GIT_EXTERNAL_DIFF' exits.
 898+
 899For a path that is unmerged, 'GIT_EXTERNAL_DIFF' is called with 1
 900parameter, <path>.
 901+
 902For each path 'GIT_EXTERNAL_DIFF' is called, two environment variables,
 903'GIT_DIFF_PATH_COUNTER' and 'GIT_DIFF_PATH_TOTAL' are set.
 904
 905'GIT_DIFF_PATH_COUNTER'::
 906        A 1-based counter incremented by one for every path.
 907
 908'GIT_DIFF_PATH_TOTAL'::
 909        The total number of paths.
 910
 911other
 912~~~~~
 913'GIT_MERGE_VERBOSITY'::
 914        A number controlling the amount of output shown by
 915        the recursive merge strategy.  Overrides merge.verbosity.
 916        See linkgit:git-merge[1]
 917
 918'GIT_PAGER'::
 919        This environment variable overrides `$PAGER`. If it is set
 920        to an empty string or to the value "cat", Git will not launch
 921        a pager.  See also the `core.pager` option in
 922        linkgit:git-config[1].
 923
 924'GIT_EDITOR'::
 925        This environment variable overrides `$EDITOR` and `$VISUAL`.
 926        It is used by several Git commands when, on interactive mode,
 927        an editor is to be launched. See also linkgit:git-var[1]
 928        and the `core.editor` option in linkgit:git-config[1].
 929
 930'GIT_SSH'::
 931'GIT_SSH_COMMAND'::
 932        If either of these environment variables is set then 'git fetch'
 933        and 'git push' will use the specified command instead of 'ssh'
 934        when they need to connect to a remote system.
 935        The command will be given exactly two or four arguments: the
 936        'username@host' (or just 'host') from the URL and the shell
 937        command to execute on that remote system, optionally preceded by
 938        '-p' (literally) and the 'port' from the URL when it specifies
 939        something other than the default SSH port.
 940+
 941`$GIT_SSH_COMMAND` takes precedence over `$GIT_SSH`, and is interpreted
 942by the shell, which allows additional arguments to be included.
 943`$GIT_SSH` on the other hand must be just the path to a program
 944(which can be a wrapper shell script, if additional arguments are
 945needed).
 946+
 947Usually it is easier to configure any desired options through your
 948personal `.ssh/config` file.  Please consult your ssh documentation
 949for further details.
 950
 951'GIT_ASKPASS'::
 952        If this environment variable is set, then Git commands which need to
 953        acquire passwords or passphrases (e.g. for HTTP or IMAP authentication)
 954        will call this program with a suitable prompt as command-line argument
 955        and read the password from its STDOUT. See also the 'core.askPass'
 956        option in linkgit:git-config[1].
 957
 958'GIT_TERMINAL_PROMPT'::
 959        If this environment variable is set to `0`, git will not prompt
 960        on the terminal (e.g., when asking for HTTP authentication).
 961
 962'GIT_CONFIG_NOSYSTEM'::
 963        Whether to skip reading settings from the system-wide
 964        `$(prefix)/etc/gitconfig` file.  This environment variable can
 965        be used along with `$HOME` and `$XDG_CONFIG_HOME` to create a
 966        predictable environment for a picky script, or you can set it
 967        temporarily to avoid using a buggy `/etc/gitconfig` file while
 968        waiting for someone with sufficient permissions to fix it.
 969
 970'GIT_FLUSH'::
 971        If this environment variable is set to "1", then commands such
 972        as 'git blame' (in incremental mode), 'git rev-list', 'git log',
 973        'git check-attr' and 'git check-ignore' will
 974        force a flush of the output stream after each record have been
 975        flushed. If this
 976        variable is set to "0", the output of these commands will be done
 977        using completely buffered I/O.   If this environment variable is
 978        not set, Git will choose buffered or record-oriented flushing
 979        based on whether stdout appears to be redirected to a file or not.
 980
 981'GIT_TRACE'::
 982        Enables general trace messages, e.g. alias expansion, built-in
 983        command execution and external command execution.
 984+
 985If this variable is set to "1", "2" or "true" (comparison
 986is case insensitive), trace messages will be printed to
 987stderr.
 988+
 989If the variable is set to an integer value greater than 2
 990and lower than 10 (strictly) then Git will interpret this
 991value as an open file descriptor and will try to write the
 992trace messages into this file descriptor.
 993+
 994Alternatively, if the variable is set to an absolute path
 995(starting with a '/' character), Git will interpret this
 996as a file path and will try to write the trace messages
 997into it.
 998+
 999Unsetting the variable, or setting it to empty, "0" or
1000"false" (case insensitive) disables trace messages.
1001
1002'GIT_TRACE_PACK_ACCESS'::
1003        Enables trace messages for all accesses to any packs. For each
1004        access, the pack file name and an offset in the pack is
1005        recorded. This may be helpful for troubleshooting some
1006        pack-related performance problems.
1007        See 'GIT_TRACE' for available trace output options.
1008
1009'GIT_TRACE_PACKET'::
1010        Enables trace messages for all packets coming in or out of a
1011        given program. This can help with debugging object negotiation
1012        or other protocol issues. Tracing is turned off at a packet
1013        starting with "PACK" (but see 'GIT_TRACE_PACKFILE' below).
1014        See 'GIT_TRACE' for available trace output options.
1015
1016'GIT_TRACE_PACKFILE'::
1017        Enables tracing of packfiles sent or received by a
1018        given program. Unlike other trace output, this trace is
1019        verbatim: no headers, and no quoting of binary data. You almost
1020        certainly want to direct into a file (e.g.,
1021        `GIT_TRACE_PACKFILE=/tmp/my.pack`) rather than displaying it on
1022        the terminal or mixing it with other trace output.
1023+
1024Note that this is currently only implemented for the client side
1025of clones and fetches.
1026
1027'GIT_TRACE_PERFORMANCE'::
1028        Enables performance related trace messages, e.g. total execution
1029        time of each Git command.
1030        See 'GIT_TRACE' for available trace output options.
1031
1032'GIT_TRACE_SETUP'::
1033        Enables trace messages printing the .git, working tree and current
1034        working directory after Git has completed its setup phase.
1035        See 'GIT_TRACE' for available trace output options.
1036
1037'GIT_TRACE_SHALLOW'::
1038        Enables trace messages that can help debugging fetching /
1039        cloning of shallow repositories.
1040        See 'GIT_TRACE' for available trace output options.
1041
1042GIT_LITERAL_PATHSPECS::
1043        Setting this variable to `1` will cause Git to treat all
1044        pathspecs literally, rather than as glob patterns. For example,
1045        running `GIT_LITERAL_PATHSPECS=1 git log -- '*.c'` will search
1046        for commits that touch the path `*.c`, not any paths that the
1047        glob `*.c` matches. You might want this if you are feeding
1048        literal paths to Git (e.g., paths previously given to you by
1049        `git ls-tree`, `--raw` diff output, etc).
1050
1051GIT_GLOB_PATHSPECS::
1052        Setting this variable to `1` will cause Git to treat all
1053        pathspecs as glob patterns (aka "glob" magic).
1054
1055GIT_NOGLOB_PATHSPECS::
1056        Setting this variable to `1` will cause Git to treat all
1057        pathspecs as literal (aka "literal" magic).
1058
1059GIT_ICASE_PATHSPECS::
1060        Setting this variable to `1` will cause Git to treat all
1061        pathspecs as case-insensitive.
1062
1063'GIT_REFLOG_ACTION'::
1064        When a ref is updated, reflog entries are created to keep
1065        track of the reason why the ref was updated (which is
1066        typically the name of the high-level command that updated
1067        the ref), in addition to the old and new values of the ref.
1068        A scripted Porcelain command can use set_reflog_action
1069        helper function in `git-sh-setup` to set its name to this
1070        variable when it is invoked as the top level command by the
1071        end user, to be recorded in the body of the reflog.
1072
1073`GIT_REF_PARANOIA`::
1074        If set to `1`, include broken or badly named refs when iterating
1075        over lists of refs. In a normal, non-corrupted repository, this
1076        does nothing. However, enabling it may help git to detect and
1077        abort some operations in the presence of broken refs. Git sets
1078        this variable automatically when performing destructive
1079        operations like linkgit:git-prune[1]. You should not need to set
1080        it yourself unless you want to be paranoid about making sure
1081        an operation has touched every ref (e.g., because you are
1082        cloning a repository to make a backup).
1083
1084
1085Discussion[[Discussion]]
1086------------------------
1087
1088More detail on the following is available from the
1089link:user-manual.html#git-concepts[Git concepts chapter of the
1090user-manual] and linkgit:gitcore-tutorial[7].
1091
1092A Git project normally consists of a working directory with a ".git"
1093subdirectory at the top level.  The .git directory contains, among other
1094things, a compressed object database representing the complete history
1095of the project, an "index" file which links that history to the current
1096contents of the working tree, and named pointers into that history such
1097as tags and branch heads.
1098
1099The object database contains objects of three main types: blobs, which
1100hold file data; trees, which point to blobs and other trees to build up
1101directory hierarchies; and commits, which each reference a single tree
1102and some number of parent commits.
1103
1104The commit, equivalent to what other systems call a "changeset" or
1105"version", represents a step in the project's history, and each parent
1106represents an immediately preceding step.  Commits with more than one
1107parent represent merges of independent lines of development.
1108
1109All objects are named by the SHA-1 hash of their contents, normally
1110written as a string of 40 hex digits.  Such names are globally unique.
1111The entire history leading up to a commit can be vouched for by signing
1112just that commit.  A fourth object type, the tag, is provided for this
1113purpose.
1114
1115When first created, objects are stored in individual files, but for
1116efficiency may later be compressed together into "pack files".
1117
1118Named pointers called refs mark interesting points in history.  A ref
1119may contain the SHA-1 name of an object or the name of another ref.  Refs
1120with names beginning `ref/head/` contain the SHA-1 name of the most
1121recent commit (or "head") of a branch under development.  SHA-1 names of
1122tags of interest are stored under `ref/tags/`.  A special ref named
1123`HEAD` contains the name of the currently checked-out branch.
1124
1125The index file is initialized with a list of all paths and, for each
1126path, a blob object and a set of attributes.  The blob object represents
1127the contents of the file as of the head of the current branch.  The
1128attributes (last modified time, size, etc.) are taken from the
1129corresponding file in the working tree.  Subsequent changes to the
1130working tree can be found by comparing these attributes.  The index may
1131be updated with new content, and new commits may be created from the
1132content stored in the index.
1133
1134The index is also capable of storing multiple entries (called "stages")
1135for a given pathname.  These stages are used to hold the various
1136unmerged version of a file when a merge is in progress.
1137
1138FURTHER DOCUMENTATION
1139---------------------
1140
1141See the references in the "description" section to get started
1142using Git.  The following is probably more detail than necessary
1143for a first-time user.
1144
1145The link:user-manual.html#git-concepts[Git concepts chapter of the
1146user-manual] and linkgit:gitcore-tutorial[7] both provide
1147introductions to the underlying Git architecture.
1148
1149See linkgit:gitworkflows[7] for an overview of recommended workflows.
1150
1151See also the link:howto-index.html[howto] documents for some useful
1152examples.
1153
1154The internals are documented in the
1155link:technical/api-index.html[Git API documentation].
1156
1157Users migrating from CVS may also want to
1158read linkgit:gitcvs-migration[7].
1159
1160
1161Authors
1162-------
1163Git was started by Linus Torvalds, and is currently maintained by Junio
1164C Hamano. Numerous contributions have come from the Git mailing list
1165<git@vger.kernel.org>.  http://www.openhub.net/p/git/contributors/summary
1166gives you a more complete list of contributors.
1167
1168If you have a clone of git.git itself, the
1169output of linkgit:git-shortlog[1] and linkgit:git-blame[1] can show you
1170the authors for specific parts of the project.
1171
1172Reporting Bugs
1173--------------
1174
1175Report bugs to the Git mailing list <git@vger.kernel.org> where the
1176development and maintenance is primarily done.  You do not have to be
1177subscribed to the list to send a message there.
1178
1179SEE ALSO
1180--------
1181linkgit:gittutorial[7], linkgit:gittutorial-2[7],
1182linkgit:giteveryday[7], linkgit:gitcvs-migration[7],
1183linkgit:gitglossary[7], linkgit:gitcore-tutorial[7],
1184linkgit:gitcli[7], link:user-manual.html[The Git User's Manual],
1185linkgit:gitworkflows[7]
1186
1187GIT
1188---
1189Part of the linkgit:git[1] suite