1git repository layout2=====================34You may find these things in your git repository (`.git`5directory for a repository associated with your working tree, or6`'project'.git` directory for a public 'bare' repository).78objects::9Object store associated with this repository. Usually10an object store is self sufficient (i.e. all the objects11that are referred to by an object found in it are also12found in it), but there are couple of ways to violate13it.14+15. You could populate the repository by running a commit walker16without `-a` option. Depending on which options are given, you17could have only commit objects without associated blobs and18trees this way, for example. A repository with this kind of19incomplete object store is not suitable to be published to the20outside world but sometimes useful for private repository.21. You can be using `objects/info/alternates` mechanism, or22`$GIT_ALTERNATE_OBJECT_DIRECTORIES` mechanism to 'borrow'23objects from other object stores. A repository with this kind24of incomplete object store is not suitable to be published for25use with dumb transports but otherwise is OK as long as26`objects/info/alternates` points at the right object stores27it borrows from.2829objects/[0-9a-f][0-9a-f]::30Traditionally, each object is stored in its own file.31They are split into 256 subdirectories using the first32two letters from its object name to keep the number of33directory entries `objects` directory itself needs to34hold. Objects found here are often called 'unpacked'35objects.3637objects/pack::38Packs (files that store many object in compressed form,39along with index files to allow them to be randomly40accessed) are found in this directory.4142objects/info::43Additional information about the object store is44recorded in this directory.4546objects/info/packs::47This file is to help dumb transports discover what packs48are available in this object store. Whenever a pack is49added or removed, `git update-server-info` should be run50to keep this file up-to-date if the repository is51published for dumb transports. `git repack` does this52by default.5354objects/info/alternates::55This file records paths to alternate object stores that56this object store borrows objects from, one pathname per57line. Note that not only native Git tools use it locally,58but the HTTP fetcher also tries to use it remotely; this59will usually work if you have relative paths (relative60to the object database, not to the repository!) in your61alternates file, but it will not work if you use absolute62paths unless the absolute path in filesystem and web URL63is the same. See also 'objects/info/http-alternates'.6465objects/info/http-alternates::66This file records URLs to alternate object stores that67this object store borrows objects from, to be used when68the repository is fetched over HTTP.6970refs::71References are stored in subdirectories of this72directory. The `git prune` command knows to keep73objects reachable from refs found in this directory and74its subdirectories.7576refs/heads/`name`::77records tip-of-the-tree commit objects of branch `name`7879refs/tags/`name`::80records any object name (not necessarily a commit81object, or a tag object that points at a commit object).8283HEAD::84A symref (see glossary) to the `refs/heads/` namespace85describing the currently active branch. It does not mean86much if the repository is not associated with any working tree87(i.e. a 'bare' repository), but a valid git repository88*must* have the HEAD file; some porcelains may use it to89guess the designated "default" branch of the repository90(usually 'master'). It is legal if the named branch91'name' does not (yet) exist. In some legacy setups, it is92a symbolic link instead of a symref that points at the current93branch.9495branches::96A slightly deprecated way to store shorthands to be used97to specify URL to `git fetch`, `git pull` and `git push`98commands is to store a file in `branches/'name'` and99give 'name' to these commands in place of 'repository'100argument.101102hooks::103Hooks are customization scripts used by various git104commands. A handful of sample hooks are installed when105`git init-db` is run, but all of them are disabled by106default. To enable, they need to be made executable.107Read link:hooks.html[hooks] for more details about108each hook.109110index::111The current index file for the repository. It is112usually not found in a bare repository.113114info::115Additional information about the repository is recorded116in this directory.117118info/refs::119This file is to help dumb transports to discover what120refs are available in this repository. Whenever you121create/delete a new branch or a new tag, `git122update-server-info` should be run to keep this file123up-to-date if the repository is published for dumb124transports. The `git-receive-pack` command, which is125run on a remote repository when you `git push` into it,126runs `hooks/update` hook to help you achieve this.127128info/grafts::129This file records fake commit ancestry information, to130pretend the set of parents a commit has is different131from how the commit was actually created. One record132per line describes a commit and its fake parents by133listing their 40-byte hexadecimal object names separated134by a space and terminated by a newline.135136info/exclude::137This file, by convention among Porcelains, stores the138exclude pattern list. `.gitignore` is the per-directory139ignore file. `git status`, `git add`, `git rm` and `git140clean` look at it but the core git commands do not look141at it. See also: gitlink:git-ls-files[1] `--exclude-from`142and `--exclude-per-directory`.143144remotes::145Stores shorthands to be used to give URL and default146refnames to interact with remote repository to `git147fetch`, `git pull` and `git push` commands.148149logs::150Records of changes made to refs are stored in this151directory. See the documentation on git-update-ref152for more information.153154logs/refs/heads/`name`::155Records all changes made to the branch tip named `name`.156157logs/refs/tags/`name`::158Records all changes made to the tag named `name`.