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 [--column[=<options>] | --no-column] 14 [(--merged | --no-merged | --contains) [<commit>]] [<pattern>...] 15'git branch' [--set-upstream | --track | --no-track] [-l] [-f] <branchname> [<start-point>] 16'git branch' (--set-upstream-to=<upstream> | -u <upstream>) [<branchname>] 17'git branch' (-m | -M) [<oldbranch>] <newbranch> 18'git branch' (-d | -D) [-r] <branchname>... 19'git branch' --edit-description [<branchname>] 20 21DESCRIPTION 22----------- 23 24With no arguments, existing branches are listed and the current branch will 25be highlighted with an asterisk. Option `-r` causes the remote-tracking 26branches to be listed, and option `-a` shows both. This list mode is also 27activated by the `--list` option (see below). 28<pattern> restricts the output to matching branches, the pattern is a shell 29wildcard (i.e., matched using fnmatch(3)). 30Multiple patterns may be given; if any of them matches, the branch is shown. 31 32With `--contains`, shows only the branches that contain the named commit 33(in other words, the branches whose tip commits are descendants of the 34named commit). With `--merged`, only branches merged into the named 35commit (i.e. the branches whose tip commits are reachable from the named 36commit) will be listed. With `--no-merged` only branches not merged into 37the named commit will be listed. If the <commit> argument is missing it 38defaults to 'HEAD' (i.e. the tip of the current branch). 39 40The command's second form creates a new branch head named <branchname> 41which points to the current 'HEAD', or <start-point> if given. 42 43Note that this will create the new branch, but it will not switch the 44working tree to it; use "git checkout <newbranch>" to switch to the 45new branch. 46 47When a local branch is started off a remote-tracking branch, git sets up the 48branch so that 'git pull' will appropriately merge from 49the remote-tracking branch. This behavior may be changed via the global 50`branch.autosetupmerge` configuration flag. That setting can be 51overridden by using the `--track` and `--no-track` options, and 52changed later using `git branch --set-upstream-to`. 53 54With a `-m` or `-M` option, <oldbranch> will be renamed to <newbranch>. 55If <oldbranch> had a corresponding reflog, it is renamed to match 56<newbranch>, and a reflog entry is created to remember the branch 57renaming. If <newbranch> exists, -M must be used to force the rename 58to happen. 59 60With a `-d` or `-D` option, `<branchname>` will be deleted. You may 61specify more than one branch for deletion. If the branch currently 62has a reflog then the reflog will also be deleted. 63 64Use `-r` together with `-d` to delete remote-tracking branches. Note, that it 65only makes sense to delete remote-tracking branches if they no longer exist 66in the remote repository or if 'git fetch' was configured not to fetch 67them again. See also the 'prune' subcommand of linkgit:git-remote[1] for a 68way to clean up all obsolete remote-tracking branches. 69 70 71OPTIONS 72------- 73-d:: 74--delete:: 75 Delete a branch. The branch must be fully merged in its 76 upstream branch, or in `HEAD` if no upstream was set with 77 `--track` or `--set-upstream`. 78 79-D:: 80 Delete a branch irrespective of its merged status. 81 82-l:: 83--create-reflog:: 84 Create the branch's reflog. This activates recording of 85 all changes made to the branch ref, enabling use of date 86 based sha1 expressions such as "<branchname>@\{yesterday}". 87 Note that in non-bare repositories, reflogs are usually 88 enabled by default by the `core.logallrefupdates` config option. 89 90-f:: 91--force:: 92 Reset <branchname> to <startpoint> if <branchname> exists 93 already. Without `-f` 'git branch' refuses to change an existing branch. 94 95-m:: 96--move:: 97 Move/rename a branch and the corresponding reflog. 98 99-M:: 100 Move/rename a branch even if the new branch name already exists. 101 102--color[=<when>]:: 103 Color branches to highlight current, local, and 104 remote-tracking branches. 105 The value must be always (the default), never, or auto. 106 107--no-color:: 108 Turn off branch colors, even when the configuration file gives the 109 default to color output. 110 Same as `--color=never`. 111 112--column[=<options>]:: 113--no-column:: 114 Display branch listing in columns. See configuration variable 115 column.branch for option syntax.`--column` and `--no-column` 116 without options are equivalent to 'always' and 'never' respectively. 117+ 118This option is only applicable in non-verbose mode. 119 120-r:: 121--remotes:: 122 List or delete (if used with -d) the remote-tracking branches. 123 124-a:: 125--all:: 126 List both remote-tracking branches and local branches. 127 128--list:: 129 Activate the list mode. `git branch <pattern>` would try to create a branch, 130 use `git branch --list <pattern>` to list matching branches. 131 132-v:: 133--verbose:: 134 When in list mode, 135 show sha1 and commit subject line for each head, along with 136 relationship to upstream branch (if any). If given twice, print 137 the name of the upstream branch, as well. 138 139-q:: 140--quiet:: 141 Be more quiet when creating or deleting a branch, suppressing 142 non-error messages. 143 144--abbrev=<length>:: 145 Alter the sha1's minimum display length in the output listing. 146 The default value is 7 and can be overridden by the `core.abbrev` 147 config option. 148 149--no-abbrev:: 150 Display the full sha1s in the output listing rather than abbreviating them. 151 152-t:: 153--track:: 154 When creating a new branch, set up configuration to mark the 155 start-point branch as "upstream" from the new branch. This 156 configuration will tell git to show the relationship between the 157 two branches in `git status` and `git branch -v`. Furthermore, 158 it directs `git pull` without arguments to pull from the 159 upstream when the new branch is checked out. 160+ 161This behavior is the default when the start point is a remote-tracking branch. 162Set the branch.autosetupmerge configuration variable to `false` if you 163want `git checkout` and `git branch` to always behave as if '--no-track' 164were given. Set it to `always` if you want this behavior when the 165start-point is either a local or remote-tracking branch. 166 167--no-track:: 168 Do not set up "upstream" configuration, even if the 169 branch.autosetupmerge configuration variable is true. 170 171--set-upstream:: 172 If specified branch does not exist yet or if `--force` has been 173 given, acts exactly like `--track`. Otherwise sets up configuration 174 like `--track` would when creating the branch, except that where 175 branch points to is not changed. 176 177-u <upstream>:: 178--set-upstream-to=<upstream>:: 179 Set up <branchname>'s tracking information so <upstream> is 180 considered <branchname>'s upstream branch. If no <branchname> 181 is specified, then it defaults to the current branch. 182 183--edit-description:: 184 Open an editor and edit the text to explain what the branch is 185 for, to be used by various other commands (e.g. `request-pull`). 186 187--contains [<commit>]:: 188 Only list branches which contain the specified commit (HEAD 189 if not specified). 190 191--merged [<commit>]:: 192 Only list branches whose tips are reachable from the 193 specified commit (HEAD if not specified). 194 195--no-merged [<commit>]:: 196 Only list branches whose tips are not reachable from the 197 specified commit (HEAD if not specified). 198 199<branchname>:: 200 The name of the branch to create or delete. 201 The new branch name must pass all checks defined by 202 linkgit:git-check-ref-format[1]. Some of these checks 203 may restrict the characters allowed in a branch name. 204 205<start-point>:: 206 The new branch head will point to this commit. It may be 207 given as a branch name, a commit-id, or a tag. If this 208 option is omitted, the current HEAD will be used instead. 209 210<oldbranch>:: 211 The name of an existing branch to rename. 212 213<newbranch>:: 214 The new name for an existing branch. The same restrictions as for 215 <branchname> apply. 216 217 218Examples 219-------- 220 221Start development from a known tag:: 222+ 223------------ 224$ git clone git://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/.../linux-2.6 my2.6 225$ cd my2.6 226$ git branch my2.6.14 v2.6.14 <1> 227$ git checkout my2.6.14 228------------ 229+ 230<1> This step and the next one could be combined into a single step with 231"checkout -b my2.6.14 v2.6.14". 232 233Delete an unneeded branch:: 234+ 235------------ 236$ git clone git://git.kernel.org/.../git.git my.git 237$ cd my.git 238$ git branch -d -r origin/todo origin/html origin/man <1> 239$ git branch -D test <2> 240------------ 241+ 242<1> Delete the remote-tracking branches "todo", "html" and "man". The next 243'fetch' or 'pull' will create them again unless you configure them not to. 244See linkgit:git-fetch[1]. 245<2> Delete the "test" branch even if the "master" branch (or whichever branch 246is currently checked out) does not have all commits from the test branch. 247 248 249Notes 250----- 251 252If you are creating a branch that you want to checkout immediately, it is 253easier to use the git checkout command with its `-b` option to create 254a branch and check it out with a single command. 255 256The options `--contains`, `--merged` and `--no-merged` serve three related 257but different purposes: 258 259- `--contains <commit>` is used to find all branches which will need 260 special attention if <commit> were to be rebased or amended, since those 261 branches contain the specified <commit>. 262 263- `--merged` is used to find all branches which can be safely deleted, 264 since those branches are fully contained by HEAD. 265 266- `--no-merged` is used to find branches which are candidates for merging 267 into HEAD, since those branches are not fully contained by HEAD. 268 269SEE ALSO 270-------- 271linkgit:git-check-ref-format[1], 272linkgit:git-fetch[1], 273linkgit:git-remote[1], 274link:user-manual.html#what-is-a-branch[``Understanding history: What is 275a branch?''] in the Git User's Manual. 276 277GIT 278--- 279Part of the linkgit:git[1] suite