Documentation / git.txton commit Merge branch 'maint' (e866ffd)
   1git(7)
   2======
   3
   4NAME
   5----
   6git - the stupid content tracker
   7
   8
   9SYNOPSIS
  10--------
  11'git' [--version] [--exec-path[=GIT_EXEC_PATH]] [-p|--paginate]
  12        [--bare] [--git-dir=GIT_DIR] [--help] COMMAND [ARGS]
  13
  14DESCRIPTION
  15-----------
  16Git is a fast, scalable, distributed revision control system with an
  17unusually rich command set that provides both high-level operations
  18and full access to internals.
  19
  20See this link:tutorial.html[tutorial] to get started, then see
  21link:everyday.html[Everyday Git] for a useful minimum set of commands, and
  22"man git-commandname" for documentation of each command.  CVS users may
  23also want to read link:cvs-migration.html[CVS migration].
  24
  25The COMMAND is either a name of a Git command (see below) or an alias
  26as defined in the configuration file (see gitlink:git-repo-config[1]).
  27
  28OPTIONS
  29-------
  30--version::
  31        Prints the git suite version that the 'git' program came from.
  32
  33--help::
  34        Prints the synopsis and a list of the most commonly used
  35        commands.  If a git command is named this option will bring up
  36        the man-page for that command. If the option '--all' or '-a' is
  37        given then all available commands are printed.
  38
  39--exec-path::
  40        Path to wherever your core git programs are installed.
  41        This can also be controlled by setting the GIT_EXEC_PATH
  42        environment variable. If no path is given 'git' will print
  43        the current setting and then exit.
  44
  45-p|--paginate::
  46        Pipe all output into 'less' (or if set, $PAGER).
  47
  48--git-dir=<path>::
  49        Set the path to the repository. This can also be controlled by
  50        setting the GIT_DIR environment variable.
  51
  52--bare::
  53        Same as --git-dir=`pwd`.
  54
  55FURTHER DOCUMENTATION
  56---------------------
  57
  58See the references above to get started using git.  The following is
  59probably more detail than necessary for a first-time user.
  60
  61The <<Discussion,Discussion>> section below and the
  62link:core-tutorial.html[Core tutorial] both provide introductions to the
  63underlying git architecture.
  64
  65See also the link:howto-index.html[howto] documents for some useful
  66examples.
  67
  68GIT COMMANDS
  69------------
  70
  71We divide git into high level ("porcelain") commands and low level
  72("plumbing") commands.
  73
  74Low-level commands (plumbing)
  75-----------------------------
  76
  77Although git includes its
  78own porcelain layer, its low-level commands are sufficient to support
  79development of alternative porcelains.  Developers of such porcelains
  80might start by reading about gitlink:git-update-index[1] and
  81gitlink:git-read-tree[1].
  82
  83We divide the low-level commands into commands that manipulate objects (in
  84the repository, index, and working tree), commands that interrogate and
  85compare objects, and commands that move objects and references between
  86repositories.
  87
  88Manipulation commands
  89~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
  90gitlink:git-apply[1]::
  91        Reads a "diff -up1" or git generated patch file and
  92        applies it to the working tree.
  93
  94gitlink:git-checkout-index[1]::
  95        Copy files from the index to the working tree.
  96
  97gitlink:git-commit-tree[1]::
  98        Creates a new commit object.
  99
 100gitlink:git-hash-object[1]::
 101        Computes the object ID from a file.
 102
 103gitlink:git-index-pack[1]::
 104        Build pack idx file for an existing packed archive.
 105
 106gitlink:git-init-db[1]::
 107        Creates an empty git object database, or reinitialize an
 108        existing one.
 109
 110gitlink:git-merge-index[1]::
 111        Runs a merge for files needing merging.
 112
 113gitlink:git-mktag[1]::
 114        Creates a tag object.
 115
 116gitlink:git-mktree[1]::
 117        Build a tree-object from ls-tree formatted text.
 118
 119gitlink:git-pack-objects[1]::
 120        Creates a packed archive of objects.
 121
 122gitlink:git-prune-packed[1]::
 123        Remove extra objects that are already in pack files.
 124
 125gitlink:git-read-tree[1]::
 126        Reads tree information into the index.
 127
 128gitlink:git-repo-config[1]::
 129        Get and set options in .git/config.
 130
 131gitlink:git-unpack-objects[1]::
 132        Unpacks objects out of a packed archive.
 133
 134gitlink:git-update-index[1]::
 135        Registers files in the working tree to the index.
 136
 137gitlink:git-write-tree[1]::
 138        Creates a tree from the index.
 139
 140
 141Interrogation commands
 142~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 143
 144gitlink:git-cat-file[1]::
 145        Provide content or type/size information for repository objects.
 146
 147gitlink:git-describe[1]::
 148        Show the most recent tag that is reachable from a commit.
 149
 150gitlink:git-diff-index[1]::
 151        Compares content and mode of blobs between the index and repository.
 152
 153gitlink:git-diff-files[1]::
 154        Compares files in the working tree and the index.
 155
 156gitlink:git-diff-stages[1]::
 157        Compares two "merge stages" in the index.
 158
 159gitlink:git-diff-tree[1]::
 160        Compares the content and mode of blobs found via two tree objects.
 161
 162gitlink:git-fsck-objects[1]::
 163        Verifies the connectivity and validity of the objects in the database.
 164
 165gitlink:git-ls-files[1]::
 166        Information about files in the index and the working tree.
 167
 168gitlink:git-ls-tree[1]::
 169        Displays a tree object in human readable form.
 170
 171gitlink:git-merge-base[1]::
 172        Finds as good common ancestors as possible for a merge.
 173
 174gitlink:git-name-rev[1]::
 175        Find symbolic names for given revs.
 176
 177gitlink:git-pack-redundant[1]::
 178        Find redundant pack files.
 179
 180gitlink:git-rev-list[1]::
 181        Lists commit objects in reverse chronological order.
 182
 183gitlink:git-show-index[1]::
 184        Displays contents of a pack idx file.
 185
 186gitlink:git-tar-tree[1]::
 187        Creates a tar archive of the files in the named tree object.
 188
 189gitlink:git-unpack-file[1]::
 190        Creates a temporary file with a blob's contents.
 191
 192gitlink:git-var[1]::
 193        Displays a git logical variable.
 194
 195gitlink:git-verify-pack[1]::
 196        Validates packed git archive files.
 197
 198In general, the interrogate commands do not touch the files in
 199the working tree.
 200
 201
 202Synching repositories
 203~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 204
 205gitlink:git-fetch-pack[1]::
 206        Updates from a remote repository (engine for ssh and
 207        local transport).
 208
 209gitlink:git-http-fetch[1]::
 210        Downloads a remote git repository via HTTP by walking
 211        commit chain.
 212
 213gitlink:git-local-fetch[1]::
 214        Duplicates another git repository on a local system by
 215        walking commit chain.
 216
 217gitlink:git-peek-remote[1]::
 218        Lists references on a remote repository using
 219        upload-pack protocol (engine for ssh and local
 220        transport).
 221
 222gitlink:git-receive-pack[1]::
 223        Invoked by 'git-send-pack' to receive what is pushed to it.
 224
 225gitlink:git-send-pack[1]::
 226        Pushes to a remote repository, intelligently.
 227
 228gitlink:git-http-push[1]::
 229        Push missing objects using HTTP/DAV.
 230
 231gitlink:git-shell[1]::
 232        Restricted shell for GIT-only SSH access.
 233
 234gitlink:git-ssh-fetch[1]::
 235        Pulls from a remote repository over ssh connection by
 236        walking commit chain.
 237
 238gitlink:git-ssh-upload[1]::
 239        Helper "server-side" program used by git-ssh-fetch.
 240
 241gitlink:git-update-server-info[1]::
 242        Updates auxiliary information on a dumb server to help
 243        clients discover references and packs on it.
 244
 245gitlink:git-upload-pack[1]::
 246        Invoked by 'git-fetch-pack' to push
 247        what are asked for.
 248
 249gitlink:git-upload-tar[1]::
 250        Invoked by 'git-tar-tree --remote' to return the tar
 251        archive the other end asked for.
 252
 253
 254High-level commands (porcelain)
 255-------------------------------
 256
 257We separate the porcelain commands into the main commands and some
 258ancillary user utilities.
 259
 260Main porcelain commands
 261~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 262
 263gitlink:git-add[1]::
 264        Add paths to the index.
 265
 266gitlink:git-am[1]::
 267        Apply patches from a mailbox, but cooler.
 268
 269gitlink:git-applymbox[1]::
 270        Apply patches from a mailbox, original version by Linus.
 271
 272gitlink:git-bisect[1]::
 273        Find the change that introduced a bug by binary search.
 274
 275gitlink:git-branch[1]::
 276        Create and Show branches.
 277
 278gitlink:git-checkout[1]::
 279        Checkout and switch to a branch.
 280
 281gitlink:git-cherry-pick[1]::
 282        Cherry-pick the effect of an existing commit.
 283
 284gitlink:git-clean[1]::
 285        Remove untracked files from the working tree.
 286
 287gitlink:git-clone[1]::
 288        Clones a repository into a new directory.
 289
 290gitlink:git-commit[1]::
 291        Record changes to the repository.
 292
 293gitlink:git-diff[1]::
 294        Show changes between commits, commit and working tree, etc.
 295
 296gitlink:git-fetch[1]::
 297        Download from a remote repository via various protocols.
 298
 299gitlink:git-format-patch[1]::
 300        Prepare patches for e-mail submission.
 301
 302gitlink:git-grep[1]::
 303        Print lines matching a pattern.
 304
 305gitlink:git-log[1]::
 306        Shows commit logs.
 307
 308gitlink:git-ls-remote[1]::
 309        Shows references in a remote or local repository.
 310
 311gitlink:git-merge[1]::
 312        Grand unified merge driver.
 313
 314gitlink:git-mv[1]::
 315        Move or rename a file, a directory, or a symlink.
 316
 317gitlink:git-pull[1]::
 318        Fetch from and merge with a remote repository.
 319
 320gitlink:git-push[1]::
 321        Update remote refs along with associated objects.
 322
 323gitlink:git-rebase[1]::
 324        Rebase local commits to the updated upstream head.
 325
 326gitlink:git-repack[1]::
 327        Pack unpacked objects in a repository.
 328
 329gitlink:git-rerere[1]::
 330        Reuse recorded resolution of conflicted merges.
 331
 332gitlink:git-reset[1]::
 333        Reset current HEAD to the specified state.
 334
 335gitlink:git-resolve[1]::
 336        Merge two commits.
 337
 338gitlink:git-revert[1]::
 339        Revert an existing commit.
 340
 341gitlink:git-rm[1]::
 342        Remove files from the working tree and from the index.
 343
 344gitlink:git-shortlog[1]::
 345        Summarizes 'git log' output.
 346
 347gitlink:git-show[1]::
 348        Show one commit log and its diff.
 349
 350gitlink:git-show-branch[1]::
 351        Show branches and their commits.
 352
 353gitlink:git-status[1]::
 354        Shows the working tree status.
 355
 356gitlink:git-verify-tag[1]::
 357        Check the GPG signature of tag.
 358
 359gitlink:git-whatchanged[1]::
 360        Shows commit logs and differences they introduce.
 361
 362
 363Ancillary Commands
 364~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 365Manipulators:
 366
 367gitlink:git-applypatch[1]::
 368        Apply one patch extracted from an e-mail.
 369
 370gitlink:git-archimport[1]::
 371        Import an arch repository into git.
 372
 373gitlink:git-convert-objects[1]::
 374        Converts old-style git repository.
 375
 376gitlink:git-cvsimport[1]::
 377        Salvage your data out of another SCM people love to hate.
 378
 379gitlink:git-cvsexportcommit[1]::
 380        Export a single commit to a CVS checkout.
 381
 382gitlink:git-cvsserver[1]::
 383        A CVS server emulator for git.
 384
 385gitlink:git-lost-found[1]::
 386        Recover lost refs that luckily have not yet been pruned.
 387
 388gitlink:git-merge-one-file[1]::
 389        The standard helper program to use with `git-merge-index`.
 390
 391gitlink:git-prune[1]::
 392        Prunes all unreachable objects from the object database.
 393
 394gitlink:git-quiltimport[1]::
 395        Applies a quilt patchset onto the current branch.
 396
 397gitlink:git-relink[1]::
 398        Hardlink common objects in local repositories.
 399
 400gitlink:git-svn[1]::
 401        Bidirectional operation between a single Subversion branch and git.
 402
 403gitlink:git-svnimport[1]::
 404        Import a SVN repository into git.
 405
 406gitlink:git-sh-setup[1]::
 407        Common git shell script setup code.
 408
 409gitlink:git-symbolic-ref[1]::
 410        Read and modify symbolic refs.
 411
 412gitlink:git-tag[1]::
 413        An example script to create a tag object signed with GPG.
 414
 415gitlink:git-update-ref[1]::
 416        Update the object name stored in a ref safely.
 417
 418
 419Interrogators:
 420
 421gitlink:git-annotate[1]::
 422        Annotate file lines with commit info.
 423
 424gitlink:git-blame[1]::
 425        Blame file lines on commits.
 426
 427gitlink:git-check-ref-format[1]::
 428        Make sure ref name is well formed.
 429
 430gitlink:git-cherry[1]::
 431        Find commits not merged upstream.
 432
 433gitlink:git-count-objects[1]::
 434        Count unpacked number of objects and their disk consumption.
 435
 436gitlink:git-daemon[1]::
 437        A really simple server for git repositories.
 438
 439gitlink:git-fmt-merge-msg[1]::
 440        Produce a merge commit message.
 441
 442gitlink:git-get-tar-commit-id[1]::
 443        Extract commit ID from an archive created using git-tar-tree.
 444
 445gitlink:git-imap-send[1]::
 446        Dump a mailbox from stdin into an imap folder.
 447
 448gitlink:git-instaweb[1]::
 449        Instantly browse your working repository in gitweb.
 450
 451gitlink:git-mailinfo[1]::
 452        Extracts patch and authorship information from a single
 453        e-mail message, optionally transliterating the commit
 454        message into utf-8.
 455
 456gitlink:git-mailsplit[1]::
 457        A stupid program to split UNIX mbox format mailbox into
 458        individual pieces of e-mail.
 459
 460gitlink:git-merge-tree[1]::
 461        Show three-way merge without touching index.
 462
 463gitlink:git-patch-id[1]::
 464        Compute unique ID for a patch.
 465
 466gitlink:git-parse-remote[1]::
 467        Routines to help parsing `$GIT_DIR/remotes/` files.
 468
 469gitlink:git-request-pull[1]::
 470        git-request-pull.
 471
 472gitlink:git-rev-parse[1]::
 473        Pick out and massage parameters.
 474
 475gitlink:git-send-email[1]::
 476        Send patch e-mails out of "format-patch --mbox" output.
 477
 478gitlink:git-symbolic-ref[1]::
 479        Read and modify symbolic refs.
 480
 481gitlink:git-stripspace[1]::
 482        Filter out empty lines.
 483
 484
 485Commands not yet documented
 486---------------------------
 487
 488gitlink:gitk[1]::
 489        The gitk repository browser.
 490
 491
 492Configuration Mechanism
 493-----------------------
 494
 495Starting from 0.99.9 (actually mid 0.99.8.GIT), `.git/config` file
 496is used to hold per-repository configuration options.  It is a
 497simple text file modeled after `.ini` format familiar to some
 498people.  Here is an example:
 499
 500------------
 501#
 502# A '#' or ';' character indicates a comment.
 503#
 504
 505; core variables
 506[core]
 507        ; Don't trust file modes
 508        filemode = false
 509
 510; user identity
 511[user]
 512        name = "Junio C Hamano"
 513        email = "junkio@twinsun.com"
 514
 515------------
 516
 517Various commands read from the configuration file and adjust
 518their operation accordingly.
 519
 520
 521Identifier Terminology
 522----------------------
 523<object>::
 524        Indicates the object name for any type of object.
 525
 526<blob>::
 527        Indicates a blob object name.
 528
 529<tree>::
 530        Indicates a tree object name.
 531
 532<commit>::
 533        Indicates a commit object name.
 534
 535<tree-ish>::
 536        Indicates a tree, commit or tag object name.  A
 537        command that takes a <tree-ish> argument ultimately wants to
 538        operate on a <tree> object but automatically dereferences
 539        <commit> and <tag> objects that point at a <tree>.
 540
 541<type>::
 542        Indicates that an object type is required.
 543        Currently one of: `blob`, `tree`, `commit`, or `tag`.
 544
 545<file>::
 546        Indicates a filename - almost always relative to the
 547        root of the tree structure `GIT_INDEX_FILE` describes.
 548
 549Symbolic Identifiers
 550--------------------
 551Any git command accepting any <object> can also use the following
 552symbolic notation:
 553
 554HEAD::
 555        indicates the head of the current branch (i.e. the
 556        contents of `$GIT_DIR/HEAD`).
 557
 558<tag>::
 559        a valid tag 'name'
 560        (i.e. the contents of `$GIT_DIR/refs/tags/<tag>`).
 561
 562<head>::
 563        a valid head 'name'
 564        (i.e. the contents of `$GIT_DIR/refs/heads/<head>`).
 565
 566
 567File/Directory Structure
 568------------------------
 569
 570Please see link:repository-layout.html[repository layout] document.
 571
 572Read link:hooks.html[hooks] for more details about each hook.
 573
 574Higher level SCMs may provide and manage additional information in the
 575`$GIT_DIR`.
 576
 577
 578Terminology
 579-----------
 580Please see link:glossary.html[glossary] document.
 581
 582
 583Environment Variables
 584---------------------
 585Various git commands use the following environment variables:
 586
 587The git Repository
 588~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 589These environment variables apply to 'all' core git commands. Nb: it
 590is worth noting that they may be used/overridden by SCMS sitting above
 591git so take care if using Cogito etc.
 592
 593'GIT_INDEX_FILE'::
 594        This environment allows the specification of an alternate
 595        index file. If not specified, the default of `$GIT_DIR/index`
 596        is used.
 597
 598'GIT_OBJECT_DIRECTORY'::
 599        If the object storage directory is specified via this
 600        environment variable then the sha1 directories are created
 601        underneath - otherwise the default `$GIT_DIR/objects`
 602        directory is used.
 603
 604'GIT_ALTERNATE_OBJECT_DIRECTORIES'::
 605        Due to the immutable nature of git objects, old objects can be
 606        archived into shared, read-only directories. This variable
 607        specifies a ":" separated list of git object directories which
 608        can be used to search for git objects. New objects will not be
 609        written to these directories.
 610
 611'GIT_DIR'::
 612        If the 'GIT_DIR' environment variable is set then it
 613        specifies a path to use instead of the default `.git`
 614        for the base of the repository.
 615
 616git Commits
 617~~~~~~~~~~~
 618'GIT_AUTHOR_NAME'::
 619'GIT_AUTHOR_EMAIL'::
 620'GIT_AUTHOR_DATE'::
 621'GIT_COMMITTER_NAME'::
 622'GIT_COMMITTER_EMAIL'::
 623        see gitlink:git-commit-tree[1]
 624
 625git Diffs
 626~~~~~~~~~
 627'GIT_DIFF_OPTS'::
 628'GIT_EXTERNAL_DIFF'::
 629        see the "generating patches" section in :
 630        gitlink:git-diff-index[1];
 631        gitlink:git-diff-files[1];
 632        gitlink:git-diff-tree[1]
 633
 634other
 635~~~~~
 636'GIT_PAGER'::
 637        This environment variable overrides `$PAGER`.
 638
 639'GIT_TRACE'::
 640        If this variable is set git will print `trace:` messages on
 641        stderr telling about alias expansion, built-in command
 642        execution and external command execution.
 643
 644Discussion[[Discussion]]
 645------------------------
 646include::README[]
 647
 648Authors
 649-------
 650* git's founding father is Linus Torvalds <torvalds@osdl.org>.
 651* The current git nurse is Junio C Hamano <junkio@cox.net>.
 652* The git potty was written by Andres Ericsson <ae@op5.se>.
 653* General upbringing is handled by the git-list <git@vger.kernel.org>.
 654
 655Documentation
 656--------------
 657The documentation for git suite was started by David Greaves
 658<david@dgreaves.com>, and later enhanced greatly by the
 659contributors on the git-list <git@vger.kernel.org>.
 660
 661GIT
 662---
 663Part of the gitlink:git[7] suite
 664