1git(1) 2====== 3 4NAME 5---- 6git - the stupid content tracker 7 8 9SYNOPSIS 10-------- 11[verse] 12'git' [--version] [--exec-path[=GIT_EXEC_PATH]] [--html-path] 13 [-p|--paginate|--no-pager] [--no-replace-objects] 14 [--bare] [--git-dir=GIT_DIR] [--work-tree=GIT_WORK_TREE] 15 [-c name=value] 16 [--help] 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 25link:everyday.html[Everyday Git] for a useful minimum set of commands, and 26"man git-commandname" for documentation of each command. CVS users may 27also want to read linkgit:gitcvs-migration[7]. See 28the link:user-manual.html[Git User's Manual] for a more in-depth 29introduction. 30 31The COMMAND is either a name of a Git command (see below) or an alias 32as defined in the configuration file (see linkgit:git-config[1]). 33 34Formatted and hyperlinked version of the latest git 35documentation can be viewed at 36`http://www.kernel.org/pub/software/scm/git/docs/`. 37 38ifdef::stalenotes[] 39[NOTE] 40============ 41 42You are reading the documentation for the latest (possibly 43unreleased) version of git, that is available from 'master' 44branch of the `git.git` repository. 45Documentation for older releases are available here: 46 47* link:v1.7.2.1/git.html[documentation for release 1.7.2.1] 48 49* release notes for 50 link:RelNotes-1.7.2.1.txt[1.7.2.1], 51 link:RelNotes-1.7.2.txt[1.7.2]. 52 53* link:v1.7.1.2/git.html[documentation for release 1.7.1.2] 54 55* release notes for 56 link:RelNotes-1.7.1.2.txt[1.7.1.2], 57 link:RelNotes-1.7.1.1.txt[1.7.1.1], 58 link:RelNotes-1.7.1.txt[1.7.1]. 59 60* link:v1.7.0.7/git.html[documentation for release 1.7.0.7] 61 62* release notes for 63 link:RelNotes-1.7.0.7.txt[1.7.0.7], 64 link:RelNotes-1.7.0.6.txt[1.7.0.6], 65 link:RelNotes-1.7.0.5.txt[1.7.0.5], 66 link:RelNotes-1.7.0.4.txt[1.7.0.4], 67 link:RelNotes-1.7.0.3.txt[1.7.0.3], 68 link:RelNotes-1.7.0.2.txt[1.7.0.2], 69 link:RelNotes-1.7.0.1.txt[1.7.0.1], 70 link:RelNotes-1.7.0.txt[1.7.0]. 71 72* link:v1.6.6.2/git.html[documentation for release 1.6.6.2] 73 74* release notes for 75 link:RelNotes-1.6.6.2.txt[1.6.6.2], 76 link:RelNotes-1.6.6.1.txt[1.6.6.1], 77 link:RelNotes-1.6.6.txt[1.6.6]. 78 79* link:v1.6.5.8/git.html[documentation for release 1.6.5.8] 80 81* release notes for 82 link:RelNotes-1.6.5.8.txt[1.6.5.8], 83 link:RelNotes-1.6.5.7.txt[1.6.5.7], 84 link:RelNotes-1.6.5.6.txt[1.6.5.6], 85 link:RelNotes-1.6.5.5.txt[1.6.5.5], 86 link:RelNotes-1.6.5.4.txt[1.6.5.4], 87 link:RelNotes-1.6.5.3.txt[1.6.5.3], 88 link:RelNotes-1.6.5.2.txt[1.6.5.2], 89 link:RelNotes-1.6.5.1.txt[1.6.5.1], 90 link:RelNotes-1.6.5.txt[1.6.5]. 91 92* link:v1.6.4.4/git.html[documentation for release 1.6.4.4] 93 94* release notes for 95 link:RelNotes-1.6.4.4.txt[1.6.4.4], 96 link:RelNotes-1.6.4.3.txt[1.6.4.3], 97 link:RelNotes-1.6.4.2.txt[1.6.4.2], 98 link:RelNotes-1.6.4.1.txt[1.6.4.1], 99 link:RelNotes-1.6.4.txt[1.6.4]. 100 101* link:v1.6.3.4/git.html[documentation for release 1.6.3.4] 102 103* release notes for 104 link:RelNotes-1.6.3.4.txt[1.6.3.4], 105 link:RelNotes-1.6.3.3.txt[1.6.3.3], 106 link:RelNotes-1.6.3.2.txt[1.6.3.2], 107 link:RelNotes-1.6.3.1.txt[1.6.3.1], 108 link:RelNotes-1.6.3.txt[1.6.3]. 109 110* release notes for 111 link:RelNotes-1.6.2.5.txt[1.6.2.5], 112 link:RelNotes-1.6.2.4.txt[1.6.2.4], 113 link:RelNotes-1.6.2.3.txt[1.6.2.3], 114 link:RelNotes-1.6.2.2.txt[1.6.2.2], 115 link:RelNotes-1.6.2.1.txt[1.6.2.1], 116 link:RelNotes-1.6.2.txt[1.6.2]. 117 118* link:v1.6.1.3/git.html[documentation for release 1.6.1.3] 119 120* release notes for 121 link:RelNotes-1.6.1.3.txt[1.6.1.3], 122 link:RelNotes-1.6.1.2.txt[1.6.1.2], 123 link:RelNotes-1.6.1.1.txt[1.6.1.1], 124 link:RelNotes-1.6.1.txt[1.6.1]. 125 126* link:v1.6.0.6/git.html[documentation for release 1.6.0.6] 127 128* release notes for 129 link:RelNotes-1.6.0.6.txt[1.6.0.6], 130 link:RelNotes-1.6.0.5.txt[1.6.0.5], 131 link:RelNotes-1.6.0.4.txt[1.6.0.4], 132 link:RelNotes-1.6.0.3.txt[1.6.0.3], 133 link:RelNotes-1.6.0.2.txt[1.6.0.2], 134 link:RelNotes-1.6.0.1.txt[1.6.0.1], 135 link:RelNotes-1.6.0.txt[1.6.0]. 136 137* link:v1.5.6.6/git.html[documentation for release 1.5.6.6] 138 139* release notes for 140 link:RelNotes-1.5.6.6.txt[1.5.6.6], 141 link:RelNotes-1.5.6.5.txt[1.5.6.5], 142 link:RelNotes-1.5.6.4.txt[1.5.6.4], 143 link:RelNotes-1.5.6.3.txt[1.5.6.3], 144 link:RelNotes-1.5.6.2.txt[1.5.6.2], 145 link:RelNotes-1.5.6.1.txt[1.5.6.1], 146 link:RelNotes-1.5.6.txt[1.5.6]. 147 148* link:v1.5.5.6/git.html[documentation for release 1.5.5.6] 149 150* release notes for 151 link:RelNotes-1.5.5.6.txt[1.5.5.6], 152 link:RelNotes-1.5.5.5.txt[1.5.5.5], 153 link:RelNotes-1.5.5.4.txt[1.5.5.4], 154 link:RelNotes-1.5.5.3.txt[1.5.5.3], 155 link:RelNotes-1.5.5.2.txt[1.5.5.2], 156 link:RelNotes-1.5.5.1.txt[1.5.5.1], 157 link:RelNotes-1.5.5.txt[1.5.5]. 158 159* link:v1.5.4.7/git.html[documentation for release 1.5.4.7] 160 161* release notes for 162 link:RelNotes-1.5.4.7.txt[1.5.4.7], 163 link:RelNotes-1.5.4.6.txt[1.5.4.6], 164 link:RelNotes-1.5.4.5.txt[1.5.4.5], 165 link:RelNotes-1.5.4.4.txt[1.5.4.4], 166 link:RelNotes-1.5.4.3.txt[1.5.4.3], 167 link:RelNotes-1.5.4.2.txt[1.5.4.2], 168 link:RelNotes-1.5.4.1.txt[1.5.4.1], 169 link:RelNotes-1.5.4.txt[1.5.4]. 170 171* link:v1.5.3.8/git.html[documentation for release 1.5.3.8] 172 173* release notes for 174 link:RelNotes-1.5.3.8.txt[1.5.3.8], 175 link:RelNotes-1.5.3.7.txt[1.5.3.7], 176 link:RelNotes-1.5.3.6.txt[1.5.3.6], 177 link:RelNotes-1.5.3.5.txt[1.5.3.5], 178 link:RelNotes-1.5.3.4.txt[1.5.3.4], 179 link:RelNotes-1.5.3.3.txt[1.5.3.3], 180 link:RelNotes-1.5.3.2.txt[1.5.3.2], 181 link:RelNotes-1.5.3.1.txt[1.5.3.1], 182 link:RelNotes-1.5.3.txt[1.5.3]. 183 184* link:v1.5.2.5/git.html[documentation for release 1.5.2.5] 185 186* release notes for 187 link:RelNotes-1.5.2.5.txt[1.5.2.5], 188 link:RelNotes-1.5.2.4.txt[1.5.2.4], 189 link:RelNotes-1.5.2.3.txt[1.5.2.3], 190 link:RelNotes-1.5.2.2.txt[1.5.2.2], 191 link:RelNotes-1.5.2.1.txt[1.5.2.1], 192 link:RelNotes-1.5.2.txt[1.5.2]. 193 194* link:v1.5.1.6/git.html[documentation for release 1.5.1.6] 195 196* release notes for 197 link:RelNotes-1.5.1.6.txt[1.5.1.6], 198 link:RelNotes-1.5.1.5.txt[1.5.1.5], 199 link:RelNotes-1.5.1.4.txt[1.5.1.4], 200 link:RelNotes-1.5.1.3.txt[1.5.1.3], 201 link:RelNotes-1.5.1.2.txt[1.5.1.2], 202 link:RelNotes-1.5.1.1.txt[1.5.1.1], 203 link:RelNotes-1.5.1.txt[1.5.1]. 204 205* link:v1.5.0.7/git.html[documentation for release 1.5.0.7] 206 207* release notes for 208 link:RelNotes-1.5.0.7.txt[1.5.0.7], 209 link:RelNotes-1.5.0.6.txt[1.5.0.6], 210 link:RelNotes-1.5.0.5.txt[1.5.0.5], 211 link:RelNotes-1.5.0.3.txt[1.5.0.3], 212 link:RelNotes-1.5.0.2.txt[1.5.0.2], 213 link:RelNotes-1.5.0.1.txt[1.5.0.1], 214 link:RelNotes-1.5.0.txt[1.5.0]. 215 216* documentation for release link:v1.4.4.4/git.html[1.4.4.4], 217 link:v1.3.3/git.html[1.3.3], 218 link:v1.2.6/git.html[1.2.6], 219 link:v1.0.13/git.html[1.0.13]. 220 221============ 222 223endif::stalenotes[] 224 225OPTIONS 226------- 227--version:: 228 Prints the git suite version that the 'git' program came from. 229 230--help:: 231 Prints the synopsis and a list of the most commonly used 232 commands. If the option '--all' or '-a' is given then all 233 available commands are printed. If a git command is named this 234 option will bring up the manual page for that command. 235+ 236Other options are available to control how the manual page is 237displayed. See linkgit:git-help[1] for more information, 238because `git --help ...` is converted internally into `git 239help ...`. 240 241-c <name>=<value>:: 242 Pass a configuration parameter to the command. The value 243 given will override values from configuration files. 244 The <name> is expected in the same format as listed by 245 'git config' (subkeys separated by dots). 246 247--exec-path:: 248 Path to wherever your core git programs are installed. 249 This can also be controlled by setting the GIT_EXEC_PATH 250 environment variable. If no path is given, 'git' will print 251 the current setting and then exit. 252 253--html-path:: 254 Print the path to wherever your git HTML documentation is installed 255 and exit. 256 257-p:: 258--paginate:: 259 Pipe all output into 'less' (or if set, $PAGER) if standard 260 output is a terminal. This overrides the `pager.<cmd>` 261 configuration options (see the "Configuration Mechanism" section 262 below). 263 264--no-pager:: 265 Do not pipe git output into a pager. 266 267--git-dir=<path>:: 268 Set the path to the repository. This can also be controlled by 269 setting the GIT_DIR environment variable. It can be an absolute 270 path or relative path to current working directory. 271 272--work-tree=<path>:: 273 Set the path to the working tree. The value will not be 274 used in combination with repositories found automatically in 275 a .git directory (i.e. $GIT_DIR is not set). 276 This can also be controlled by setting the GIT_WORK_TREE 277 environment variable and the core.worktree configuration 278 variable. It can be an absolute path or relative path to 279 the directory specified by --git-dir or GIT_DIR. 280 Note: If --git-dir or GIT_DIR are specified but none of 281 --work-tree, GIT_WORK_TREE and core.worktree is specified, 282 the current working directory is regarded as the top directory 283 of your working tree. 284 285--bare:: 286 Treat the repository as a bare repository. If GIT_DIR 287 environment is not set, it is set to the current working 288 directory. 289 290--no-replace-objects:: 291 Do not use replacement refs to replace git objects. See 292 linkgit:git-replace[1] for more information. 293 294 295FURTHER DOCUMENTATION 296--------------------- 297 298See the references above to get started using git. The following is 299probably more detail than necessary for a first-time user. 300 301The link:user-manual.html#git-concepts[git concepts chapter of the 302user-manual] and linkgit:gitcore-tutorial[7] both provide 303introductions to the underlying git architecture. 304 305See linkgit:gitworkflows[7] for an overview of recommended workflows. 306 307See also the link:howto-index.html[howto] documents for some useful 308examples. 309 310The internals are documented in the 311link:technical/api-index.html[GIT API documentation]. 312 313GIT COMMANDS 314------------ 315 316We divide git into high level ("porcelain") commands and low level 317("plumbing") commands. 318 319High-level commands (porcelain) 320------------------------------- 321 322We separate the porcelain commands into the main commands and some 323ancillary user utilities. 324 325Main porcelain commands 326~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 327 328include::cmds-mainporcelain.txt[] 329 330Ancillary Commands 331~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 332Manipulators: 333 334include::cmds-ancillarymanipulators.txt[] 335 336Interrogators: 337 338include::cmds-ancillaryinterrogators.txt[] 339 340 341Interacting with Others 342~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 343 344These commands are to interact with foreign SCM and with other 345people via patch over e-mail. 346 347include::cmds-foreignscminterface.txt[] 348 349 350Low-level commands (plumbing) 351----------------------------- 352 353Although git includes its 354own porcelain layer, its low-level commands are sufficient to support 355development of alternative porcelains. Developers of such porcelains 356might start by reading about linkgit:git-update-index[1] and 357linkgit:git-read-tree[1]. 358 359The interface (input, output, set of options and the semantics) 360to these low-level commands are meant to be a lot more stable 361than Porcelain level commands, because these commands are 362primarily for scripted use. The interface to Porcelain commands 363on the other hand are subject to change in order to improve the 364end user experience. 365 366The following description divides 367the low-level commands into commands that manipulate objects (in 368the repository, index, and working tree), commands that interrogate and 369compare objects, and commands that move objects and references between 370repositories. 371 372 373Manipulation commands 374~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 375 376include::cmds-plumbingmanipulators.txt[] 377 378 379Interrogation commands 380~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 381 382include::cmds-plumbinginterrogators.txt[] 383 384In general, the interrogate commands do not touch the files in 385the working tree. 386 387 388Synching repositories 389~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 390 391include::cmds-synchingrepositories.txt[] 392 393The following are helper commands used by the above; end users 394typically do not use them directly. 395 396include::cmds-synchelpers.txt[] 397 398 399Internal helper commands 400~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 401 402These are internal helper commands used by other commands; end 403users typically do not use them directly. 404 405include::cmds-purehelpers.txt[] 406 407 408Configuration Mechanism 409----------------------- 410 411Starting from 0.99.9 (actually mid 0.99.8.GIT), `.git/config` file 412is used to hold per-repository configuration options. It is a 413simple text file modeled after `.ini` format familiar to some 414people. Here is an example: 415 416------------ 417# 418# A '#' or ';' character indicates a comment. 419# 420 421; core variables 422[core] 423 ; Don't trust file modes 424 filemode = false 425 426; user identity 427[user] 428 name = "Junio C Hamano" 429 email = "junkio@twinsun.com" 430 431------------ 432 433Various commands read from the configuration file and adjust 434their operation accordingly. See linkgit:git-config[1] for a 435list. 436 437 438Identifier Terminology 439---------------------- 440<object>:: 441 Indicates the object name for any type of object. 442 443<blob>:: 444 Indicates a blob object name. 445 446<tree>:: 447 Indicates a tree object name. 448 449<commit>:: 450 Indicates a commit object name. 451 452<tree-ish>:: 453 Indicates a tree, commit or tag object name. A 454 command that takes a <tree-ish> argument ultimately wants to 455 operate on a <tree> object but automatically dereferences 456 <commit> and <tag> objects that point at a <tree>. 457 458<commit-ish>:: 459 Indicates a commit or tag object name. A 460 command that takes a <commit-ish> argument ultimately wants to 461 operate on a <commit> object but automatically dereferences 462 <tag> objects that point at a <commit>. 463 464<type>:: 465 Indicates that an object type is required. 466 Currently one of: `blob`, `tree`, `commit`, or `tag`. 467 468<file>:: 469 Indicates a filename - almost always relative to the 470 root of the tree structure `GIT_INDEX_FILE` describes. 471 472Symbolic Identifiers 473-------------------- 474Any git command accepting any <object> can also use the following 475symbolic notation: 476 477HEAD:: 478 indicates the head of the current branch (i.e. the 479 contents of `$GIT_DIR/HEAD`). 480 481<tag>:: 482 a valid tag 'name' 483 (i.e. the contents of `$GIT_DIR/refs/tags/<tag>`). 484 485<head>:: 486 a valid head 'name' 487 (i.e. the contents of `$GIT_DIR/refs/heads/<head>`). 488 489For a more complete list of ways to spell object names, see 490"SPECIFYING REVISIONS" section in linkgit:gitrevisions[1]. 491 492 493File/Directory Structure 494------------------------ 495 496Please see the linkgit:gitrepository-layout[5] document. 497 498Read linkgit:githooks[5] for more details about each hook. 499 500Higher level SCMs may provide and manage additional information in the 501`$GIT_DIR`. 502 503 504Terminology 505----------- 506Please see linkgit:gitglossary[7]. 507 508 509Environment Variables 510--------------------- 511Various git commands use the following environment variables: 512 513The git Repository 514~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 515These environment variables apply to 'all' core git commands. Nb: it 516is worth noting that they may be used/overridden by SCMS sitting above 517git so take care if using Cogito etc. 518 519'GIT_INDEX_FILE':: 520 This environment allows the specification of an alternate 521 index file. If not specified, the default of `$GIT_DIR/index` 522 is used. 523 524'GIT_OBJECT_DIRECTORY':: 525 If the object storage directory is specified via this 526 environment variable then the sha1 directories are created 527 underneath - otherwise the default `$GIT_DIR/objects` 528 directory is used. 529 530'GIT_ALTERNATE_OBJECT_DIRECTORIES':: 531 Due to the immutable nature of git objects, old objects can be 532 archived into shared, read-only directories. This variable 533 specifies a ":" separated (on Windows ";" separated) list 534 of git object directories which can be used to search for git 535 objects. New objects will not be written to these directories. 536 537'GIT_DIR':: 538 If the 'GIT_DIR' environment variable is set then it 539 specifies a path to use instead of the default `.git` 540 for the base of the repository. 541 542'GIT_WORK_TREE':: 543 Set the path to the working tree. The value will not be 544 used in combination with repositories found automatically in 545 a .git directory (i.e. $GIT_DIR is not set). 546 This can also be controlled by the '--work-tree' command line 547 option and the core.worktree configuration variable. 548 549'GIT_CEILING_DIRECTORIES':: 550 This should be a colon-separated list of absolute paths. 551 If set, it is a list of directories that git should not chdir 552 up into while looking for a repository directory. 553 It will not exclude the current working directory or 554 a GIT_DIR set on the command line or in the environment. 555 (Useful for excluding slow-loading network directories.) 556 557'GIT_DISCOVERY_ACROSS_FILESYSTEM':: 558 When run in a directory that does not have ".git" repository 559 directory, git tries to find such a directory in the parent 560 directories to find the top of the working tree, but by default it 561 does not cross filesystem boundaries. This environment variable 562 can be set to true to tell git not to stop at filesystem 563 boundaries. Like 'GIT_CEILING_DIRECTORIES', this will not affect 564 an explicit repository directory set via 'GIT_DIR' or on the 565 command line. 566 567git Commits 568~~~~~~~~~~~ 569'GIT_AUTHOR_NAME':: 570'GIT_AUTHOR_EMAIL':: 571'GIT_AUTHOR_DATE':: 572'GIT_COMMITTER_NAME':: 573'GIT_COMMITTER_EMAIL':: 574'GIT_COMMITTER_DATE':: 575'EMAIL':: 576 see linkgit:git-commit-tree[1] 577 578git Diffs 579~~~~~~~~~ 580'GIT_DIFF_OPTS':: 581 Only valid setting is "--unified=??" or "-u??" to set the 582 number of context lines shown when a unified diff is created. 583 This takes precedence over any "-U" or "--unified" option 584 value passed on the git diff command line. 585 586'GIT_EXTERNAL_DIFF':: 587 When the environment variable 'GIT_EXTERNAL_DIFF' is set, the 588 program named by it is called, instead of the diff invocation 589 described above. For a path that is added, removed, or modified, 590 'GIT_EXTERNAL_DIFF' is called with 7 parameters: 591 592 path old-file old-hex old-mode new-file new-hex new-mode 593+ 594where: 595 596 <old|new>-file:: are files GIT_EXTERNAL_DIFF can use to read the 597 contents of <old|new>, 598 <old|new>-hex:: are the 40-hexdigit SHA1 hashes, 599 <old|new>-mode:: are the octal representation of the file modes. 600 601+ 602The file parameters can point at the user's working file 603(e.g. `new-file` in "git-diff-files"), `/dev/null` (e.g. `old-file` 604when a new file is added), or a temporary file (e.g. `old-file` in the 605index). 'GIT_EXTERNAL_DIFF' should not worry about unlinking the 606temporary file --- it is removed when 'GIT_EXTERNAL_DIFF' exits. 607+ 608For a path that is unmerged, 'GIT_EXTERNAL_DIFF' is called with 1 609parameter, <path>. 610 611other 612~~~~~ 613'GIT_MERGE_VERBOSITY':: 614 A number controlling the amount of output shown by 615 the recursive merge strategy. Overrides merge.verbosity. 616 See linkgit:git-merge[1] 617 618'GIT_PAGER':: 619 This environment variable overrides `$PAGER`. If it is set 620 to an empty string or to the value "cat", git will not launch 621 a pager. See also the `core.pager` option in 622 linkgit:git-config[1]. 623 624'GIT_SSH':: 625 If this environment variable is set then 'git fetch' 626 and 'git push' will use this command instead 627 of 'ssh' when they need to connect to a remote system. 628 The '$GIT_SSH' command will be given exactly two arguments: 629 the 'username@host' (or just 'host') from the URL and the 630 shell command to execute on that remote system. 631+ 632To pass options to the program that you want to list in GIT_SSH 633you will need to wrap the program and options into a shell script, 634then set GIT_SSH to refer to the shell script. 635+ 636Usually it is easier to configure any desired options through your 637personal `.ssh/config` file. Please consult your ssh documentation 638for further details. 639 640'GIT_FLUSH':: 641 If this environment variable is set to "1", then commands such 642 as 'git blame' (in incremental mode), 'git rev-list', 'git log', 643 and 'git whatchanged' will force a flush of the output stream 644 after each commit-oriented record have been flushed. If this 645 variable is set to "0", the output of these commands will be done 646 using completely buffered I/O. If this environment variable is 647 not set, git will choose buffered or record-oriented flushing 648 based on whether stdout appears to be redirected to a file or not. 649 650'GIT_TRACE':: 651 If this variable is set to "1", "2" or "true" (comparison 652 is case insensitive), git will print `trace:` messages on 653 stderr telling about alias expansion, built-in command 654 execution and external command execution. 655 If this variable is set to an integer value greater than 1 656 and lower than 10 (strictly) then git will interpret this 657 value as an open file descriptor and will try to write the 658 trace messages into this file descriptor. 659 Alternatively, if this variable is set to an absolute path 660 (starting with a '/' character), git will interpret this 661 as a file path and will try to write the trace messages 662 into it. 663 664Discussion[[Discussion]] 665------------------------ 666 667More detail on the following is available from the 668link:user-manual.html#git-concepts[git concepts chapter of the 669user-manual] and linkgit:gitcore-tutorial[7]. 670 671A git project normally consists of a working directory with a ".git" 672subdirectory at the top level. The .git directory contains, among other 673things, a compressed object database representing the complete history 674of the project, an "index" file which links that history to the current 675contents of the working tree, and named pointers into that history such 676as tags and branch heads. 677 678The object database contains objects of three main types: blobs, which 679hold file data; trees, which point to blobs and other trees to build up 680directory hierarchies; and commits, which each reference a single tree 681and some number of parent commits. 682 683The commit, equivalent to what other systems call a "changeset" or 684"version", represents a step in the project's history, and each parent 685represents an immediately preceding step. Commits with more than one 686parent represent merges of independent lines of development. 687 688All objects are named by the SHA1 hash of their contents, normally 689written as a string of 40 hex digits. Such names are globally unique. 690The entire history leading up to a commit can be vouched for by signing 691just that commit. A fourth object type, the tag, is provided for this 692purpose. 693 694When first created, objects are stored in individual files, but for 695efficiency may later be compressed together into "pack files". 696 697Named pointers called refs mark interesting points in history. A ref 698may contain the SHA1 name of an object or the name of another ref. Refs 699with names beginning `ref/head/` contain the SHA1 name of the most 700recent commit (or "head") of a branch under development. SHA1 names of 701tags of interest are stored under `ref/tags/`. A special ref named 702`HEAD` contains the name of the currently checked-out branch. 703 704The index file is initialized with a list of all paths and, for each 705path, a blob object and a set of attributes. The blob object represents 706the contents of the file as of the head of the current branch. The 707attributes (last modified time, size, etc.) are taken from the 708corresponding file in the working tree. Subsequent changes to the 709working tree can be found by comparing these attributes. The index may 710be updated with new content, and new commits may be created from the 711content stored in the index. 712 713The index is also capable of storing multiple entries (called "stages") 714for a given pathname. These stages are used to hold the various 715unmerged version of a file when a merge is in progress. 716 717Authors 718------- 719* git's founding father is Linus Torvalds <torvalds@osdl.org>. 720* The current git nurse is Junio C Hamano <gitster@pobox.com>. 721* The git potty was written by Andreas Ericsson <ae@op5.se>. 722* General upbringing is handled by the git-list <git@vger.kernel.org>. 723 724Documentation 725-------------- 726The documentation for git suite was started by David Greaves 727<david@dgreaves.com>, and later enhanced greatly by the 728contributors on the git-list <git@vger.kernel.org>. 729 730Reporting Bugs 731-------------- 732 733Report bugs to the Git mailing list <git@vger.kernel.org> where the 734development and maintenance is primarily done. You do not have to be 735subscribed to the list to send a message there. 736 737SEE ALSO 738-------- 739linkgit:gittutorial[7], linkgit:gittutorial-2[7], 740link:everyday.html[Everyday Git], linkgit:gitcvs-migration[7], 741linkgit:gitglossary[7], linkgit:gitcore-tutorial[7], 742linkgit:gitcli[7], link:user-manual.html[The Git User's Manual], 743linkgit:gitworkflows[7] 744 745GIT 746--- 747Part of the linkgit:git[1] suite