Documentation / git.txton commit Merge branch 'jk/blame-first-parent' (ff2be26)
   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:
  45
  46* link:v2.6.0/git.html[documentation for release 2.6]
  47
  48* release notes for
  49  link:RelNotes/2.6.0.txt[2.6].
  50
  51* link:v2.5.3/git.html[documentation for release 2.5.3]
  52
  53* release notes for
  54  link:RelNotes/2.5.3.txt[2.5.3],
  55  link:RelNotes/2.5.2.txt[2.5.2],
  56  link:RelNotes/2.5.1.txt[2.5.1],
  57  link:RelNotes/2.5.0.txt[2.5].
  58
  59* link:v2.4.9/git.html[documentation for release 2.4.9]
  60
  61* release notes for
  62  link:RelNotes/2.4.9.txt[2.4.9],
  63  link:RelNotes/2.4.8.txt[2.4.8],
  64  link:RelNotes/2.4.7.txt[2.4.7],
  65  link:RelNotes/2.4.6.txt[2.4.6],
  66  link:RelNotes/2.4.5.txt[2.4.5],
  67  link:RelNotes/2.4.4.txt[2.4.4],
  68  link:RelNotes/2.4.3.txt[2.4.3],
  69  link:RelNotes/2.4.2.txt[2.4.2],
  70  link:RelNotes/2.4.1.txt[2.4.1],
  71  link:RelNotes/2.4.0.txt[2.4].
  72
  73* link:v2.3.9/git.html[documentation for release 2.3.9]
  74
  75* release notes for
  76  link:RelNotes/2.3.9.txt[2.3.9],
  77  link:RelNotes/2.3.8.txt[2.3.8],
  78  link:RelNotes/2.3.7.txt[2.3.7],
  79  link:RelNotes/2.3.6.txt[2.3.6],
  80  link:RelNotes/2.3.5.txt[2.3.5],
  81  link:RelNotes/2.3.4.txt[2.3.4],
  82  link:RelNotes/2.3.3.txt[2.3.3],
  83  link:RelNotes/2.3.2.txt[2.3.2],
  84  link:RelNotes/2.3.1.txt[2.3.1],
  85  link:RelNotes/2.3.0.txt[2.3].
  86
  87* link:v2.2.3/git.html[documentation for release 2.2.3]
  88
  89* release notes for
  90  link:RelNotes/2.2.3.txt[2.2.3],
  91  link:RelNotes/2.2.2.txt[2.2.2],
  92  link:RelNotes/2.2.1.txt[2.2.1],
  93  link:RelNotes/2.2.0.txt[2.2].
  94
  95* link:v2.1.4/git.html[documentation for release 2.1.4]
  96
  97* release notes for
  98  link:RelNotes/2.1.4.txt[2.1.4],
  99  link:RelNotes/2.1.3.txt[2.1.3],
 100  link:RelNotes/2.1.2.txt[2.1.2],
 101  link:RelNotes/2.1.1.txt[2.1.1],
 102  link:RelNotes/2.1.0.txt[2.1].
 103
 104* link:v2.0.5/git.html[documentation for release 2.0.5]
 105
 106* release notes for
 107  link:RelNotes/2.0.5.txt[2.0.5],
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 110  link:RelNotes/2.0.2.txt[2.0.2],
 111  link:RelNotes/2.0.1.txt[2.0.1],
 112  link:RelNotes/2.0.0.txt[2.0.0].
 113
 114* link:v1.9.5/git.html[documentation for release 1.9.5]
 115
 116* release notes for
 117  link:RelNotes/1.9.5.txt[1.9.5],
 118  link:RelNotes/1.9.4.txt[1.9.4],
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 122  link:RelNotes/1.9.0.txt[1.9.0].
 123
 124* link:v1.8.5.6/git.html[documentation for release 1.8.5.6]
 125
 126* release notes for
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 133  link:RelNotes/1.8.5.txt[1.8.5].
 134
 135* link:v1.8.4.5/git.html[documentation for release 1.8.4.5]
 136
 137* release notes for
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 142  link:RelNotes/1.8.4.1.txt[1.8.4.1],
 143  link:RelNotes/1.8.4.txt[1.8.4].
 144
 145* link:v1.8.3.4/git.html[documentation for release 1.8.3.4]
 146
 147* release notes for
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 151  link:RelNotes/1.8.3.1.txt[1.8.3.1],
 152  link:RelNotes/1.8.3.txt[1.8.3].
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 154* link:v1.8.2.3/git.html[documentation for release 1.8.2.3]
 155
 156* release notes for
 157  link:RelNotes/1.8.2.3.txt[1.8.2.3],
 158  link:RelNotes/1.8.2.2.txt[1.8.2.2],
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 160  link:RelNotes/1.8.2.txt[1.8.2].
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 162* link:v1.8.1.6/git.html[documentation for release 1.8.1.6]
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 181* link:v1.7.12.4/git.html[documentation for release 1.7.12.4]
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 190* link:v1.7.11.7/git.html[documentation for release 1.7.11.7]
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 250  link:RelNotes/1.7.6.6.txt[1.7.6.6],
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 287* link:v1.7.2.5/git.html[documentation for release 1.7.2.5]
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 297* link:v1.7.1.4/git.html[documentation for release 1.7.1.4]
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 321
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 328* link:v1.6.5.9/git.html[documentation for release 1.6.5.9]
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 352* link:v1.6.3.4/git.html[documentation for release 1.6.3.4]
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 426  link:RelNotes/1.5.3.7.txt[1.5.3.7],
 427  link:RelNotes/1.5.3.6.txt[1.5.3.6],
 428  link:RelNotes/1.5.3.5.txt[1.5.3.5],
 429  link:RelNotes/1.5.3.4.txt[1.5.3.4],
 430  link:RelNotes/1.5.3.3.txt[1.5.3.3],
 431  link:RelNotes/1.5.3.2.txt[1.5.3.2],
 432  link:RelNotes/1.5.3.1.txt[1.5.3.1],
 433  link:RelNotes/1.5.3.txt[1.5.3].
 434
 435* link:v1.5.2.5/git.html[documentation for release 1.5.2.5]
 436
 437* release notes for
 438  link:RelNotes/1.5.2.5.txt[1.5.2.5],
 439  link:RelNotes/1.5.2.4.txt[1.5.2.4],
 440  link:RelNotes/1.5.2.3.txt[1.5.2.3],
 441  link:RelNotes/1.5.2.2.txt[1.5.2.2],
 442  link:RelNotes/1.5.2.1.txt[1.5.2.1],
 443  link:RelNotes/1.5.2.txt[1.5.2].
 444
 445* link:v1.5.1.6/git.html[documentation for release 1.5.1.6]
 446
 447* release notes for
 448  link:RelNotes/1.5.1.6.txt[1.5.1.6],
 449  link:RelNotes/1.5.1.5.txt[1.5.1.5],
 450  link:RelNotes/1.5.1.4.txt[1.5.1.4],
 451  link:RelNotes/1.5.1.3.txt[1.5.1.3],
 452  link:RelNotes/1.5.1.2.txt[1.5.1.2],
 453  link:RelNotes/1.5.1.1.txt[1.5.1.1],
 454  link:RelNotes/1.5.1.txt[1.5.1].
 455
 456* link:v1.5.0.7/git.html[documentation for release 1.5.0.7]
 457
 458* release notes for
 459  link:RelNotes/1.5.0.7.txt[1.5.0.7],
 460  link:RelNotes/1.5.0.6.txt[1.5.0.6],
 461  link:RelNotes/1.5.0.5.txt[1.5.0.5],
 462  link:RelNotes/1.5.0.3.txt[1.5.0.3],
 463  link:RelNotes/1.5.0.2.txt[1.5.0.2],
 464  link:RelNotes/1.5.0.1.txt[1.5.0.1],
 465  link:RelNotes/1.5.0.txt[1.5.0].
 466
 467* documentation for release link:v1.4.4.4/git.html[1.4.4.4],
 468  link:v1.3.3/git.html[1.3.3],
 469  link:v1.2.6/git.html[1.2.6],
 470  link:v1.0.13/git.html[1.0.13].
 471
 472============
 473
 474endif::stalenotes[]
 475
 476OPTIONS
 477-------
 478--version::
 479        Prints the Git suite version that the 'git' program came from.
 480
 481--help::
 482        Prints the synopsis and a list of the most commonly used
 483        commands. If the option '--all' or '-a' is given then all
 484        available commands are printed. If a Git command is named this
 485        option will bring up the manual page for that command.
 486+
 487Other options are available to control how the manual page is
 488displayed. See linkgit:git-help[1] for more information,
 489because `git --help ...` is converted internally into `git
 490help ...`.
 491
 492-C <path>::
 493        Run as if git was started in '<path>' instead of the current working
 494        directory.  When multiple `-C` options are given, each subsequent
 495        non-absolute `-C <path>` is interpreted relative to the preceding `-C
 496        <path>`.
 497+
 498This option affects options that expect path name like `--git-dir` and
 499`--work-tree` in that their interpretations of the path names would be
 500made relative to the working directory caused by the `-C` option. For
 501example the following invocations are equivalent:
 502
 503    git --git-dir=a.git --work-tree=b -C c status
 504    git --git-dir=c/a.git --work-tree=c/b status
 505
 506-c <name>=<value>::
 507        Pass a configuration parameter to the command. The value
 508        given will override values from configuration files.
 509        The <name> is expected in the same format as listed by
 510        'git config' (subkeys separated by dots).
 511+
 512Note that omitting the `=` in `git -c foo.bar ...` is allowed and sets
 513`foo.bar` to the boolean true value (just like `[foo]bar` would in a
 514config file). Including the equals but with an empty value (like `git -c
 515foo.bar= ...`) sets `foo.bar` to the empty string.
 516
 517--exec-path[=<path>]::
 518        Path to wherever your core Git programs are installed.
 519        This can also be controlled by setting the GIT_EXEC_PATH
 520        environment variable. If no path is given, 'git' will print
 521        the current setting and then exit.
 522
 523--html-path::
 524        Print the path, without trailing slash, where Git's HTML
 525        documentation is installed and exit.
 526
 527--man-path::
 528        Print the manpath (see `man(1)`) for the man pages for
 529        this version of Git and exit.
 530
 531--info-path::
 532        Print the path where the Info files documenting this
 533        version of Git are installed and exit.
 534
 535-p::
 536--paginate::
 537        Pipe all output into 'less' (or if set, $PAGER) if standard
 538        output is a terminal.  This overrides the `pager.<cmd>`
 539        configuration options (see the "Configuration Mechanism" section
 540        below).
 541
 542--no-pager::
 543        Do not pipe Git output into a pager.
 544
 545--git-dir=<path>::
 546        Set the path to the repository. This can also be controlled by
 547        setting the GIT_DIR environment variable. It can be an absolute
 548        path or relative path to current working directory.
 549
 550--work-tree=<path>::
 551        Set the path to the working tree. It can be an absolute path
 552        or a path relative to the current working directory.
 553        This can also be controlled by setting the GIT_WORK_TREE
 554        environment variable and the core.worktree configuration
 555        variable (see core.worktree in linkgit:git-config[1] for a
 556        more detailed discussion).
 557
 558--namespace=<path>::
 559        Set the Git namespace.  See linkgit:gitnamespaces[7] for more
 560        details.  Equivalent to setting the `GIT_NAMESPACE` environment
 561        variable.
 562
 563--bare::
 564        Treat the repository as a bare repository.  If GIT_DIR
 565        environment is not set, it is set to the current working
 566        directory.
 567
 568--no-replace-objects::
 569        Do not use replacement refs to replace Git objects. See
 570        linkgit:git-replace[1] for more information.
 571
 572--literal-pathspecs::
 573        Treat pathspecs literally (i.e. no globbing, no pathspec magic).
 574        This is equivalent to setting the `GIT_LITERAL_PATHSPECS` environment
 575        variable to `1`.
 576
 577--glob-pathspecs::
 578        Add "glob" magic to all pathspec. This is equivalent to setting
 579        the `GIT_GLOB_PATHSPECS` environment variable to `1`. Disabling
 580        globbing on individual pathspecs can be done using pathspec
 581        magic ":(literal)"
 582
 583--noglob-pathspecs::
 584        Add "literal" magic to all pathspec. This is equivalent to setting
 585        the `GIT_NOGLOB_PATHSPECS` environment variable to `1`. Enabling
 586        globbing on individual pathspecs can be done using pathspec
 587        magic ":(glob)"
 588
 589--icase-pathspecs::
 590        Add "icase" magic to all pathspec. This is equivalent to setting
 591        the `GIT_ICASE_PATHSPECS` environment variable to `1`.
 592
 593GIT COMMANDS
 594------------
 595
 596We divide Git into high level ("porcelain") commands and low level
 597("plumbing") commands.
 598
 599High-level commands (porcelain)
 600-------------------------------
 601
 602We separate the porcelain commands into the main commands and some
 603ancillary user utilities.
 604
 605Main porcelain commands
 606~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 607
 608include::cmds-mainporcelain.txt[]
 609
 610Ancillary Commands
 611~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 612Manipulators:
 613
 614include::cmds-ancillarymanipulators.txt[]
 615
 616Interrogators:
 617
 618include::cmds-ancillaryinterrogators.txt[]
 619
 620
 621Interacting with Others
 622~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 623
 624These commands are to interact with foreign SCM and with other
 625people via patch over e-mail.
 626
 627include::cmds-foreignscminterface.txt[]
 628
 629
 630Low-level commands (plumbing)
 631-----------------------------
 632
 633Although Git includes its
 634own porcelain layer, its low-level commands are sufficient to support
 635development of alternative porcelains.  Developers of such porcelains
 636might start by reading about linkgit:git-update-index[1] and
 637linkgit:git-read-tree[1].
 638
 639The interface (input, output, set of options and the semantics)
 640to these low-level commands are meant to be a lot more stable
 641than Porcelain level commands, because these commands are
 642primarily for scripted use.  The interface to Porcelain commands
 643on the other hand are subject to change in order to improve the
 644end user experience.
 645
 646The following description divides
 647the low-level commands into commands that manipulate objects (in
 648the repository, index, and working tree), commands that interrogate and
 649compare objects, and commands that move objects and references between
 650repositories.
 651
 652
 653Manipulation commands
 654~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 655
 656include::cmds-plumbingmanipulators.txt[]
 657
 658
 659Interrogation commands
 660~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 661
 662include::cmds-plumbinginterrogators.txt[]
 663
 664In general, the interrogate commands do not touch the files in
 665the working tree.
 666
 667
 668Synching repositories
 669~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 670
 671include::cmds-synchingrepositories.txt[]
 672
 673The following are helper commands used by the above; end users
 674typically do not use them directly.
 675
 676include::cmds-synchelpers.txt[]
 677
 678
 679Internal helper commands
 680~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 681
 682These are internal helper commands used by other commands; end
 683users typically do not use them directly.
 684
 685include::cmds-purehelpers.txt[]
 686
 687
 688Configuration Mechanism
 689-----------------------
 690
 691Git uses a simple text format to store customizations that are per
 692repository and are per user.  Such a configuration file may look
 693like this:
 694
 695------------
 696#
 697# A '#' or ';' character indicates a comment.
 698#
 699
 700; core variables
 701[core]
 702        ; Don't trust file modes
 703        filemode = false
 704
 705; user identity
 706[user]
 707        name = "Junio C Hamano"
 708        email = "gitster@pobox.com"
 709
 710------------
 711
 712Various commands read from the configuration file and adjust
 713their operation accordingly.  See linkgit:git-config[1] for a
 714list and more details about the configuration mechanism.
 715
 716
 717Identifier Terminology
 718----------------------
 719<object>::
 720        Indicates the object name for any type of object.
 721
 722<blob>::
 723        Indicates a blob object name.
 724
 725<tree>::
 726        Indicates a tree object name.
 727
 728<commit>::
 729        Indicates a commit object name.
 730
 731<tree-ish>::
 732        Indicates a tree, commit or tag object name.  A
 733        command that takes a <tree-ish> argument ultimately wants to
 734        operate on a <tree> object but automatically dereferences
 735        <commit> and <tag> objects that point at a <tree>.
 736
 737<commit-ish>::
 738        Indicates a commit or tag object name.  A
 739        command that takes a <commit-ish> argument ultimately wants to
 740        operate on a <commit> object but automatically dereferences
 741        <tag> objects that point at a <commit>.
 742
 743<type>::
 744        Indicates that an object type is required.
 745        Currently one of: `blob`, `tree`, `commit`, or `tag`.
 746
 747<file>::
 748        Indicates a filename - almost always relative to the
 749        root of the tree structure `GIT_INDEX_FILE` describes.
 750
 751Symbolic Identifiers
 752--------------------
 753Any Git command accepting any <object> can also use the following
 754symbolic notation:
 755
 756HEAD::
 757        indicates the head of the current branch.
 758
 759<tag>::
 760        a valid tag 'name'
 761        (i.e. a `refs/tags/<tag>` reference).
 762
 763<head>::
 764        a valid head 'name'
 765        (i.e. a `refs/heads/<head>` reference).
 766
 767For a more complete list of ways to spell object names, see
 768"SPECIFYING REVISIONS" section in linkgit:gitrevisions[7].
 769
 770
 771File/Directory Structure
 772------------------------
 773
 774Please see the linkgit:gitrepository-layout[5] document.
 775
 776Read linkgit:githooks[5] for more details about each hook.
 777
 778Higher level SCMs may provide and manage additional information in the
 779`$GIT_DIR`.
 780
 781
 782Terminology
 783-----------
 784Please see linkgit:gitglossary[7].
 785
 786
 787Environment Variables
 788---------------------
 789Various Git commands use the following environment variables:
 790
 791The Git Repository
 792~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 793These environment variables apply to 'all' core Git commands. Nb: it
 794is worth noting that they may be used/overridden by SCMS sitting above
 795Git so take care if using a foreign front-end.
 796
 797'GIT_INDEX_FILE'::
 798        This environment allows the specification of an alternate
 799        index file. If not specified, the default of `$GIT_DIR/index`
 800        is used.
 801
 802'GIT_INDEX_VERSION'::
 803        This environment variable allows the specification of an index
 804        version for new repositories.  It won't affect existing index
 805        files.  By default index file version 2 or 3 is used. See
 806        linkgit:git-update-index[1] for more information.
 807
 808'GIT_OBJECT_DIRECTORY'::
 809        If the object storage directory is specified via this
 810        environment variable then the sha1 directories are created
 811        underneath - otherwise the default `$GIT_DIR/objects`
 812        directory is used.
 813
 814'GIT_ALTERNATE_OBJECT_DIRECTORIES'::
 815        Due to the immutable nature of Git objects, old objects can be
 816        archived into shared, read-only directories. This variable
 817        specifies a ":" separated (on Windows ";" separated) list
 818        of Git object directories which can be used to search for Git
 819        objects. New objects will not be written to these directories.
 820
 821'GIT_DIR'::
 822        If the 'GIT_DIR' environment variable is set then it
 823        specifies a path to use instead of the default `.git`
 824        for the base of the repository.
 825        The '--git-dir' command-line option also sets this value.
 826
 827'GIT_WORK_TREE'::
 828        Set the path to the root of the working tree.
 829        This can also be controlled by the '--work-tree' command-line
 830        option and the core.worktree configuration variable.
 831
 832'GIT_NAMESPACE'::
 833        Set the Git namespace; see linkgit:gitnamespaces[7] for details.
 834        The '--namespace' command-line option also sets this value.
 835
 836'GIT_CEILING_DIRECTORIES'::
 837        This should be a colon-separated list of absolute paths.  If
 838        set, it is a list of directories that Git should not chdir up
 839        into while looking for a repository directory (useful for
 840        excluding slow-loading network directories).  It will not
 841        exclude the current working directory or a GIT_DIR set on the
 842        command line or in the environment.  Normally, Git has to read
 843        the entries in this list and resolve any symlink that
 844        might be present in order to compare them with the current
 845        directory.  However, if even this access is slow, you
 846        can add an empty entry to the list to tell Git that the
 847        subsequent entries are not symlinks and needn't be resolved;
 848        e.g.,
 849        'GIT_CEILING_DIRECTORIES=/maybe/symlink::/very/slow/non/symlink'.
 850
 851'GIT_DISCOVERY_ACROSS_FILESYSTEM'::
 852        When run in a directory that does not have ".git" repository
 853        directory, Git tries to find such a directory in the parent
 854        directories to find the top of the working tree, but by default it
 855        does not cross filesystem boundaries.  This environment variable
 856        can be set to true to tell Git not to stop at filesystem
 857        boundaries.  Like 'GIT_CEILING_DIRECTORIES', this will not affect
 858        an explicit repository directory set via 'GIT_DIR' or on the
 859        command line.
 860
 861'GIT_COMMON_DIR'::
 862        If this variable is set to a path, non-worktree files that are
 863        normally in $GIT_DIR will be taken from this path
 864        instead. Worktree-specific files such as HEAD or index are
 865        taken from $GIT_DIR. See linkgit:gitrepository-layout[5] and
 866        linkgit:git-worktree[1] for
 867        details. This variable has lower precedence than other path
 868        variables such as GIT_INDEX_FILE, GIT_OBJECT_DIRECTORY...
 869
 870Git Commits
 871~~~~~~~~~~~
 872'GIT_AUTHOR_NAME'::
 873'GIT_AUTHOR_EMAIL'::
 874'GIT_AUTHOR_DATE'::
 875'GIT_COMMITTER_NAME'::
 876'GIT_COMMITTER_EMAIL'::
 877'GIT_COMMITTER_DATE'::
 878'EMAIL'::
 879        see linkgit:git-commit-tree[1]
 880
 881Git Diffs
 882~~~~~~~~~
 883'GIT_DIFF_OPTS'::
 884        Only valid setting is "--unified=??" or "-u??" to set the
 885        number of context lines shown when a unified diff is created.
 886        This takes precedence over any "-U" or "--unified" option
 887        value passed on the Git diff command line.
 888
 889'GIT_EXTERNAL_DIFF'::
 890        When the environment variable 'GIT_EXTERNAL_DIFF' is set, the
 891        program named by it is called, instead of the diff invocation
 892        described above.  For a path that is added, removed, or modified,
 893        'GIT_EXTERNAL_DIFF' is called with 7 parameters:
 894
 895        path old-file old-hex old-mode new-file new-hex new-mode
 896+
 897where:
 898
 899        <old|new>-file:: are files GIT_EXTERNAL_DIFF can use to read the
 900                         contents of <old|new>,
 901        <old|new>-hex:: are the 40-hexdigit SHA-1 hashes,
 902        <old|new>-mode:: are the octal representation of the file modes.
 903+
 904The file parameters can point at the user's working file
 905(e.g. `new-file` in "git-diff-files"), `/dev/null` (e.g. `old-file`
 906when a new file is added), or a temporary file (e.g. `old-file` in the
 907index).  'GIT_EXTERNAL_DIFF' should not worry about unlinking the
 908temporary file --- it is removed when 'GIT_EXTERNAL_DIFF' exits.
 909+
 910For a path that is unmerged, 'GIT_EXTERNAL_DIFF' is called with 1
 911parameter, <path>.
 912+
 913For each path 'GIT_EXTERNAL_DIFF' is called, two environment variables,
 914'GIT_DIFF_PATH_COUNTER' and 'GIT_DIFF_PATH_TOTAL' are set.
 915
 916'GIT_DIFF_PATH_COUNTER'::
 917        A 1-based counter incremented by one for every path.
 918
 919'GIT_DIFF_PATH_TOTAL'::
 920        The total number of paths.
 921
 922other
 923~~~~~
 924'GIT_MERGE_VERBOSITY'::
 925        A number controlling the amount of output shown by
 926        the recursive merge strategy.  Overrides merge.verbosity.
 927        See linkgit:git-merge[1]
 928
 929'GIT_PAGER'::
 930        This environment variable overrides `$PAGER`. If it is set
 931        to an empty string or to the value "cat", Git will not launch
 932        a pager.  See also the `core.pager` option in
 933        linkgit:git-config[1].
 934
 935'GIT_EDITOR'::
 936        This environment variable overrides `$EDITOR` and `$VISUAL`.
 937        It is used by several Git commands when, on interactive mode,
 938        an editor is to be launched. See also linkgit:git-var[1]
 939        and the `core.editor` option in linkgit:git-config[1].
 940
 941'GIT_SSH'::
 942'GIT_SSH_COMMAND'::
 943        If either of these environment variables is set then 'git fetch'
 944        and 'git push' will use the specified command instead of 'ssh'
 945        when they need to connect to a remote system.
 946        The command will be given exactly two or four arguments: the
 947        'username@host' (or just 'host') from the URL and the shell
 948        command to execute on that remote system, optionally preceded by
 949        '-p' (literally) and the 'port' from the URL when it specifies
 950        something other than the default SSH port.
 951+
 952`$GIT_SSH_COMMAND` takes precedence over `$GIT_SSH`, and is interpreted
 953by the shell, which allows additional arguments to be included.
 954`$GIT_SSH` on the other hand must be just the path to a program
 955(which can be a wrapper shell script, if additional arguments are
 956needed).
 957+
 958Usually it is easier to configure any desired options through your
 959personal `.ssh/config` file.  Please consult your ssh documentation
 960for further details.
 961
 962'GIT_ASKPASS'::
 963        If this environment variable is set, then Git commands which need to
 964        acquire passwords or passphrases (e.g. for HTTP or IMAP authentication)
 965        will call this program with a suitable prompt as command-line argument
 966        and read the password from its STDOUT. See also the 'core.askPass'
 967        option in linkgit:git-config[1].
 968
 969'GIT_TERMINAL_PROMPT'::
 970        If this environment variable is set to `0`, git will not prompt
 971        on the terminal (e.g., when asking for HTTP authentication).
 972
 973'GIT_CONFIG_NOSYSTEM'::
 974        Whether to skip reading settings from the system-wide
 975        `$(prefix)/etc/gitconfig` file.  This environment variable can
 976        be used along with `$HOME` and `$XDG_CONFIG_HOME` to create a
 977        predictable environment for a picky script, or you can set it
 978        temporarily to avoid using a buggy `/etc/gitconfig` file while
 979        waiting for someone with sufficient permissions to fix it.
 980
 981'GIT_FLUSH'::
 982        If this environment variable is set to "1", then commands such
 983        as 'git blame' (in incremental mode), 'git rev-list', 'git log',
 984        'git check-attr' and 'git check-ignore' will
 985        force a flush of the output stream after each record have been
 986        flushed. If this
 987        variable is set to "0", the output of these commands will be done
 988        using completely buffered I/O.   If this environment variable is
 989        not set, Git will choose buffered or record-oriented flushing
 990        based on whether stdout appears to be redirected to a file or not.
 991
 992'GIT_TRACE'::
 993        Enables general trace messages, e.g. alias expansion, built-in
 994        command execution and external command execution.
 995+
 996If this variable is set to "1", "2" or "true" (comparison
 997is case insensitive), trace messages will be printed to
 998stderr.
 999+
1000If the variable is set to an integer value greater than 2
1001and lower than 10 (strictly) then Git will interpret this
1002value as an open file descriptor and will try to write the
1003trace messages into this file descriptor.
1004+
1005Alternatively, if the variable is set to an absolute path
1006(starting with a '/' character), Git will interpret this
1007as a file path and will try to write the trace messages
1008into it.
1009+
1010Unsetting the variable, or setting it to empty, "0" or
1011"false" (case insensitive) disables trace messages.
1012
1013'GIT_TRACE_PACK_ACCESS'::
1014        Enables trace messages for all accesses to any packs. For each
1015        access, the pack file name and an offset in the pack is
1016        recorded. This may be helpful for troubleshooting some
1017        pack-related performance problems.
1018        See 'GIT_TRACE' for available trace output options.
1019
1020'GIT_TRACE_PACKET'::
1021        Enables trace messages for all packets coming in or out of a
1022        given program. This can help with debugging object negotiation
1023        or other protocol issues. Tracing is turned off at a packet
1024        starting with "PACK" (but see 'GIT_TRACE_PACKFILE' below).
1025        See 'GIT_TRACE' for available trace output options.
1026
1027'GIT_TRACE_PACKFILE'::
1028        Enables tracing of packfiles sent or received by a
1029        given program. Unlike other trace output, this trace is
1030        verbatim: no headers, and no quoting of binary data. You almost
1031        certainly want to direct into a file (e.g.,
1032        `GIT_TRACE_PACKFILE=/tmp/my.pack`) rather than displaying it on
1033        the terminal or mixing it with other trace output.
1034+
1035Note that this is currently only implemented for the client side
1036of clones and fetches.
1037
1038'GIT_TRACE_PERFORMANCE'::
1039        Enables performance related trace messages, e.g. total execution
1040        time of each Git command.
1041        See 'GIT_TRACE' for available trace output options.
1042
1043'GIT_TRACE_SETUP'::
1044        Enables trace messages printing the .git, working tree and current
1045        working directory after Git has completed its setup phase.
1046        See 'GIT_TRACE' for available trace output options.
1047
1048'GIT_TRACE_SHALLOW'::
1049        Enables trace messages that can help debugging fetching /
1050        cloning of shallow repositories.
1051        See 'GIT_TRACE' for available trace output options.
1052
1053GIT_LITERAL_PATHSPECS::
1054        Setting this variable to `1` will cause Git to treat all
1055        pathspecs literally, rather than as glob patterns. For example,
1056        running `GIT_LITERAL_PATHSPECS=1 git log -- '*.c'` will search
1057        for commits that touch the path `*.c`, not any paths that the
1058        glob `*.c` matches. You might want this if you are feeding
1059        literal paths to Git (e.g., paths previously given to you by
1060        `git ls-tree`, `--raw` diff output, etc).
1061
1062GIT_GLOB_PATHSPECS::
1063        Setting this variable to `1` will cause Git to treat all
1064        pathspecs as glob patterns (aka "glob" magic).
1065
1066GIT_NOGLOB_PATHSPECS::
1067        Setting this variable to `1` will cause Git to treat all
1068        pathspecs as literal (aka "literal" magic).
1069
1070GIT_ICASE_PATHSPECS::
1071        Setting this variable to `1` will cause Git to treat all
1072        pathspecs as case-insensitive.
1073
1074'GIT_REFLOG_ACTION'::
1075        When a ref is updated, reflog entries are created to keep
1076        track of the reason why the ref was updated (which is
1077        typically the name of the high-level command that updated
1078        the ref), in addition to the old and new values of the ref.
1079        A scripted Porcelain command can use set_reflog_action
1080        helper function in `git-sh-setup` to set its name to this
1081        variable when it is invoked as the top level command by the
1082        end user, to be recorded in the body of the reflog.
1083
1084`GIT_REF_PARANOIA`::
1085        If set to `1`, include broken or badly named refs when iterating
1086        over lists of refs. In a normal, non-corrupted repository, this
1087        does nothing. However, enabling it may help git to detect and
1088        abort some operations in the presence of broken refs. Git sets
1089        this variable automatically when performing destructive
1090        operations like linkgit:git-prune[1]. You should not need to set
1091        it yourself unless you want to be paranoid about making sure
1092        an operation has touched every ref (e.g., because you are
1093        cloning a repository to make a backup).
1094
1095
1096Discussion[[Discussion]]
1097------------------------
1098
1099More detail on the following is available from the
1100link:user-manual.html#git-concepts[Git concepts chapter of the
1101user-manual] and linkgit:gitcore-tutorial[7].
1102
1103A Git project normally consists of a working directory with a ".git"
1104subdirectory at the top level.  The .git directory contains, among other
1105things, a compressed object database representing the complete history
1106of the project, an "index" file which links that history to the current
1107contents of the working tree, and named pointers into that history such
1108as tags and branch heads.
1109
1110The object database contains objects of three main types: blobs, which
1111hold file data; trees, which point to blobs and other trees to build up
1112directory hierarchies; and commits, which each reference a single tree
1113and some number of parent commits.
1114
1115The commit, equivalent to what other systems call a "changeset" or
1116"version", represents a step in the project's history, and each parent
1117represents an immediately preceding step.  Commits with more than one
1118parent represent merges of independent lines of development.
1119
1120All objects are named by the SHA-1 hash of their contents, normally
1121written as a string of 40 hex digits.  Such names are globally unique.
1122The entire history leading up to a commit can be vouched for by signing
1123just that commit.  A fourth object type, the tag, is provided for this
1124purpose.
1125
1126When first created, objects are stored in individual files, but for
1127efficiency may later be compressed together into "pack files".
1128
1129Named pointers called refs mark interesting points in history.  A ref
1130may contain the SHA-1 name of an object or the name of another ref.  Refs
1131with names beginning `ref/head/` contain the SHA-1 name of the most
1132recent commit (or "head") of a branch under development.  SHA-1 names of
1133tags of interest are stored under `ref/tags/`.  A special ref named
1134`HEAD` contains the name of the currently checked-out branch.
1135
1136The index file is initialized with a list of all paths and, for each
1137path, a blob object and a set of attributes.  The blob object represents
1138the contents of the file as of the head of the current branch.  The
1139attributes (last modified time, size, etc.) are taken from the
1140corresponding file in the working tree.  Subsequent changes to the
1141working tree can be found by comparing these attributes.  The index may
1142be updated with new content, and new commits may be created from the
1143content stored in the index.
1144
1145The index is also capable of storing multiple entries (called "stages")
1146for a given pathname.  These stages are used to hold the various
1147unmerged version of a file when a merge is in progress.
1148
1149FURTHER DOCUMENTATION
1150---------------------
1151
1152See the references in the "description" section to get started
1153using Git.  The following is probably more detail than necessary
1154for a first-time user.
1155
1156The link:user-manual.html#git-concepts[Git concepts chapter of the
1157user-manual] and linkgit:gitcore-tutorial[7] both provide
1158introductions to the underlying Git architecture.
1159
1160See linkgit:gitworkflows[7] for an overview of recommended workflows.
1161
1162See also the link:howto-index.html[howto] documents for some useful
1163examples.
1164
1165The internals are documented in the
1166link:technical/api-index.html[Git API documentation].
1167
1168Users migrating from CVS may also want to
1169read linkgit:gitcvs-migration[7].
1170
1171
1172Authors
1173-------
1174Git was started by Linus Torvalds, and is currently maintained by Junio
1175C Hamano. Numerous contributions have come from the Git mailing list
1176<git@vger.kernel.org>.  http://www.openhub.net/p/git/contributors/summary
1177gives you a more complete list of contributors.
1178
1179If you have a clone of git.git itself, the
1180output of linkgit:git-shortlog[1] and linkgit:git-blame[1] can show you
1181the authors for specific parts of the project.
1182
1183Reporting Bugs
1184--------------
1185
1186Report bugs to the Git mailing list <git@vger.kernel.org> where the
1187development and maintenance is primarily done.  You do not have to be
1188subscribed to the list to send a message there.
1189
1190SEE ALSO
1191--------
1192linkgit:gittutorial[7], linkgit:gittutorial-2[7],
1193linkgit:giteveryday[7], linkgit:gitcvs-migration[7],
1194linkgit:gitglossary[7], linkgit:gitcore-tutorial[7],
1195linkgit:gitcli[7], link:user-manual.html[The Git User's Manual],
1196linkgit:gitworkflows[7]
1197
1198GIT
1199---
1200Part of the linkgit:git[1] suite