SYNOPSIS
--------
[verse]
-'git branch' [--color | --no-color] [-r | -a]
+'git branch' [--color[=<when>] | --no-color] [-r | -a]
[-v [--abbrev=<length> | --no-abbrev]]
[(--merged | --no-merged | --contains) [<commit>]]
-'git branch' [--track | --no-track] [-l] [-f] <branchname> [<start-point>]
+'git branch' [--set-upstream | --track | --no-track] [-l] [-f] <branchname> [<start-point>]
'git branch' (-m | -M) [<oldbranch>] <newbranch>
'git branch' (-d | -D) [-r] <branchname>...
the named commit will be listed. If the <commit> argument is missing it
defaults to 'HEAD' (i.e. the tip of the current branch).
-In the command's second form, a new branch named <branchname> will be created.
-It will start out with a head equal to the one given as <start-point>.
-If no <start-point> is given, the branch will be created with a head
-equal to that of the currently checked out branch.
+The command's second form creates a new branch head named <branchname>
+which points to the current 'HEAD', or <start-point> if given.
Note that this will create the new branch, but it will not switch the
working tree to it; use "git checkout <newbranch>" to switch to the
new branch.
-When a local branch is started off a remote branch, git sets up the
-branch so that 'git-pull' will appropriately merge from
-the remote branch. This behavior may be changed via the global
+When a local branch is started off a remote-tracking branch, git sets up the
+branch so that 'git pull' will appropriately merge from
+the remote-tracking branch. This behavior may be changed via the global
`branch.autosetupmerge` configuration flag. That setting can be
-overridden by using the `--track` and `--no-track` options.
+overridden by using the `--track` and `--no-track` options, and
+changed later using `git branch --set-upstream`.
With a '-m' or '-M' option, <oldbranch> will be renamed to <newbranch>.
If <oldbranch> had a corresponding reflog, it is renamed to match
Use -r together with -d to delete remote-tracking branches. Note, that it
only makes sense to delete remote-tracking branches if they no longer exist
-in the remote repository or if 'git-fetch' was configured not to fetch
+in the remote repository or if 'git fetch' was configured not to fetch
them again. See also the 'prune' subcommand of linkgit:git-remote[1] for a
way to clean up all obsolete remote-tracking branches.
OPTIONS
-------
-d::
- Delete a branch. The branch must be fully merged in HEAD.
+ Delete a branch. The branch must be fully merged in its
+ upstream branch, or in `HEAD` if no upstream was set with
+ `--track` or `--set-upstream`.
-D::
Delete a branch irrespective of its merged status.
Create the branch's reflog. This activates recording of
all changes made to the branch ref, enabling use of date
based sha1 expressions such as "<branchname>@\{yesterday}".
+ Note that in non-bare repositories, reflogs are usually
+ enabled by default by the `core.logallrefupdates` config option.
-f::
- Force the creation of a new branch even if it means deleting
- a branch that already exists with the same name.
+--force::
+ Reset <branchname> to <startpoint> if <branchname> exists
+ already. Without `-f` 'git branch' refuses to change an existing branch.
-m::
Move/rename a branch and the corresponding reflog.
-M::
Move/rename a branch even if the new branch name already exists.
---color::
- Color branches to highlight current, local, and remote branches.
+--color[=<when>]::
+ Color branches to highlight current, local, and
+ remote-tracking branches.
+ The value must be always (the default), never, or auto.
--no-color::
Turn off branch colors, even when the configuration file gives the
default to color output.
+ Same as `--color=never`.
-r::
List or delete (if used with -d) the remote-tracking branches.
-v::
--verbose::
- Show sha1 and commit subject line for each head.
+ Show sha1 and commit subject line for each head, along with
+ relationship to upstream branch (if any). If given twice, print
+ the name of the upstream branch, as well.
--abbrev=<length>::
Alter the sha1's minimum display length in the output listing.
--no-abbrev::
Display the full sha1s in the output listing rather than abbreviating them.
+-t::
--track::
- When creating a new branch, set up the configuration so that 'git-pull'
- will automatically retrieve data from the start point, which must be
- a branch. Use this if you always pull from the same upstream branch
- into the new branch, and if you do not want to use "git pull
- <repository> <refspec>" explicitly. This behavior is the default
- when the start point is a remote branch. Set the
- branch.autosetupmerge configuration variable to `false` if you want
- 'git-checkout' and 'git-branch' to always behave as if '--no-track' were
- given. Set it to `always` if you want this behavior when the
- start-point is either a local or remote branch.
+ When creating a new branch, set up configuration to mark the
+ start-point branch as "upstream" from the new branch. This
+ configuration will tell git to show the relationship between the
+ two branches in `git status` and `git branch -v`. Furthermore,
+ it directs `git pull` without arguments to pull from the
+ upstream when the new branch is checked out.
++
+This behavior is the default when the start point is a remote-tracking branch.
+Set the branch.autosetupmerge configuration variable to `false` if you
+want `git checkout` and `git branch` to always behave as if '--no-track'
+were given. Set it to `always` if you want this behavior when the
+start-point is either a local or remote-tracking branch.
--no-track::
- Ignore the branch.autosetupmerge configuration variable.
+ Do not set up "upstream" configuration, even if the
+ branch.autosetupmerge configuration variable is true.
+
+--set-upstream::
+ If specified branch does not exist yet or if '--force' has been
+ given, acts exactly like '--track'. Otherwise sets up configuration
+ like '--track' would when creating the branch, except that where
+ branch points to is not changed.
--contains <commit>::
Only list branches which contain the specified commit.
---merged::
- Only list branches which are fully contained by HEAD.
+--merged [<commit>]::
+ Only list branches whose tips are reachable from the
+ specified commit (HEAD if not specified).
---no-merged::
- Do not list branches which are fully contained by HEAD.
+--no-merged [<commit>]::
+ Only list branches whose tips are not reachable from the
+ specified commit (HEAD if not specified).
<branchname>::
The name of the branch to create or delete.
may restrict the characters allowed in a branch name.
<start-point>::
- The new branch will be created with a HEAD equal to this. It may
- be given as a branch name, a commit-id, or a tag. If this option
- is omitted, the current branch is assumed.
+ The new branch head will point to this commit. It may be
+ given as a branch name, a commit-id, or a tag. If this
+ option is omitted, the current HEAD will be used instead.
<oldbranch>::
The name of an existing branch to rename.
- `--no-merged` is used to find branches which are candidates for merging
into HEAD, since those branches are not fully contained by HEAD.
-Author
-------
-Written by Linus Torvalds <torvalds@osdl.org> and Junio C Hamano <gitster@pobox.com>
-
-Documentation
---------------
-Documentation by Junio C Hamano and the git-list <git@vger.kernel.org>.
+SEE ALSO
+--------
+linkgit:git-check-ref-format[1],
+linkgit:git-fetch[1],
+linkgit:git-remote[1],
+link:user-manual.html#what-is-a-branch[``Understanding history: What is
+a branch?''] in the Git User's Manual.
GIT
---