'git show-ref' [-q|--quiet] [--verify] [--head] [-d|--dereference]
[-s|--hash[=<n>]] [--abbrev[=<n>]] [--tags]
[--heads] [--] [<pattern>...]
-'git show-ref' --exclude-existing[=<pattern>] < ref-list
+'git show-ref' --exclude-existing[=<pattern>]
DESCRIPTION
-----------
By default, shows the tags, heads, and remote refs.
-The --exclude-existing form is a filter that does the inverse, it shows the
-refs from stdin that don't exist in the local repository.
+The --exclude-existing form is a filter that does the inverse. It reads
+refs from stdin, one ref per line, and shows those that don't exist in
+the local repository.
Use of this utility is encouraged in favor of directly accessing files under
the `.git` directory.