SYNOPSIS
--------
-'git pull' <options> <repository> <refspec>...
+'git pull' [options] [<repository> [<refspec>...]]
DESCRIPTION
-----------
-Runs 'git fetch' with the given parameters, and calls 'git merge'
-to merge the retrieved head(s) into the current branch.
-With `--rebase`, calls 'git rebase' instead of 'git merge'.
-Note that you can use `.` (current directory) as the
-<repository> to pull from the local repository -- this is useful
-when merging local branches into the current branch.
+Incorporates changes from a remote repository into the current
+branch. In its default mode, `git pull` is shorthand for
+`git fetch` followed by `git merge FETCH_HEAD`.
-Also note that options meant for 'git pull' itself and underlying
-'git merge' must be given before the options meant for 'git fetch'.
+More precisely, 'git pull' runs 'git fetch' with the given
+parameters and calls 'git merge' to merge the retrieved branch
+heads into the current branch.
+With `--rebase`, it runs 'git rebase' instead of 'git merge'.
-*Warning*: Running 'git pull' (actually, the underlying 'git merge')
+<repository> should be the name of a remote repository as
+passed to linkgit:git-fetch[1]. <refspec> can name an
+arbitrary remote ref (for example, the name of a tag) or even
+a collection of refs with corresponding remote tracking branches
+(e.g., refs/heads/{asterisk}:refs/remotes/origin/{asterisk}),
+but usually it is the name of a branch in the remote repository.
+
+Default values for <repository> and <branch> are read from the
+"remote" and "merge" configuration for the current branch
+as set by linkgit:git-branch[1] `--track`.
+
+Assume the following history exists and the current branch is
+"`master`":
+
+------------
+ A---B---C master on origin
+ /
+ D---E---F---G master
+------------
+
+Then "`git pull`" will fetch and replay the changes from the remote
+`master` branch since it diverged from the local `master` (i.e., `E`)
+until its current commit (`C`) on top of `master` and record the
+result in a new commit along with the names of the two parent commits
+and a log message from the user describing the changes.
+
+------------
+ A---B---C remotes/origin/master
+ / \
+ D---E---F---G---H master
+------------
+
+See linkgit:git-merge[1] for details, including how conflicts
+are presented and handled.
+
+In git 1.7.0 or later, to cancel a conflicting merge, use
+`git reset --merge`. *Warning*: In older versions of git, running 'git pull'
with uncommitted changes is discouraged: while possible, it leaves you
-in a state that is hard to back out of in the case of a conflict.
+in a state that may be hard to back out of in the case of a conflict.
+
+If any of the remote changes overlap with local uncommitted changes,
+the merge will be automatically cancelled and the work tree untouched.
+It is generally best to get any local changes in working order before
+pulling or stash them away with linkgit:git-stash[1].
OPTIONS
-------
+Options meant for 'git pull' itself and the underlying 'git merge'
+must be given before the options meant for 'git fetch'.
+
+-q::
+--quiet::
+ This is passed to both underlying git-fetch to squelch reporting of
+ during transfer, and underlying git-merge to squelch output during
+ merging.
+
+-v::
+--verbose::
+ Pass --verbose to git-fetch and git-merge.
+
Options related to merging
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
:git-pull: 1
--rebase::
- Instead of a merge, perform a rebase after fetching. If
- there is a remote ref for the upstream branch, and this branch
- was rebased since last fetched, the rebase uses that information
- to avoid rebasing non-local changes. To make this the default
- for branch `<name>`, set configuration `branch.<name>.rebase`
- to `true`.
+ Rebase the current branch on top of the upstream branch after
+ fetching. If there is a remote-tracking branch corresponding to
+ the upstream branch and the upstream branch was rebased since last
+ fetched, the rebase uses that information to avoid rebasing
+ non-local changes.
++
+See `branch.<name>.rebase` and `branch.autosetuprebase` in
+linkgit:git-config[1] if you want to make `git pull` always use
+`{litdd}rebase` instead of merging.
+
[NOTE]
This is a potentially _dangerous_ mode of operation.