SYNOPSIS
--------
-'git' [--version] [--exec-path[=GIT_EXEC_PATH]] [--help] COMMAND [ARGS]
+[verse]
+'git' [--version] [--exec-path[=GIT_EXEC_PATH]] [-p|--paginate]
+ [--bare] [--git-dir=GIT_DIR] [--help] COMMAND [ARGS]
DESCRIPTION
-----------
-'git' is both a program and a directory content tracker system.
-The program 'git' is just a wrapper to reach the core git programs
-(or a potty if you like, as it's not exactly porcelain but still
-brings your stuff to the plumbing).
+Git is a fast, scalable, distributed revision control system with an
+unusually rich command set that provides both high-level operations
+and full access to internals.
+
+See this link:tutorial.html[tutorial] to get started, then see
+link:everyday.html[Everyday Git] for a useful minimum set of commands, and
+"man git-commandname" for documentation of each command. CVS users may
+also want to read link:cvs-migration.html[CVS migration].
+
+The COMMAND is either a name of a Git command (see below) or an alias
+as defined in the configuration file (see gitlink:git-repo-config[1]).
OPTIONS
-------
environment variable. If no path is given 'git' will print
the current setting and then exit.
+-p|--paginate::
+ Pipe all output into 'less' (or if set, $PAGER).
-NOT LEARNING CORE GIT COMMANDS
-------------------------------
-
-This manual is intended to give complete background information
-and internal workings of git, which may be too much for most
-people. The <<Discussion>> section below contains much useful
-definition and clarification - read that first.
-
-If you are interested in using git to manage (version control)
-projects, use link:tutorial.html[The Tutorial] to get you started,
-and then link:everyday.html[Everyday GIT] as a guide to the
-minimum set of commands you need to know for day-to-day work.
-Most likely, that will get you started, and you can go a long
-way without knowing the low level details too much.
-
-The link:core-tutorial.html[Core tutorial] document covers how things
-internally work.
-
-If you are migrating from CVS, link:cvs-migration.html[cvs
-migration] document may be helpful after you finish the
-tutorial.
-
-After you get the general feel from the tutorial and this
-overview page, you may want to take a look at the
-link:howto-index.html[howto] documents.
-
-
-CORE GIT COMMANDS
------------------
-
-If you are writing your own Porcelain, you need to be familiar
-with most of the low level commands --- I suggest starting from
-gitlink:git-update-index[1] and gitlink:git-read-tree[1].
-
-
-Commands Overview
------------------
-The git commands can helpfully be split into those that manipulate
-the repository, the index and the files in the working tree, those that
-interrogate and compare them, and those that moves objects and
-references between repositories.
-
-In addition, git itself comes with a spartan set of porcelain
-commands. They are usable but are not meant to compete with real
-Porcelains.
-
-There are also some ancillary programs that can be viewed as useful
-aids for using the core commands but which are unlikely to be used by
-SCMs layered over git.
-
-Manipulation commands
-~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
-gitlink:git-apply[1]::
- Reads a "diff -up1" or git generated patch file and
- applies it to the working tree.
-
-gitlink:git-checkout-index[1]::
- Copy files from the index to the working tree.
-
-gitlink:git-commit-tree[1]::
- Creates a new commit object.
-
-gitlink:git-hash-object[1]::
- Computes the object ID from a file.
-
-gitlink:git-index-pack[1]::
- Build pack idx file for an existing packed archive.
-
-gitlink:git-init-db[1]::
- Creates an empty git object database, or reinitialize an
- existing one.
-
-gitlink:git-merge-index[1]::
- Runs a merge for files needing merging.
-
-gitlink:git-mktag[1]::
- Creates a tag object.
-
-gitlink:git-pack-objects[1]::
- Creates a packed archive of objects.
-
-gitlink:git-prune-packed[1]::
- Remove extra objects that are already in pack files.
-
-gitlink:git-read-tree[1]::
- Reads tree information into the index.
-
-gitlink:git-repo-config[1]::
- Get and set options in .git/config.
-
-gitlink:git-unpack-objects[1]::
- Unpacks objects out of a packed archive.
-
-gitlink:git-update-index[1]::
- Registers files in the working tree to the index.
-
-gitlink:git-write-tree[1]::
- Creates a tree from the index.
-
-
-Interrogation commands
-~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
-
-gitlink:git-cat-file[1]::
- Provide content or type/size information for repository objects.
-
-gitlink:git-describe[1]::
- Show the most recent tag that is reachable from a commit.
-
-gitlink:git-diff-index[1]::
- Compares content and mode of blobs between the index and repository.
-
-gitlink:git-diff-files[1]::
- Compares files in the working tree and the index.
+--git-dir=<path>::
+ Set the path to the repository. This can also be controlled by
+ setting the GIT_DIR environment variable.
-gitlink:git-diff-stages[1]::
- Compares two "merge stages" in the index.
+--bare::
+ Same as --git-dir=`pwd`.
-gitlink:git-diff-tree[1]::
- Compares the content and mode of blobs found via two tree objects.
-
-gitlink:git-fsck-objects[1]::
- Verifies the connectivity and validity of the objects in the database.
-
-gitlink:git-ls-files[1]::
- Information about files in the index and the working tree.
-
-gitlink:git-ls-tree[1]::
- Displays a tree object in human readable form.
-
-gitlink:git-merge-base[1]::
- Finds as good common ancestors as possible for a merge.
-
-gitlink:git-name-rev[1]::
- Find symbolic names for given revs.
-
-gitlink:git-pack-redundant[1]::
- Find redundant pack files.
-
-gitlink:git-rev-list[1]::
- Lists commit objects in reverse chronological order.
-
-gitlink:git-show-index[1]::
- Displays contents of a pack idx file.
-
-gitlink:git-tar-tree[1]::
- Creates a tar archive of the files in the named tree object.
-
-gitlink:git-unpack-file[1]::
- Creates a temporary file with a blob's contents.
-
-gitlink:git-var[1]::
- Displays a git logical variable.
-
-gitlink:git-verify-pack[1]::
- Validates packed git archive files.
-
-In general, the interrogate commands do not touch the files in
-the working tree.
-
-
-Synching repositories
-~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
-
-gitlink:git-clone-pack[1]::
- Clones a repository into the current repository (engine
- for ssh and local transport).
-
-gitlink:git-fetch-pack[1]::
- Updates from a remote repository (engine for ssh and
- local transport).
-
-gitlink:git-http-fetch[1]::
- Downloads a remote git repository via HTTP by walking
- commit chain.
-
-gitlink:git-local-fetch[1]::
- Duplicates another git repository on a local system by
- walking commit chain.
-
-gitlink:git-peek-remote[1]::
- Lists references on a remote repository using
- upload-pack protocol (engine for ssh and local
- transport).
+FURTHER DOCUMENTATION
+---------------------
-gitlink:git-receive-pack[1]::
- Invoked by 'git-send-pack' to receive what is pushed to it.
+See the references above to get started using git. The following is
+probably more detail than necessary for a first-time user.
-gitlink:git-send-pack[1]::
- Pushes to a remote repository, intelligently.
+The <<Discussion,Discussion>> section below and the
+link:core-tutorial.html[Core tutorial] both provide introductions to the
+underlying git architecture.
-gitlink:git-http-push[1]::
- Push missing objects using HTTP/DAV.
-
-gitlink:git-shell[1]::
- Restricted shell for GIT-only SSH access.
+See also the link:howto-index.html[howto] documents for some useful
+examples.
-gitlink:git-ssh-fetch[1]::
- Pulls from a remote repository over ssh connection by
- walking commit chain.
+GIT COMMANDS
+------------
-gitlink:git-ssh-upload[1]::
- Helper "server-side" program used by git-ssh-fetch.
+We divide git into high level ("porcelain") commands and low level
+("plumbing") commands.
-gitlink:git-update-server-info[1]::
- Updates auxiliary information on a dumb server to help
- clients discover references and packs on it.
+High-level commands (porcelain)
+-------------------------------
-gitlink:git-upload-pack[1]::
- Invoked by 'git-clone-pack' and 'git-fetch-pack' to push
- what are asked for.
+We separate the porcelain commands into the main commands and some
+ancillary user utilities.
-
-Porcelain-ish Commands
-----------------------
+Main porcelain commands
+~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
gitlink:git-add[1]::
Add paths to the index.
gitlink:git-applymbox[1]::
Apply patches from a mailbox, original version by Linus.
+gitlink:git-archive[1]::
+ Creates an archive of files from a named tree.
+
gitlink:git-bisect[1]::
Find the change that introduced a bug by binary search.
gitlink:git-cherry-pick[1]::
Cherry-pick the effect of an existing commit.
+gitlink:git-clean[1]::
+ Remove untracked files from the working tree.
+
gitlink:git-clone[1]::
Clones a repository into a new directory.
gitlink:git-grep[1]::
Print lines matching a pattern.
+gitlink:gitk[1]::
+ The git repository browser.
+
gitlink:git-log[1]::
Shows commit logs.
gitlink:git-mv[1]::
Move or rename a file, a directory, or a symlink.
+gitlink:git-pack-refs[1]::
+ Pack heads and tags for efficient repository access.
+
gitlink:git-pull[1]::
- Fetch from and merge with a remote repository.
+ Fetch from and merge with a remote repository or a local branch.
gitlink:git-push[1]::
Update remote refs along with associated objects.
gitlink:git-revert[1]::
Revert an existing commit.
+gitlink:git-rm[1]::
+ Remove files from the working tree and from the index.
+
gitlink:git-shortlog[1]::
Summarizes 'git log' output.
+gitlink:git-show[1]::
+ Show one commit log and its diff.
+
gitlink:git-show-branch[1]::
Show branches and their commits.
Ancillary Commands
-------------------
+~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Manipulators:
gitlink:git-applypatch[1]::
gitlink:git-cvsexportcommit[1]::
Export a single commit to a CVS checkout.
+gitlink:git-cvsserver[1]::
+ A CVS server emulator for git.
+
gitlink:git-lost-found[1]::
Recover lost refs that luckily have not yet been pruned.
gitlink:git-prune[1]::
Prunes all unreachable objects from the object database.
+gitlink:git-quiltimport[1]::
+ Applies a quilt patchset onto the current branch.
+
gitlink:git-relink[1]::
Hardlink common objects in local repositories.
+gitlink:git-svn[1]::
+ Bidirectional operation between a single Subversion branch and git.
+
gitlink:git-svnimport[1]::
Import a SVN repository into git.
Interrogators:
+gitlink:git-annotate[1]::
+ Annotate file lines with commit info.
+
+gitlink:git-blame[1]::
+ Find out where each line in a file came from.
+
gitlink:git-check-ref-format[1]::
Make sure ref name is well formed.
gitlink:git-daemon[1]::
A really simple server for git repositories.
+gitlink:git-fmt-merge-msg[1]::
+ Produce a merge commit message.
+
gitlink:git-get-tar-commit-id[1]::
Extract commit ID from an archive created using git-tar-tree.
+gitlink:git-imap-send[1]::
+ Dump a mailbox from stdin into an imap folder.
+
+gitlink:git-instaweb[1]::
+ Instantly browse your working repository in gitweb.
+
gitlink:git-mailinfo[1]::
Extracts patch and authorship information from a single
e-mail message, optionally transliterating the commit
A stupid program to split UNIX mbox format mailbox into
individual pieces of e-mail.
+gitlink:git-merge-tree[1]::
+ Show three-way merge without touching index.
+
gitlink:git-patch-id[1]::
Compute unique ID for a patch.
Filter out empty lines.
-Commands not yet documented
----------------------------
+Low-level commands (plumbing)
+-----------------------------
-gitlink:gitk[1]::
- The gitk repository browser.
+Although git includes its
+own porcelain layer, its low-level commands are sufficient to support
+development of alternative porcelains. Developers of such porcelains
+might start by reading about gitlink:git-update-index[1] and
+gitlink:git-read-tree[1].
+
+We divide the low-level commands into commands that manipulate objects (in
+the repository, index, and working tree), commands that interrogate and
+compare objects, and commands that move objects and references between
+repositories.
+
+Manipulation commands
+~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+gitlink:git-apply[1]::
+ Reads a "diff -up1" or git generated patch file and
+ applies it to the working tree.
+
+gitlink:git-checkout-index[1]::
+ Copy files from the index to the working tree.
+
+gitlink:git-commit-tree[1]::
+ Creates a new commit object.
+
+gitlink:git-hash-object[1]::
+ Computes the object ID from a file.
+
+gitlink:git-index-pack[1]::
+ Build pack idx file for an existing packed archive.
+
+gitlink:git-init-db[1]::
+ Creates an empty git object database, or reinitialize an
+ existing one.
+
+gitlink:git-merge-index[1]::
+ Runs a merge for files needing merging.
+
+gitlink:git-mktag[1]::
+ Creates a tag object.
+
+gitlink:git-mktree[1]::
+ Build a tree-object from ls-tree formatted text.
+
+gitlink:git-pack-objects[1]::
+ Creates a packed archive of objects.
+
+gitlink:git-prune-packed[1]::
+ Remove extra objects that are already in pack files.
+
+gitlink:git-read-tree[1]::
+ Reads tree information into the index.
+
+gitlink:git-repo-config[1]::
+ Get and set options in .git/config.
+
+gitlink:git-unpack-objects[1]::
+ Unpacks objects out of a packed archive.
+
+gitlink:git-update-index[1]::
+ Registers files in the working tree to the index.
+
+gitlink:git-write-tree[1]::
+ Creates a tree from the index.
+
+
+Interrogation commands
+~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+
+gitlink:git-cat-file[1]::
+ Provide content or type/size information for repository objects.
+
+gitlink:git-describe[1]::
+ Show the most recent tag that is reachable from a commit.
+
+gitlink:git-diff-index[1]::
+ Compares content and mode of blobs between the index and repository.
+
+gitlink:git-diff-files[1]::
+ Compares files in the working tree and the index.
+
+gitlink:git-diff-stages[1]::
+ Compares two "merge stages" in the index.
+
+gitlink:git-diff-tree[1]::
+ Compares the content and mode of blobs found via two tree objects.
+
+gitlink:git-for-each-ref[1]::
+ Output information on each ref.
+
+gitlink:git-fsck-objects[1]::
+ Verifies the connectivity and validity of the objects in the database.
+
+gitlink:git-ls-files[1]::
+ Information about files in the index and the working tree.
+
+gitlink:git-ls-tree[1]::
+ Displays a tree object in human readable form.
+
+gitlink:git-merge-base[1]::
+ Finds as good common ancestors as possible for a merge.
+
+gitlink:git-name-rev[1]::
+ Find symbolic names for given revs.
+
+gitlink:git-pack-redundant[1]::
+ Find redundant pack files.
+
+gitlink:git-rev-list[1]::
+ Lists commit objects in reverse chronological order.
+
+gitlink:git-show-index[1]::
+ Displays contents of a pack idx file.
+
+gitlink:git-show-ref[1]::
+ List references in a local repository.
+
+gitlink:git-tar-tree[1]::
+ Creates a tar archive of the files in the named tree object.
+
+gitlink:git-unpack-file[1]::
+ Creates a temporary file with a blob's contents.
+
+gitlink:git-var[1]::
+ Displays a git logical variable.
+
+gitlink:git-verify-pack[1]::
+ Validates packed git archive files.
+
+In general, the interrogate commands do not touch the files in
+the working tree.
+
+
+Synching repositories
+~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+
+gitlink:git-fetch-pack[1]::
+ Updates from a remote repository (engine for ssh and
+ local transport).
+
+gitlink:git-http-fetch[1]::
+ Downloads a remote git repository via HTTP by walking
+ commit chain.
+
+gitlink:git-local-fetch[1]::
+ Duplicates another git repository on a local system by
+ walking commit chain.
+
+gitlink:git-peek-remote[1]::
+ Lists references on a remote repository using
+ upload-pack protocol (engine for ssh and local
+ transport).
+
+gitlink:git-receive-pack[1]::
+ Invoked by 'git-send-pack' to receive what is pushed to it.
+
+gitlink:git-send-pack[1]::
+ Pushes to a remote repository, intelligently.
+
+gitlink:git-http-push[1]::
+ Push missing objects using HTTP/DAV.
+
+gitlink:git-shell[1]::
+ Restricted shell for GIT-only SSH access.
+
+gitlink:git-ssh-fetch[1]::
+ Pulls from a remote repository over ssh connection by
+ walking commit chain.
+
+gitlink:git-ssh-upload[1]::
+ Helper "server-side" program used by git-ssh-fetch.
+
+gitlink:git-update-server-info[1]::
+ Updates auxiliary information on a dumb server to help
+ clients discover references and packs on it.
+
+gitlink:git-upload-archive[1]::
+ Invoked by 'git-archive' to send a generated archive.
+
+gitlink:git-upload-pack[1]::
+ Invoked by 'git-fetch-pack' to push
+ what are asked for.
Configuration Mechanism
Starting from 0.99.9 (actually mid 0.99.8.GIT), `.git/config` file
is used to hold per-repository configuration options. It is a
-simple text file modelled after `.ini` format familiar to some
+simple text file modeled after `.ini` format familiar to some
people. Here is an example:
------------
a valid head 'name'
(i.e. the contents of `$GIT_DIR/refs/heads/<head>`).
-<snap>::
- a valid snapshot 'name'
- (i.e. the contents of `$GIT_DIR/refs/snap/<snap>`).
+For a more complete list of ways to spell object names, see
+"SPECIFYING REVISIONS" section in gitlink:git-rev-parse[1].
File/Directory Structure
Please see link:repository-layout.html[repository layout] document.
+Read link:hooks.html[hooks] for more details about each hook.
+
Higher level SCMs may provide and manage additional information in the
`$GIT_DIR`.
gitlink:git-diff-files[1];
gitlink:git-diff-tree[1]
+other
+~~~~~
+'GIT_PAGER'::
+ This environment variable overrides `$PAGER`.
+
+'GIT_TRACE'::
+ If this variable is set to "1", "2" or "true" (comparison
+ is case insensitive), git will print `trace:` messages on
+ stderr telling about alias expansion, built-in command
+ execution and external command execution.
+ If this variable is set to an integer value greater than 1
+ and lower than 10 (strictly) then git will interpret this
+ value as an open file descriptor and will try to write the
+ trace messages into this file descriptor.
+ Alternatively, if this variable is set to an absolute path
+ (starting with a '/' character), git will interpret this
+ as a file path and will try to write the trace messages
+ into it.
+
Discussion[[Discussion]]
------------------------
include::README[]