1 git(7)
2 ======
3 v0.99.4, Aug 2005
5 NAME
6 ----
7 git - the stupid content tracker
10 SYNOPSIS
11 --------
12 'git-<command>' <args>
14 DESCRIPTION
15 -----------
17 This is reference information for the core git commands.
19 The Discussion section below contains much useful definition and
20 clarification info - read that first. And of the commands, I suggest
21 reading link:git-update-cache.html[git-update-cache] and
22 link:git-read-tree.html[git-read-tree] first - I wish I had!
24 David Greaves <david@dgreaves.com>
25 08/05/05
27 Updated by Junio C Hamano <junkio@cox.net> on 2005-05-05 to
28 reflect recent changes.
30 Commands Overview
31 -----------------
32 The git commands can helpfully be split into those that manipulate
33 the repository, the cache and the working fileset, those that
34 interrogate and compare them, and those that moves objects and
35 references between repositories.
37 In addition, git itself comes with a spartan set of porcelain
38 commands. They are usable but are not meant to compete with real
39 Porcelains.
41 There are also some ancillary programs that can be viewed as useful
42 aids for using the core commands but which are unlikely to be used by
43 SCMs layered over git.
45 Manipulation commands
46 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
47 link:git-checkout-cache.html[git-checkout-cache]::
48 Copy files from the cache to the working directory
50 link:git-commit-tree.html[git-commit-tree]::
51 Creates a new commit object
53 link:git-init-db.html[git-init-db]::
54 Creates an empty git object database
56 link:git-merge-base.html[git-merge-base]::
57 Finds as good a common ancestor as possible for a merge
59 link:git-mktag.html[git-mktag]::
60 Creates a tag object
62 link:git-read-tree.html[git-read-tree]::
63 Reads tree information into the directory cache
65 link:git-update-cache.html[git-update-cache]::
66 Modifies the index or directory cache
68 link:git-hash-object.html[git-hash-object]::
69 Computes the object ID from a file.
71 link:git-write-tree.html[git-write-tree]::
72 Creates a tree from the current cache
74 link:git-pack-objects.html[git-pack-objects]::
75 Creates a packed archive of objects.
77 link:git-prune-packed.html[git-prune-packed]::
78 Remove extra objects that are already in pack files.
81 Interrogation commands
82 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
83 link:git-cat-file.html[git-cat-file]::
84 Provide content or type information for repository objects
86 link:git-diff-cache.html[git-diff-cache]::
87 Compares content and mode of blobs between the cache and repository
89 link:git-diff-files.html[git-diff-files]::
90 Compares files in the working tree and the cache
92 link:git-diff-tree.html[git-diff-tree]::
93 Compares the content and mode of blobs found via two tree objects
95 link:git-export.html[git-export]::
96 Exports each commit and a diff against each of its parents
98 link:git-fsck-cache.html[git-fsck-cache]::
99 Verifies the connectivity and validity of the objects in the database
101 link:git-ls-files.html[git-ls-files]::
102 Information about files in the cache/working directory
104 link:git-ls-tree.html[git-ls-tree]::
105 Displays a tree object in human readable form
107 link:git-merge-cache.html[git-merge-cache]::
108 Runs a merge for files needing merging
110 link:git-rev-list.html[git-rev-list]::
111 Lists commit objects in reverse chronological order
113 link:git-rev-tree.html[git-rev-tree]::
114 Provides the revision tree for one or more commits
116 link:git-tar-tree.html[git-tar-tree]::
117 Creates a tar archive of the files in the named tree
119 link:git-unpack-file.html[git-unpack-file]::
120 Creates a temporary file with a blob's contents
122 link:git-var.html[git-var]::
123 Displays a git logical variable
125 link:git-verify-pack.html[git-verify-pack]::
126 Validates packed GIT archive files
128 The interrogate commands may create files - and you can force them to
129 touch the working file set - but in general they don't
132 Synching repositories
133 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
135 link:git-clone-script.html[git-clone-script]::
136 Clones a repository into the current repository (user interface)
138 link:git-clone-pack.html[git-clone-pack]::
139 Clones a repository into the current repository (engine
140 for ssh and local transport)
142 link:git-http-pull.html[git-http-pull]::
143 Downloads a remote GIT repository via HTTP
145 link:git-local-pull.html[git-local-pull]::
146 Duplicates another GIT repository on a local system
148 link:git-ssh-pull.html[git-ssh-pull]::
149 Pulls from a remote repository over ssh connection
151 link:git-send-pack.html[git-send-pack]::
152 Pushes to a remote repository, intelligently.
154 link:git-receive-pack.html[git-receive-pack]::
155 Invoked by 'git-send-pack' to receive what is pushed to it.
157 link:git-clone-pack.html[git-clone-pack]::
158 Clones from a remote repository.
160 link:git-fetch-pack.html[git-fetch-pack]::
161 Updates from a remote repository.
163 link:git-peek-remote.html[git-peek-remote]::
164 Lists references on a remote repository using upload-pack protocol.
166 link:git-upload-pack.html[git-upload-pack]::
167 Invoked by 'git-clone-pack' and 'git-fetch-pack' to push
168 what are asked for.
170 link:git-update-server-info.html[git-update-server-info]::
171 Updates auxiliary information on a dumb server to help
172 clients discover references and packs on it.
175 Porcelain-ish Commands
176 ----------------------
177 link:git-whatchanged.html[git-whatchanged]::
178 Shows commit logs and differences they introduce.
180 link:git-log-script.html[git-log-script]::
181 Shows commit logs.
183 link:git-shortlog.html[git-shortlog]::
184 Summarizes 'git log' output.
186 link:git-status-script.html[git-status-script]::
187 Shows the working tree status.
189 link:git-fetch-script.html[git-fetch-script]::
190 Download from a remote repository via various protocols.
192 link:git-pull-script.html[git-pull-script]::
193 Fetch from and merge with a remote repository.
195 link:git-commit-script.html[git-commit-script]::
196 Record changes to the repository.
198 link:git-show-branches-script.html[git-show-branches-script]::
199 Show branches and their commits.
201 link:git-repack-script.html[git-repack-script]::
202 Pack unpacked objects in a repository.
205 Ancillary Commands
206 ------------------
207 Manipulators:
209 link:git-apply-patch-script.html[git-apply-patch-script]::
210 Sample script to apply the diffs from git-diff-*
212 link:git-convert-cache.html[git-convert-cache]::
213 Converts old-style GIT repository
215 link:git-merge-one-file-script.html[git-merge-one-file-script]::
216 The standard helper program to use with "git-merge-cache"
218 link:git-prune-script.html[git-prune-script]::
219 Prunes all unreachable objects from the object database
221 link:git-resolve-script.html[git-resolve-script]::
222 Script used to merge two trees
224 link:git-tag-script.html[git-tag-script]::
225 An example script to create a tag object signed with GPG
228 Interrogators:
230 link:git-diff-helper.html[git-diff-helper]::
231 Generates patch format output for git-diff-*
233 link:git-ssh-push.html[git-ssh-push]::
234 Helper "server-side" program used by git-ssh-pull
238 Identifier Terminology
239 ----------------------
240 <object>::
241 Indicates the sha1 identifier for any type of object
243 <blob>::
244 Indicates a blob object sha1 identifier
246 <tree>::
247 Indicates a tree object sha1 identifier
249 <commit>::
250 Indicates a commit object sha1 identifier
252 <tree-ish>::
253 Indicates a tree, commit or tag object sha1 identifier. A
254 command that takes a <tree-ish> argument ultimately wants to
255 operate on a <tree> object but automatically dereferences
256 <commit> and <tag> objects that point at a <tree>.
258 <type>::
259 Indicates that an object type is required.
260 Currently one of: blob/tree/commit/tag
262 <file>::
263 Indicates a filename - always relative to the root of
264 the tree structure GIT_INDEX_FILE describes.
266 Symbolic Identifiers
267 --------------------
268 Any git command accepting any <object> can also use the following
269 symbolic notation:
271 HEAD::
272 indicates the head of the repository (ie the contents of
273 `$GIT_DIR/HEAD`)
274 <tag>::
275 a valid tag 'name'+
276 (ie the contents of `$GIT_DIR/refs/tags/<tag>`)
277 <head>::
278 a valid head 'name'+
279 (ie the contents of `$GIT_DIR/refs/heads/<head>`)
280 <snap>::
281 a valid snapshot 'name'+
282 (ie the contents of `$GIT_DIR/refs/snap/<snap>`)
285 File/Directory Structure
286 ------------------------
287 The git-core manipulates the following areas in the directory:
289 .git/ The base (overridden with $GIT_DIR)
290 objects/ The object base (overridden with $GIT_OBJECT_DIRECTORY)
291 ??/ 'First 2 chars of object' directories.
292 pack/ Packed archives.
294 refs/ Directories containing symbolic names for objects
295 (each file contains the hex SHA1 + newline)
296 heads/ Commits which are heads of various sorts
297 tags/ Tags, by the tag name (or some local renaming of it)
298 */ Any other subdirectory of refs/ can be used to store
299 files similar to what are under refs/heads/.
300 HEAD Symlink to refs/heads/<current-branch-name>
302 Higher level SCMs may provide and manage additional information in the
303 GIT_DIR.
305 Terminology
306 -----------
307 Each line contains terms which you may see used interchangeably
309 object database, .git directory
310 directory cache, index
311 id, sha1, sha1-id, sha1 hash
312 type, tag
315 Environment Variables
316 ---------------------
317 Various git commands use the following environment variables:
319 The git Repository
320 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
321 These environment variables apply to 'all' core git commands. Nb: it
322 is worth noting that they may be used/overridden by SCMS sitting above
323 git so take care if using Cogito etc
325 'GIT_INDEX_FILE'::
326 This environment allows the specification of an alternate
327 cache/index file. If not specified, the default of
328 `$GIT_DIR/index` is used.
330 'GIT_OBJECT_DIRECTORY'::
331 If the object storage directory is specified via this
332 environment variable then the sha1 directories are created
333 underneath - otherwise the default `$GIT_DIR/objects`
334 directory is used.
336 'GIT_ALTERNATE_OBJECT_DIRECTORIES'::
337 Due to the immutable nature of git objects, old objects can be
338 archived into shared, read-only directories. This variable
339 specifies a ":" separated list of git object directories which
340 can be used to search for git objects. New objects will not be
341 written to these directories.
343 'GIT_DIR'::
344 If the 'GIT_DIR' environment variable is set then it specifies
345 a path to use instead of `./.git` for the base of the
346 repository.
348 git Commits
349 ~~~~~~~~~~~
350 'GIT_AUTHOR_NAME'::
351 'GIT_AUTHOR_EMAIL'::
352 'GIT_AUTHOR_DATE'::
353 'GIT_COMMITTER_NAME'::
354 'GIT_COMMITTER_EMAIL'::
355 see link:git-commit-tree.html[git-commit-tree]
357 git Diffs
358 ~~~~~~~~~
359 'GIT_DIFF_OPTS'::
360 'GIT_EXTERNAL_DIFF'::
361 see the "generating patches" section in :
362 link:git-diff-cache.html[git-diff-cache];
363 link:git-diff-files.html[git-diff-files];
364 link:git-diff-tree.html[git-diff-tree]
366 Discussion
367 ----------
368 include::../README[]
370 Author
371 ------
372 Written by Linus Torvalds <torvalds@osdl.org> and the git-list <git@vger.kernel.org>.
374 Documentation
375 --------------
376 Documentation by David Greaves, Junio C Hamano and the git-list <git@vger.kernel.org>.
378 GIT
379 ---
380 Part of the link:git.html[git] suite