1 git(7)
2 ======
3 May 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 and those that
34 interrogate and compare them.
36 There are also some ancilliary programs that can be viewed as useful
37 aids for using the core commands but which are unlikely to be used by
38 SCMs layered over git.
40 Manipulation commands
41 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
42 link:git-checkout-cache.html[git-checkout-cache]::
43 Copy files from the cache to the working directory
45 link:git-commit-tree.html[git-commit-tree]::
46 Creates a new commit object
48 link:git-init-db.html[git-init-db]::
49 Creates an empty git object database
51 link:git-merge-base.html[git-merge-base]::
52 Finds as good a common ancestor as possible for a merge
54 link:git-mkdelta.html[git-mkdelta]::
55 Creates a delta object
57 link:git-mktag.html[git-mktag]::
58 Creates a tag object
60 link:git-read-tree.html[git-read-tree]::
61 Reads tree information into the directory cache
63 link:git-update-cache.html[git-update-cache]::
64 Modifies the index or directory cache
66 link:git-write-blob.html[git-write-blob]::
67 Creates a blob from a file
69 link:git-write-tree.html[git-write-tree]::
70 Creates a tree from the current cache
72 Interrogation commands
73 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
74 link:git-cat-file.html[git-cat-file]::
75 Provide content or type information for repository objects
77 link:git-check-files.html[git-check-files]::
78 Verify a list of files are up-to-date
80 link:git-diff-cache.html[git-diff-cache]::
81 Compares content and mode of blobs between the cache and repository
83 link:git-diff-files.html[git-diff-files]::
84 Compares files in the working tree and the cache
86 link:git-diff-tree.html[git-diff-tree]::
87 Compares the content and mode of blobs found via two tree objects
89 link:git-export.html[git-export]::
90 Exports each commit and a diff against each of its parents
92 link:git-fsck-cache.html[git-fsck-cache]::
93 Verifies the connectivity and validity of the objects in the database
95 link:git-ls-files.html[git-ls-files]::
96 Information about files in the cache/working directory
98 link:git-ls-tree.html[git-ls-tree]::
99 Displays a tree object in human readable form
101 link:git-merge-cache.html[git-merge-cache]::
102 Runs a merge for files needing merging
104 link:git-rev-list.html[git-rev-list]::
105 Lists commit objects in reverse chronological order
107 link:git-rev-tree.html[git-rev-tree]::
108 Provides the revision tree for one or more commits
110 link:git-tar-tree.html[git-tar-tree]::
111 Creates a tar archive of the files in the named tree
113 link:git-unpack-file.html[git-unpack-file]::
114 Creates a temporary file with a blob's contents
116 The interrogate commands may create files - and you can force them to
117 touch the working file set - but in general they don't
120 Ancilliary Commands
121 -------------------
122 Manipulators:
124 link:git-apply-patch-script.html[git-apply-patch-script]::
125 Sample script to apply the diffs from git-diff-*
127 link:git-convert-cache.html[git-convert-cache]::
128 Converts old-style GIT repository
130 link:git-http-pull.html[git-http-pull]::
131 Downloads a remote GIT repository via HTTP
133 link:git-local-pull.html[git-local-pull]::
134 Duplicates another GIT repository on a local system
136 link:git-merge-one-file-script.html[git-merge-one-file-script]::
137 The standard helper program to use with "git-merge-cache"
139 link:git-pull-script.html[git-pull-script]::
140 Script used by Linus to pull and merge a remote repository
142 link:git-prune-script.html[git-prune-script]::
143 Prunes all unreachable objects from the object database
145 link:git-resolve-script.html[git-resolve-script]::
146 Script used to merge two trees
148 link:git-tag-script.html[git-tag-script]::
149 An example script to create a tag object signed with GPG
151 link:git-rpull.html[git-rpull]::
152 Pulls from a remote repository over ssh connection
154 Interogators:
156 link:git-diff-helper.html[git-diff-helper]::
157 Generates patch format output for git-diff-*
159 link:git-rpush.html[git-rpush]::
160 Helper "server-side" program used by git-rpull
164 Identifier Terminology
165 ----------------------
166 <object>::
167 Indicates the sha1 identifier for any type of object
169 <blob>::
170 Indicates a blob object sha1 identifier
172 <tree>::
173 Indicates a tree object sha1 identifier
175 <commit>::
176 Indicates a commit object sha1 identifier
178 <tree-ish>::
179 Indicates a tree, commit or tag object sha1 identifier. A
180 command that takes a <tree-ish> argument ultimately wants to
181 operate on a <tree> object but automatically dereferences
182 <commit> and <tag> objects that point at a <tree>.
184 <type>::
185 Indicates that an object type is required.
186 Currently one of: blob/tree/commit/tag
188 <file>::
189 Indicates a filename - always relative to the root of
190 the tree structure GIT_INDEX_FILE describes.
192 Symbolic Identifiers
193 --------------------
194 Any git comand accepting any <object> can also use the following
195 symbolic notation:
197 HEAD::
198 indicates the head of the repository (ie the contents of
199 `$GIT_DIR/HEAD`)
200 <tag>::
201 a valid tag 'name'+
202 (ie the contents of `$GIT_DIR/refs/tags/<tag>`)
203 <head>::
204 a valid head 'name'+
205 (ie the contents of `$GIT_DIR/refs/heads/<head>`)
206 <snap>::
207 a valid snapshot 'name'+
208 (ie the contents of `$GIT_DIR/refs/snap/<snap>`)
211 File/Directory Structure
212 ------------------------
213 The git-core manipulates the following areas in the directory:
215 .git/ The base (overridden with $GIT_DIR)
216 objects/ The object base (overridden with $GIT_OBJECT_DIRECTORY)
217 ??/ 'First 2 chars of object' directories
219 It can interrogate (but never updates) the following areas:
221 refs/ Directories containing symbolic names for objects
222 (each file contains the hex SHA1 + newline)
223 heads/ Commits which are heads of various sorts
224 tags/ Tags, by the tag name (or some local renaming of it)
225 snap/ ????
226 ... Everything else isn't shared
227 HEAD Symlink to refs/heads/<something>
229 Higher level SCMs may provide and manage additional information in the
230 GIT_DIR.
232 Terminology
233 -----------
234 Each line contains terms which you may see used interchangeably
236 object database, .git directory
237 directory cache, index
238 id, sha1, sha1-id, sha1 hash
239 type, tag
242 Environment Variables
243 ---------------------
244 Various git commands use the following environment variables:
246 The git Repository
247 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
248 These environment variables apply to 'all' core git commands. Nb: it
249 is worth noting that they may be used/overridden by SCMS sitting above
250 git so take care if using Cogito etc
252 'GIT_INDEX_FILE'::
253 This environment allows the specification of an alternate
254 cache/index file. If not specified, the default of
255 `$GIT_DIR/index` is used.
257 'GIT_OBJECT_DIRECTORY'::
258 If the object storage directory is specified via this
259 environment variable then the sha1 directories are created
260 underneath - otherwise the default `$GIT_DIR/objects`
261 directory is used.
263 'GIT_ALTERNATE_OBJECT_DIRECTORIES'::
264 Due to the immutable nature of git objects, old objects can be
265 archived into shared, read-only directories. This variable
266 specifies a ":" seperated list of git object directories which
267 can be used to search for git objects. New objects will not be
268 written to these directories.
270 'GIT_DIR'::
271 If the 'GIT_DIR' environment variable is set then it specifies
272 a path to use instead of `./.git` for the base of the
273 repository.
275 git Commits
276 ~~~~~~~~~~~
277 'GIT_AUTHOR_NAME'::
278 'GIT_AUTHOR_EMAIL'::
279 'GIT_AUTHOR_DATE'::
280 'GIT_COMMITTER_NAME'::
281 'GIT_COMMITTER_EMAIL'::
282 see link:git-commit-tree.html[git-commit-tree]
284 git Diffs
285 ~~~~~~~~~
286 'GIT_DIFF_OPTS'::
287 'GIT_EXTERNAL_DIFF'::
288 see the "generating patches" section in :
289 link:git-diff-cache.html[git-diff-cache];
290 link:git-diff-files.html[git-diff-files];
291 link:git-diff-tree.html[git-diff-tree]
293 Discussion
294 ----------
295 include::../README[]
297 Author
298 ------
299 Written by Linus Torvalds <torvalds@osdl.org> and the git-list <git@vger.kernel.org>.
301 Documentation
302 --------------
303 Documentation by David Greaves, Junio C Hamano and the git-list <git@vger.kernel.org>.
305 GIT
306 ---
307 Part of the link:git.html[git] suite