Documentation/git.txt

   1 git(7)
   2 ======
   3 May 2005
   4
   5 NAME
   6 ----
   7 git - the stupid content tracker
   8
   9
  10 SYNOPSIS
  11 --------
  12 'git-<command>' <args>
  13
  14 DESCRIPTION
  15 -----------
  16
  17 This is reference information for the core git commands.
  18
  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!
  23
  24 David Greaves <david@dgreaves.com>
  25 08/05/05
  26
  27 Updated by Junio C Hamano <junkio@cox.net> on 2005-05-05 to
  28 reflect recent changes.
  29
  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.
  36
  37 There are also some ancilliary programs that can be viewed as useful
  38 aids for using the core commands but which are unlikely to be used by
  39 SCMs layered over git.
  40
  41 Manipulation commands
  42 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
  43 link:git-checkout-cache.html[git-checkout-cache]::
  44         Copy files from the cache to the working directory
  45
  46 link:git-commit-tree.html[git-commit-tree]::
  47         Creates a new commit object
  48
  49 link:git-init-db.html[git-init-db]::
  50         Creates an empty git object database
  51
  52 link:git-merge-base.html[git-merge-base]::
  53         Finds as good a common ancestor as possible for a merge
  54
  55 link:git-mktag.html[git-mktag]::
  56         Creates a tag object
  57
  58 link:git-read-tree.html[git-read-tree]::
  59         Reads tree information into the directory cache
  60
  61 link:git-update-cache.html[git-update-cache]::
  62         Modifies the index or directory cache
  63
  64 link:git-hash-object.html[git-hash-object]::
  65         Computes the object ID from a file.
  66
  67 link:git-write-tree.html[git-write-tree]::
  68         Creates a tree from the current cache
  69
  70 Interrogation commands
  71 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
  72 link:git-cat-file.html[git-cat-file]::
  73         Provide content or type information for repository objects
  74
  75 link:git-check-files.html[git-check-files]::
  76         Verify a list of files are up-to-date
  77
  78 link:git-diff-cache.html[git-diff-cache]::
  79         Compares content and mode of blobs between the cache and repository
  80
  81 link:git-diff-files.html[git-diff-files]::
  82         Compares files in the working tree and the cache
  83
  84 link:git-diff-tree.html[git-diff-tree]::
  85         Compares the content and mode of blobs found via two tree objects
  86
  87 link:git-export.html[git-export]::
  88         Exports each commit and a diff against each of its parents
  89
  90 link:git-fsck-cache.html[git-fsck-cache]::
  91         Verifies the connectivity and validity of the objects in the database
  92
  93 link:git-ls-files.html[git-ls-files]::
  94         Information about files in the cache/working directory
  95
  96 link:git-ls-tree.html[git-ls-tree]::
  97         Displays a tree object in human readable form
  98
  99 link:git-merge-cache.html[git-merge-cache]::
 100         Runs a merge for files needing merging
 101
 102 link:git-rev-list.html[git-rev-list]::
 103         Lists commit objects in reverse chronological order
 104
 105 link:git-rev-tree.html[git-rev-tree]::
 106         Provides the revision tree for one or more commits
 107
 108 link:git-tar-tree.html[git-tar-tree]::
 109         Creates a tar archive of the files in the named tree
 110
 111 link:git-unpack-file.html[git-unpack-file]::
 112         Creates a temporary file with a blob's contents
 113
 114 link:git-verify-pack.html[git-verify-pack]::
 115         Validates packed GIT archive files
 116
 117 The interrogate commands may create files - and you can force them to
 118 touch the working file set - but in general they don't
 119
 120
 121 link:git-clone-script.html[git-clone-script]::
 122         Clones a repository into the current repository (user interface)
 123
 124 link:git-clone-pack.html[git-clone-pack]::
 125         Clones a repository into the current repository (engine
 126         for ssh and local transport)
 127
 128 link:git-pull-script.html[git-pull-script]::
 129         Pull from a repote repository via various protocols
 130         (user interface).
 131
 132 link:git-http-pull.html[git-http-pull]::
 133         Downloads a remote GIT repository via HTTP
 134
 135 link:git-local-pull.html[git-local-pull]::
 136         Duplicates another GIT repository on a local system
 137
 138 link:git-ssh-pull.html[git-ssh-pull]::
 139         Pulls from a remote repository over ssh connection
 140
 141 link:git-send-pack.html[git-send-pack]::
 142         Pushes to a remote repository, intelligently.
 143
 144 link:git-receive-pack.html[git-receive-pack]::
 145         Invoked by 'git-send-pack' to receive what is pushed to it.
 146
 147 link:git-clone-pack.html[git-clone-pack]::
 148         Clones from a remote repository.
 149
 150 link:git-fetch-pack.html[git-fetch-pack]::
 151         Updates from a remote repository.
 152
 153 link:git-upload-pack.html[git-upload-pack]::
 154         Invoked by 'git-clone-pack' and 'git-fetch-pack' to push
 155         what are asked for.
 156
 157
 158 Ancilliary Commands
 159 -------------------
 160 Manipulators:
 161
 162 link:git-apply-patch-script.html[git-apply-patch-script]::
 163         Sample script to apply the diffs from git-diff-*
 164
 165 link:git-convert-cache.html[git-convert-cache]::
 166         Converts old-style GIT repository
 167
 168 link:git-merge-one-file-script.html[git-merge-one-file-script]::
 169         The standard helper program to use with "git-merge-cache"
 170
 171 link:git-prune-script.html[git-prune-script]::
 172         Prunes all unreachable objects from the object database
 173
 174 link:git-resolve-script.html[git-resolve-script]::
 175         Script used to merge two trees
 176
 177 link:git-tag-script.html[git-tag-script]::
 178         An example script to create a tag object signed with GPG
 179
 180
 181 Interogators:
 182
 183 link:git-diff-helper.html[git-diff-helper]::
 184         Generates patch format output for git-diff-*
 185
 186 link:git-ssh-push.html[git-ssh-push]::
 187         Helper "server-side" program used by git-ssh-pull
 188
 189
 190
 191 Identifier Terminology
 192 ----------------------
 193 <object>::
 194         Indicates the sha1 identifier for any type of object
 195
 196 <blob>::
 197         Indicates a blob object sha1 identifier
 198
 199 <tree>::
 200         Indicates a tree object sha1 identifier
 201
 202 <commit>::
 203         Indicates a commit object sha1 identifier
 204
 205 <tree-ish>::
 206         Indicates a tree, commit or tag object sha1 identifier.  A
 207         command that takes a <tree-ish> argument ultimately wants to
 208         operate on a <tree> object but automatically dereferences
 209         <commit> and <tag> objects that point at a <tree>.
 210
 211 <type>::
 212         Indicates that an object type is required.
 213         Currently one of: blob/tree/commit/tag
 214
 215 <file>::
 216         Indicates a filename - always relative to the root of
 217         the tree structure GIT_INDEX_FILE describes.
 218
 219 Symbolic Identifiers
 220 --------------------
 221 Any git comand accepting any <object> can also use the following
 222 symbolic notation:
 223
 224 HEAD::
 225         indicates the head of the repository (ie the contents of
 226         `$GIT_DIR/HEAD`)
 227 <tag>::
 228         a valid tag 'name'+
 229         (ie the contents of `$GIT_DIR/refs/tags/<tag>`)
 230 <head>::
 231         a valid head 'name'+
 232         (ie the contents of `$GIT_DIR/refs/heads/<head>`)
 233 <snap>::
 234         a valid snapshot 'name'+
 235         (ie the contents of `$GIT_DIR/refs/snap/<snap>`)
 236
 237
 238 File/Directory Structure
 239 ------------------------
 240 The git-core manipulates the following areas in the directory:
 241
 242  .git/         The base (overridden with $GIT_DIR)
 243    objects/    The object base (overridden with $GIT_OBJECT_DIRECTORY)
 244      ??/       'First 2 chars of object' directories.
 245      pack/     Packed archives.
 246
 247    refs/       Directories containing symbolic names for objects
 248                (each file contains the hex SHA1 + newline)
 249      heads/    Commits which are heads of various sorts
 250      tags/     Tags, by the tag name (or some local renaming of it)
 251      */        Any other subdirectory of refs/ can be used to store
 252                files similar to what are under refs/heads/.
 253    HEAD        Symlink to refs/heads/<current-branch-name>
 254
 255 Higher level SCMs may provide and manage additional information in the
 256 GIT_DIR.
 257
 258 Terminology
 259 -----------
 260 Each line contains terms which you may see used interchangeably
 261
 262  object database, .git directory
 263  directory cache, index
 264  id, sha1, sha1-id, sha1 hash
 265  type, tag
 266
 267
 268 Environment Variables
 269 ---------------------
 270 Various git commands use the following environment variables:
 271
 272 The git Repository
 273 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 274 These environment variables apply to 'all' core git commands. Nb: it
 275 is worth noting that they may be used/overridden by SCMS sitting above
 276 git so take care if using Cogito etc
 277
 278 'GIT_INDEX_FILE'::
 279         This environment allows the specification of an alternate
 280         cache/index file. If not specified, the default of
 281         `$GIT_DIR/index` is used.
 282
 283 'GIT_OBJECT_DIRECTORY'::
 284         If the object storage directory is specified via this
 285         environment variable then the sha1 directories are created
 286         underneath - otherwise the default `$GIT_DIR/objects`
 287         directory is used.
 288
 289 'GIT_ALTERNATE_OBJECT_DIRECTORIES'::
 290         Due to the immutable nature of git objects, old objects can be
 291         archived into shared, read-only directories. This variable
 292         specifies a ":" seperated list of git object directories which
 293         can be used to search for git objects. New objects will not be
 294         written to these directories.
 295
 296 'GIT_DIR'::
 297         If the 'GIT_DIR' environment variable is set then it specifies
 298         a path to use instead of `./.git` for the base of the
 299         repository.
 300
 301 git Commits
 302 ~~~~~~~~~~~
 303 'GIT_AUTHOR_NAME'::
 304 'GIT_AUTHOR_EMAIL'::
 305 'GIT_AUTHOR_DATE'::
 306 'GIT_COMMITTER_NAME'::
 307 'GIT_COMMITTER_EMAIL'::
 308         see link:git-commit-tree.html[git-commit-tree]
 309
 310 git Diffs
 311 ~~~~~~~~~
 312 'GIT_DIFF_OPTS'::
 313 'GIT_EXTERNAL_DIFF'::
 314         see the "generating patches" section in :
 315         link:git-diff-cache.html[git-diff-cache];
 316         link:git-diff-files.html[git-diff-files];
 317         link:git-diff-tree.html[git-diff-tree]
 318
 319 Discussion
 320 ----------
 321 include::../README[]
 322
 323 Author
 324 ------
 325 Written by Linus Torvalds <torvalds@osdl.org> and the git-list <git@vger.kernel.org>.
 326
 327 Documentation
 328 --------------
 329 Documentation by David Greaves, Junio C Hamano and the git-list <git@vger.kernel.org>.
 330
 331 GIT
 332 ---
 333 Part of the link:git.html[git] suite
 334