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, those that
34 interrogate and compare them, and those that moves objects and
35 references between repositories.
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.
41 Manipulation commands
42 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
43 link:git-checkout-cache.html[git-checkout-cache]::
44 Copy files from the cache to the working directory
46 link:git-commit-tree.html[git-commit-tree]::
47 Creates a new commit object
49 link:git-init-db.html[git-init-db]::
50 Creates an empty git object database
52 link:git-merge-base.html[git-merge-base]::
53 Finds as good a common ancestor as possible for a merge
55 link:git-mktag.html[git-mktag]::
56 Creates a tag object
58 link:git-read-tree.html[git-read-tree]::
59 Reads tree information into the directory cache
61 link:git-update-cache.html[git-update-cache]::
62 Modifies the index or directory cache
64 link:git-hash-object.html[git-hash-object]::
65 Computes the object ID from a file.
67 link:git-write-tree.html[git-write-tree]::
68 Creates a tree from the current cache
70 Interrogation commands
71 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
72 link:git-cat-file.html[git-cat-file]::
73 Provide content or type information for repository objects
75 link:git-diff-cache.html[git-diff-cache]::
76 Compares content and mode of blobs between the cache and repository
78 link:git-diff-files.html[git-diff-files]::
79 Compares files in the working tree and the cache
81 link:git-diff-tree.html[git-diff-tree]::
82 Compares the content and mode of blobs found via two tree objects
84 link:git-export.html[git-export]::
85 Exports each commit and a diff against each of its parents
87 link:git-fsck-cache.html[git-fsck-cache]::
88 Verifies the connectivity and validity of the objects in the database
90 link:git-ls-files.html[git-ls-files]::
91 Information about files in the cache/working directory
93 link:git-ls-tree.html[git-ls-tree]::
94 Displays a tree object in human readable form
96 link:git-merge-cache.html[git-merge-cache]::
97 Runs a merge for files needing merging
99 link:git-rev-list.html[git-rev-list]::
100 Lists commit objects in reverse chronological order
102 link:git-rev-tree.html[git-rev-tree]::
103 Provides the revision tree for one or more commits
105 link:git-tar-tree.html[git-tar-tree]::
106 Creates a tar archive of the files in the named tree
108 link:git-unpack-file.html[git-unpack-file]::
109 Creates a temporary file with a blob's contents
111 link:git-var.html[git-var]::
112 Displays a git logical variable
114 link:git-verify-pack.html[git-verify-pack]::
115 Validates packed GIT archive files
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
121 Synching repositories
122 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
124 link:git-clone-script.html[git-clone-script]::
125 Clones a repository into the current repository (user interface)
127 link:git-clone-pack.html[git-clone-pack]::
128 Clones a repository into the current repository (engine
129 for ssh and local transport)
131 link:git-fetch-script.html[git-fetch-script]::
132 Download from a remote repository via various protocols
133 (user interface).
135 link:git-pull-script.html[git-pull-script]::
136 Fetch from and merge with a remote repository via
137 various protocols (user interface).
139 link:git-http-pull.html[git-http-pull]::
140 Downloads a remote GIT repository via HTTP
142 link:git-local-pull.html[git-local-pull]::
143 Duplicates another GIT repository on a local system
145 link:git-ssh-pull.html[git-ssh-pull]::
146 Pulls from a remote repository over ssh connection
148 link:git-send-pack.html[git-send-pack]::
149 Pushes to a remote repository, intelligently.
151 link:git-receive-pack.html[git-receive-pack]::
152 Invoked by 'git-send-pack' to receive what is pushed to it.
154 link:git-clone-pack.html[git-clone-pack]::
155 Clones from a remote repository.
157 link:git-fetch-pack.html[git-fetch-pack]::
158 Updates from a remote repository.
160 link:git-peek-remote.html[git-peek-remote]::
161 Lists references on a remote repository using upload-pack protocol.
163 link:git-upload-pack.html[git-upload-pack]::
164 Invoked by 'git-clone-pack' and 'git-fetch-pack' to push
165 what are asked for.
167 link:git-update-server-info.html[git-update-server-info]::
168 Updates auxiliary information on a dumb server to help
169 clients discover references and packs on it.
172 Ancilliary Commands
173 -------------------
174 Manipulators:
176 link:git-apply-patch-script.html[git-apply-patch-script]::
177 Sample script to apply the diffs from git-diff-*
179 link:git-convert-cache.html[git-convert-cache]::
180 Converts old-style GIT repository
182 link:git-merge-one-file-script.html[git-merge-one-file-script]::
183 The standard helper program to use with "git-merge-cache"
185 link:git-prune-script.html[git-prune-script]::
186 Prunes all unreachable objects from the object database
188 link:git-resolve-script.html[git-resolve-script]::
189 Script used to merge two trees
191 link:git-tag-script.html[git-tag-script]::
192 An example script to create a tag object signed with GPG
195 Interogators:
197 link:git-diff-helper.html[git-diff-helper]::
198 Generates patch format output for git-diff-*
200 link:git-ssh-push.html[git-ssh-push]::
201 Helper "server-side" program used by git-ssh-pull
205 Identifier Terminology
206 ----------------------
207 <object>::
208 Indicates the sha1 identifier for any type of object
210 <blob>::
211 Indicates a blob object sha1 identifier
213 <tree>::
214 Indicates a tree object sha1 identifier
216 <commit>::
217 Indicates a commit object sha1 identifier
219 <tree-ish>::
220 Indicates a tree, commit or tag object sha1 identifier. A
221 command that takes a <tree-ish> argument ultimately wants to
222 operate on a <tree> object but automatically dereferences
223 <commit> and <tag> objects that point at a <tree>.
225 <type>::
226 Indicates that an object type is required.
227 Currently one of: blob/tree/commit/tag
229 <file>::
230 Indicates a filename - always relative to the root of
231 the tree structure GIT_INDEX_FILE describes.
233 Symbolic Identifiers
234 --------------------
235 Any git comand accepting any <object> can also use the following
236 symbolic notation:
238 HEAD::
239 indicates the head of the repository (ie the contents of
240 `$GIT_DIR/HEAD`)
241 <tag>::
242 a valid tag 'name'+
243 (ie the contents of `$GIT_DIR/refs/tags/<tag>`)
244 <head>::
245 a valid head 'name'+
246 (ie the contents of `$GIT_DIR/refs/heads/<head>`)
247 <snap>::
248 a valid snapshot 'name'+
249 (ie the contents of `$GIT_DIR/refs/snap/<snap>`)
252 File/Directory Structure
253 ------------------------
254 The git-core manipulates the following areas in the directory:
256 .git/ The base (overridden with $GIT_DIR)
257 objects/ The object base (overridden with $GIT_OBJECT_DIRECTORY)
258 ??/ 'First 2 chars of object' directories.
259 pack/ Packed archives.
261 refs/ Directories containing symbolic names for objects
262 (each file contains the hex SHA1 + newline)
263 heads/ Commits which are heads of various sorts
264 tags/ Tags, by the tag name (or some local renaming of it)
265 */ Any other subdirectory of refs/ can be used to store
266 files similar to what are under refs/heads/.
267 HEAD Symlink to refs/heads/<current-branch-name>
269 Higher level SCMs may provide and manage additional information in the
270 GIT_DIR.
272 Terminology
273 -----------
274 Each line contains terms which you may see used interchangeably
276 object database, .git directory
277 directory cache, index
278 id, sha1, sha1-id, sha1 hash
279 type, tag
282 Environment Variables
283 ---------------------
284 Various git commands use the following environment variables:
286 The git Repository
287 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
288 These environment variables apply to 'all' core git commands. Nb: it
289 is worth noting that they may be used/overridden by SCMS sitting above
290 git so take care if using Cogito etc
292 'GIT_INDEX_FILE'::
293 This environment allows the specification of an alternate
294 cache/index file. If not specified, the default of
295 `$GIT_DIR/index` is used.
297 'GIT_OBJECT_DIRECTORY'::
298 If the object storage directory is specified via this
299 environment variable then the sha1 directories are created
300 underneath - otherwise the default `$GIT_DIR/objects`
301 directory is used.
303 'GIT_ALTERNATE_OBJECT_DIRECTORIES'::
304 Due to the immutable nature of git objects, old objects can be
305 archived into shared, read-only directories. This variable
306 specifies a ":" seperated list of git object directories which
307 can be used to search for git objects. New objects will not be
308 written to these directories.
310 'GIT_DIR'::
311 If the 'GIT_DIR' environment variable is set then it specifies
312 a path to use instead of `./.git` for the base of the
313 repository.
315 git Commits
316 ~~~~~~~~~~~
317 'GIT_AUTHOR_NAME'::
318 'GIT_AUTHOR_EMAIL'::
319 'GIT_AUTHOR_DATE'::
320 'GIT_COMMITTER_NAME'::
321 'GIT_COMMITTER_EMAIL'::
322 see link:git-commit-tree.html[git-commit-tree]
324 git Diffs
325 ~~~~~~~~~
326 'GIT_DIFF_OPTS'::
327 'GIT_EXTERNAL_DIFF'::
328 see the "generating patches" section in :
329 link:git-diff-cache.html[git-diff-cache];
330 link:git-diff-files.html[git-diff-files];
331 link:git-diff-tree.html[git-diff-tree]
333 Discussion
334 ----------
335 include::../README[]
337 Author
338 ------
339 Written by Linus Torvalds <torvalds@osdl.org> and the git-list <git@vger.kernel.org>.
341 Documentation
342 --------------
343 Documentation by David Greaves, Junio C Hamano and the git-list <git@vger.kernel.org>.
345 GIT
346 ---
347 Part of the link:git.html[git] suite