1 git(1)
2 ======
4 NAME
5 ----
6 git - the stupid content tracker
9 SYNOPSIS
10 --------
11 [verse]
12 'git' [--version] [--exec-path[=GIT_EXEC_PATH]] [--html-path]
13 [-p|--paginate|--no-pager]
14 [--bare] [--git-dir=GIT_DIR] [--work-tree=GIT_WORK_TREE]
15 [--help] COMMAND [ARGS]
17 DESCRIPTION
18 -----------
19 Git is a fast, scalable, distributed revision control system with an
20 unusually rich command set that provides both high-level operations
21 and full access to internals.
23 See linkgit:gittutorial[7] to get started, then see
24 link:everyday.html[Everyday Git] for a useful minimum set of commands, and
25 "man git-commandname" for documentation of each command. CVS users may
26 also want to read linkgit:gitcvs-migration[7]. See
27 the link:user-manual.html[Git User's Manual] for a more in-depth
28 introduction.
30 The COMMAND is either a name of a Git command (see below) or an alias
31 as defined in the configuration file (see linkgit:git-config[1]).
33 Formatted and hyperlinked version of the latest git
34 documentation can be viewed at
35 `http://www.kernel.org/pub/software/scm/git/docs/`.
37 ifdef::stalenotes[]
38 [NOTE]
39 ============
41 You are reading the documentation for the latest (possibly
42 unreleased) version of git, that is available from 'master'
43 branch of the `git.git` repository.
44 Documentation for older releases are available here:
46 * link:v1.6.2.1/git.html[documentation for release 1.6.2.1]
48 * release notes for
49 link:RelNotes-1.6.2.1.txt[1.6.2.1],
50 link:RelNotes-1.6.2.txt[1.6.2].
52 * link:v1.6.1.3/git.html[documentation for release 1.6.1.3]
54 * release notes for
55 link:RelNotes-1.6.1.3.txt[1.6.1.3],
56 link:RelNotes-1.6.1.2.txt[1.6.1.2],
57 link:RelNotes-1.6.1.1.txt[1.6.1.1],
58 link:RelNotes-1.6.1.txt[1.6.1].
60 * link:v1.6.0.6/git.html[documentation for release 1.6.0.6]
62 * release notes for
63 link:RelNotes-1.6.0.6.txt[1.6.0.6],
64 link:RelNotes-1.6.0.5.txt[1.6.0.5],
65 link:RelNotes-1.6.0.4.txt[1.6.0.4],
66 link:RelNotes-1.6.0.3.txt[1.6.0.3],
67 link:RelNotes-1.6.0.2.txt[1.6.0.2],
68 link:RelNotes-1.6.0.1.txt[1.6.0.1],
69 link:RelNotes-1.6.0.txt[1.6.0].
71 * link:v1.5.6.6/git.html[documentation for release 1.5.6.6]
73 * release notes for
74 link:RelNotes-1.5.6.6.txt[1.5.6.6],
75 link:RelNotes-1.5.6.5.txt[1.5.6.5],
76 link:RelNotes-1.5.6.4.txt[1.5.6.4],
77 link:RelNotes-1.5.6.3.txt[1.5.6.3],
78 link:RelNotes-1.5.6.2.txt[1.5.6.2],
79 link:RelNotes-1.5.6.1.txt[1.5.6.1],
80 link:RelNotes-1.5.6.txt[1.5.6].
82 * link:v1.5.5.6/git.html[documentation for release 1.5.5.6]
84 * release notes for
85 link:RelNotes-1.5.5.6.txt[1.5.5.6],
86 link:RelNotes-1.5.5.5.txt[1.5.5.5],
87 link:RelNotes-1.5.5.4.txt[1.5.5.4],
88 link:RelNotes-1.5.5.3.txt[1.5.5.3],
89 link:RelNotes-1.5.5.2.txt[1.5.5.2],
90 link:RelNotes-1.5.5.1.txt[1.5.5.1],
91 link:RelNotes-1.5.5.txt[1.5.5].
93 * link:v1.5.4.7/git.html[documentation for release 1.5.4.7]
95 * release notes for
96 link:RelNotes-1.5.4.7.txt[1.5.4.7],
97 link:RelNotes-1.5.4.6.txt[1.5.4.6],
98 link:RelNotes-1.5.4.5.txt[1.5.4.5],
99 link:RelNotes-1.5.4.4.txt[1.5.4.4],
100 link:RelNotes-1.5.4.3.txt[1.5.4.3],
101 link:RelNotes-1.5.4.2.txt[1.5.4.2],
102 link:RelNotes-1.5.4.1.txt[1.5.4.1],
103 link:RelNotes-1.5.4.txt[1.5.4].
105 * link:v1.5.3.8/git.html[documentation for release 1.5.3.8]
107 * release notes for
108 link:RelNotes-1.5.3.8.txt[1.5.3.8],
109 link:RelNotes-1.5.3.7.txt[1.5.3.7],
110 link:RelNotes-1.5.3.6.txt[1.5.3.6],
111 link:RelNotes-1.5.3.5.txt[1.5.3.5],
112 link:RelNotes-1.5.3.4.txt[1.5.3.4],
113 link:RelNotes-1.5.3.3.txt[1.5.3.3],
114 link:RelNotes-1.5.3.2.txt[1.5.3.2],
115 link:RelNotes-1.5.3.1.txt[1.5.3.1],
116 link:RelNotes-1.5.3.txt[1.5.3].
118 * link:v1.5.2.5/git.html[documentation for release 1.5.2.5]
120 * release notes for
121 link:RelNotes-1.5.2.5.txt[1.5.2.5],
122 link:RelNotes-1.5.2.4.txt[1.5.2.4],
123 link:RelNotes-1.5.2.3.txt[1.5.2.3],
124 link:RelNotes-1.5.2.2.txt[1.5.2.2],
125 link:RelNotes-1.5.2.1.txt[1.5.2.1],
126 link:RelNotes-1.5.2.txt[1.5.2].
128 * link:v1.5.1.6/git.html[documentation for release 1.5.1.6]
130 * release notes for
131 link:RelNotes-1.5.1.6.txt[1.5.1.6],
132 link:RelNotes-1.5.1.5.txt[1.5.1.5],
133 link:RelNotes-1.5.1.4.txt[1.5.1.4],
134 link:RelNotes-1.5.1.3.txt[1.5.1.3],
135 link:RelNotes-1.5.1.2.txt[1.5.1.2],
136 link:RelNotes-1.5.1.1.txt[1.5.1.1],
137 link:RelNotes-1.5.1.txt[1.5.1].
139 * link:v1.5.0.7/git.html[documentation for release 1.5.0.7]
141 * release notes for
142 link:RelNotes-1.5.0.7.txt[1.5.0.7],
143 link:RelNotes-1.5.0.6.txt[1.5.0.6],
144 link:RelNotes-1.5.0.5.txt[1.5.0.5],
145 link:RelNotes-1.5.0.3.txt[1.5.0.3],
146 link:RelNotes-1.5.0.2.txt[1.5.0.2],
147 link:RelNotes-1.5.0.1.txt[1.5.0.1],
148 link:RelNotes-1.5.0.txt[1.5.0].
150 * documentation for release link:v1.4.4.4/git.html[1.4.4.4],
151 link:v1.3.3/git.html[1.3.3],
152 link:v1.2.6/git.html[1.2.6],
153 link:v1.0.13/git.html[1.0.13].
155 ============
157 endif::stalenotes[]
159 OPTIONS
160 -------
161 --version::
162 Prints the git suite version that the 'git' program came from.
164 --help::
165 Prints the synopsis and a list of the most commonly used
166 commands. If the option '--all' or '-a' is given then all
167 available commands are printed. If a git command is named this
168 option will bring up the manual page for that command.
169 +
170 Other options are available to control how the manual page is
171 displayed. See linkgit:git-help[1] for more information,
172 because `git --help ...` is converted internally into `git
173 help ...`.
175 --exec-path::
176 Path to wherever your core git programs are installed.
177 This can also be controlled by setting the GIT_EXEC_PATH
178 environment variable. If no path is given, 'git' will print
179 the current setting and then exit.
181 --html-path::
182 Print the path to wherever your git HTML documentation is installed
183 and exit.
185 -p::
186 --paginate::
187 Pipe all output into 'less' (or if set, $PAGER).
189 --no-pager::
190 Do not pipe git output into a pager.
192 --git-dir=<path>::
193 Set the path to the repository. This can also be controlled by
194 setting the GIT_DIR environment variable. It can be an absolute
195 path or relative path to current working directory.
197 --work-tree=<path>::
198 Set the path to the working tree. The value will not be
199 used in combination with repositories found automatically in
200 a .git directory (i.e. $GIT_DIR is not set).
201 This can also be controlled by setting the GIT_WORK_TREE
202 environment variable and the core.worktree configuration
203 variable. It can be an absolute path or relative path to
204 the directory specified by --git-dir or GIT_DIR.
205 Note: If --git-dir or GIT_DIR are specified but none of
206 --work-tree, GIT_WORK_TREE and core.worktree is specified,
207 the current working directory is regarded as the top directory
208 of your working tree.
210 --bare::
211 Treat the repository as a bare repository. If GIT_DIR
212 environment is not set, it is set to the current working
213 directory.
216 FURTHER DOCUMENTATION
217 ---------------------
219 See the references above to get started using git. The following is
220 probably more detail than necessary for a first-time user.
222 The link:user-manual.html#git-concepts[git concepts chapter of the
223 user-manual] and linkgit:gitcore-tutorial[7] both provide
224 introductions to the underlying git architecture.
226 See also the link:howto-index.html[howto] documents for some useful
227 examples.
229 The internals are documented in the
230 link:technical/api-index.html[GIT API documentation].
232 GIT COMMANDS
233 ------------
235 We divide git into high level ("porcelain") commands and low level
236 ("plumbing") commands.
238 High-level commands (porcelain)
239 -------------------------------
241 We separate the porcelain commands into the main commands and some
242 ancillary user utilities.
244 Main porcelain commands
245 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
247 include::cmds-mainporcelain.txt[]
249 Ancillary Commands
250 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
251 Manipulators:
253 include::cmds-ancillarymanipulators.txt[]
255 Interrogators:
257 include::cmds-ancillaryinterrogators.txt[]
260 Interacting with Others
261 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
263 These commands are to interact with foreign SCM and with other
264 people via patch over e-mail.
266 include::cmds-foreignscminterface.txt[]
269 Low-level commands (plumbing)
270 -----------------------------
272 Although git includes its
273 own porcelain layer, its low-level commands are sufficient to support
274 development of alternative porcelains. Developers of such porcelains
275 might start by reading about linkgit:git-update-index[1] and
276 linkgit:git-read-tree[1].
278 The interface (input, output, set of options and the semantics)
279 to these low-level commands are meant to be a lot more stable
280 than Porcelain level commands, because these commands are
281 primarily for scripted use. The interface to Porcelain commands
282 on the other hand are subject to change in order to improve the
283 end user experience.
285 The following description divides
286 the low-level commands into commands that manipulate objects (in
287 the repository, index, and working tree), commands that interrogate and
288 compare objects, and commands that move objects and references between
289 repositories.
292 Manipulation commands
293 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
295 include::cmds-plumbingmanipulators.txt[]
298 Interrogation commands
299 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
301 include::cmds-plumbinginterrogators.txt[]
303 In general, the interrogate commands do not touch the files in
304 the working tree.
307 Synching repositories
308 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
310 include::cmds-synchingrepositories.txt[]
312 The following are helper programs used by the above; end users
313 typically do not use them directly.
315 include::cmds-synchelpers.txt[]
318 Internal helper commands
319 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
321 These are internal helper commands used by other commands; end
322 users typically do not use them directly.
324 include::cmds-purehelpers.txt[]
327 Configuration Mechanism
328 -----------------------
330 Starting from 0.99.9 (actually mid 0.99.8.GIT), `.git/config` file
331 is used to hold per-repository configuration options. It is a
332 simple text file modeled after `.ini` format familiar to some
333 people. Here is an example:
335 ------------
336 #
337 # A '#' or ';' character indicates a comment.
338 #
340 ; core variables
341 [core]
342 ; Don't trust file modes
343 filemode = false
345 ; user identity
346 [user]
347 name = "Junio C Hamano"
348 email = "junkio@twinsun.com"
350 ------------
352 Various commands read from the configuration file and adjust
353 their operation accordingly.
356 Identifier Terminology
357 ----------------------
358 <object>::
359 Indicates the object name for any type of object.
361 <blob>::
362 Indicates a blob object name.
364 <tree>::
365 Indicates a tree object name.
367 <commit>::
368 Indicates a commit object name.
370 <tree-ish>::
371 Indicates a tree, commit or tag object name. A
372 command that takes a <tree-ish> argument ultimately wants to
373 operate on a <tree> object but automatically dereferences
374 <commit> and <tag> objects that point at a <tree>.
376 <commit-ish>::
377 Indicates a commit or tag object name. A
378 command that takes a <commit-ish> argument ultimately wants to
379 operate on a <commit> object but automatically dereferences
380 <tag> objects that point at a <commit>.
382 <type>::
383 Indicates that an object type is required.
384 Currently one of: `blob`, `tree`, `commit`, or `tag`.
386 <file>::
387 Indicates a filename - almost always relative to the
388 root of the tree structure `GIT_INDEX_FILE` describes.
390 Symbolic Identifiers
391 --------------------
392 Any git command accepting any <object> can also use the following
393 symbolic notation:
395 HEAD::
396 indicates the head of the current branch (i.e. the
397 contents of `$GIT_DIR/HEAD`).
399 <tag>::
400 a valid tag 'name'
401 (i.e. the contents of `$GIT_DIR/refs/tags/<tag>`).
403 <head>::
404 a valid head 'name'
405 (i.e. the contents of `$GIT_DIR/refs/heads/<head>`).
407 For a more complete list of ways to spell object names, see
408 "SPECIFYING REVISIONS" section in linkgit:git-rev-parse[1].
411 File/Directory Structure
412 ------------------------
414 Please see the linkgit:gitrepository-layout[5] document.
416 Read linkgit:githooks[5] for more details about each hook.
418 Higher level SCMs may provide and manage additional information in the
419 `$GIT_DIR`.
422 Terminology
423 -----------
424 Please see linkgit:gitglossary[7].
427 Environment Variables
428 ---------------------
429 Various git commands use the following environment variables:
431 The git Repository
432 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
433 These environment variables apply to 'all' core git commands. Nb: it
434 is worth noting that they may be used/overridden by SCMS sitting above
435 git so take care if using Cogito etc.
437 'GIT_INDEX_FILE'::
438 This environment allows the specification of an alternate
439 index file. If not specified, the default of `$GIT_DIR/index`
440 is used.
442 'GIT_OBJECT_DIRECTORY'::
443 If the object storage directory is specified via this
444 environment variable then the sha1 directories are created
445 underneath - otherwise the default `$GIT_DIR/objects`
446 directory is used.
448 'GIT_ALTERNATE_OBJECT_DIRECTORIES'::
449 Due to the immutable nature of git objects, old objects can be
450 archived into shared, read-only directories. This variable
451 specifies a ":" separated (on Windows ";" separated) list
452 of git object directories which can be used to search for git
453 objects. New objects will not be written to these directories.
455 'GIT_DIR'::
456 If the 'GIT_DIR' environment variable is set then it
457 specifies a path to use instead of the default `.git`
458 for the base of the repository.
460 'GIT_WORK_TREE'::
461 Set the path to the working tree. The value will not be
462 used in combination with repositories found automatically in
463 a .git directory (i.e. $GIT_DIR is not set).
464 This can also be controlled by the '--work-tree' command line
465 option and the core.worktree configuration variable.
467 'GIT_CEILING_DIRECTORIES'::
468 This should be a colon-separated list of absolute paths.
469 If set, it is a list of directories that git should not chdir
470 up into while looking for a repository directory.
471 It will not exclude the current working directory or
472 a GIT_DIR set on the command line or in the environment.
473 (Useful for excluding slow-loading network directories.)
475 git Commits
476 ~~~~~~~~~~~
477 'GIT_AUTHOR_NAME'::
478 'GIT_AUTHOR_EMAIL'::
479 'GIT_AUTHOR_DATE'::
480 'GIT_COMMITTER_NAME'::
481 'GIT_COMMITTER_EMAIL'::
482 'GIT_COMMITTER_DATE'::
483 'EMAIL'::
484 see linkgit:git-commit-tree[1]
486 git Diffs
487 ~~~~~~~~~
488 'GIT_DIFF_OPTS'::
489 Only valid setting is "--unified=??" or "-u??" to set the
490 number of context lines shown when a unified diff is created.
491 This takes precedence over any "-U" or "--unified" option
492 value passed on the git diff command line.
494 'GIT_EXTERNAL_DIFF'::
495 When the environment variable 'GIT_EXTERNAL_DIFF' is set, the
496 program named by it is called, instead of the diff invocation
497 described above. For a path that is added, removed, or modified,
498 'GIT_EXTERNAL_DIFF' is called with 7 parameters:
500 path old-file old-hex old-mode new-file new-hex new-mode
501 +
502 where:
504 <old|new>-file:: are files GIT_EXTERNAL_DIFF can use to read the
505 contents of <old|new>,
506 <old|new>-hex:: are the 40-hexdigit SHA1 hashes,
507 <old|new>-mode:: are the octal representation of the file modes.
509 +
510 The file parameters can point at the user's working file
511 (e.g. `new-file` in "git-diff-files"), `/dev/null` (e.g. `old-file`
512 when a new file is added), or a temporary file (e.g. `old-file` in the
513 index). 'GIT_EXTERNAL_DIFF' should not worry about unlinking the
514 temporary file --- it is removed when 'GIT_EXTERNAL_DIFF' exits.
515 +
516 For a path that is unmerged, 'GIT_EXTERNAL_DIFF' is called with 1
517 parameter, <path>.
519 other
520 ~~~~~
521 'GIT_MERGE_VERBOSITY'::
522 A number controlling the amount of output shown by
523 the recursive merge strategy. Overrides merge.verbosity.
524 See linkgit:git-merge[1]
526 'GIT_PAGER'::
527 This environment variable overrides `$PAGER`. If it is set
528 to an empty string or to the value "cat", git will not launch
529 a pager. See also the `core.pager` option in
530 linkgit:git-config[1].
532 'GIT_SSH'::
533 If this environment variable is set then 'git-fetch'
534 and 'git-push' will use this command instead
535 of 'ssh' when they need to connect to a remote system.
536 The '$GIT_SSH' command will be given exactly two arguments:
537 the 'username@host' (or just 'host') from the URL and the
538 shell command to execute on that remote system.
539 +
540 To pass options to the program that you want to list in GIT_SSH
541 you will need to wrap the program and options into a shell script,
542 then set GIT_SSH to refer to the shell script.
543 +
544 Usually it is easier to configure any desired options through your
545 personal `.ssh/config` file. Please consult your ssh documentation
546 for further details.
548 'GIT_FLUSH'::
549 If this environment variable is set to "1", then commands such
550 as 'git-blame' (in incremental mode), 'git-rev-list', 'git-log',
551 and 'git-whatchanged' will force a flush of the output stream
552 after each commit-oriented record have been flushed. If this
553 variable is set to "0", the output of these commands will be done
554 using completely buffered I/O. If this environment variable is
555 not set, git will choose buffered or record-oriented flushing
556 based on whether stdout appears to be redirected to a file or not.
558 'GIT_TRACE'::
559 If this variable is set to "1", "2" or "true" (comparison
560 is case insensitive), git will print `trace:` messages on
561 stderr telling about alias expansion, built-in command
562 execution and external command execution.
563 If this variable is set to an integer value greater than 1
564 and lower than 10 (strictly) then git will interpret this
565 value as an open file descriptor and will try to write the
566 trace messages into this file descriptor.
567 Alternatively, if this variable is set to an absolute path
568 (starting with a '/' character), git will interpret this
569 as a file path and will try to write the trace messages
570 into it.
572 Discussion[[Discussion]]
573 ------------------------
575 More detail on the following is available from the
576 link:user-manual.html#git-concepts[git concepts chapter of the
577 user-manual] and linkgit:gitcore-tutorial[7].
579 A git project normally consists of a working directory with a ".git"
580 subdirectory at the top level. The .git directory contains, among other
581 things, a compressed object database representing the complete history
582 of the project, an "index" file which links that history to the current
583 contents of the working tree, and named pointers into that history such
584 as tags and branch heads.
586 The object database contains objects of three main types: blobs, which
587 hold file data; trees, which point to blobs and other trees to build up
588 directory hierarchies; and commits, which each reference a single tree
589 and some number of parent commits.
591 The commit, equivalent to what other systems call a "changeset" or
592 "version", represents a step in the project's history, and each parent
593 represents an immediately preceding step. Commits with more than one
594 parent represent merges of independent lines of development.
596 All objects are named by the SHA1 hash of their contents, normally
597 written as a string of 40 hex digits. Such names are globally unique.
598 The entire history leading up to a commit can be vouched for by signing
599 just that commit. A fourth object type, the tag, is provided for this
600 purpose.
602 When first created, objects are stored in individual files, but for
603 efficiency may later be compressed together into "pack files".
605 Named pointers called refs mark interesting points in history. A ref
606 may contain the SHA1 name of an object or the name of another ref. Refs
607 with names beginning `ref/head/` contain the SHA1 name of the most
608 recent commit (or "head") of a branch under development. SHA1 names of
609 tags of interest are stored under `ref/tags/`. A special ref named
610 `HEAD` contains the name of the currently checked-out branch.
612 The index file is initialized with a list of all paths and, for each
613 path, a blob object and a set of attributes. The blob object represents
614 the contents of the file as of the head of the current branch. The
615 attributes (last modified time, size, etc.) are taken from the
616 corresponding file in the working tree. Subsequent changes to the
617 working tree can be found by comparing these attributes. The index may
618 be updated with new content, and new commits may be created from the
619 content stored in the index.
621 The index is also capable of storing multiple entries (called "stages")
622 for a given pathname. These stages are used to hold the various
623 unmerged version of a file when a merge is in progress.
625 Authors
626 -------
627 * git's founding father is Linus Torvalds <torvalds@osdl.org>.
628 * The current git nurse is Junio C Hamano <gitster@pobox.com>.
629 * The git potty was written by Andreas Ericsson <ae@op5.se>.
630 * General upbringing is handled by the git-list <git@vger.kernel.org>.
632 Documentation
633 --------------
634 The documentation for git suite was started by David Greaves
635 <david@dgreaves.com>, and later enhanced greatly by the
636 contributors on the git-list <git@vger.kernel.org>.
638 SEE ALSO
639 --------
640 linkgit:gittutorial[7], linkgit:gittutorial-2[7],
641 link:everyday.html[Everyday Git], linkgit:gitcvs-migration[7],
642 linkgit:gitglossary[7], linkgit:gitcore-tutorial[7],
643 linkgit:gitcli[7], link:user-manual.html[The Git User's Manual]
645 GIT
646 ---
647 Part of the linkgit:git[1] suite