Documentation/git.txt

   1 git(7)
   2 ======
   3 v0.99.5, Aug 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 Before reading this cover to cover, you may want to take a look
  20 at the link:tutorial.html[tutorial] document.
  21
  22 The <<Discussion>> section below contains much useful definition and
  23 clarification info - read that first.  And of the commands, I suggest
  24 reading link:git-update-cache.html[git-update-cache] and
  25 link:git-read-tree.html[git-read-tree] first - I wish I had!
  26
  27 If you are migrating from CVS, link:cvs-migration.html[cvs migration]
  28 document may be helpful after you finish the tutorial.
  29
  30 After you get the general feel from the tutorial and this
  31 overview page, you may want to take a look at the
  32 link:howto-index.html[howto] documents.
  33
  34
  35 David Greaves <david@dgreaves.com>
  36 08/05/05
  37
  38 Updated by Junio C Hamano <junkio@cox.net> on 2005-05-05 to
  39 reflect recent changes.
  40
  41 Commands Overview
  42 -----------------
  43 The git commands can helpfully be split into those that manipulate
  44 the repository, the cache and the working fileset, those that
  45 interrogate and compare them, and those that moves objects and
  46 references between repositories.
  47
  48 In addition, git itself comes with a spartan set of porcelain
  49 commands.  They are usable but are not meant to compete with real
  50 Porcelains.
  51
  52 There are also some ancillary programs that can be viewed as useful
  53 aids for using the core commands but which are unlikely to be used by
  54 SCMs layered over git.
  55
  56 Manipulation commands
  57 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
  58 link:git-apply.html[git-apply]::
  59         Reads a "diff -up1" or git generated patch file and
  60         applies it to the working tree.
  61
  62 link:git-checkout-cache.html[git-checkout-cache]::
  63         Copy files from the cache to the working directory
  64
  65 link:git-commit-tree.html[git-commit-tree]::
  66         Creates a new commit object
  67
  68 link:git-hash-object.html[git-hash-object]::
  69         Computes the object ID from a file.
  70
  71 link:git-init-db.html[git-init-db]::
  72         Creates an empty git object database
  73
  74 link:git-merge-cache.html[git-merge-cache]::
  75         Runs a merge for files needing merging
  76
  77 link:git-mktag.html[git-mktag]::
  78         Creates a tag object
  79
  80 link:git-pack-objects.html[git-pack-objects]::
  81         Creates a packed archive of objects.
  82
  83 link:git-prune-packed.html[git-prune-packed]::
  84         Remove extra objects that are already in pack files.
  85
  86 link:git-read-tree.html[git-read-tree]::
  87         Reads tree information into the directory cache
  88
  89 link:git-unpack-objects.html[git-unpack-objects]::
  90         Unpacks objects out of a packed archive.
  91
  92 link:git-update-cache.html[git-update-cache]::
  93         Modifies the index or directory cache
  94
  95 link:git-write-tree.html[git-write-tree]::
  96         Creates a tree from the current cache
  97
  98
  99 Interrogation commands
 100 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 101
 102 link:git-cat-file.html[git-cat-file]::
 103         Provide content or type information for repository objects
 104
 105 link:git-diff-cache.html[git-diff-cache]::
 106         Compares content and mode of blobs between the cache and repository
 107
 108 link:git-diff-files.html[git-diff-files]::
 109         Compares files in the working tree and the cache
 110
 111 link:git-diff-stages.html[git-diff-stages]::
 112         Compares two "merge stages" in the index file.
 113
 114 link:git-diff-tree.html[git-diff-tree]::
 115         Compares the content and mode of blobs found via two tree objects
 116
 117 link:git-export.html[git-export]::
 118         Exports each commit and a diff against each of its parents
 119
 120 link:git-fsck-cache.html[git-fsck-cache]::
 121         Verifies the connectivity and validity of the objects in the database
 122
 123 link:git-ls-files.html[git-ls-files]::
 124         Information about files in the cache/working directory
 125
 126 link:git-ls-tree.html[git-ls-tree]::
 127         Displays a tree object in human readable form
 128
 129 link:git-merge-base.html[git-merge-base]::
 130         Finds as good a common ancestor as possible for a merge
 131
 132 link:git-rev-list.html[git-rev-list]::
 133         Lists commit objects in reverse chronological order
 134
 135 link:git-rev-tree.html[git-rev-tree]::
 136         Provides the revision tree for one or more commits
 137
 138 link:git-show-index.html[git-show-index]::
 139         Displays contents of a pack idx file.
 140
 141 link:git-tar-tree.html[git-tar-tree]::
 142         Creates a tar archive of the files in the named tree
 143
 144 link:git-unpack-file.html[git-unpack-file]::
 145         Creates a temporary file with a blob's contents
 146
 147 link:git-var.html[git-var]::
 148         Displays a git logical variable
 149
 150 link:git-verify-pack.html[git-verify-pack]::
 151         Validates packed GIT archive files
 152
 153 The interrogate commands may create files - and you can force them to
 154 touch the working file set - but in general they don't
 155
 156
 157 Synching repositories
 158 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 159
 160 link:git-clone-pack.html[git-clone-pack]::
 161         Clones a repository into the current repository (engine
 162         for ssh and local transport)
 163
 164 link:git-fetch-pack.html[git-fetch-pack]::
 165         Updates from a remote repository.
 166
 167 link:git-http-pull.html[git-http-pull]::
 168         Downloads a remote GIT repository via HTTP
 169
 170 link:git-local-pull.html[git-local-pull]::
 171         Duplicates another GIT repository on a local system
 172
 173 link:git-peek-remote.html[git-peek-remote]::
 174         Lists references on a remote repository using upload-pack protocol.
 175
 176 link:git-receive-pack.html[git-receive-pack]::
 177         Invoked by 'git-send-pack' to receive what is pushed to it.
 178
 179 link:git-send-pack.html[git-send-pack]::
 180         Pushes to a remote repository, intelligently.
 181
 182 link:git-ssh-pull.html[git-ssh-pull]::
 183         Pulls from a remote repository over ssh connection
 184
 185 link:git-ssh-push.html[git-ssh-push]::
 186         Helper "server-side" program used by git-ssh-pull
 187
 188 link:git-update-server-info.html[git-update-server-info]::
 189         Updates auxiliary information on a dumb server to help
 190         clients discover references and packs on it.
 191
 192 link:git-upload-pack.html[git-upload-pack]::
 193         Invoked by 'git-clone-pack' and 'git-fetch-pack' to push
 194         what are asked for.
 195
 196
 197 Porcelain-ish Commands
 198 ----------------------
 199
 200 link:git-add-script.html[git-add-script]::
 201         Add paths to the index file.
 202
 203 link:git-applymbox.html[git-applymbox]::
 204         Apply patches from a mailbox.
 205
 206 link:git-bisect-script.html[git-bisect-script]::
 207         Find the change that introduced a bug.
 208
 209 link:git-branch-script.html[git-branch-script]::
 210         Create and Show branches.
 211
 212 link:git-cherry-pick-script.html[git-cherry-pick-script]::
 213         Cherry-pick the effect of an existing commit.
 214
 215 link:git-clone-script.html[git-clone-script]::
 216         Clones a repository into a new directory.
 217
 218 link:git-commit-script.html[git-commit-script]::
 219         Record changes to the repository.
 220
 221 link:git-fetch-script.html[git-fetch-script]::
 222         Download from a remote repository via various protocols.
 223
 224 link:git-log-script.html[git-log-script]::
 225         Shows commit logs.
 226
 227 link:git-ls-remote-script.html[git-ls-remote-script]::
 228         Shows references in a remote or local repository.
 229
 230 link:git-octopus-script.html[git-octopus-script]::
 231         Merge more than two commits.
 232
 233 link:git-pull-script.html[git-pull-script]::
 234         Fetch from and merge with a remote repository.
 235
 236 link:git-push-script.html[git-push-script]::
 237         Update remote refs along with associated objects.
 238
 239 link:git-rebase-script.html[git-rebase-script]::
 240         Rebase local commits to new upstream head.
 241
 242 link:git-rename-script.html[git-rename]::
 243         Rename files and directories.
 244
 245 link:git-repack-script.html[git-repack-script]::
 246         Pack unpacked objects in a repository.
 247
 248 link:git-resolve-script.html[git-resolve-script]::
 249         Merge two commits.
 250
 251 link:git-revert-script.html[git-revert-script]::
 252         Revert an existing commit.
 253
 254 link:git-shortlog.html[git-shortlog]::
 255         Summarizes 'git log' output.
 256
 257 link:git-show-branch.html[git-show-branch]::
 258         Show branches and their commits.
 259
 260 link:git-status-script.html[git-status-script]::
 261         Shows the working tree status.
 262
 263 link:git-verify-tag-script.html[git-verify-tag-script]::
 264         Check the GPG signature of tag.
 265
 266 link:git-whatchanged.html[git-whatchanged]::
 267         Shows commit logs and differences they introduce.
 268
 269
 270 Ancillary Commands
 271 ------------------
 272 Manipulators:
 273
 274 link:git-applypatch.html[git-applypatch]::
 275         Apply one patch extracted from an e-mail.
 276
 277 link:git-convert-cache.html[git-convert-cache]::
 278         Converts old-style GIT repository
 279
 280 link:git-cvsimport-script.html[git-cvsimport-script]::
 281         Salvage your data out of another SCM people love to hate.
 282
 283 link:git-merge-one-file-script.html[git-merge-one-file-script]::
 284         The standard helper program to use with "git-merge-cache"
 285
 286 link:git-prune-script.html[git-prune-script]::
 287         Prunes all unreachable objects from the object database
 288
 289 link:git-relink-script.html[git-relink-script]::
 290         Hardlink common objects in local repositories.
 291
 292 link:git-sh-setup-script.html[git-sh-setup-script]::
 293         Common git shell script setup code.
 294
 295 link:git-tag-script.html[git-tag-script]::
 296         An example script to create a tag object signed with GPG
 297
 298
 299 Interrogators:
 300
 301 link:git-cherry.html[git-cherry]::
 302         Find commits not merged upstream.
 303
 304 link:git-count-objects-script.html[git-count-objects-script]::
 305         Count unpacked number of objects and their disk consumption.
 306
 307 link:git-diff-helper.html[git-diff-helper]::
 308         Generates patch format output for git-diff-*
 309
 310 link:git-mailinfo.html[git-mailinfo]::
 311         Extracts patch from a single e-mail message.
 312
 313 link:git-mailsplit.html[git-mailsplit]::
 314         git-mailsplit.
 315
 316 link:git-patch-id.html[git-patch-id]::
 317         Compute unique ID for a patch.
 318
 319 link:git-send-email-script.html[git-send-email]::
 320         Send patch e-mails out of "format-patch --mbox" output.
 321
 322
 323 Commands not yet documented
 324 ---------------------------
 325
 326 link:git-build-rev-cache.html[git-build-rev-cache]::
 327         git-build-rev-cache.
 328
 329 link:git-checkout-script.html[git-checkout-script]::
 330         git-checkout-script.
 331
 332 link:git-clone-dumb-http.html[git-clone-dumb-http]::
 333         git-clone-dumb-http.
 334
 335 link:git-daemon.html[git-daemon]::
 336         git-daemon.
 337
 338 link:git-diff-script.html[git-diff-script]::
 339         git-diff-script.
 340
 341 link:git-format-patch-script.html[git-format-patch-script]::
 342         git-format-patch-script.
 343
 344 link:git-get-tar-commit-id.html[git-get-tar-commit-id]::
 345         git-get-tar-commit-id.
 346
 347 link:git-request-pull-script.html[git-request-pull-script]::
 348         git-request-pull-script.
 349
 350 link:git-reset-script.html[git-reset-script]::
 351         git-reset-script.
 352
 353 link:git-rev-parse.html[git-rev-parse]::
 354         git-rev-parse.
 355
 356 link:git-show-rev-cache.html[git-show-rev-cache]::
 357         git-show-rev-cache.
 358
 359 link:git-stripspace.html[git-stripspace]::
 360         git-stripspace.
 361
 362 link:gitk.html[gitk]::
 363         gitk.
 364
 365
 366 Identifier Terminology
 367 ----------------------
 368 <object>::
 369         Indicates the sha1 identifier for any type of object
 370
 371 <blob>::
 372         Indicates a blob object sha1 identifier
 373
 374 <tree>::
 375         Indicates a tree object sha1 identifier
 376
 377 <commit>::
 378         Indicates a commit object sha1 identifier
 379
 380 <tree-ish>::
 381         Indicates a tree, commit or tag object sha1 identifier.  A
 382         command that takes a <tree-ish> argument ultimately wants to
 383         operate on a <tree> object but automatically dereferences
 384         <commit> and <tag> objects that point at a <tree>.
 385
 386 <type>::
 387         Indicates that an object type is required.
 388         Currently one of: blob/tree/commit/tag
 389
 390 <file>::
 391         Indicates a filename - always relative to the root of
 392         the tree structure GIT_INDEX_FILE describes.
 393
 394 Symbolic Identifiers
 395 --------------------
 396 Any git command accepting any <object> can also use the following
 397 symbolic notation:
 398
 399 HEAD::
 400         indicates the head of the repository (ie the contents of
 401         `$GIT_DIR/HEAD`)
 402 <tag>::
 403         a valid tag 'name'+
 404         (ie the contents of `$GIT_DIR/refs/tags/<tag>`)
 405 <head>::
 406         a valid head 'name'+
 407         (ie the contents of `$GIT_DIR/refs/heads/<head>`)
 408 <snap>::
 409         a valid snapshot 'name'+
 410         (ie the contents of `$GIT_DIR/refs/snap/<snap>`)
 411
 412
 413 File/Directory Structure
 414 ------------------------
 415 The git-core manipulates the following areas in the directory:
 416
 417  .git/         The base (overridden with $GIT_DIR)
 418    objects/    The object base (overridden with $GIT_OBJECT_DIRECTORY)
 419      ??/       'First 2 chars of object' directories.
 420      pack/     Packed archives.
 421
 422    refs/       Directories containing symbolic names for objects
 423                (each file contains the hex SHA1 + newline)
 424      heads/    Commits which are heads of various sorts
 425      tags/     Tags, by the tag name (or some local renaming of it)
 426      */        Any other subdirectory of refs/ can be used to store
 427                files similar to what are under refs/heads/.
 428    HEAD        Symlink to refs/heads/<current-branch-name>
 429
 430 Higher level SCMs may provide and manage additional information in the
 431 GIT_DIR.
 432
 433 Terminology
 434 -----------
 435 Please see link:glossary.html[glossary] document.
 436
 437
 438 Environment Variables
 439 ---------------------
 440 Various git commands use the following environment variables:
 441
 442 The git Repository
 443 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 444 These environment variables apply to 'all' core git commands. Nb: it
 445 is worth noting that they may be used/overridden by SCMS sitting above
 446 git so take care if using Cogito etc
 447
 448 'GIT_INDEX_FILE'::
 449         This environment allows the specification of an alternate
 450         cache/index file. If not specified, the default of
 451         `$GIT_DIR/index` is used.
 452
 453 'GIT_OBJECT_DIRECTORY'::
 454         If the object storage directory is specified via this
 455         environment variable then the sha1 directories are created
 456         underneath - otherwise the default `$GIT_DIR/objects`
 457         directory is used.
 458
 459 'GIT_ALTERNATE_OBJECT_DIRECTORIES'::
 460         Due to the immutable nature of git objects, old objects can be
 461         archived into shared, read-only directories. This variable
 462         specifies a ":" separated list of git object directories which
 463         can be used to search for git objects. New objects will not be
 464         written to these directories.
 465
 466 'GIT_DIR'::
 467         If the 'GIT_DIR' environment variable is set then it specifies
 468         a path to use instead of `./.git` for the base of the
 469         repository.
 470
 471 git Commits
 472 ~~~~~~~~~~~
 473 'GIT_AUTHOR_NAME'::
 474 'GIT_AUTHOR_EMAIL'::
 475 'GIT_AUTHOR_DATE'::
 476 'GIT_COMMITTER_NAME'::
 477 'GIT_COMMITTER_EMAIL'::
 478         see link:git-commit-tree.html[git-commit-tree]
 479
 480 git Diffs
 481 ~~~~~~~~~
 482 'GIT_DIFF_OPTS'::
 483 'GIT_EXTERNAL_DIFF'::
 484         see the "generating patches" section in :
 485         link:git-diff-cache.html[git-diff-cache];
 486         link:git-diff-files.html[git-diff-files];
 487         link:git-diff-tree.html[git-diff-tree]
 488
 489 Discussion[[Discussion]]
 490 ------------------------
 491 include::../README[]
 492
 493 Author
 494 ------
 495 Written by Linus Torvalds <torvalds@osdl.org> and the git-list <git@vger.kernel.org>.
 496
 497 Documentation
 498 --------------
 499 Documentation by David Greaves, Junio C Hamano and the git-list <git@vger.kernel.org>.
 500
 501 GIT
 502 ---
 503 Part of the link:git.html[git] suite
 504