1 git repository layout
2 =====================
4 You may find these things in your git repository (`.git`
5 directory for a repository associated with your working tree, or
6 `'project'.git` directory for a public 'bare' repository).
8 objects::
9 Object store associated with this repository. Usually
10 an object store is self sufficient (i.e. all the objects
11 that are referred to by an object found in it are also
12 found in it), but there are couple of ways to violate
13 it.
14 +
15 . You could populate the repository by running a commit walker
16 without `-a` option. Depending on which options are given, you
17 could have only commit objects without associated blobs and
18 trees this way, for example. A repository with this kind of
19 incomplete object store is not suitable to be published to the
20 outside world but sometimes useful for private repository.
21 . You can be using `objects/info/alternates` mechanism, or
22 `$GIT_ALTERNATE_OBJECT_DIRECTORIES` mechanism to 'borrow'
23 objects from other object stores. A repository with this kind
24 of incomplete object store is not suitable to be published for
25 use with dumb transports but otherwise is OK as long as
26 `objects/info/alternates` points at the right object stores
27 it borrows from.
29 objects/[0-9a-f][0-9a-f]::
30 Traditionally, each object is stored in its own file.
31 They are split into 256 subdirectories using the first
32 two letters from its object name to keep the number of
33 directory entries `objects` directory itself needs to
34 hold. Objects found here are often called 'unpacked'
35 objects.
37 objects/pack::
38 Packs (files that store many object in compressed form,
39 along with index files to allow them to be randomly
40 accessed) are found in this directory.
42 objects/info::
43 Additional information about the object store is
44 recorded in this directory.
46 objects/info/packs::
47 This file is to help dumb transports discover what packs
48 are available in this object store. Whenever a pack is
49 added or removed, `git update-server-info` should be run
50 to keep this file up-to-date if the repository is
51 published for dumb transports. `git repack` does this
52 by default.
54 objects/info/alternates::
55 This file records absolute filesystem paths of alternate
56 object stores that this object store borrows objects
57 from, one pathname per line.
59 refs::
60 References are stored in subdirectories of this
61 directory. The `git prune` command knows to keep
62 objects reachable from refs found in this directory and
63 its subdirectories.
65 refs/heads/`name`::
66 records tip-of-the-tree commit objects of branch `name`
68 refs/tags/`name`::
69 records any object name (not necessarily a commit
70 object, or a tag object that points at a commit object).
72 HEAD::
73 A symref (see glossary) to the `refs/heads/` namespace
74 describing the currently active branch. It does not mean
75 much if the repository is not associated with any working tree
76 (i.e. a 'bare' repository), but a valid git repository
77 *must* have the HEAD file; some porcelains may use it to
78 guess the designated "default" branch of the repository
79 (usually 'master'). It is legal if the named branch
80 'name' does not (yet) exist. In some legacy setups, it is
81 a symbolic link instead of a symref that points at the current
82 branch.
84 branches::
85 A slightly deprecated way to store shorthands to be used
86 to specify URL to `git fetch`, `git pull` and `git push`
87 commands is to store a file in `branches/'name'` and
88 give 'name' to these commands in place of 'repository'
89 argument.
91 hooks::
92 Hooks are customization scripts used by various git
93 commands. A handful of sample hooks are installed when
94 `git init-db` is run, but all of them are disabled by
95 default. To enable, they need to be made executable.
96 Read link:hooks.html[hooks] for more details about
97 each hook.
99 index::
100 The current index file for the repository. It is
101 usually not found in a bare repository.
103 info::
104 Additional information about the repository is recorded
105 in this directory.
107 info/refs::
108 This file is to help dumb transports to discover what
109 refs are available in this repository. Whenever you
110 create/delete a new branch or a new tag, `git
111 update-server-info` should be run to keep this file
112 up-to-date if the repository is published for dumb
113 transports. The `git-receive-pack` command, which is
114 run on a remote repository when you `git push` into it,
115 runs `hooks/update` hook to help you achieve this.
117 info/grafts::
118 This file records fake commit ancestry information, to
119 pretend the set of parents a commit has is different
120 from how the commit was actually created. One record
121 per line describes a commit and its fake parents by
122 listing their 40-byte hexadecimal object names separated
123 by a space and terminated by a newline.
125 info/exclude::
126 This file, by convention among Porcelains, stores the
127 exclude pattern list. `.gitignore` is the per-directory
128 ignore file. `git status`, `git add`, `git rm` and `git
129 clean` look at it but the core git commands do not look
130 at it. See also: gitlink:git-ls-files[1] `--exclude-from`
131 and `--exclude-per-directory`.
133 remotes::
134 Stores shorthands to be used to give URL and default
135 refnames to interact with remote repository to `git
136 fetch`, `git pull` and `git push` commands.
138 logs::
139 Records of changes made to refs are stored in this
140 directory. See the documentation on git-update-ref
141 for more information.
143 logs/refs/heads/`name`::
144 Records all changes made to the branch tip named `name`.
146 logs/refs/tags/`name`::
147 Records all changes made to the tag named `name`.