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-diff-cache.html[git-diff-cache]::
  76         Compares content and mode of blobs between the cache and repository
  77
  78 link:git-diff-files.html[git-diff-files]::
  79         Compares files in the working tree and the cache
  80
  81 link:git-diff-tree.html[git-diff-tree]::
  82         Compares the content and mode of blobs found via two tree objects
  83
  84 link:git-export.html[git-export]::
  85         Exports each commit and a diff against each of its parents
  86
  87 link:git-fsck-cache.html[git-fsck-cache]::
  88         Verifies the connectivity and validity of the objects in the database
  89
  90 link:git-ls-files.html[git-ls-files]::
  91         Information about files in the cache/working directory
  92
  93 link:git-ls-tree.html[git-ls-tree]::
  94         Displays a tree object in human readable form
  95
  96 link:git-merge-cache.html[git-merge-cache]::
  97         Runs a merge for files needing merging
  98
  99 link:git-rev-list.html[git-rev-list]::
 100         Lists commit objects in reverse chronological order
 101
 102 link:git-rev-tree.html[git-rev-tree]::
 103         Provides the revision tree for one or more commits
 104
 105 link:git-tar-tree.html[git-tar-tree]::
 106         Creates a tar archive of the files in the named tree
 107
 108 link:git-unpack-file.html[git-unpack-file]::
 109         Creates a temporary file with a blob's contents
 110
 111 link:git-var.html[git-var]::
 112         Displays a git logical variable
 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 Synching repositories
 122 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 123
 124 link:git-clone-script.html[git-clone-script]::
 125         Clones a repository into the current repository (user interface)
 126
 127 link:git-clone-pack.html[git-clone-pack]::
 128         Clones a repository into the current repository (engine
 129         for ssh and local transport)
 130
 131 link:git-fetch-script.html[git-fetch-script]::
 132         Download from a remote repository via various protocols
 133         (user interface).
 134
 135 link:git-pull-script.html[git-pull-script]::
 136         Fetch from and merge with a remote repository via
 137         various protocols (user interface).
 138
 139 link:git-http-pull.html[git-http-pull]::
 140         Downloads a remote GIT repository via HTTP
 141
 142 link:git-local-pull.html[git-local-pull]::
 143         Duplicates another GIT repository on a local system
 144
 145 link:git-ssh-pull.html[git-ssh-pull]::
 146         Pulls from a remote repository over ssh connection
 147
 148 link:git-send-pack.html[git-send-pack]::
 149         Pushes to a remote repository, intelligently.
 150
 151 link:git-receive-pack.html[git-receive-pack]::
 152         Invoked by 'git-send-pack' to receive what is pushed to it.
 153
 154 link:git-clone-pack.html[git-clone-pack]::
 155         Clones from a remote repository.
 156
 157 link:git-fetch-pack.html[git-fetch-pack]::
 158         Updates from a remote repository.
 159
 160 link:git-peek-remote.html[git-peek-remote]::
 161         Lists references on a remote repository using upload-pack protocol.
 162
 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.
 166
 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.
 170
 171
 172 Ancilliary Commands
 173 -------------------
 174 Manipulators:
 175
 176 link:git-apply-patch-script.html[git-apply-patch-script]::
 177         Sample script to apply the diffs from git-diff-*
 178
 179 link:git-convert-cache.html[git-convert-cache]::
 180         Converts old-style GIT repository
 181
 182 link:git-merge-one-file-script.html[git-merge-one-file-script]::
 183         The standard helper program to use with "git-merge-cache"
 184
 185 link:git-prune-script.html[git-prune-script]::
 186         Prunes all unreachable objects from the object database
 187
 188 link:git-resolve-script.html[git-resolve-script]::
 189         Script used to merge two trees
 190
 191 link:git-tag-script.html[git-tag-script]::
 192         An example script to create a tag object signed with GPG
 193
 194
 195 Interogators:
 196
 197 link:git-diff-helper.html[git-diff-helper]::
 198         Generates patch format output for git-diff-*
 199
 200 link:git-ssh-push.html[git-ssh-push]::
 201         Helper "server-side" program used by git-ssh-pull
 202
 203
 204
 205 Identifier Terminology
 206 ----------------------
 207 <object>::
 208         Indicates the sha1 identifier for any type of object
 209
 210 <blob>::
 211         Indicates a blob object sha1 identifier
 212
 213 <tree>::
 214         Indicates a tree object sha1 identifier
 215
 216 <commit>::
 217         Indicates a commit object sha1 identifier
 218
 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>.
 224
 225 <type>::
 226         Indicates that an object type is required.
 227         Currently one of: blob/tree/commit/tag
 228
 229 <file>::
 230         Indicates a filename - always relative to the root of
 231         the tree structure GIT_INDEX_FILE describes.
 232
 233 Symbolic Identifiers
 234 --------------------
 235 Any git comand accepting any <object> can also use the following
 236 symbolic notation:
 237
 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>`)
 250
 251
 252 File/Directory Structure
 253 ------------------------
 254 The git-core manipulates the following areas in the directory:
 255
 256  .git/         The base (overridden with $GIT_DIR)
 257    objects/    The object base (overridden with $GIT_OBJECT_DIRECTORY)
 258      ??/       'First 2 chars of object' directories.
 259      pack/     Packed archives.
 260
 261    refs/       Directories containing symbolic names for objects
 262                (each file contains the hex SHA1 + newline)
 263      heads/    Commits which are heads of various sorts
 264      tags/     Tags, by the tag name (or some local renaming of it)
 265      */        Any other subdirectory of refs/ can be used to store
 266                files similar to what are under refs/heads/.
 267    HEAD        Symlink to refs/heads/<current-branch-name>
 268
 269 Higher level SCMs may provide and manage additional information in the
 270 GIT_DIR.
 271
 272 Terminology
 273 -----------
 274 Each line contains terms which you may see used interchangeably
 275
 276  object database, .git directory
 277  directory cache, index
 278  id, sha1, sha1-id, sha1 hash
 279  type, tag
 280
 281
 282 Environment Variables
 283 ---------------------
 284 Various git commands use the following environment variables:
 285
 286 The git Repository
 287 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 288 These environment variables apply to 'all' core git commands. Nb: it
 289 is worth noting that they may be used/overridden by SCMS sitting above
 290 git so take care if using Cogito etc
 291
 292 'GIT_INDEX_FILE'::
 293         This environment allows the specification of an alternate
 294         cache/index file. If not specified, the default of
 295         `$GIT_DIR/index` is used.
 296
 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.
 302
 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.
 309
 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.
 314
 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]
 323
 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]
 332
 333 Discussion
 334 ----------
 335 include::../README[]
 336
 337 Author
 338 ------
 339 Written by Linus Torvalds <torvalds@osdl.org> and the git-list <git@vger.kernel.org>.
 340
 341 Documentation
 342 --------------
 343 Documentation by David Greaves, Junio C Hamano and the git-list <git@vger.kernel.org>.
 344
 345 GIT
 346 ---
 347 Part of the link:git.html[git] suite
 348