Documentation/git.txt

   1 git(7)
   2 ======
   3
   4 NAME
   5 ----
   6 git - the stupid content tracker
   7
   8
   9 SYNOPSIS
  10 --------
  11 'git-<command>' <args>
  12
  13 DESCRIPTION
  14 -----------
  15
  16 This is reference information for the core git commands.
  17
  18 Before reading this cover to cover, you may want to take a look
  19 at the link:tutorial.html[tutorial] document.
  20
  21 The <<Discussion>> section below contains much useful definition and
  22 clarification info - read that first.  And of the commands, I suggest
  23 reading gitlink:git-update-index[1] and
  24 gitlink:git-read-tree[1] first - I wish I had!
  25
  26 If you are migrating from CVS, link:cvs-migration.html[cvs migration]
  27 document may be helpful after you finish the tutorial.
  28
  29 After you get the general feel from the tutorial and this
  30 overview page, you may want to take a look at the
  31 link:howto-index.html[howto] documents.
  32
  33
  34 David Greaves <david@dgreaves.com>
  35 08/05/05
  36
  37 Updated by Junio C Hamano <junkio@cox.net> on 2005-05-05 to
  38 reflect recent changes.
  39
  40 Commands Overview
  41 -----------------
  42 The git commands can helpfully be split into those that manipulate
  43 the repository, the cache and the working fileset, those that
  44 interrogate and compare them, and those that moves objects and
  45 references between repositories.
  46
  47 In addition, git itself comes with a spartan set of porcelain
  48 commands.  They are usable but are not meant to compete with real
  49 Porcelains.
  50
  51 There are also some ancillary programs that can be viewed as useful
  52 aids for using the core commands but which are unlikely to be used by
  53 SCMs layered over git.
  54
  55 Manipulation commands
  56 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
  57 gitlink:git-apply[1]::
  58         Reads a "diff -up1" or git generated patch file and
  59         applies it to the working tree.
  60
  61 gitlink:git-checkout-index[1]::
  62         Copy files from the cache to the working directory
  63         Previously this command was known as git-checkout-cache.
  64
  65 gitlink:git-commit-tree[1]::
  66         Creates a new commit object
  67
  68 gitlink:git-hash-object[1]::
  69         Computes the object ID from a file.
  70
  71 gitlink:git-index-pack.html[1]::
  72         Build pack index file for an existing packed archive.
  73
  74 gitlink:git-init-db[1]::
  75         Creates an empty git object database
  76
  77 gitlink:git-merge-index[1]::
  78         Runs a merge for files needing merging
  79         Previously this command was known as git-merge-cache.
  80
  81 gitlink:git-mktag[1]::
  82         Creates a tag object
  83
  84 gitlink:git-pack-objects[1]::
  85         Creates a packed archive of objects.
  86
  87 gitlink:git-prune-packed[1]::
  88         Remove extra objects that are already in pack files.
  89
  90 gitlink:git-read-tree[1]::
  91         Reads tree information into the directory cache
  92
  93 gitlink:git-unpack-objects[1]::
  94         Unpacks objects out of a packed archive.
  95
  96 gitlink:git-update-index[1]::
  97         Modifies the index or directory cache
  98         Previously this command was known as git-update-cache.
  99
 100 gitlink:git-write-tree[1]::
 101         Creates a tree from the current cache
 102
 103
 104 Interrogation commands
 105 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 106
 107 gitlink:git-cat-file[1]::
 108         Provide content or type information for repository objects
 109
 110 gitlink:git-diff-index[1]::
 111         Compares content and mode of blobs between the cache and repository
 112         Previously this command was known as git-diff-cache.
 113
 114 gitlink:git-diff-files[1]::
 115         Compares files in the working tree and the cache
 116
 117 gitlink:git-diff-stages[1]::
 118         Compares two "merge stages" in the index file.
 119
 120 gitlink:git-diff-tree[1]::
 121         Compares the content and mode of blobs found via two tree objects
 122
 123 gitlink:git-fsck-objects[1]::
 124         Verifies the connectivity and validity of the objects in the database
 125         Previously this command was known as git-fsck-cache.
 126
 127 gitlink:git-ls-files[1]::
 128         Information about files in the cache/working directory
 129
 130 gitlink:git-ls-tree[1]::
 131         Displays a tree object in human readable form
 132
 133 gitlink:git-merge-base[1]::
 134         Finds as good a common ancestor as possible for a merge
 135
 136 gitlink:git-name-rev[1]::
 137         Find symbolic names for given revs
 138
 139 gitlink:git-rev-list[1]::
 140         Lists commit objects in reverse chronological order
 141
 142 gitlink:git-show-index[1]::
 143         Displays contents of a pack idx file.
 144
 145 gitlink:git-tar-tree[1]::
 146         Creates a tar archive of the files in the named tree
 147
 148 gitlink:git-unpack-file[1]::
 149         Creates a temporary file with a blob's contents
 150
 151 gitlink:git-var[1]::
 152         Displays a git logical variable
 153
 154 gitlink:git-verify-pack[1]::
 155         Validates packed git archive files
 156
 157 The interrogate commands may create files - and you can force them to
 158 touch the working file set - but in general they don't
 159
 160
 161 Synching repositories
 162 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 163
 164 gitlink:git-clone-pack[1]::
 165         Clones a repository into the current repository (engine
 166         for ssh and local transport)
 167
 168 gitlink:git-fetch-pack[1]::
 169         Updates from a remote repository.
 170
 171 gitlink:git-http-fetch[1]::
 172         Downloads a remote git repository via HTTP
 173         Previously this command was known as git-http-pull.
 174
 175 gitlink:git-local-fetch[1]::
 176         Duplicates another git repository on a local system
 177         Previously this command was known as git-local-pull.
 178
 179 gitlink:git-peek-remote[1]::
 180         Lists references on a remote repository using upload-pack protocol.
 181
 182 gitlink:git-receive-pack[1]::
 183         Invoked by 'git-send-pack' to receive what is pushed to it.
 184
 185 gitlink:git-send-pack[1]::
 186         Pushes to a remote repository, intelligently.
 187
 188 gitlink:git-shell[1]::
 189         Restricted shell for GIT-only SSH access.
 190
 191 gitlink:git-ssh-fetch[1]::
 192         Pulls from a remote repository over ssh connection
 193         Previously this command was known as git-ssh-pull.
 194
 195 gitlink:git-ssh-upload[1]::
 196         Helper "server-side" program used by git-ssh-fetch
 197         Previously this command was known as git-ssh-push.
 198
 199 gitlink:git-update-server-info[1]::
 200         Updates auxiliary information on a dumb server to help
 201         clients discover references and packs on it.
 202
 203 gitlink:git-upload-pack[1]::
 204         Invoked by 'git-clone-pack' and 'git-fetch-pack' to push
 205         what are asked for.
 206
 207
 208 Porcelain-ish Commands
 209 ----------------------
 210
 211 gitlink:git-add[1]::
 212         Add paths to the index file.
 213         Previously this command was known as git-add-script.
 214
 215 gitlink:git-am[1]::
 216         Apply patches from a mailbox, but cooler.
 217
 218 gitlink:git-applymbox[1]::
 219         Apply patches from a mailbox.
 220
 221 gitlink:git-bisect[1]::
 222         Find the change that introduced a bug.
 223         Previously this command was known as git-bisect-script.
 224
 225 gitlink:git-branch[1]::
 226         Create and Show branches.
 227         Previously this command was known as git-branch-script.
 228
 229 gitlink:git-checkout[1]::
 230         Checkout and switch to a branch.
 231         Previously this command was known as git-checkout-script.
 232
 233 gitlink:git-cherry-pick[1]::
 234         Cherry-pick the effect of an existing commit.
 235         Previously this command was known as git-cherry-pick-script.
 236
 237 gitlink:git-clone[1]::
 238         Clones a repository into a new directory.
 239         Previously this command was known as git-clone-script.
 240
 241 gitlink:git-commit[1]::
 242         Record changes to the repository.
 243         Previously this command was known as git-commit-script.
 244
 245 gitlink:git-diff[1]::
 246         Show changes between commits, commit and working tree, etc.
 247         Previously this command was known as git-diff-script.
 248
 249 gitlink:git-fetch[1]::
 250         Download from a remote repository via various protocols.
 251         Previously this command was known as git-fetch-script.
 252
 253 gitlink:git-format-patch[1]::
 254         Prepare patches for e-mail submission.
 255         Previously this command was known as git-format-patch-script.
 256
 257 gitlink:git-grep[1]::
 258         Print lines matching a pattern
 259
 260 gitlink:git-log[1]::
 261         Shows commit logs.
 262         Previously this command was known as git-log-script.
 263
 264 gitlink:git-ls-remote[1]::
 265         Shows references in a remote or local repository.
 266         Previously this command was known as git-ls-remote-script.
 267
 268 gitlink:git-merge[1]::
 269         Grand unified merge driver.
 270
 271 gitlink:git-mv[1]::
 272         Move or rename a file, a directory, or a symlink.
 273
 274 gitlink:git-octopus[1]::
 275         Merge more than two commits.
 276         Previously this command was known as git-octopus-script.
 277
 278 gitlink:git-pull[1]::
 279         Fetch from and merge with a remote repository.
 280         Previously this command was known as git-pull-script.
 281
 282 gitlink:git-push[1]::
 283         Update remote refs along with associated objects.
 284         Previously this command was known as git-push-script.
 285
 286 gitlink:git-rebase[1]::
 287         Rebase local commits to new upstream head.
 288         Previously this command was known as git-rebase-script.
 289
 290 gitlink:git-rename[1]::
 291         Rename files and directories.
 292         Previously this command was known as git-rename-script.
 293
 294 gitlink:git-repack[1]::
 295         Pack unpacked objects in a repository.
 296         Previously this command was known as git-repack-script.
 297
 298 gitlink:git-reset[1]::
 299         Reset current HEAD to the specified state.
 300         Previously this command was known as git-reset-script.
 301
 302 gitlink:git-resolve[1]::
 303         Merge two commits.
 304         Previously this command was known as git-resolve-script.
 305
 306 gitlink:git-revert[1]::
 307         Revert an existing commit.
 308         Previously this command was known as git-revert-script.
 309
 310 gitlink:git-shortlog[1]::
 311         Summarizes 'git log' output.
 312
 313 gitlink:git-show-branch[1]::
 314         Show branches and their commits.
 315
 316 gitlink:git-status[1]::
 317         Shows the working tree status.
 318         Previously this command was known as git-status-script.
 319
 320 gitlink:git-verify-tag[1]::
 321         Check the GPG signature of tag.
 322         Previously this command was known as git-verify-tag-script.
 323
 324 gitlink:git-whatchanged[1]::
 325         Shows commit logs and differences they introduce.
 326
 327
 328 Ancillary Commands
 329 ------------------
 330 Manipulators:
 331
 332 gitlink:git-applypatch[1]::
 333         Apply one patch extracted from an e-mail.
 334
 335 gitlink:git-archimport[1]::
 336         Import an arch repository into git.
 337         Previously this command was known as git-archimport-script.
 338
 339 gitlink:git-convert-objects[1]::
 340         Converts old-style git repository
 341         Previously this command was known as git-convert-cache.
 342
 343 gitlink:git-cvsimport[1]::
 344         Salvage your data out of another SCM people love to hate.
 345         Previously this command was known as git-cvsimport-script.
 346
 347 gitlink:git-merge-one-file[1]::
 348         The standard helper program to use with "git-merge-index"
 349         Previously this command was known as git-merge-one-file-script.
 350
 351 gitlink:git-prune[1]::
 352         Prunes all unreachable objects from the object database
 353         Previously this command was known as git-prune-script.
 354
 355 gitlink:git-relink[1]::
 356         Hardlink common objects in local repositories.
 357         Previously this command was known as git-relink-script.
 358
 359 gitlink:git-svnimport[1]::
 360         Import a SVN repository into git.
 361
 362 gitlink:git-sh-setup[1]::
 363         Common git shell script setup code.
 364         Previously this command was known as git-sh-setup-script.
 365
 366 gitlink:git-symbolic-ref[1]::
 367         Read and modify symbolic refs
 368
 369 gitlink:git-tag[1]::
 370         An example script to create a tag object signed with GPG
 371         Previously this command was known as git-tag-script.
 372
 373 gitlink:git-update-ref[1]::
 374         Update the object name stored in a ref safely.
 375
 376
 377 Interrogators:
 378
 379 gitlink:git-check-ref-format[1]::
 380         Make sure ref name is well formed.
 381
 382 gitlink:git-cherry[1]::
 383         Find commits not merged upstream.
 384
 385 gitlink:git-count-objects[1]::
 386         Count unpacked number of objects and their disk consumption.
 387         Previously this command was known as git-count-objects-script.
 388
 389 gitlink:git-daemon[1]::
 390         A really simple server for git repositories.
 391
 392 gitlink:git-get-tar-commit-id[1]::
 393         Extract commit ID from an archive created using git-tar-tree.
 394
 395 gitlink:git-mailinfo[1]::
 396         Extracts patch from a single e-mail message.
 397
 398 gitlink:git-mailsplit[1]::
 399         git-mailsplit.
 400
 401 gitlink:git-patch-id[1]::
 402         Compute unique ID for a patch.
 403
 404 gitlink:git-parse-remote[1]::
 405         Routines to help parsing $GIT_DIR/remotes/
 406         Previously this command was known as git-parse-remote-script.
 407
 408 gitlink:git-request-pull[1]::
 409         git-request-pull.
 410         Previously this command was known as git-request-pull-script.
 411
 412 gitlink:git-rev-parse[1]::
 413         Pick out and massage parameters.
 414
 415 gitlink:git-send-email[1]::
 416         Send patch e-mails out of "format-patch --mbox" output.
 417         Previously this command was known as git-send-email-script.
 418
 419 gitlink:git-symbolic-refs[1]::
 420         Read and modify symbolic refs.
 421
 422 gitlink:git-stripspace[1]::
 423         Filter out empty lines.
 424
 425
 426 Commands not yet documented
 427 ---------------------------
 428
 429 gitlink:gitk[1]::
 430         gitk.
 431
 432
 433 Configuration Mechanism
 434 -----------------------
 435
 436 Starting from 0.99.9 (actually mid 0.99.8.GIT), .git/config file
 437 is used to hold per-repository configuration options.  It is a
 438 simple text file modelled after `.ini` format familiar to some
 439 people.  Here is an example:
 440
 441 ------------
 442 #
 443 # This is the config file, and
 444 # a '#' or ';' character indicates
 445 # a comment
 446 #
 447
 448 ; core variables
 449 [core]
 450         ; Don't trust file modes
 451         filemode = false
 452
 453 ; user identity
 454 [user]
 455         name = "Junio C Hamano"
 456         email = "junkio@twinsun.com"
 457
 458 ------------
 459
 460 Various commands read from the configuration file and adjust
 461 their operation accordingly.
 462
 463
 464 Identifier Terminology
 465 ----------------------
 466 <object>::
 467         Indicates the sha1 identifier for any type of object
 468
 469 <blob>::
 470         Indicates a blob object sha1 identifier
 471
 472 <tree>::
 473         Indicates a tree object sha1 identifier
 474
 475 <commit>::
 476         Indicates a commit object sha1 identifier
 477
 478 <tree-ish>::
 479         Indicates a tree, commit or tag object sha1 identifier.  A
 480         command that takes a <tree-ish> argument ultimately wants to
 481         operate on a <tree> object but automatically dereferences
 482         <commit> and <tag> objects that point at a <tree>.
 483
 484 <type>::
 485         Indicates that an object type is required.
 486         Currently one of: blob/tree/commit/tag
 487
 488 <file>::
 489         Indicates a filename - always relative to the root of
 490         the tree structure GIT_INDEX_FILE describes.
 491
 492 Symbolic Identifiers
 493 --------------------
 494 Any git command accepting any <object> can also use the following
 495 symbolic notation:
 496
 497 HEAD::
 498         indicates the head of the repository (ie the contents of
 499         `$GIT_DIR/HEAD`)
 500 <tag>::
 501         a valid tag 'name'+
 502         (ie the contents of `$GIT_DIR/refs/tags/<tag>`)
 503 <head>::
 504         a valid head 'name'+
 505         (ie the contents of `$GIT_DIR/refs/heads/<head>`)
 506 <snap>::
 507         a valid snapshot 'name'+
 508         (ie the contents of `$GIT_DIR/refs/snap/<snap>`)
 509
 510
 511 File/Directory Structure
 512 ------------------------
 513
 514 Please see link:repository-layout.html[repository layout] document.
 515
 516 Higher level SCMs may provide and manage additional information in the
 517 GIT_DIR.
 518
 519
 520 Terminology
 521 -----------
 522 Please see link:glossary.html[glossary] document.
 523
 524
 525 Environment Variables
 526 ---------------------
 527 Various git commands use the following environment variables:
 528
 529 The git Repository
 530 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 531 These environment variables apply to 'all' core git commands. Nb: it
 532 is worth noting that they may be used/overridden by SCMS sitting above
 533 git so take care if using Cogito etc
 534
 535 'GIT_INDEX_FILE'::
 536         This environment allows the specification of an alternate
 537         cache/index file. If not specified, the default of
 538         `$GIT_DIR/index` is used.
 539
 540 'GIT_OBJECT_DIRECTORY'::
 541         If the object storage directory is specified via this
 542         environment variable then the sha1 directories are created
 543         underneath - otherwise the default `$GIT_DIR/objects`
 544         directory is used.
 545
 546 'GIT_ALTERNATE_OBJECT_DIRECTORIES'::
 547         Due to the immutable nature of git objects, old objects can be
 548         archived into shared, read-only directories. This variable
 549         specifies a ":" separated list of git object directories which
 550         can be used to search for git objects. New objects will not be
 551         written to these directories.
 552
 553 'GIT_DIR'::
 554         If the 'GIT_DIR' environment variable is set then it specifies
 555         a path to use instead of `./.git` for the base of the
 556         repository.
 557
 558 git Commits
 559 ~~~~~~~~~~~
 560 'GIT_AUTHOR_NAME'::
 561 'GIT_AUTHOR_EMAIL'::
 562 'GIT_AUTHOR_DATE'::
 563 'GIT_COMMITTER_NAME'::
 564 'GIT_COMMITTER_EMAIL'::
 565         see gitlink:git-commit-tree[1]
 566
 567 git Diffs
 568 ~~~~~~~~~
 569 'GIT_DIFF_OPTS'::
 570 'GIT_EXTERNAL_DIFF'::
 571         see the "generating patches" section in :
 572         gitlink:git-diff-index[1];
 573         gitlink:git-diff-files[1];
 574         gitlink:git-diff-tree[1]
 575
 576 Discussion[[Discussion]]
 577 ------------------------
 578 include::../README[]
 579
 580 Author
 581 ------
 582 Written by Linus Torvalds <torvalds@osdl.org> and the git-list <git@vger.kernel.org>.
 583
 584 Documentation
 585 --------------
 586 Documentation by David Greaves, Junio C Hamano and the git-list <git@vger.kernel.org>.
 587
 588 GIT
 589 ---
 590 Part of the gitlink:git[7] suite
 591