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9e1f0a85 1git(1)
2cf565c5 2======
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3
4NAME
5----
6git - the stupid content tracker
7
8
9SYNOPSIS
10--------
8b70004b 11[verse]
44e1e4d6 12'git' [--version] [--help] [-C <path>] [-c <name>=<value>]
68e4b552 13 [--exec-path[=<path>]] [--html-path] [--man-path] [--info-path]
7213c288 14 [-p|--paginate|-P|--no-pager] [--no-replace-objects] [--bare]
d49483f0 15 [--git-dir=<path>] [--work-tree=<path>] [--namespace=<name>]
9152904c 16 [--super-prefix=<path>] [--config-env=<name>=<envvar>]
68e4b552 17 <command> [<args>]
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18
19DESCRIPTION
20-----------
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21Git is a fast, scalable, distributed revision control system with an
22unusually rich command set that provides both high-level operations
23and full access to internals.
24
6998e4db 25See linkgit:gittutorial[7] to get started, then see
673151a9 26linkgit:giteveryday[7] for a useful minimum set of
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27commands. The link:user-manual.html[Git User's Manual] has a more
28in-depth introduction.
cb22bc44 29
7687ae98 30After you mastered the basic concepts, you can come back to this
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31page to learn what commands Git offers. You can learn more about
32individual Git commands with "git help command". linkgit:gitcli[7]
06ab60c0 33manual page gives you an overview of the command-line command syntax.
4514ad4f 34
f7935827 35A formatted and hyperlinked copy of the latest Git documentation
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36can be viewed at https://git.github.io/htmldocs/git.html
37or https://git-scm.com/docs.
34b604af 38
26cfcfbf 39
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40OPTIONS
41-------
42--version::
2de9b711 43 Prints the Git suite version that the 'git' program came from.
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44+
45This option is internaly converted to `git version ...` and accepts
46the same options as the linkgit:git-version[1] command. If `--help` is
47also given, it takes precedence over `--version`.
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48
49--help::
a87cd02c 50 Prints the synopsis and a list of the most commonly used
bcf9626a 51 commands. If the option `--all` or `-a` is given then all
2de9b711 52 available commands are printed. If a Git command is named this
0f6f195b 53 option will bring up the manual page for that command.
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54+
55Other options are available to control how the manual page is
5162e697 56displayed. See linkgit:git-help[1] for more information,
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57because `git --help ...` is converted internally into `git
58help ...`.
cb22bc44 59
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60-C <path>::
61 Run as if git was started in '<path>' instead of the current working
62 directory. When multiple `-C` options are given, each subsequent
63 non-absolute `-C <path>` is interpreted relative to the preceding `-C
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64 <path>`. If '<path>' is present but empty, e.g. `-C ""`, then the
65 current working directory is left unchanged.
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66+
67This option affects options that expect path name like `--git-dir` and
68`--work-tree` in that their interpretations of the path names would be
69made relative to the working directory caused by the `-C` option. For
70example the following invocations are equivalent:
71
72 git --git-dir=a.git --work-tree=b -C c status
73 git --git-dir=c/a.git --work-tree=c/b status
74
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75-c <name>=<value>::
76 Pass a configuration parameter to the command. The value
77 given will override values from configuration files.
78 The <name> is expected in the same format as listed by
79 'git config' (subkeys separated by dots).
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80+
81Note that omitting the `=` in `git -c foo.bar ...` is allowed and sets
82`foo.bar` to the boolean true value (just like `[foo]bar` would in a
83config file). Including the equals but with an empty value (like `git -c
5e633326 84foo.bar= ...`) sets `foo.bar` to the empty string which `git config
ed3bb3df 85--type=bool` will convert to `false`.
8b1fa778 86
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87--config-env=<name>=<envvar>::
88 Like `-c <name>=<value>`, give configuration variable
89 '<name>' a value, where <envvar> is the name of an
90 environment variable from which to retrieve the value. Unlike
91 `-c` there is no shortcut for directly setting the value to an
92 empty string, instead the environment variable itself must be
93 set to the empty string. It is an error if the `<envvar>` does not exist
94 in the environment. `<envvar>` may not contain an equals sign
83171ede 95 to avoid ambiguity with `<name>` containing one.
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96+
97This is useful for cases where you want to pass transitory
98configuration options to git, but are doing so on OS's where
99other processes might be able to read your cmdline
100(e.g. `/proc/self/cmdline`), but not your environ
101(e.g. `/proc/self/environ`). That behavior is the default on
102Linux, but may not be on your system.
103+
104Note that this might add security for variables such as
105`http.extraHeader` where the sensitive information is part of
106the value, but not e.g. `url.<base>.insteadOf` where the
107sensitive information can be part of the key.
108
62b4698e 109--exec-path[=<path>]::
2de9b711 110 Path to wherever your core Git programs are installed.
cb22bc44 111 This can also be controlled by setting the GIT_EXEC_PATH
56992f76 112 environment variable. If no path is given, 'git' will print
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113 the current setting and then exit.
114
89a56bfb 115--html-path::
2de9b711 116 Print the path, without trailing slash, where Git's HTML
239b5ed9 117 documentation is installed and exit.
89a56bfb 118
f2dd8c37 119--man-path::
239b5ed9 120 Print the manpath (see `man(1)`) for the man pages for
2de9b711 121 this version of Git and exit.
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122
123--info-path::
239b5ed9 124 Print the path where the Info files documenting this
2de9b711 125 version of Git are installed and exit.
89a56bfb 126
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127-p::
128--paginate::
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129 Pipe all output into 'less' (or if set, $PAGER) if standard
130 output is a terminal. This overrides the `pager.<cmd>`
131 configuration options (see the "Configuration Mechanism" section
132 below).
6acbcb92 133
7213c288 134-P::
463a849d 135--no-pager::
2de9b711 136 Do not pipe Git output into a pager.
463a849d 137
6acbcb92 138--git-dir=<path>::
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139 Set the path to the repository (".git" directory). This can also be
140 controlled by setting the `GIT_DIR` environment variable. It can be
141 an absolute path or relative path to current working directory.
142+
143Specifying the location of the ".git" directory using this
144option (or `GIT_DIR` environment variable) turns off the
145repository discovery that tries to find a directory with
146".git" subdirectory (which is how the repository and the
147top-level of the working tree are discovered), and tells Git
148that you are at the top level of the working tree. If you
149are not at the top-level directory of the working tree, you
150should tell Git where the top-level of the working tree is,
151with the `--work-tree=<path>` option (or `GIT_WORK_TREE`
152environment variable)
153+
154If you just want to run git as if it was started in `<path>` then use
155`git -C <path>`.
6acbcb92 156
892c41b9 157--work-tree=<path>::
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158 Set the path to the working tree. It can be an absolute path
159 or a path relative to the current working directory.
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160 This can also be controlled by setting the GIT_WORK_TREE
161 environment variable and the core.worktree configuration
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162 variable (see core.worktree in linkgit:git-config[1] for a
163 more detailed discussion).
892c41b9 164
d49483f0 165--namespace=<path>::
2de9b711 166 Set the Git namespace. See linkgit:gitnamespaces[7] for more
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167 details. Equivalent to setting the `GIT_NAMESPACE` environment
168 variable.
169
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170--super-prefix=<path>::
171 Currently for internal use only. Set a prefix which gives a path from
172 above a repository down to its root. One use is to give submodules
173 context about the superproject that invoked it.
174
6acbcb92 175--bare::
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176 Treat the repository as a bare repository. If GIT_DIR
177 environment is not set, it is set to the current working
178 directory.
179
b0fa7ab5 180--no-replace-objects::
2de9b711 181 Do not use replacement refs to replace Git objects. See
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182 linkgit:git-replace[1] for more information.
183
823ab40f 184--literal-pathspecs::
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185 Treat pathspecs literally (i.e. no globbing, no pathspec magic).
186 This is equivalent to setting the `GIT_LITERAL_PATHSPECS` environment
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187 variable to `1`.
188
6fb02165 189--glob-pathspecs::
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190 Add "glob" magic to all pathspec. This is equivalent to setting
191 the `GIT_GLOB_PATHSPECS` environment variable to `1`. Disabling
192 globbing on individual pathspecs can be done using pathspec
193 magic ":(literal)"
194
6fb02165 195--noglob-pathspecs::
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196 Add "literal" magic to all pathspec. This is equivalent to setting
197 the `GIT_NOGLOB_PATHSPECS` environment variable to `1`. Enabling
198 globbing on individual pathspecs can be done using pathspec
199 magic ":(glob)"
9755afbd 200
6fb02165 201--icase-pathspecs::
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202 Add "icase" magic to all pathspec. This is equivalent to setting
203 the `GIT_ICASE_PATHSPECS` environment variable to `1`.
9755afbd 204
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205--no-optional-locks::
206 Do not perform optional operations that require locks. This is
207 equivalent to setting the `GIT_OPTIONAL_LOCKS` to `0`.
208
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209--list-cmds=group[,group...]::
210 List commands by group. This is an internal/experimental
211 option and may change or be removed in the future. Supported
212 groups are: builtins, parseopt (builtin commands that use
6bb2dc0b 213 parse-options), main (all commands in libexec directory),
3c777767 214 others (all other commands in `$PATH` that have git- prefix),
e11dca10 215 list-<category> (see categories in command-list.txt),
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216 nohelpers (exclude helper commands), alias and config
217 (retrieve command list from config variable completion.commands)
0089521c 218
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219GIT COMMANDS
220------------
9755afbd 221
2de9b711 222We divide Git into high level ("porcelain") commands and low level
23091e95 223("plumbing") commands.
8b15e2fb 224
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225High-level commands (porcelain)
226-------------------------------
227
228We separate the porcelain commands into the main commands and some
229ancillary user utilities.
230
231Main porcelain commands
232~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
905197de 233
377e8139 234include::cmds-mainporcelain.txt[]
e31bb3bb 235
90933efb 236Ancillary Commands
23091e95 237~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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238Manipulators:
239
377e8139 240include::cmds-ancillarymanipulators.txt[]
204ee6a9 241
90933efb 242Interrogators:
204ee6a9 243
377e8139 244include::cmds-ancillaryinterrogators.txt[]
7fc9d69f 245
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246
247Interacting with Others
248~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
249
250These commands are to interact with foreign SCM and with other
251people via patch over e-mail.
252
253include::cmds-foreignscminterface.txt[]
254
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255Reset, restore and revert
256~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
257There are three commands with similar names: `git reset`,
258`git restore` and `git revert`.
259
260* linkgit:git-revert[1] is about making a new commit that reverts the
261 changes made by other commits.
262
263* linkgit:git-restore[1] is about restoring files in the working tree
264 from either the index or another commit. This command does not
265 update your branch. The command can also be used to restore files in
266 the index from another commit.
267
268* linkgit:git-reset[1] is about updating your branch, moving the tip
269 in order to add or remove commits from the branch. This operation
270 changes the commit history.
271+
272`git reset` can also be used to restore the index, overlapping with
273`git restore`.
274
89bf2077 275
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276Low-level commands (plumbing)
277-----------------------------
278
2de9b711 279Although Git includes its
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280own porcelain layer, its low-level commands are sufficient to support
281development of alternative porcelains. Developers of such porcelains
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282might start by reading about linkgit:git-update-index[1] and
283linkgit:git-read-tree[1].
b1f33d62 284
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285The interface (input, output, set of options and the semantics)
286to these low-level commands are meant to be a lot more stable
287than Porcelain level commands, because these commands are
288primarily for scripted use. The interface to Porcelain commands
289on the other hand are subject to change in order to improve the
290end user experience.
291
292The following description divides
293the low-level commands into commands that manipulate objects (in
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294the repository, index, and working tree), commands that interrogate and
295compare objects, and commands that move objects and references between
296repositories.
297
89bf2077 298
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299Manipulation commands
300~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
b1f33d62 301
377e8139 302include::cmds-plumbingmanipulators.txt[]
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303
304
305Interrogation commands
306~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
307
377e8139 308include::cmds-plumbinginterrogators.txt[]
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309
310In general, the interrogate commands do not touch the files in
311the working tree.
312
313
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314Syncing repositories
315~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
b1f33d62 316
377e8139 317include::cmds-synchingrepositories.txt[]
b1f33d62 318
57f6ec02 319The following are helper commands used by the above; end users
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320typically do not use them directly.
321
322include::cmds-synchelpers.txt[]
323
324
325Internal helper commands
326~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
327
328These are internal helper commands used by other commands; end
329users typically do not use them directly.
330
331include::cmds-purehelpers.txt[]
332
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333Guides
334------
335
336The following documentation pages are guides about Git concepts.
337
338include::cmds-guide.txt[]
339
b1f33d62 340
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341Configuration Mechanism
342-----------------------
343
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344Git uses a simple text format to store customizations that are per
345repository and are per user. Such a configuration file may look
346like this:
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347
348------------
349#
2fa090b6 350# A '#' or ';' character indicates a comment.
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351#
352
353; core variables
354[core]
355 ; Don't trust file modes
356 filemode = false
357
358; user identity
359[user]
360 name = "Junio C Hamano"
c0179c0d 361 email = "gitster@pobox.com"
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362
363------------
364
365Various commands read from the configuration file and adjust
06300d97 366their operation accordingly. See linkgit:git-config[1] for a
c0179c0d 367list and more details about the configuration mechanism.
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368
369
6c84e2e0 370Identifier Terminology
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371----------------------
372<object>::
2fa090b6 373 Indicates the object name for any type of object.
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374
375<blob>::
2fa090b6 376 Indicates a blob object name.
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377
378<tree>::
2fa090b6 379 Indicates a tree object name.
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380
381<commit>::
2fa090b6 382 Indicates a commit object name.
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383
384<tree-ish>::
2fa090b6 385 Indicates a tree, commit or tag object name. A
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386 command that takes a <tree-ish> argument ultimately wants to
387 operate on a <tree> object but automatically dereferences
388 <commit> and <tag> objects that point at a <tree>.
2cf565c5 389
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390<commit-ish>::
391 Indicates a commit or tag object name. A
392 command that takes a <commit-ish> argument ultimately wants to
393 operate on a <commit> object but automatically dereferences
394 <tag> objects that point at a <commit>.
395
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396<type>::
397 Indicates that an object type is required.
2fa090b6 398 Currently one of: `blob`, `tree`, `commit`, or `tag`.
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399
400<file>::
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401 Indicates a filename - almost always relative to the
402 root of the tree structure `GIT_INDEX_FILE` describes.
2cf565c5 403
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404Symbolic Identifiers
405--------------------
2de9b711 406Any Git command accepting any <object> can also use the following
6c84e2e0 407symbolic notation:
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408
409HEAD::
0abcfbff 410 indicates the head of the current branch.
2fa090b6 411
c1bdacf9 412<tag>::
2fa090b6 413 a valid tag 'name'
0abcfbff 414 (i.e. a `refs/tags/<tag>` reference).
2fa090b6 415
c1bdacf9 416<head>::
2fa090b6 417 a valid head 'name'
0abcfbff 418 (i.e. a `refs/heads/<head>` reference).
2fa090b6 419
d47107d8 420For a more complete list of ways to spell object names, see
9d83e382 421"SPECIFYING REVISIONS" section in linkgit:gitrevisions[7].
d47107d8 422
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423
424File/Directory Structure
425------------------------
c1bdacf9 426
6998e4db 427Please see the linkgit:gitrepository-layout[5] document.
c1bdacf9 428
6998e4db 429Read linkgit:githooks[5] for more details about each hook.
6250ad1e 430
c1bdacf9 431Higher level SCMs may provide and manage additional information in the
2fa090b6 432`$GIT_DIR`.
c1bdacf9 433
a1d4aa74 434
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435Terminology
436-----------
6998e4db 437Please see linkgit:gitglossary[7].
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438
439
440Environment Variables
441---------------------
2de9b711 442Various Git commands use the following environment variables:
2cf565c5 443
2de9b711 444The Git Repository
c1bdacf9 445~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
2de9b711 446These environment variables apply to 'all' core Git commands. Nb: it
c1bdacf9 447is worth noting that they may be used/overridden by SCMS sitting above
f25b98e6 448Git so take care if using a foreign front-end.
c1bdacf9 449
eee7f4a2 450`GIT_INDEX_FILE`::
c1bdacf9 451 This environment allows the specification of an alternate
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452 index file. If not specified, the default of `$GIT_DIR/index`
453 is used.
c1bdacf9 454
eee7f4a2 455`GIT_INDEX_VERSION`::
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456 This environment variable allows the specification of an index
457 version for new repositories. It won't affect existing index
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458 files. By default index file version 2 or 3 is used. See
459 linkgit:git-update-index[1] for more information.
136347d7 460
eee7f4a2 461`GIT_OBJECT_DIRECTORY`::
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462 If the object storage directory is specified via this
463 environment variable then the sha1 directories are created
464 underneath - otherwise the default `$GIT_DIR/objects`
465 directory is used.
466
eee7f4a2 467`GIT_ALTERNATE_OBJECT_DIRECTORIES`::
2de9b711 468 Due to the immutable nature of Git objects, old objects can be
c1bdacf9 469 archived into shared, read-only directories. This variable
80ba074f 470 specifies a ":" separated (on Windows ";" separated) list
2de9b711 471 of Git object directories which can be used to search for Git
80ba074f 472 objects. New objects will not be written to these directories.
cf3c6352 473+
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474Entries that begin with `"` (double-quote) will be interpreted
475as C-style quoted paths, removing leading and trailing
476double-quotes and respecting backslash escapes. E.g., the value
477`"path-with-\"-and-:-in-it":vanilla-path` has two paths:
478`path-with-"-and-:-in-it` and `vanilla-path`.
c1bdacf9 479
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480`GIT_DIR`::
481 If the `GIT_DIR` environment variable is set then it
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482 specifies a path to use instead of the default `.git`
483 for the base of the repository.
bcf9626a 484 The `--git-dir` command-line option also sets this value.
c1bdacf9 485
eee7f4a2 486`GIT_WORK_TREE`::
a758a349 487 Set the path to the root of the working tree.
bcf9626a 488 This can also be controlled by the `--work-tree` command-line
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489 option and the core.worktree configuration variable.
490
eee7f4a2 491`GIT_NAMESPACE`::
2de9b711 492 Set the Git namespace; see linkgit:gitnamespaces[7] for details.
bcf9626a 493 The `--namespace` command-line option also sets this value.
d49483f0 494
eee7f4a2 495`GIT_CEILING_DIRECTORIES`::
7ec30aaa 496 This should be a colon-separated list of absolute paths. If
3e07d268 497 set, it is a list of directories that Git should not chdir up
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498 into while looking for a repository directory (useful for
499 excluding slow-loading network directories). It will not
500 exclude the current working directory or a GIT_DIR set on the
501 command line or in the environment. Normally, Git has to read
502 the entries in this list and resolve any symlink that
503 might be present in order to compare them with the current
504 directory. However, if even this access is slow, you
505 can add an empty entry to the list to tell Git that the
506 subsequent entries are not symlinks and needn't be resolved;
507 e.g.,
eee7f4a2 508 `GIT_CEILING_DIRECTORIES=/maybe/symlink::/very/slow/non/symlink`.
0454dd93 509
eee7f4a2 510`GIT_DISCOVERY_ACROSS_FILESYSTEM`::
e6405517 511 When run in a directory that does not have ".git" repository
2de9b711 512 directory, Git tries to find such a directory in the parent
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513 directories to find the top of the working tree, but by default it
514 does not cross filesystem boundaries. This environment variable
2de9b711 515 can be set to true to tell Git not to stop at filesystem
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516 boundaries. Like `GIT_CEILING_DIRECTORIES`, this will not affect
517 an explicit repository directory set via `GIT_DIR` or on the
cf87463e 518 command line.
8030e442 519
eee7f4a2 520`GIT_COMMON_DIR`::
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521 If this variable is set to a path, non-worktree files that are
522 normally in $GIT_DIR will be taken from this path
523 instead. Worktree-specific files such as HEAD or index are
529fef20 524 taken from $GIT_DIR. See linkgit:gitrepository-layout[5] and
1eaca7a5 525 linkgit:git-worktree[1] for
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526 details. This variable has lower precedence than other path
527 variables such as GIT_INDEX_FILE, GIT_OBJECT_DIRECTORY...
528
ed11a5a7 529`GIT_DEFAULT_HASH`::
3c9331a1 530 If this variable is set, the default hash algorithm for new
531 repositories will be set to this value. This value is currently
532 ignored when cloning; the setting of the remote repository
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533 is used instead. The default is "sha1". THIS VARIABLE IS
534 EXPERIMENTAL! See `--object-format` in linkgit:git-init[1].
3c9331a1 535
2de9b711 536Git Commits
c1bdacf9 537~~~~~~~~~~~
eee7f4a2 538`GIT_AUTHOR_NAME`::
bc94e586 539 The human-readable name used in the author identity when creating commit or
540 tag objects, or when writing reflogs. Overrides the `user.name` and
541 `author.name` configuration settings.
542
eee7f4a2 543`GIT_AUTHOR_EMAIL`::
bc94e586 544 The email address used in the author identity when creating commit or
545 tag objects, or when writing reflogs. Overrides the `user.email` and
546 `author.email` configuration settings.
547
eee7f4a2 548`GIT_AUTHOR_DATE`::
bc94e586 549 The date used for the author identity when creating commit or tag objects, or
550 when writing reflogs. See linkgit:git-commit[1] for valid formats.
551
eee7f4a2 552`GIT_COMMITTER_NAME`::
bc94e586 553 The human-readable name used in the committer identity when creating commit or
554 tag objects, or when writing reflogs. Overrides the `user.name` and
555 `committer.name` configuration settings.
556
eee7f4a2 557`GIT_COMMITTER_EMAIL`::
bc94e586 558 The email address used in the author identity when creating commit or
559 tag objects, or when writing reflogs. Overrides the `user.email` and
560 `committer.email` configuration settings.
561
eee7f4a2 562`GIT_COMMITTER_DATE`::
bc94e586 563 The date used for the committer identity when creating commit or tag objects, or
564 when writing reflogs. See linkgit:git-commit[1] for valid formats.
565
566`EMAIL`::
567 The email address used in the author and committer identities if no other
568 relevant environment variable or configuration setting has been set.
c1bdacf9 569
2de9b711 570Git Diffs
c1bdacf9 571~~~~~~~~~
eee7f4a2 572`GIT_DIFF_OPTS`::
fde97d8a
SE
573 Only valid setting is "--unified=??" or "-u??" to set the
574 number of context lines shown when a unified diff is created.
575 This takes precedence over any "-U" or "--unified" option
2de9b711 576 value passed on the Git diff command line.
fde97d8a 577
eee7f4a2
TR
578`GIT_EXTERNAL_DIFF`::
579 When the environment variable `GIT_EXTERNAL_DIFF` is set, the
17bae894
PB
580 program named by it is called to generate diffs, and Git
581 does not use its builtin diff machinery.
582 For a path that is added, removed, or modified,
eee7f4a2 583 `GIT_EXTERNAL_DIFF` is called with 7 parameters:
fde97d8a
SE
584
585 path old-file old-hex old-mode new-file new-hex new-mode
586+
587where:
588
589 <old|new>-file:: are files GIT_EXTERNAL_DIFF can use to read the
590 contents of <old|new>,
d5fa1f1a 591 <old|new>-hex:: are the 40-hexdigit SHA-1 hashes,
fde97d8a 592 <old|new>-mode:: are the octal representation of the file modes.
fde97d8a
SE
593+
594The file parameters can point at the user's working file
595(e.g. `new-file` in "git-diff-files"), `/dev/null` (e.g. `old-file`
596when a new file is added), or a temporary file (e.g. `old-file` in the
eee7f4a2
TR
597index). `GIT_EXTERNAL_DIFF` should not worry about unlinking the
598temporary file --- it is removed when `GIT_EXTERNAL_DIFF` exits.
fde97d8a 599+
eee7f4a2 600For a path that is unmerged, `GIT_EXTERNAL_DIFF` is called with 1
fde97d8a 601parameter, <path>.
ee7fb0b1 602+
eee7f4a2
TR
603For each path `GIT_EXTERNAL_DIFF` is called, two environment variables,
604`GIT_DIFF_PATH_COUNTER` and `GIT_DIFF_PATH_TOTAL` are set.
ee7fb0b1 605
eee7f4a2 606`GIT_DIFF_PATH_COUNTER`::
ee7fb0b1
ZK
607 A 1-based counter incremented by one for every path.
608
eee7f4a2 609`GIT_DIFF_PATH_TOTAL`::
ee7fb0b1 610 The total number of paths.
2cf565c5 611
575ba9d6
ML
612other
613~~~~~
eee7f4a2 614`GIT_MERGE_VERBOSITY`::
dbddb714
JN
615 A number controlling the amount of output shown by
616 the recursive merge strategy. Overrides merge.verbosity.
5162e697 617 See linkgit:git-merge[1]
dbddb714 618
eee7f4a2 619`GIT_PAGER`::
a7738c77 620 This environment variable overrides `$PAGER`. If it is set
2de9b711 621 to an empty string or to the value "cat", Git will not launch
ab54cd6c
JN
622 a pager. See also the `core.pager` option in
623 linkgit:git-config[1].
c27d205a 624
44a4693b
DS
625`GIT_PROGRESS_DELAY`::
626 A number controlling how many seconds to delay before showing
627 optional progress indicators. Defaults to 2.
628
eee7f4a2 629`GIT_EDITOR`::
36384c97 630 This environment variable overrides `$EDITOR` and `$VISUAL`.
2de9b711 631 It is used by several Git commands when, on interactive mode,
36384c97
RSM
632 an editor is to be launched. See also linkgit:git-var[1]
633 and the `core.editor` option in linkgit:git-config[1].
634
902a126e
PB
635`GIT_SEQUENCE_EDITOR`::
636 This environment variable overrides the configured Git editor
637 when editing the todo list of an interactive rebase. See also
5bed7f66
PB
638 linkgit:git-rebase[1] and the `sequence.editor` option in
639 linkgit:git-config[1].
902a126e 640
eee7f4a2
TR
641`GIT_SSH`::
642`GIT_SSH_COMMAND`::
39942766
TQ
643 If either of these environment variables is set then 'git fetch'
644 and 'git push' will use the specified command instead of 'ssh'
645 when they need to connect to a remote system.
94b8ae5a
BW
646 The command-line parameters passed to the configured command are
647 determined by the ssh variant. See `ssh.variant` option in
648 linkgit:git-config[1] for details.
d5538b41 649+
39942766
TQ
650`$GIT_SSH_COMMAND` takes precedence over `$GIT_SSH`, and is interpreted
651by the shell, which allows additional arguments to be included.
652`$GIT_SSH` on the other hand must be just the path to a program
653(which can be a wrapper shell script, if additional arguments are
654needed).
d5538b41
SP
655+
656Usually it is easier to configure any desired options through your
657personal `.ssh/config` file. Please consult your ssh documentation
658for further details.
659
dd33e077
SF
660`GIT_SSH_VARIANT`::
661 If this environment variable is set, it overrides Git's autodetection
662 whether `GIT_SSH`/`GIT_SSH_COMMAND`/`core.sshCommand` refer to OpenSSH,
663 plink or tortoiseplink. This variable overrides the config setting
664 `ssh.variant` that serves the same purpose.
665
eee7f4a2 666`GIT_ASKPASS`::
2de9b711 667 If this environment variable is set, then Git commands which need to
453842c9 668 acquire passwords or passphrases (e.g. for HTTP or IMAP authentication)
06ab60c0 669 will call this program with a suitable prompt as command-line argument
ae9f6311 670 and read the password from its STDOUT. See also the `core.askPass`
453842c9
KF
671 option in linkgit:git-config[1].
672
eee7f4a2 673`GIT_TERMINAL_PROMPT`::
e652c0eb
JK
674 If this environment variable is set to `0`, git will not prompt
675 on the terminal (e.g., when asking for HTTP authentication).
676
4179b489
PS
677`GIT_CONFIG_GLOBAL`::
678`GIT_CONFIG_SYSTEM`::
679 Take the configuration from the given files instead from global or
680 system-level configuration files. If `GIT_CONFIG_SYSTEM` is set, the
681 system config file defined at build time (usually `/etc/gitconfig`)
682 will not be read. Likewise, if `GIT_CONFIG_GLOBAL` is set, neither
683 `$HOME/.gitconfig` nor `$XDG_CONFIG_HOME/git/config` will be read. Can
684 be set to `/dev/null` to skip reading configuration files of the
685 respective level.
686
eee7f4a2 687`GIT_CONFIG_NOSYSTEM`::
e8ef401c
JN
688 Whether to skip reading settings from the system-wide
689 `$(prefix)/etc/gitconfig` file. This environment variable can
690 be used along with `$HOME` and `$XDG_CONFIG_HOME` to create a
691 predictable environment for a picky script, or you can set it
692 temporarily to avoid using a buggy `/etc/gitconfig` file while
693 waiting for someone with sufficient permissions to fix it.
694
eee7f4a2 695`GIT_FLUSH`::
06f59e9f 696 If this environment variable is set to "1", then commands such
0b444cdb 697 as 'git blame' (in incremental mode), 'git rev-list', 'git log',
627a8b8d 698 'git check-attr' and 'git check-ignore' will
f1ed7fea
AS
699 force a flush of the output stream after each record have been
700 flushed. If this
06f59e9f
TT
701 variable is set to "0", the output of these commands will be done
702 using completely buffered I/O. If this environment variable is
2de9b711 703 not set, Git will choose buffered or record-oriented flushing
06f59e9f
TT
704 based on whether stdout appears to be redirected to a file or not.
705
eee7f4a2 706`GIT_TRACE`::
eb9250df
KB
707 Enables general trace messages, e.g. alias expansion, built-in
708 command execution and external command execution.
709+
710If this variable is set to "1", "2" or "true" (comparison
711is case insensitive), trace messages will be printed to
712stderr.
713+
714If the variable is set to an integer value greater than 2
715and lower than 10 (strictly) then Git will interpret this
716value as an open file descriptor and will try to write the
717trace messages into this file descriptor.
718+
719Alternatively, if the variable is set to an absolute path
720(starting with a '/' character), Git will interpret this
fa0aeea7
SG
721as a file path and will try to append the trace messages
722to it.
eb9250df
KB
723+
724Unsetting the variable, or setting it to empty, "0" or
725"false" (case insensitive) disables trace messages.
575ba9d6 726
bd76afd1
AV
727`GIT_TRACE_FSMONITOR`::
728 Enables trace messages for the filesystem monitor extension.
729 See `GIT_TRACE` for available trace output options.
730
eee7f4a2 731`GIT_TRACE_PACK_ACCESS`::
67dc598e 732 Enables trace messages for all accesses to any packs. For each
b12ca963
NTND
733 access, the pack file name and an offset in the pack is
734 recorded. This may be helpful for troubleshooting some
735 pack-related performance problems.
eee7f4a2 736 See `GIT_TRACE` for available trace output options.
b12ca963 737
eee7f4a2 738`GIT_TRACE_PACKET`::
eb9250df
KB
739 Enables trace messages for all packets coming in or out of a
740 given program. This can help with debugging object negotiation
741 or other protocol issues. Tracing is turned off at a packet
eee7f4a2
TR
742 starting with "PACK" (but see `GIT_TRACE_PACKFILE` below).
743 See `GIT_TRACE` for available trace output options.
eb9250df 744
eee7f4a2 745`GIT_TRACE_PACKFILE`::
32359838
JK
746 Enables tracing of packfiles sent or received by a
747 given program. Unlike other trace output, this trace is
748 verbatim: no headers, and no quoting of binary data. You almost
749 certainly want to direct into a file (e.g.,
750 `GIT_TRACE_PACKFILE=/tmp/my.pack`) rather than displaying it on
751 the terminal or mixing it with other trace output.
752+
753Note that this is currently only implemented for the client side
754of clones and fetches.
755
eee7f4a2 756`GIT_TRACE_PERFORMANCE`::
578da039
KB
757 Enables performance related trace messages, e.g. total execution
758 time of each Git command.
eee7f4a2 759 See `GIT_TRACE` for available trace output options.
578da039 760
4441f427
HWN
761`GIT_TRACE_REFS`::
762 Enables trace messages for operations on the ref database.
763 See `GIT_TRACE` for available trace output options.
764
eee7f4a2 765`GIT_TRACE_SETUP`::
eb9250df
KB
766 Enables trace messages printing the .git, working tree and current
767 working directory after Git has completed its setup phase.
eee7f4a2 768 See `GIT_TRACE` for available trace output options.
eb9250df 769
eee7f4a2 770`GIT_TRACE_SHALLOW`::
eb9250df
KB
771 Enables trace messages that can help debugging fetching /
772 cloning of shallow repositories.
eee7f4a2 773 See `GIT_TRACE` for available trace output options.
1dd278ce 774
2f84df2c 775`GIT_TRACE_CURL`::
74c682d3
EP
776 Enables a curl full trace dump of all incoming and outgoing data,
777 including descriptive information, of the git transport protocol.
2f84df2c 778 This is similar to doing curl `--trace-ascii` on the command line.
2f84df2c 779 See `GIT_TRACE` for available trace output options.
74c682d3 780
8ba18e6f
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781`GIT_TRACE_CURL_NO_DATA`::
782 When a curl trace is enabled (see `GIT_TRACE_CURL` above), do not dump
783 data (that is, only dump info lines and headers).
784
e4b75d6a 785`GIT_TRACE2`::
04b7e86e 786 Enables more detailed trace messages from the "trace2" library.
e4b75d6a 787 Output from `GIT_TRACE2` is a simple text-based format for human
04b7e86e
DS
788 readability.
789+
4e0d3aa1
SG
790If this variable is set to "1", "2" or "true" (comparison
791is case insensitive), trace messages will be printed to
792stderr.
793+
794If the variable is set to an integer value greater than 2
795and lower than 10 (strictly) then Git will interpret this
796value as an open file descriptor and will try to write the
797trace messages into this file descriptor.
798+
799Alternatively, if the variable is set to an absolute path
800(starting with a '/' character), Git will interpret this
801as a file path and will try to append the trace messages
802to it. If the path already exists and is a directory, the
803trace messages will be written to files (one per process)
804in that directory, named according to the last component
805of the SID and an optional counter (to avoid filename
806collisions).
807+
808In addition, if the variable is set to
809`af_unix:[<socket_type>:]<absolute-pathname>`, Git will try
810to open the path as a Unix Domain Socket. The socket type
811can be either `stream` or `dgram`.
812+
813Unsetting the variable, or setting it to empty, "0" or
814"false" (case insensitive) disables trace messages.
815+
816See link:technical/api-trace2.html[Trace2 documentation]
817for full details.
818
04b7e86e 819
e4b75d6a 820`GIT_TRACE2_EVENT`::
04b7e86e 821 This setting writes a JSON-based format that is suited for machine
4e0d3aa1
SG
822 interpretation.
823 See `GIT_TRACE2` for available trace output options and
824 link:technical/api-trace2.html[Trace2 documentation] for full details.
04b7e86e 825
e4b75d6a
SG
826`GIT_TRACE2_PERF`::
827 In addition to the text-based messages available in `GIT_TRACE2`, this
04b7e86e 828 setting writes a column-based format for understanding nesting
4e0d3aa1
SG
829 regions.
830 See `GIT_TRACE2` for available trace output options and
831 link:technical/api-trace2.html[Trace2 documentation] for full details.
04b7e86e 832
827e7d4d
JT
833`GIT_TRACE_REDACT`::
834 By default, when tracing is activated, Git redacts the values of
88e9b1e3
IF
835 cookies, the "Authorization:" header, the "Proxy-Authorization:"
836 header and packfile URIs. Set this variable to `0` to prevent this
837 redaction.
83411783 838
eee7f4a2 839`GIT_LITERAL_PATHSPECS`::
2de9b711 840 Setting this variable to `1` will cause Git to treat all
823ab40f
JK
841 pathspecs literally, rather than as glob patterns. For example,
842 running `GIT_LITERAL_PATHSPECS=1 git log -- '*.c'` will search
843 for commits that touch the path `*.c`, not any paths that the
844 glob `*.c` matches. You might want this if you are feeding
2de9b711 845 literal paths to Git (e.g., paths previously given to you by
823ab40f
JK
846 `git ls-tree`, `--raw` diff output, etc).
847
eee7f4a2 848`GIT_GLOB_PATHSPECS`::
bd30c2e4
NTND
849 Setting this variable to `1` will cause Git to treat all
850 pathspecs as glob patterns (aka "glob" magic).
851
eee7f4a2 852`GIT_NOGLOB_PATHSPECS`::
bd30c2e4
NTND
853 Setting this variable to `1` will cause Git to treat all
854 pathspecs as literal (aka "literal" magic).
855
eee7f4a2 856`GIT_ICASE_PATHSPECS`::
93d93537
NTND
857 Setting this variable to `1` will cause Git to treat all
858 pathspecs as case-insensitive.
859
eee7f4a2 860`GIT_REFLOG_ACTION`::
c3e2d189
JH
861 When a ref is updated, reflog entries are created to keep
862 track of the reason why the ref was updated (which is
863 typically the name of the high-level command that updated
864 the ref), in addition to the old and new values of the ref.
865 A scripted Porcelain command can use set_reflog_action
866 helper function in `git-sh-setup` to set its name to this
867 variable when it is invoked as the top level command by the
868 end user, to be recorded in the body of the reflog.
869
eee7f4a2 870`GIT_REF_PARANOIA`::
968f12fd
JK
871 If set to `0`, ignore broken or badly named refs when iterating
872 over lists of refs. Normally Git will try to include any such
873 refs, which may cause some operations to fail. This is usually
874 preferable, as potentially destructive operations (e.g.,
875 linkgit:git-prune[1]) are better off aborting rather than
876 ignoring broken refs (and thus considering the history they
877 point to as not worth saving). The default value is `1` (i.e.,
878 be paranoid about detecting and aborting all operations). You
879 should not normally need to set this to `0`, but it may be
880 useful when trying to salvage data from a corrupted repository.
49672f26 881
eee7f4a2 882`GIT_ALLOW_PROTOCOL`::
f1762d77
BW
883 If set to a colon-separated list of protocols, behave as if
884 `protocol.allow` is set to `never`, and each of the listed
885 protocols has `protocol.<name>.allow` set to `always`
886 (overriding any existing configuration). In other words, any
887 protocol not mentioned will be disallowed (i.e., this is a
888 whitelist, not a blacklist). See the description of
889 `protocol.allow` in linkgit:git-config[1] for more details.
890
891`GIT_PROTOCOL_FROM_USER`::
892 Set to 0 to prevent protocols used by fetch/push/clone which are
893 configured to the `user` state. This is useful to restrict recursive
894 submodule initialization from an untrusted repository or for programs
895 which feed potentially-untrusted URLS to git commands. See
896 linkgit:git-config[1] for more details.
823ab40f 897
373d70ef
BW
898`GIT_PROTOCOL`::
899 For internal use only. Used in handshaking the wire protocol.
900 Contains a colon ':' separated list of keys with optional values
901 'key[=value]'. Presence of unknown keys and values must be
902 ignored.
2834a72d
JK
903+
904Note that servers may need to be configured to allow this variable to
905pass over some transports. It will be propagated automatically when
906accessing local repositories (i.e., `file://` or a filesystem path), as
907well as over the `git://` protocol. For git-over-http, it should work
908automatically in most configurations, but see the discussion in
909linkgit:git-http-backend[1]. For git-over-ssh, the ssh server may need
910to be configured to allow clients to pass this variable (e.g., by using
911`AcceptEnv GIT_PROTOCOL` with OpenSSH).
912+
913This configuration is optional. If the variable is not propagated, then
914clients will fall back to the original "v0" protocol (but may miss out
915on some performance improvements or features). This variable currently
916only affects clones and fetches; it is not yet used for pushes (but may
917be in the future).
373d70ef 918
27344d6a
JK
919`GIT_OPTIONAL_LOCKS`::
920 If set to `0`, Git will complete any requested operation without
921 performing any optional sub-operations that require taking a lock.
922 For example, this will prevent `git status` from refreshing the
923 index as a side effect. This is useful for processes running in
924 the background which do not want to cause lock contention with
925 other operations on the repository. Defaults to `1`.
926
b2f55717
JS
927`GIT_REDIRECT_STDIN`::
928`GIT_REDIRECT_STDOUT`::
929`GIT_REDIRECT_STDERR`::
930 Windows-only: allow redirecting the standard input/output/error
931 handles to paths specified by the environment variables. This is
932 particularly useful in multi-threaded applications where the
933 canonical way to pass standard handles via `CreateProcess()` is
934 not an option because it would require the handles to be marked
935 inheritable (and consequently *every* spawned process would
936 inherit them, possibly blocking regular Git operations). The
937 primary intended use case is to use named pipes for communication
938 (e.g. `\\.\pipe\my-git-stdin-123`).
939+
940Two special values are supported: `off` will simply close the
941corresponding standard handle, and if `GIT_REDIRECT_STDERR` is
942`2>&1`, standard error will be redirected to the same handle as
943standard output.
944
a2cd709d
AR
945`GIT_PRINT_SHA1_ELLIPSIS` (deprecated)::
946 If set to `yes`, print an ellipsis following an
947 (abbreviated) SHA-1 value. This affects indications of
948 detached HEADs (linkgit:git-checkout[1]) and the raw
949 diff output (linkgit:git-diff[1]). Printing an
950 ellipsis in the cases mentioned is no longer considered
951 adequate and support for it is likely to be removed in the
952 foreseeable future (along with the variable).
953
8db9307c
JH
954Discussion[[Discussion]]
955------------------------
40dac517
BF
956
957More detail on the following is available from the
2de9b711 958link:user-manual.html#git-concepts[Git concepts chapter of the
6998e4db 959user-manual] and linkgit:gitcore-tutorial[7].
40dac517 960
2de9b711 961A Git project normally consists of a working directory with a ".git"
40dac517
BF
962subdirectory at the top level. The .git directory contains, among other
963things, a compressed object database representing the complete history
964of the project, an "index" file which links that history to the current
965contents of the working tree, and named pointers into that history such
966as tags and branch heads.
967
968The object database contains objects of three main types: blobs, which
969hold file data; trees, which point to blobs and other trees to build up
02ff6250 970directory hierarchies; and commits, which each reference a single tree
40dac517
BF
971and some number of parent commits.
972
973The commit, equivalent to what other systems call a "changeset" or
974"version", represents a step in the project's history, and each parent
975represents an immediately preceding step. Commits with more than one
976parent represent merges of independent lines of development.
977
d5fa1f1a 978All objects are named by the SHA-1 hash of their contents, normally
40dac517
BF
979written as a string of 40 hex digits. Such names are globally unique.
980The entire history leading up to a commit can be vouched for by signing
981just that commit. A fourth object type, the tag, is provided for this
982purpose.
983
984When first created, objects are stored in individual files, but for
985efficiency may later be compressed together into "pack files".
986
987Named pointers called refs mark interesting points in history. A ref
d5fa1f1a
TA
988may contain the SHA-1 name of an object or the name of another ref. Refs
989with names beginning `ref/head/` contain the SHA-1 name of the most
990recent commit (or "head") of a branch under development. SHA-1 names of
40dac517
BF
991tags of interest are stored under `ref/tags/`. A special ref named
992`HEAD` contains the name of the currently checked-out branch.
993
994The index file is initialized with a list of all paths and, for each
995path, a blob object and a set of attributes. The blob object represents
996the contents of the file as of the head of the current branch. The
997attributes (last modified time, size, etc.) are taken from the
998corresponding file in the working tree. Subsequent changes to the
999working tree can be found by comparing these attributes. The index may
1000be updated with new content, and new commits may be created from the
1001content stored in the index.
1002
1003The index is also capable of storing multiple entries (called "stages")
1004for a given pathname. These stages are used to hold the various
1005unmerged version of a file when a merge is in progress.
6c84e2e0 1006
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1007FURTHER DOCUMENTATION
1008---------------------
1009
1010See the references in the "description" section to get started
2de9b711 1011using Git. The following is probably more detail than necessary
7687ae98
JH
1012for a first-time user.
1013
2de9b711 1014The link:user-manual.html#git-concepts[Git concepts chapter of the
7687ae98 1015user-manual] and linkgit:gitcore-tutorial[7] both provide
2de9b711 1016introductions to the underlying Git architecture.
7687ae98
JH
1017
1018See linkgit:gitworkflows[7] for an overview of recommended workflows.
1019
1020See also the link:howto-index.html[howto] documents for some useful
1021examples.
1022
1023The internals are documented in the
48a8c26c 1024link:technical/api-index.html[Git API documentation].
7687ae98
JH
1025
1026Users migrating from CVS may also want to
1027read linkgit:gitcvs-migration[7].
1028
1029
cb22bc44
AE
1030Authors
1031-------
48bb914e 1032Git was started by Linus Torvalds, and is currently maintained by Junio
2de9b711 1033C Hamano. Numerous contributions have come from the Git mailing list
405869d0 1034<git@vger.kernel.org>. http://www.openhub.net/p/git/contributors/summary
6ecc01f2
JH
1035gives you a more complete list of contributors.
1036
1037If you have a clone of git.git itself, the
d8f708f8
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1038output of linkgit:git-shortlog[1] and linkgit:git-blame[1] can show you
1039the authors for specific parts of the project.
2cf565c5 1040
c97ca277
JH
1041Reporting Bugs
1042--------------
1043
1044Report bugs to the Git mailing list <git@vger.kernel.org> where the
1045development and maintenance is primarily done. You do not have to be
c56170a0 1046subscribed to the list to send a message there. See the list archive
46c67492 1047at https://lore.kernel.org/git for previous bug reports and other
c56170a0 1048discussions.
c97ca277 1049
2caa7b8d
ÆAB
1050Issues which are security relevant should be disclosed privately to
1051the Git Security mailing list <git-security@googlegroups.com>.
1052
497c8331
CC
1053SEE ALSO
1054--------
1055linkgit:gittutorial[7], linkgit:gittutorial-2[7],
673151a9 1056linkgit:giteveryday[7], linkgit:gitcvs-migration[7],
497c8331 1057linkgit:gitglossary[7], linkgit:gitcore-tutorial[7],
801a011d
TR
1058linkgit:gitcli[7], link:user-manual.html[The Git User's Manual],
1059linkgit:gitworkflows[7]
497c8331 1060
2cf565c5
DG
1061GIT
1062---
9e1f0a85 1063Part of the linkgit:git[1] suite