6 git-cat-file - Provide content or type and size information for repository objects
12 'git cat-file' <type> <object>
13 'git cat-file' (-e | -p) <object>
14 'git cat-file' (-t | -s) [--allow-unknown-type] <object>
15 'git cat-file' (--batch | --batch-check | --batch-command) [--batch-all-objects]
16 [--buffer] [--follow-symlinks] [--unordered]
17 [--textconv | --filters] [-z]
18 'git cat-file' (--textconv | --filters)
19 [<rev>:<path|tree-ish> | --path=<path|tree-ish> <rev>]
23 In its first form, the command provides the content or the type of an object in
24 the repository. The type is required unless `-t` or `-p` is used to find the
25 object type, or `-s` is used to find the object size, or `--textconv` or
26 `--filters` is used (which imply type "blob").
28 In the second form, a list of objects (separated by linefeeds) is provided on
29 stdin, and the SHA-1, type, and size of each object is printed on stdout. The
30 output format can be overridden using the optional `<format>` argument. If
31 either `--textconv` or `--filters` was specified, the input is expected to
32 list the object names followed by the path name, separated by a single
33 whitespace, so that the appropriate drivers can be determined.
38 The name of the object to show.
39 For a more complete list of ways to spell object names, see
40 the "SPECIFYING REVISIONS" section in linkgit:gitrevisions[7].
43 Instead of the content, show the object type identified by
47 Instead of the content, show the object size identified by
51 Exit with zero status if `<object>` exists and is a valid
52 object. If `<object>` is of an invalid format exit with non-zero and
53 emits an error on stderr.
56 Pretty-print the contents of `<object>` based on its type.
59 Typically this matches the real type of `<object>` but asking
60 for a type that can trivially be dereferenced from the given
61 `<object>` is also permitted. An example is to ask for a
62 "tree" with `<object>` being a commit object that contains it,
63 or to ask for a "blob" with `<object>` being a tag object that
68 Use mailmap file to map author, committer and tagger names
69 and email addresses to canonical real names and email addresses.
70 See linkgit:git-shortlog[1].
73 Show the content as transformed by a textconv filter. In this case,
74 `<object>` has to be of the form `<tree-ish>:<path>`, or `:<path>` in
75 order to apply the filter to the content recorded in the index at
79 Show the content as converted by the filters configured in
80 the current working tree for the given `<path>` (i.e. smudge filters,
81 end-of-line conversion, etc). In this case, `<object>` has to be of
82 the form `<tree-ish>:<path>`, or `:<path>`.
85 For use with `--textconv` or `--filters`, to allow specifying an object
86 name and a path separately, e.g. when it is difficult to figure out
87 the revision from which the blob came.
91 Print object information and contents for each object provided
92 on stdin. May not be combined with any other options or arguments
93 except `--textconv` or `--filters`, in which case the input lines
94 also need to specify the path, separated by whitespace. See the
95 section `BATCH OUTPUT` below for details.
98 --batch-check=<format>::
99 Print object information for each object provided on stdin. May
100 not be combined with any other options or arguments except
101 `--textconv` or `--filters`, in which case the input lines also
102 need to specify the path, separated by whitespace. See the
103 section `BATCH OUTPUT` below for details.
106 --batch-command=<format>::
107 Enter a command mode that reads commands and arguments from stdin. May
108 only be combined with `--buffer`, `--textconv` or `--filters`. In the
109 case of `--textconv` or `--filters`, the input lines also need to specify
110 the path, separated by whitespace. See the section `BATCH OUTPUT` below
113 `--batch-command` recognizes the following commands:
117 Print object contents for object reference `<object>`. This corresponds to
118 the output of `--batch`.
121 Print object info for object reference `<object>`. This corresponds to the
122 output of `--batch-check`.
125 Used with `--buffer` to execute all preceding commands that were issued
126 since the beginning or since the last flush was issued. When `--buffer`
127 is used, no output will come until a `flush` is issued. When `--buffer`
128 is not used, commands are flushed each time without issuing `flush`.
132 --batch-all-objects::
133 Instead of reading a list of objects on stdin, perform the
134 requested batch operation on all objects in the repository and
135 any alternate object stores (not just reachable objects).
136 Requires `--batch` or `--batch-check` be specified. By default,
137 the objects are visited in order sorted by their hashes; see
138 also `--unordered` below. Objects are presented as-is, without
139 respecting the "replace" mechanism of linkgit:git-replace[1].
142 Normally batch output is flushed after each object is output, so
143 that a process can interactively read and write from
144 `cat-file`. With this option, the output uses normal stdio
145 buffering; this is much more efficient when invoking
146 `--batch-check` or `--batch-command` on a large number of objects.
149 When `--batch-all-objects` is in use, visit objects in an
150 order which may be more efficient for accessing the object
151 contents than hash order. The exact details of the order are
152 unspecified, but if you do not require a specific order, this
153 should generally result in faster output, especially with
154 `--batch`. Note that `cat-file` will still show each object
155 only once, even if it is stored multiple times in the
158 --allow-unknown-type::
159 Allow `-s` or `-t` to query broken/corrupt objects of unknown type.
162 With `--batch` or `--batch-check`, follow symlinks inside the
163 repository when requesting objects with extended SHA-1
164 expressions of the form tree-ish:path-in-tree. Instead of
165 providing output about the link itself, provide output about
166 the linked-to object. If a symlink points outside the
167 tree-ish (e.g. a link to `/foo` or a root-level link to `../foo`),
168 the portion of the link which is outside the tree will be
171 This option does not (currently) work correctly when an object in the
172 index is specified (e.g. `:link` instead of `HEAD:link`) rather than
175 This option cannot (currently) be used unless `--batch` or
176 `--batch-check` is used.
178 For example, consider a git repository containing:
181 f: a file containing "hello\n"
183 dir/link: a symlink to ../f
184 plink: a symlink to ../f
185 alink: a symlink to /etc/passwd
188 For a regular file `f`, `echo HEAD:f | git cat-file --batch` would print
191 ce013625030ba8dba906f756967f9e9ca394464a blob 6
194 And `echo HEAD:link | git cat-file --batch --follow-symlinks` would
195 print the same thing, as would `HEAD:dir/link`, as they both point at
198 Without `--follow-symlinks`, these would print data about the symlink
199 itself. In the case of `HEAD:link`, you would see
202 4d1ae35ba2c8ec712fa2a379db44ad639ca277bd blob 1
205 Both `plink` and `alink` point outside the tree, so they would
217 Only meaningful with `--batch`, `--batch-check`, or
218 `--batch-command`; input is NUL-delimited instead of
224 If `-t` is specified, one of the `<type>`.
226 If `-s` is specified, the size of the `<object>` in bytes.
228 If `-e` is specified, no output, unless the `<object>` is malformed.
230 If `-p` is specified, the contents of `<object>` are pretty-printed.
232 If `<type>` is specified, the raw (though uncompressed) contents of the `<object>`
238 If `--batch` or `--batch-check` is given, `cat-file` will read objects
239 from stdin, one per line, and print information about them. By default,
240 the whole line is considered as an object, as if it were fed to
241 linkgit:git-rev-parse[1].
243 When `--batch-command` is given, `cat-file` will read commands from stdin,
244 one per line, and print information based on the command given. With
245 `--batch-command`, the `info` command followed by an object will print
246 information about the object the same way `--batch-check` would, and the
247 `contents` command followed by an object prints contents in the same way
250 You can specify the information shown for each object by using a custom
251 `<format>`. The `<format>` is copied literally to stdout for each
252 object, with placeholders of the form `%(atom)` expanded, followed by a
253 newline. The available atoms are:
256 The full hex representation of the object name.
259 The type of the object (the same as `cat-file -t` reports).
262 The size, in bytes, of the object (the same as `cat-file -s`
266 The size, in bytes, that the object takes up on disk. See the
267 note about on-disk sizes in the `CAVEATS` section below.
270 If the object is stored as a delta on-disk, this expands to the
271 full hex representation of the delta base object name.
272 Otherwise, expands to the null OID (all zeroes). See `CAVEATS`
276 If this atom is used in the output string, input lines are split
277 at the first whitespace boundary. All characters before that
278 whitespace are considered to be the object name; characters
279 after that first run of whitespace (i.e., the "rest" of the
280 line) are output in place of the `%(rest)` atom.
282 If no format is specified, the default format is `%(objectname)
283 %(objecttype) %(objectsize)`.
285 If `--batch` is specified, or if `--batch-command` is used with the `contents`
286 command, the object information is followed by the object contents (consisting
287 of `%(objectsize)` bytes), followed by a newline.
289 For example, `--batch` without a custom format would produce:
292 <oid> SP <type> SP <size> LF
296 Whereas `--batch-check='%(objectname) %(objecttype)'` would produce:
302 If a name is specified on stdin that cannot be resolved to an object in
303 the repository, then `cat-file` will ignore any custom format and print:
306 <object> SP missing LF
309 If a name is specified that might refer to more than one object (an ambiguous short sha), then `cat-file` will ignore any custom format and print:
312 <object> SP ambiguous LF
315 If `--follow-symlinks` is used, and a symlink in the repository points
316 outside the repository, then `cat-file` will ignore any custom format
324 The symlink will either be absolute (beginning with a `/`), or relative
325 to the tree root. For instance, if dir/link points to `../../foo`, then
326 `<symlink>` will be `../foo`. `<size>` is the size of the symlink in bytes.
328 If `--follow-symlinks` is used, the following error messages will be
332 <object> SP missing LF
334 is printed when the initial symlink requested does not exist.
337 dangling SP <size> LF
340 is printed when the initial symlink exists, but something that
341 it (transitive-of) points to does not.
347 is printed for symlink loops (or any symlinks that
348 require more than 40 link resolutions to resolve).
354 is printed when, during symlink resolution, a file is used as a
360 Note that the sizes of objects on disk are reported accurately, but care
361 should be taken in drawing conclusions about which refs or objects are
362 responsible for disk usage. The size of a packed non-delta object may be
363 much larger than the size of objects which delta against it, but the
364 choice of which object is the base and which is the delta is arbitrary
365 and is subject to change during a repack.
367 Note also that multiple copies of an object may be present in the object
368 database; in this case, it is undefined which copy's size or delta base
373 Part of the linkgit:git[1] suite
projects / thirdparty / git.git / blob