Documentation/git.txt

   1 git(7)
   2 ======
   3
   4 NAME
   5 ----
   6 git - the stupid content tracker
   7
   8
   9 SYNOPSIS
  10 --------
  11 [verse]
  12 'git' [--version] [--exec-path[=GIT_EXEC_PATH]] [-p|--paginate]
  13     [--bare] [--git-dir=GIT_DIR] [--help] COMMAND [ARGS]
  14
  15 DESCRIPTION
  16 -----------
  17 Git is a fast, scalable, distributed revision control system with an
  18 unusually rich command set that provides both high-level operations
  19 and full access to internals.
  20
  21 See this link:tutorial.html[tutorial] to get started, then see
  22 link:everyday.html[Everyday Git] for a useful minimum set of commands, and
  23 "man git-commandname" for documentation of each command.  CVS users may
  24 also want to read link:cvs-migration.html[CVS migration].
  25
  26 The COMMAND is either a name of a Git command (see below) or an alias
  27 as defined in the configuration file (see gitlink:git-repo-config[1]).
  28
  29 OPTIONS
  30 -------
  31 --version::
  32         Prints the git suite version that the 'git' program came from.
  33
  34 --help::
  35         Prints the synopsis and a list of the most commonly used
  36         commands.  If a git command is named this option will bring up
  37         the man-page for that command. If the option '--all' or '-a' is
  38         given then all available commands are printed.
  39
  40 --exec-path::
  41         Path to wherever your core git programs are installed.
  42         This can also be controlled by setting the GIT_EXEC_PATH
  43         environment variable. If no path is given 'git' will print
  44         the current setting and then exit.
  45
  46 -p|--paginate::
  47         Pipe all output into 'less' (or if set, $PAGER).
  48
  49 --git-dir=<path>::
  50         Set the path to the repository. This can also be controlled by
  51         setting the GIT_DIR environment variable.
  52
  53 --bare::
  54         Same as --git-dir=`pwd`.
  55
  56 FURTHER DOCUMENTATION
  57 ---------------------
  58
  59 See the references above to get started using git.  The following is
  60 probably more detail than necessary for a first-time user.
  61
  62 The <<Discussion,Discussion>> section below and the
  63 link:core-tutorial.html[Core tutorial] both provide introductions to the
  64 underlying git architecture.
  65
  66 See also the link:howto-index.html[howto] documents for some useful
  67 examples.
  68
  69 GIT COMMANDS
  70 ------------
  71
  72 We divide git into high level ("porcelain") commands and low level
  73 ("plumbing") commands.
  74
  75 High-level commands (porcelain)
  76 -------------------------------
  77
  78 We separate the porcelain commands into the main commands and some
  79 ancillary user utilities.
  80
  81 Main porcelain commands
  82 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
  83
  84 gitlink:git-add[1]::
  85         Add paths to the index.
  86
  87 gitlink:git-am[1]::
  88         Apply patches from a mailbox, but cooler.
  89
  90 gitlink:git-applymbox[1]::
  91         Apply patches from a mailbox, original version by Linus.
  92
  93 gitlink:git-archive[1]::
  94         Creates an archive of files from a named tree.
  95
  96 gitlink:git-bisect[1]::
  97         Find the change that introduced a bug by binary search.
  98
  99 gitlink:git-branch[1]::
 100         Create and Show branches.
 101
 102 gitlink:git-checkout[1]::
 103         Checkout and switch to a branch.
 104
 105 gitlink:git-cherry-pick[1]::
 106         Cherry-pick the effect of an existing commit.
 107
 108 gitlink:git-clean[1]::
 109         Remove untracked files from the working tree.
 110
 111 gitlink:git-clone[1]::
 112         Clones a repository into a new directory.
 113
 114 gitlink:git-commit[1]::
 115         Record changes to the repository.
 116
 117 gitlink:git-diff[1]::
 118         Show changes between commits, commit and working tree, etc.
 119
 120 gitlink:git-fetch[1]::
 121         Download from a remote repository via various protocols.
 122
 123 gitlink:git-format-patch[1]::
 124         Prepare patches for e-mail submission.
 125
 126 gitlink:git-grep[1]::
 127         Print lines matching a pattern.
 128
 129 gitlink:gitk[1]::
 130         The git repository browser.
 131
 132 gitlink:git-log[1]::
 133         Shows commit logs.
 134
 135 gitlink:git-ls-remote[1]::
 136         Shows references in a remote or local repository.
 137
 138 gitlink:git-merge[1]::
 139         Grand unified merge driver.
 140
 141 gitlink:git-mv[1]::
 142         Move or rename a file, a directory, or a symlink.
 143
 144 gitlink:git-pack-refs[1]::
 145         Pack heads and tags for efficient repository access.
 146
 147 gitlink:git-pull[1]::
 148         Fetch from and merge with a remote repository or a local branch.
 149
 150 gitlink:git-push[1]::
 151         Update remote refs along with associated objects.
 152
 153 gitlink:git-rebase[1]::
 154         Rebase local commits to the updated upstream head.
 155
 156 gitlink:git-repack[1]::
 157         Pack unpacked objects in a repository.
 158
 159 gitlink:git-rerere[1]::
 160         Reuse recorded resolution of conflicted merges.
 161
 162 gitlink:git-reset[1]::
 163         Reset current HEAD to the specified state.
 164
 165 gitlink:git-resolve[1]::
 166         Merge two commits.
 167
 168 gitlink:git-revert[1]::
 169         Revert an existing commit.
 170
 171 gitlink:git-rm[1]::
 172         Remove files from the working tree and from the index.
 173
 174 gitlink:git-shortlog[1]::
 175         Summarizes 'git log' output.
 176
 177 gitlink:git-show[1]::
 178         Show one commit log and its diff.
 179
 180 gitlink:git-show-branch[1]::
 181         Show branches and their commits.
 182
 183 gitlink:git-status[1]::
 184         Shows the working tree status.
 185
 186 gitlink:git-verify-tag[1]::
 187         Check the GPG signature of tag.
 188
 189 gitlink:git-whatchanged[1]::
 190         Shows commit logs and differences they introduce.
 191
 192
 193 Ancillary Commands
 194 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 195 Manipulators:
 196
 197 gitlink:git-applypatch[1]::
 198         Apply one patch extracted from an e-mail.
 199
 200 gitlink:git-archimport[1]::
 201         Import an arch repository into git.
 202
 203 gitlink:git-convert-objects[1]::
 204         Converts old-style git repository.
 205
 206 gitlink:git-cvsimport[1]::
 207         Salvage your data out of another SCM people love to hate.
 208
 209 gitlink:git-cvsexportcommit[1]::
 210         Export a single commit to a CVS checkout.
 211
 212 gitlink:git-cvsserver[1]::
 213         A CVS server emulator for git.
 214
 215 gitlink:git-lost-found[1]::
 216         Recover lost refs that luckily have not yet been pruned.
 217
 218 gitlink:git-merge-one-file[1]::
 219         The standard helper program to use with `git-merge-index`.
 220
 221 gitlink:git-prune[1]::
 222         Prunes all unreachable objects from the object database.
 223
 224 gitlink:git-quiltimport[1]::
 225         Applies a quilt patchset onto the current branch.
 226
 227 gitlink:git-relink[1]::
 228         Hardlink common objects in local repositories.
 229
 230 gitlink:git-svn[1]::
 231         Bidirectional operation between a single Subversion branch and git.
 232
 233 gitlink:git-svnimport[1]::
 234         Import a SVN repository into git.
 235
 236 gitlink:git-sh-setup[1]::
 237         Common git shell script setup code.
 238
 239 gitlink:git-symbolic-ref[1]::
 240         Read and modify symbolic refs.
 241
 242 gitlink:git-tag[1]::
 243         An example script to create a tag object signed with GPG.
 244
 245 gitlink:git-update-ref[1]::
 246         Update the object name stored in a ref safely.
 247
 248
 249 Interrogators:
 250
 251 gitlink:git-annotate[1]::
 252         Annotate file lines with commit info.
 253
 254 gitlink:git-blame[1]::
 255         Blame file lines on commits.
 256
 257 gitlink:git-check-ref-format[1]::
 258         Make sure ref name is well formed.
 259
 260 gitlink:git-cherry[1]::
 261         Find commits not merged upstream.
 262
 263 gitlink:git-count-objects[1]::
 264         Count unpacked number of objects and their disk consumption.
 265
 266 gitlink:git-daemon[1]::
 267         A really simple server for git repositories.
 268
 269 gitlink:git-fmt-merge-msg[1]::
 270         Produce a merge commit message.
 271
 272 gitlink:git-get-tar-commit-id[1]::
 273         Extract commit ID from an archive created using git-tar-tree.
 274
 275 gitlink:git-imap-send[1]::
 276         Dump a mailbox from stdin into an imap folder.
 277
 278 gitlink:git-instaweb[1]::
 279         Instantly browse your working repository in gitweb.
 280
 281 gitlink:git-mailinfo[1]::
 282         Extracts patch and authorship information from a single
 283         e-mail message, optionally transliterating the commit
 284         message into utf-8.
 285
 286 gitlink:git-mailsplit[1]::
 287         A stupid program to split UNIX mbox format mailbox into
 288         individual pieces of e-mail.
 289
 290 gitlink:git-merge-tree[1]::
 291         Show three-way merge without touching index.
 292
 293 gitlink:git-patch-id[1]::
 294         Compute unique ID for a patch.
 295
 296 gitlink:git-parse-remote[1]::
 297         Routines to help parsing `$GIT_DIR/remotes/` files.
 298
 299 gitlink:git-request-pull[1]::
 300         git-request-pull.
 301
 302 gitlink:git-rev-parse[1]::
 303         Pick out and massage parameters.
 304
 305 gitlink:git-send-email[1]::
 306         Send patch e-mails out of "format-patch --mbox" output.
 307
 308 gitlink:git-symbolic-ref[1]::
 309         Read and modify symbolic refs.
 310
 311 gitlink:git-stripspace[1]::
 312         Filter out empty lines.
 313
 314
 315 Low-level commands (plumbing)
 316 -----------------------------
 317
 318 Although git includes its
 319 own porcelain layer, its low-level commands are sufficient to support
 320 development of alternative porcelains.  Developers of such porcelains
 321 might start by reading about gitlink:git-update-index[1] and
 322 gitlink:git-read-tree[1].
 323
 324 We divide the low-level commands into commands that manipulate objects (in
 325 the repository, index, and working tree), commands that interrogate and
 326 compare objects, and commands that move objects and references between
 327 repositories.
 328
 329 Manipulation commands
 330 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 331 gitlink:git-apply[1]::
 332         Reads a "diff -up1" or git generated patch file and
 333         applies it to the working tree.
 334
 335 gitlink:git-checkout-index[1]::
 336         Copy files from the index to the working tree.
 337
 338 gitlink:git-commit-tree[1]::
 339         Creates a new commit object.
 340
 341 gitlink:git-hash-object[1]::
 342         Computes the object ID from a file.
 343
 344 gitlink:git-index-pack[1]::
 345         Build pack idx file for an existing packed archive.
 346
 347 gitlink:git-init-db[1]::
 348         Creates an empty git object database, or reinitialize an
 349         existing one.
 350
 351 gitlink:git-merge-index[1]::
 352         Runs a merge for files needing merging.
 353
 354 gitlink:git-mktag[1]::
 355         Creates a tag object.
 356
 357 gitlink:git-mktree[1]::
 358         Build a tree-object from ls-tree formatted text.
 359
 360 gitlink:git-pack-objects[1]::
 361         Creates a packed archive of objects.
 362
 363 gitlink:git-prune-packed[1]::
 364         Remove extra objects that are already in pack files.
 365
 366 gitlink:git-read-tree[1]::
 367         Reads tree information into the index.
 368
 369 gitlink:git-repo-config[1]::
 370         Get and set options in .git/config.
 371
 372 gitlink:git-unpack-objects[1]::
 373         Unpacks objects out of a packed archive.
 374
 375 gitlink:git-update-index[1]::
 376         Registers files in the working tree to the index.
 377
 378 gitlink:git-write-tree[1]::
 379         Creates a tree from the index.
 380
 381
 382 Interrogation commands
 383 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 384
 385 gitlink:git-cat-file[1]::
 386         Provide content or type/size information for repository objects.
 387
 388 gitlink:git-describe[1]::
 389         Show the most recent tag that is reachable from a commit.
 390
 391 gitlink:git-diff-index[1]::
 392         Compares content and mode of blobs between the index and repository.
 393
 394 gitlink:git-diff-files[1]::
 395         Compares files in the working tree and the index.
 396
 397 gitlink:git-diff-stages[1]::
 398         Compares two "merge stages" in the index.
 399
 400 gitlink:git-diff-tree[1]::
 401         Compares the content and mode of blobs found via two tree objects.
 402
 403 gitlink:git-for-each-ref[1]::
 404         Output information on each ref.
 405
 406 gitlink:git-fsck-objects[1]::
 407         Verifies the connectivity and validity of the objects in the database.
 408
 409 gitlink:git-ls-files[1]::
 410         Information about files in the index and the working tree.
 411
 412 gitlink:git-ls-tree[1]::
 413         Displays a tree object in human readable form.
 414
 415 gitlink:git-merge-base[1]::
 416         Finds as good common ancestors as possible for a merge.
 417
 418 gitlink:git-name-rev[1]::
 419         Find symbolic names for given revs.
 420
 421 gitlink:git-pack-redundant[1]::
 422         Find redundant pack files.
 423
 424 gitlink:git-rev-list[1]::
 425         Lists commit objects in reverse chronological order.
 426
 427 gitlink:git-show-index[1]::
 428         Displays contents of a pack idx file.
 429
 430 gitlink:git-show-ref[1]::
 431         List references in a local repository.
 432
 433 gitlink:git-tar-tree[1]::
 434         Creates a tar archive of the files in the named tree object.
 435
 436 gitlink:git-unpack-file[1]::
 437         Creates a temporary file with a blob's contents.
 438
 439 gitlink:git-var[1]::
 440         Displays a git logical variable.
 441
 442 gitlink:git-verify-pack[1]::
 443         Validates packed git archive files.
 444
 445 In general, the interrogate commands do not touch the files in
 446 the working tree.
 447
 448
 449 Synching repositories
 450 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 451
 452 gitlink:git-fetch-pack[1]::
 453         Updates from a remote repository (engine for ssh and
 454         local transport).
 455
 456 gitlink:git-http-fetch[1]::
 457         Downloads a remote git repository via HTTP by walking
 458         commit chain.
 459
 460 gitlink:git-local-fetch[1]::
 461         Duplicates another git repository on a local system by
 462         walking commit chain.
 463
 464 gitlink:git-peek-remote[1]::
 465         Lists references on a remote repository using
 466         upload-pack protocol (engine for ssh and local
 467         transport).
 468
 469 gitlink:git-receive-pack[1]::
 470         Invoked by 'git-send-pack' to receive what is pushed to it.
 471
 472 gitlink:git-send-pack[1]::
 473         Pushes to a remote repository, intelligently.
 474
 475 gitlink:git-http-push[1]::
 476         Push missing objects using HTTP/DAV.
 477
 478 gitlink:git-shell[1]::
 479         Restricted shell for GIT-only SSH access.
 480
 481 gitlink:git-ssh-fetch[1]::
 482         Pulls from a remote repository over ssh connection by
 483         walking commit chain.
 484
 485 gitlink:git-ssh-upload[1]::
 486         Helper "server-side" program used by git-ssh-fetch.
 487
 488 gitlink:git-update-server-info[1]::
 489         Updates auxiliary information on a dumb server to help
 490         clients discover references and packs on it.
 491
 492 gitlink:git-upload-archive[1]::
 493         Invoked by 'git-archive' to send a generated archive.
 494
 495 gitlink:git-upload-pack[1]::
 496         Invoked by 'git-fetch-pack' to push
 497         what are asked for.
 498
 499
 500 Configuration Mechanism
 501 -----------------------
 502
 503 Starting from 0.99.9 (actually mid 0.99.8.GIT), `.git/config` file
 504 is used to hold per-repository configuration options.  It is a
 505 simple text file modeled after `.ini` format familiar to some
 506 people.  Here is an example:
 507
 508 ------------
 509 #
 510 # A '#' or ';' character indicates a comment.
 511 #
 512
 513 ; core variables
 514 [core]
 515         ; Don't trust file modes
 516         filemode = false
 517
 518 ; user identity
 519 [user]
 520         name = "Junio C Hamano"
 521         email = "junkio@twinsun.com"
 522
 523 ------------
 524
 525 Various commands read from the configuration file and adjust
 526 their operation accordingly.
 527
 528
 529 Identifier Terminology
 530 ----------------------
 531 <object>::
 532         Indicates the object name for any type of object.
 533
 534 <blob>::
 535         Indicates a blob object name.
 536
 537 <tree>::
 538         Indicates a tree object name.
 539
 540 <commit>::
 541         Indicates a commit object name.
 542
 543 <tree-ish>::
 544         Indicates a tree, commit or tag object name.  A
 545         command that takes a <tree-ish> argument ultimately wants to
 546         operate on a <tree> object but automatically dereferences
 547         <commit> and <tag> objects that point at a <tree>.
 548
 549 <type>::
 550         Indicates that an object type is required.
 551         Currently one of: `blob`, `tree`, `commit`, or `tag`.
 552
 553 <file>::
 554         Indicates a filename - almost always relative to the
 555         root of the tree structure `GIT_INDEX_FILE` describes.
 556
 557 Symbolic Identifiers
 558 --------------------
 559 Any git command accepting any <object> can also use the following
 560 symbolic notation:
 561
 562 HEAD::
 563         indicates the head of the current branch (i.e. the
 564         contents of `$GIT_DIR/HEAD`).
 565
 566 <tag>::
 567         a valid tag 'name'
 568         (i.e. the contents of `$GIT_DIR/refs/tags/<tag>`).
 569
 570 <head>::
 571         a valid head 'name'
 572         (i.e. the contents of `$GIT_DIR/refs/heads/<head>`).
 573
 574 For a more complete list of ways to spell object names, see
 575 "SPECIFYING REVISIONS" section in gitlink:git-rev-parse[1].
 576
 577
 578 File/Directory Structure
 579 ------------------------
 580
 581 Please see link:repository-layout.html[repository layout] document.
 582
 583 Read link:hooks.html[hooks] for more details about each hook.
 584
 585 Higher level SCMs may provide and manage additional information in the
 586 `$GIT_DIR`.
 587
 588
 589 Terminology
 590 -----------
 591 Please see link:glossary.html[glossary] document.
 592
 593
 594 Environment Variables
 595 ---------------------
 596 Various git commands use the following environment variables:
 597
 598 The git Repository
 599 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 600 These environment variables apply to 'all' core git commands. Nb: it
 601 is worth noting that they may be used/overridden by SCMS sitting above
 602 git so take care if using Cogito etc.
 603
 604 'GIT_INDEX_FILE'::
 605         This environment allows the specification of an alternate
 606         index file. If not specified, the default of `$GIT_DIR/index`
 607         is used.
 608
 609 'GIT_OBJECT_DIRECTORY'::
 610         If the object storage directory is specified via this
 611         environment variable then the sha1 directories are created
 612         underneath - otherwise the default `$GIT_DIR/objects`
 613         directory is used.
 614
 615 'GIT_ALTERNATE_OBJECT_DIRECTORIES'::
 616         Due to the immutable nature of git objects, old objects can be
 617         archived into shared, read-only directories. This variable
 618         specifies a ":" separated list of git object directories which
 619         can be used to search for git objects. New objects will not be
 620         written to these directories.
 621
 622 'GIT_DIR'::
 623         If the 'GIT_DIR' environment variable is set then it
 624         specifies a path to use instead of the default `.git`
 625         for the base of the repository.
 626
 627 git Commits
 628 ~~~~~~~~~~~
 629 'GIT_AUTHOR_NAME'::
 630 'GIT_AUTHOR_EMAIL'::
 631 'GIT_AUTHOR_DATE'::
 632 'GIT_COMMITTER_NAME'::
 633 'GIT_COMMITTER_EMAIL'::
 634         see gitlink:git-commit-tree[1]
 635
 636 git Diffs
 637 ~~~~~~~~~
 638 'GIT_DIFF_OPTS'::
 639 'GIT_EXTERNAL_DIFF'::
 640         see the "generating patches" section in :
 641         gitlink:git-diff-index[1];
 642         gitlink:git-diff-files[1];
 643         gitlink:git-diff-tree[1]
 644
 645 other
 646 ~~~~~
 647 'GIT_PAGER'::
 648         This environment variable overrides `$PAGER`.
 649
 650 'GIT_TRACE'::
 651         If this variable is set to "1", "2" or "true" (comparison
 652         is case insensitive), git will print `trace:` messages on
 653         stderr telling about alias expansion, built-in command
 654         execution and external command execution.
 655         If this variable is set to an integer value greater than 1
 656         and lower than 10 (strictly) then git will interpret this
 657         value as an open file descriptor and will try to write the
 658         trace messages into this file descriptor.
 659         Alternatively, if this variable is set to an absolute path
 660         (starting with a '/' character), git will interpret this
 661         as a file path and will try to write the trace messages
 662         into it.
 663
 664 Discussion[[Discussion]]
 665 ------------------------
 666 include::README[]
 667
 668 Authors
 669 -------
 670 * git's founding father is Linus Torvalds <torvalds@osdl.org>.
 671 * The current git nurse is Junio C Hamano <junkio@cox.net>.
 672 * The git potty was written by Andres Ericsson <ae@op5.se>.
 673 * General upbringing is handled by the git-list <git@vger.kernel.org>.
 674
 675 Documentation
 676 --------------
 677 The documentation for git suite was started by David Greaves
 678 <david@dgreaves.com>, and later enhanced greatly by the
 679 contributors on the git-list <git@vger.kernel.org>.
 680
 681 GIT
 682 ---
 683 Part of the gitlink:git[7] suite
 684