Documentation/git-branch.txt

   1 git-branch(1)
   2 =============
   3
   4 NAME
   5 ----
   6 git-branch - List, create, or delete branches
   7
   8 SYNOPSIS
   9 --------
  10 [verse]
  11 'git branch' [--color | --no-color] [-r | -a]
  12         [-v [--abbrev=<length> | --no-abbrev]]
  13         [(--merged | --no-merged | --contains) [<commit>]]
  14 'git branch' [--track | --no-track] [-l] [-f] <branchname> [<start-point>]
  15 'git branch' (-m | -M) [<oldbranch>] <newbranch>
  16 'git branch' (-d | -D) [-r] <branchname>...
  17
  18 DESCRIPTION
  19 -----------
  20
  21 With no arguments, existing branches are listed, the current branch will
  22 be highlighted with an asterisk.  Option `-r` causes the remote-tracking
  23 branches to be listed, and option `-a` shows both.
  24
  25 With `--contains`, shows only the branches that contains the named commit
  26 (in other words, the branches whose tip commits are descendant of the
  27 named commit).  With `--merged`, only branches merged into the named
  28 commit (i.e. the branches whose tip commits are reachable from the named
  29 commit) will be listed.  With `--no-merged` only branches not merged into
  30 the named commit will be listed.  Missing <commit> argument defaults to
  31 'HEAD' (i.e. the tip of the current branch).
  32
  33 In its second form, a new branch named <branchname> will be created.
  34 It will start out with a head equal to the one given as <start-point>.
  35 If no <start-point> is given, the branch will be created with a head
  36 equal to that of the currently checked out branch.
  37
  38 Note that this will create the new branch, but it will not switch the
  39 working tree to it; use "git checkout <newbranch>" to switch to the
  40 new branch.
  41
  42 When a local branch is started off a remote branch, git sets up the
  43 branch so that 'git-pull' will appropriately merge from
  44 the remote branch. This behavior may be changed via the global
  45 `branch.autosetupmerge` configuration flag. That setting can be
  46 overridden by using the `--track` and `--no-track` options.
  47
  48 With a '-m' or '-M' option, <oldbranch> will be renamed to <newbranch>.
  49 If <oldbranch> had a corresponding reflog, it is renamed to match
  50 <newbranch>, and a reflog entry is created to remember the branch
  51 renaming. If <newbranch> exists, -M must be used to force the rename
  52 to happen.
  53
  54 With a `-d` or `-D` option, `<branchname>` will be deleted.  You may
  55 specify more than one branch for deletion.  If the branch currently
  56 has a reflog then the reflog will also be deleted.
  57
  58 Use -r together with -d to delete remote-tracking branches. Note, that it
  59 only makes sense to delete remote-tracking branches if they no longer exist
  60 in remote repository or if 'git-fetch' was configured not to fetch
  61 them again. See also 'prune' subcommand of linkgit:git-remote[1] for way to
  62 clean up all obsolete remote-tracking branches.
  63
  64
  65 OPTIONS
  66 -------
  67 -d::
  68         Delete a branch. The branch must be fully merged in HEAD.
  69
  70 -D::
  71         Delete a branch irrespective of its merged status.
  72
  73 -l::
  74         Create the branch's reflog.  This activates recording of
  75         all changes made to the branch ref, enabling use of date
  76         based sha1 expressions such as "<branchname>@\{yesterday}".
  77
  78 -f::
  79         Force the creation of a new branch even if it means deleting
  80         a branch that already exists with the same name.
  81
  82 -m::
  83         Move/rename a branch and the corresponding reflog.
  84
  85 -M::
  86         Move/rename a branch even if the new branchname already exists.
  87
  88 --color::
  89         Color branches to highlight current, local, and remote branches.
  90
  91 --no-color::
  92         Turn off branch colors, even when the configuration file gives the
  93         default to color output.
  94
  95 -r::
  96         List or delete (if used with -d) the remote-tracking branches.
  97
  98 -a::
  99         List both remote-tracking branches and local branches.
 100
 101 -v::
 102 --verbose::
 103         Show sha1 and commit subject line for each head.
 104
 105 --abbrev=<length>::
 106         Alter minimum display length for sha1 in output listing,
 107         default value is 7.
 108
 109 --no-abbrev::
 110         Display the full sha1s in output listing rather than abbreviating them.
 111
 112 --track::
 113         When creating a new branch, set up configuration so that 'git-pull'
 114         will automatically retrieve data from the start point, which must be
 115         a branch. Use this if you always pull from the same upstream branch
 116         into the new branch, and if you don't want to use "git pull
 117         <repository> <refspec>" explicitly. This behavior is the default
 118         when the start point is a remote branch. Set the
 119         branch.autosetupmerge configuration variable to `false` if you want
 120         'git-checkout' and 'git-branch' to always behave as if '--no-track' were
 121         given. Set it to `always` if you want this behavior when the
 122         start-point is either a local or remote branch.
 123
 124 --no-track::
 125         Ignore the branch.autosetupmerge configuration variable.
 126
 127 --contains <commit>::
 128         Only list branches which contain the specified commit.
 129
 130 --merged::
 131         Only list branches which are fully contained by HEAD.
 132
 133 --no-merged::
 134         Do not list branches which are fully contained by HEAD.
 135
 136 <branchname>::
 137         The name of the branch to create or delete.
 138         The new branch name must pass all checks defined by
 139         linkgit:git-check-ref-format[1].  Some of these checks
 140         may restrict the characters allowed in a branch name.
 141
 142 <start-point>::
 143         The new branch will be created with a HEAD equal to this.  It may
 144         be given as a branch name, a commit-id, or a tag.  If this option
 145         is omitted, the current branch is assumed.
 146
 147 <oldbranch>::
 148         The name of an existing branch to rename.
 149
 150 <newbranch>::
 151         The new name for an existing branch. The same restrictions as for
 152         <branchname> applies.
 153
 154
 155 Examples
 156 --------
 157
 158 Start development off of a known tag::
 159 +
 160 ------------
 161 $ git clone git://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/.../linux-2.6 my2.6
 162 $ cd my2.6
 163 $ git branch my2.6.14 v2.6.14   <1>
 164 $ git checkout my2.6.14
 165 ------------
 166 +
 167 <1> This step and the next one could be combined into a single step with
 168 "checkout -b my2.6.14 v2.6.14".
 169
 170 Delete unneeded branch::
 171 +
 172 ------------
 173 $ git clone git://git.kernel.org/.../git.git my.git
 174 $ cd my.git
 175 $ git branch -d -r origin/todo origin/html origin/man   <1>
 176 $ git branch -D test                                    <2>
 177 ------------
 178 +
 179 <1> Delete remote-tracking branches "todo", "html", "man". Next 'fetch' or
 180 'pull' will create them again unless you configure them not to. See
 181 linkgit:git-fetch[1].
 182 <2> Delete "test" branch even if the "master" branch (or whichever branch is
 183 currently checked out) does not have all commits from test branch.
 184
 185
 186 Notes
 187 -----
 188
 189 If you are creating a branch that you want to immediately checkout, it's
 190 easier to use the git checkout command with its `-b` option to create
 191 a branch and check it out with a single command.
 192
 193 The options `--contains`, `--merged` and `--no-merged` serves three related
 194 but different purposes:
 195
 196 - `--contains <commit>` is used to find all branches which will need
 197   special attention if <commit> were to be rebased or amended, since those
 198   branches contain the specified <commit>.
 199
 200 - `--merged` is used to find all branches which can be safely deleted,
 201   since those branches are fully contained by HEAD.
 202
 203 - `--no-merged` is used to find branches which are candidates for merging
 204   into HEAD, since those branches are not fully contained by HEAD.
 205
 206 Author
 207 ------
 208 Written by Linus Torvalds <torvalds@osdl.org> and Junio C Hamano <gitster@pobox.com>
 209
 210 Documentation
 211 --------------
 212 Documentation by Junio C Hamano and the git-list <git@vger.kernel.org>.
 213
 214 GIT
 215 ---
 216 Part of the linkgit:git[1] suite