6 git - the stupid content tracker
12 'git' [--version] [--help] [-C <path>] [-c <name>=<value>]
13 [--exec-path[=<path>]] [--html-path] [--man-path] [--info-path]
14 [-p|--paginate|--no-pager] [--no-replace-objects] [--bare]
15 [--git-dir=<path>] [--work-tree=<path>] [--namespace=<name>]
16 [--super-prefix=<path>]
21 Git is a fast, scalable, distributed revision control system with an
22 unusually rich command set that provides both high-level operations
23 and full access to internals.
25 See linkgit:gittutorial[7] to get started, then see
26 linkgit:giteveryday[7] for a useful minimum set of
27 commands. The link:user-manual.html[Git User's Manual] has a more
28 in-depth introduction.
30 After you mastered the basic concepts, you can come back to this
31 page to learn what commands Git offers. You can learn more about
32 individual Git commands with "git help command". linkgit:gitcli[7]
33 manual page gives you an overview of the command-line command syntax.
35 A formatted and hyperlinked copy of the latest Git documentation
36 can be viewed at `https://git.github.io/htmldocs/git.html`.
42 Prints the Git suite version that the 'git' program came from.
45 Prints the synopsis and a list of the most commonly used
46 commands. If the option `--all` or `-a` is given then all
47 available commands are printed. If a Git command is named this
48 option will bring up the manual page for that command.
50 Other options are available to control how the manual page is
51 displayed. See linkgit:git-help[1] for more information,
52 because `git --help ...` is converted internally into `git
56 Run as if git was started in '<path>' instead of the current working
57 directory. When multiple `-C` options are given, each subsequent
58 non-absolute `-C <path>` is interpreted relative to the preceding `-C
61 This option affects options that expect path name like `--git-dir` and
62 `--work-tree` in that their interpretations of the path names would be
63 made relative to the working directory caused by the `-C` option. For
64 example the following invocations are equivalent:
66 git --git-dir=a.git --work-tree=b -C c status
67 git --git-dir=c/a.git --work-tree=c/b status
70 Pass a configuration parameter to the command. The value
71 given will override values from configuration files.
72 The <name> is expected in the same format as listed by
73 'git config' (subkeys separated by dots).
75 Note that omitting the `=` in `git -c foo.bar ...` is allowed and sets
76 `foo.bar` to the boolean true value (just like `[foo]bar` would in a
77 config file). Including the equals but with an empty value (like `git -c
78 foo.bar= ...`) sets `foo.bar` to the empty string which `git config
79 --bool` will convert to `false`.
81 --exec-path[=<path>]::
82 Path to wherever your core Git programs are installed.
83 This can also be controlled by setting the GIT_EXEC_PATH
84 environment variable. If no path is given, 'git' will print
85 the current setting and then exit.
88 Print the path, without trailing slash, where Git's HTML
89 documentation is installed and exit.
92 Print the manpath (see `man(1)`) for the man pages for
93 this version of Git and exit.
96 Print the path where the Info files documenting this
97 version of Git are installed and exit.
101 Pipe all output into 'less' (or if set, $PAGER) if standard
102 output is a terminal. This overrides the `pager.<cmd>`
103 configuration options (see the "Configuration Mechanism" section
107 Do not pipe Git output into a pager.
110 Set the path to the repository. This can also be controlled by
111 setting the `GIT_DIR` environment variable. It can be an absolute
112 path or relative path to current working directory.
115 Set the path to the working tree. It can be an absolute path
116 or a path relative to the current working directory.
117 This can also be controlled by setting the GIT_WORK_TREE
118 environment variable and the core.worktree configuration
119 variable (see core.worktree in linkgit:git-config[1] for a
120 more detailed discussion).
123 Set the Git namespace. See linkgit:gitnamespaces[7] for more
124 details. Equivalent to setting the `GIT_NAMESPACE` environment
127 --super-prefix=<path>::
128 Currently for internal use only. Set a prefix which gives a path from
129 above a repository down to its root. One use is to give submodules
130 context about the superproject that invoked it.
133 Treat the repository as a bare repository. If GIT_DIR
134 environment is not set, it is set to the current working
137 --no-replace-objects::
138 Do not use replacement refs to replace Git objects. See
139 linkgit:git-replace[1] for more information.
141 --literal-pathspecs::
142 Treat pathspecs literally (i.e. no globbing, no pathspec magic).
143 This is equivalent to setting the `GIT_LITERAL_PATHSPECS` environment
147 Add "glob" magic to all pathspec. This is equivalent to setting
148 the `GIT_GLOB_PATHSPECS` environment variable to `1`. Disabling
149 globbing on individual pathspecs can be done using pathspec
153 Add "literal" magic to all pathspec. This is equivalent to setting
154 the `GIT_NOGLOB_PATHSPECS` environment variable to `1`. Enabling
155 globbing on individual pathspecs can be done using pathspec
159 Add "icase" magic to all pathspec. This is equivalent to setting
160 the `GIT_ICASE_PATHSPECS` environment variable to `1`.
162 --no-optional-locks::
163 Do not perform optional operations that require locks. This is
164 equivalent to setting the `GIT_OPTIONAL_LOCKS` to `0`.
166 --list-cmds=group[,group...]::
167 List commands by group. This is an internal/experimental
168 option and may change or be removed in the future. Supported
169 groups are: builtins, parseopt (builtin commands that use
170 parse-options), main (all commands in libexec directory),
171 others (all other commands in `$PATH` that have git- prefix),
172 list-<category> (see categories in command-list.txt),
173 nohelpers (exclude helper commands) and alias.
178 We divide Git into high level ("porcelain") commands and low level
179 ("plumbing") commands.
181 High-level commands (porcelain)
182 -------------------------------
184 We separate the porcelain commands into the main commands and some
185 ancillary user utilities.
187 Main porcelain commands
188 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
190 include::cmds-mainporcelain.txt[]
196 include::cmds-ancillarymanipulators.txt[]
200 include::cmds-ancillaryinterrogators.txt[]
203 Interacting with Others
204 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
206 These commands are to interact with foreign SCM and with other
207 people via patch over e-mail.
209 include::cmds-foreignscminterface.txt[]
212 Low-level commands (plumbing)
213 -----------------------------
215 Although Git includes its
216 own porcelain layer, its low-level commands are sufficient to support
217 development of alternative porcelains. Developers of such porcelains
218 might start by reading about linkgit:git-update-index[1] and
219 linkgit:git-read-tree[1].
221 The interface (input, output, set of options and the semantics)
222 to these low-level commands are meant to be a lot more stable
223 than Porcelain level commands, because these commands are
224 primarily for scripted use. The interface to Porcelain commands
225 on the other hand are subject to change in order to improve the
228 The following description divides
229 the low-level commands into commands that manipulate objects (in
230 the repository, index, and working tree), commands that interrogate and
231 compare objects, and commands that move objects and references between
235 Manipulation commands
236 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
238 include::cmds-plumbingmanipulators.txt[]
241 Interrogation commands
242 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
244 include::cmds-plumbinginterrogators.txt[]
246 In general, the interrogate commands do not touch the files in
250 Synching repositories
251 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
253 include::cmds-synchingrepositories.txt[]
255 The following are helper commands used by the above; end users
256 typically do not use them directly.
258 include::cmds-synchelpers.txt[]
261 Internal helper commands
262 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
264 These are internal helper commands used by other commands; end
265 users typically do not use them directly.
267 include::cmds-purehelpers.txt[]
270 Configuration Mechanism
271 -----------------------
273 Git uses a simple text format to store customizations that are per
274 repository and are per user. Such a configuration file may look
279 # A '#' or ';' character indicates a comment.
284 ; Don't trust file modes
289 name = "Junio C Hamano"
290 email = "gitster@pobox.com"
294 Various commands read from the configuration file and adjust
295 their operation accordingly. See linkgit:git-config[1] for a
296 list and more details about the configuration mechanism.
299 Identifier Terminology
300 ----------------------
302 Indicates the object name for any type of object.
305 Indicates a blob object name.
308 Indicates a tree object name.
311 Indicates a commit object name.
314 Indicates a tree, commit or tag object name. A
315 command that takes a <tree-ish> argument ultimately wants to
316 operate on a <tree> object but automatically dereferences
317 <commit> and <tag> objects that point at a <tree>.
320 Indicates a commit or tag object name. A
321 command that takes a <commit-ish> argument ultimately wants to
322 operate on a <commit> object but automatically dereferences
323 <tag> objects that point at a <commit>.
326 Indicates that an object type is required.
327 Currently one of: `blob`, `tree`, `commit`, or `tag`.
330 Indicates a filename - almost always relative to the
331 root of the tree structure `GIT_INDEX_FILE` describes.
335 Any Git command accepting any <object> can also use the following
339 indicates the head of the current branch.
343 (i.e. a `refs/tags/<tag>` reference).
347 (i.e. a `refs/heads/<head>` reference).
349 For a more complete list of ways to spell object names, see
350 "SPECIFYING REVISIONS" section in linkgit:gitrevisions[7].
353 File/Directory Structure
354 ------------------------
356 Please see the linkgit:gitrepository-layout[5] document.
358 Read linkgit:githooks[5] for more details about each hook.
360 Higher level SCMs may provide and manage additional information in the
366 Please see linkgit:gitglossary[7].
369 Environment Variables
370 ---------------------
371 Various Git commands use the following environment variables:
375 These environment variables apply to 'all' core Git commands. Nb: it
376 is worth noting that they may be used/overridden by SCMS sitting above
377 Git so take care if using a foreign front-end.
380 This environment allows the specification of an alternate
381 index file. If not specified, the default of `$GIT_DIR/index`
384 `GIT_INDEX_VERSION`::
385 This environment variable allows the specification of an index
386 version for new repositories. It won't affect existing index
387 files. By default index file version 2 or 3 is used. See
388 linkgit:git-update-index[1] for more information.
390 `GIT_OBJECT_DIRECTORY`::
391 If the object storage directory is specified via this
392 environment variable then the sha1 directories are created
393 underneath - otherwise the default `$GIT_DIR/objects`
396 `GIT_ALTERNATE_OBJECT_DIRECTORIES`::
397 Due to the immutable nature of Git objects, old objects can be
398 archived into shared, read-only directories. This variable
399 specifies a ":" separated (on Windows ";" separated) list
400 of Git object directories which can be used to search for Git
401 objects. New objects will not be written to these directories.
403 Entries that begin with `"` (double-quote) will be interpreted
404 as C-style quoted paths, removing leading and trailing
405 double-quotes and respecting backslash escapes. E.g., the value
406 `"path-with-\"-and-:-in-it":vanilla-path` has two paths:
407 `path-with-"-and-:-in-it` and `vanilla-path`.
410 If the `GIT_DIR` environment variable is set then it
411 specifies a path to use instead of the default `.git`
412 for the base of the repository.
413 The `--git-dir` command-line option also sets this value.
416 Set the path to the root of the working tree.
417 This can also be controlled by the `--work-tree` command-line
418 option and the core.worktree configuration variable.
421 Set the Git namespace; see linkgit:gitnamespaces[7] for details.
422 The `--namespace` command-line option also sets this value.
424 `GIT_CEILING_DIRECTORIES`::
425 This should be a colon-separated list of absolute paths. If
426 set, it is a list of directories that Git should not chdir up
427 into while looking for a repository directory (useful for
428 excluding slow-loading network directories). It will not
429 exclude the current working directory or a GIT_DIR set on the
430 command line or in the environment. Normally, Git has to read
431 the entries in this list and resolve any symlink that
432 might be present in order to compare them with the current
433 directory. However, if even this access is slow, you
434 can add an empty entry to the list to tell Git that the
435 subsequent entries are not symlinks and needn't be resolved;
437 `GIT_CEILING_DIRECTORIES=/maybe/symlink::/very/slow/non/symlink`.
439 `GIT_DISCOVERY_ACROSS_FILESYSTEM`::
440 When run in a directory that does not have ".git" repository
441 directory, Git tries to find such a directory in the parent
442 directories to find the top of the working tree, but by default it
443 does not cross filesystem boundaries. This environment variable
444 can be set to true to tell Git not to stop at filesystem
445 boundaries. Like `GIT_CEILING_DIRECTORIES`, this will not affect
446 an explicit repository directory set via `GIT_DIR` or on the
450 If this variable is set to a path, non-worktree files that are
451 normally in $GIT_DIR will be taken from this path
452 instead. Worktree-specific files such as HEAD or index are
453 taken from $GIT_DIR. See linkgit:gitrepository-layout[5] and
454 linkgit:git-worktree[1] for
455 details. This variable has lower precedence than other path
456 variables such as GIT_INDEX_FILE, GIT_OBJECT_DIRECTORY...
463 `GIT_COMMITTER_NAME`::
464 `GIT_COMMITTER_EMAIL`::
465 `GIT_COMMITTER_DATE`::
467 see linkgit:git-commit-tree[1]
472 Only valid setting is "--unified=??" or "-u??" to set the
473 number of context lines shown when a unified diff is created.
474 This takes precedence over any "-U" or "--unified" option
475 value passed on the Git diff command line.
477 `GIT_EXTERNAL_DIFF`::
478 When the environment variable `GIT_EXTERNAL_DIFF` is set, the
479 program named by it is called, instead of the diff invocation
480 described above. For a path that is added, removed, or modified,
481 `GIT_EXTERNAL_DIFF` is called with 7 parameters:
483 path old-file old-hex old-mode new-file new-hex new-mode
487 <old|new>-file:: are files GIT_EXTERNAL_DIFF can use to read the
488 contents of <old|new>,
489 <old|new>-hex:: are the 40-hexdigit SHA-1 hashes,
490 <old|new>-mode:: are the octal representation of the file modes.
492 The file parameters can point at the user's working file
493 (e.g. `new-file` in "git-diff-files"), `/dev/null` (e.g. `old-file`
494 when a new file is added), or a temporary file (e.g. `old-file` in the
495 index). `GIT_EXTERNAL_DIFF` should not worry about unlinking the
496 temporary file --- it is removed when `GIT_EXTERNAL_DIFF` exits.
498 For a path that is unmerged, `GIT_EXTERNAL_DIFF` is called with 1
501 For each path `GIT_EXTERNAL_DIFF` is called, two environment variables,
502 `GIT_DIFF_PATH_COUNTER` and `GIT_DIFF_PATH_TOTAL` are set.
504 `GIT_DIFF_PATH_COUNTER`::
505 A 1-based counter incremented by one for every path.
507 `GIT_DIFF_PATH_TOTAL`::
508 The total number of paths.
512 `GIT_MERGE_VERBOSITY`::
513 A number controlling the amount of output shown by
514 the recursive merge strategy. Overrides merge.verbosity.
515 See linkgit:git-merge[1]
518 This environment variable overrides `$PAGER`. If it is set
519 to an empty string or to the value "cat", Git will not launch
520 a pager. See also the `core.pager` option in
521 linkgit:git-config[1].
524 This environment variable overrides `$EDITOR` and `$VISUAL`.
525 It is used by several Git commands when, on interactive mode,
526 an editor is to be launched. See also linkgit:git-var[1]
527 and the `core.editor` option in linkgit:git-config[1].
531 If either of these environment variables is set then 'git fetch'
532 and 'git push' will use the specified command instead of 'ssh'
533 when they need to connect to a remote system.
534 The command-line parameters passed to the configured command are
535 determined by the ssh variant. See `ssh.variant` option in
536 linkgit:git-config[1] for details.
539 `$GIT_SSH_COMMAND` takes precedence over `$GIT_SSH`, and is interpreted
540 by the shell, which allows additional arguments to be included.
541 `$GIT_SSH` on the other hand must be just the path to a program
542 (which can be a wrapper shell script, if additional arguments are
545 Usually it is easier to configure any desired options through your
546 personal `.ssh/config` file. Please consult your ssh documentation
550 If this environment variable is set, it overrides Git's autodetection
551 whether `GIT_SSH`/`GIT_SSH_COMMAND`/`core.sshCommand` refer to OpenSSH,
552 plink or tortoiseplink. This variable overrides the config setting
553 `ssh.variant` that serves the same purpose.
556 If this environment variable is set, then Git commands which need to
557 acquire passwords or passphrases (e.g. for HTTP or IMAP authentication)
558 will call this program with a suitable prompt as command-line argument
559 and read the password from its STDOUT. See also the `core.askPass`
560 option in linkgit:git-config[1].
562 `GIT_TERMINAL_PROMPT`::
563 If this environment variable is set to `0`, git will not prompt
564 on the terminal (e.g., when asking for HTTP authentication).
566 `GIT_CONFIG_NOSYSTEM`::
567 Whether to skip reading settings from the system-wide
568 `$(prefix)/etc/gitconfig` file. This environment variable can
569 be used along with `$HOME` and `$XDG_CONFIG_HOME` to create a
570 predictable environment for a picky script, or you can set it
571 temporarily to avoid using a buggy `/etc/gitconfig` file while
572 waiting for someone with sufficient permissions to fix it.
575 If this environment variable is set to "1", then commands such
576 as 'git blame' (in incremental mode), 'git rev-list', 'git log',
577 'git check-attr' and 'git check-ignore' will
578 force a flush of the output stream after each record have been
580 variable is set to "0", the output of these commands will be done
581 using completely buffered I/O. If this environment variable is
582 not set, Git will choose buffered or record-oriented flushing
583 based on whether stdout appears to be redirected to a file or not.
586 Enables general trace messages, e.g. alias expansion, built-in
587 command execution and external command execution.
589 If this variable is set to "1", "2" or "true" (comparison
590 is case insensitive), trace messages will be printed to
593 If the variable is set to an integer value greater than 2
594 and lower than 10 (strictly) then Git will interpret this
595 value as an open file descriptor and will try to write the
596 trace messages into this file descriptor.
598 Alternatively, if the variable is set to an absolute path
599 (starting with a '/' character), Git will interpret this
600 as a file path and will try to write the trace messages
603 Unsetting the variable, or setting it to empty, "0" or
604 "false" (case insensitive) disables trace messages.
606 `GIT_TRACE_FSMONITOR`::
607 Enables trace messages for the filesystem monitor extension.
608 See `GIT_TRACE` for available trace output options.
610 `GIT_TRACE_PACK_ACCESS`::
611 Enables trace messages for all accesses to any packs. For each
612 access, the pack file name and an offset in the pack is
613 recorded. This may be helpful for troubleshooting some
614 pack-related performance problems.
615 See `GIT_TRACE` for available trace output options.
618 Enables trace messages for all packets coming in or out of a
619 given program. This can help with debugging object negotiation
620 or other protocol issues. Tracing is turned off at a packet
621 starting with "PACK" (but see `GIT_TRACE_PACKFILE` below).
622 See `GIT_TRACE` for available trace output options.
624 `GIT_TRACE_PACKFILE`::
625 Enables tracing of packfiles sent or received by a
626 given program. Unlike other trace output, this trace is
627 verbatim: no headers, and no quoting of binary data. You almost
628 certainly want to direct into a file (e.g.,
629 `GIT_TRACE_PACKFILE=/tmp/my.pack`) rather than displaying it on
630 the terminal or mixing it with other trace output.
632 Note that this is currently only implemented for the client side
633 of clones and fetches.
635 `GIT_TRACE_PERFORMANCE`::
636 Enables performance related trace messages, e.g. total execution
637 time of each Git command.
638 See `GIT_TRACE` for available trace output options.
641 Enables trace messages printing the .git, working tree and current
642 working directory after Git has completed its setup phase.
643 See `GIT_TRACE` for available trace output options.
645 `GIT_TRACE_SHALLOW`::
646 Enables trace messages that can help debugging fetching /
647 cloning of shallow repositories.
648 See `GIT_TRACE` for available trace output options.
651 Enables a curl full trace dump of all incoming and outgoing data,
652 including descriptive information, of the git transport protocol.
653 This is similar to doing curl `--trace-ascii` on the command line.
654 This option overrides setting the `GIT_CURL_VERBOSE` environment
656 See `GIT_TRACE` for available trace output options.
658 `GIT_TRACE_CURL_NO_DATA`::
659 When a curl trace is enabled (see `GIT_TRACE_CURL` above), do not dump
660 data (that is, only dump info lines and headers).
662 `GIT_REDACT_COOKIES`::
663 This can be set to a comma-separated list of strings. When a curl trace
664 is enabled (see `GIT_TRACE_CURL` above), whenever a "Cookies:" header
665 sent by the client is dumped, values of cookies whose key is in that
666 list (case-sensitive) are redacted.
668 `GIT_LITERAL_PATHSPECS`::
669 Setting this variable to `1` will cause Git to treat all
670 pathspecs literally, rather than as glob patterns. For example,
671 running `GIT_LITERAL_PATHSPECS=1 git log -- '*.c'` will search
672 for commits that touch the path `*.c`, not any paths that the
673 glob `*.c` matches. You might want this if you are feeding
674 literal paths to Git (e.g., paths previously given to you by
675 `git ls-tree`, `--raw` diff output, etc).
677 `GIT_GLOB_PATHSPECS`::
678 Setting this variable to `1` will cause Git to treat all
679 pathspecs as glob patterns (aka "glob" magic).
681 `GIT_NOGLOB_PATHSPECS`::
682 Setting this variable to `1` will cause Git to treat all
683 pathspecs as literal (aka "literal" magic).
685 `GIT_ICASE_PATHSPECS`::
686 Setting this variable to `1` will cause Git to treat all
687 pathspecs as case-insensitive.
689 `GIT_REFLOG_ACTION`::
690 When a ref is updated, reflog entries are created to keep
691 track of the reason why the ref was updated (which is
692 typically the name of the high-level command that updated
693 the ref), in addition to the old and new values of the ref.
694 A scripted Porcelain command can use set_reflog_action
695 helper function in `git-sh-setup` to set its name to this
696 variable when it is invoked as the top level command by the
697 end user, to be recorded in the body of the reflog.
700 If set to `1`, include broken or badly named refs when iterating
701 over lists of refs. In a normal, non-corrupted repository, this
702 does nothing. However, enabling it may help git to detect and
703 abort some operations in the presence of broken refs. Git sets
704 this variable automatically when performing destructive
705 operations like linkgit:git-prune[1]. You should not need to set
706 it yourself unless you want to be paranoid about making sure
707 an operation has touched every ref (e.g., because you are
708 cloning a repository to make a backup).
710 `GIT_ALLOW_PROTOCOL`::
711 If set to a colon-separated list of protocols, behave as if
712 `protocol.allow` is set to `never`, and each of the listed
713 protocols has `protocol.<name>.allow` set to `always`
714 (overriding any existing configuration). In other words, any
715 protocol not mentioned will be disallowed (i.e., this is a
716 whitelist, not a blacklist). See the description of
717 `protocol.allow` in linkgit:git-config[1] for more details.
719 `GIT_PROTOCOL_FROM_USER`::
720 Set to 0 to prevent protocols used by fetch/push/clone which are
721 configured to the `user` state. This is useful to restrict recursive
722 submodule initialization from an untrusted repository or for programs
723 which feed potentially-untrusted URLS to git commands. See
724 linkgit:git-config[1] for more details.
727 For internal use only. Used in handshaking the wire protocol.
728 Contains a colon ':' separated list of keys with optional values
729 'key[=value]'. Presence of unknown keys and values must be
732 `GIT_OPTIONAL_LOCKS`::
733 If set to `0`, Git will complete any requested operation without
734 performing any optional sub-operations that require taking a lock.
735 For example, this will prevent `git status` from refreshing the
736 index as a side effect. This is useful for processes running in
737 the background which do not want to cause lock contention with
738 other operations on the repository. Defaults to `1`.
740 `GIT_REDIRECT_STDIN`::
741 `GIT_REDIRECT_STDOUT`::
742 `GIT_REDIRECT_STDERR`::
743 Windows-only: allow redirecting the standard input/output/error
744 handles to paths specified by the environment variables. This is
745 particularly useful in multi-threaded applications where the
746 canonical way to pass standard handles via `CreateProcess()` is
747 not an option because it would require the handles to be marked
748 inheritable (and consequently *every* spawned process would
749 inherit them, possibly blocking regular Git operations). The
750 primary intended use case is to use named pipes for communication
751 (e.g. `\\.\pipe\my-git-stdin-123`).
753 Two special values are supported: `off` will simply close the
754 corresponding standard handle, and if `GIT_REDIRECT_STDERR` is
755 `2>&1`, standard error will be redirected to the same handle as
758 `GIT_PRINT_SHA1_ELLIPSIS` (deprecated)::
759 If set to `yes`, print an ellipsis following an
760 (abbreviated) SHA-1 value. This affects indications of
761 detached HEADs (linkgit:git-checkout[1]) and the raw
762 diff output (linkgit:git-diff[1]). Printing an
763 ellipsis in the cases mentioned is no longer considered
764 adequate and support for it is likely to be removed in the
765 foreseeable future (along with the variable).
767 Discussion[[Discussion]]
768 ------------------------
770 More detail on the following is available from the
771 link:user-manual.html#git-concepts[Git concepts chapter of the
772 user-manual] and linkgit:gitcore-tutorial[7].
774 A Git project normally consists of a working directory with a ".git"
775 subdirectory at the top level. The .git directory contains, among other
776 things, a compressed object database representing the complete history
777 of the project, an "index" file which links that history to the current
778 contents of the working tree, and named pointers into that history such
779 as tags and branch heads.
781 The object database contains objects of three main types: blobs, which
782 hold file data; trees, which point to blobs and other trees to build up
783 directory hierarchies; and commits, which each reference a single tree
784 and some number of parent commits.
786 The commit, equivalent to what other systems call a "changeset" or
787 "version", represents a step in the project's history, and each parent
788 represents an immediately preceding step. Commits with more than one
789 parent represent merges of independent lines of development.
791 All objects are named by the SHA-1 hash of their contents, normally
792 written as a string of 40 hex digits. Such names are globally unique.
793 The entire history leading up to a commit can be vouched for by signing
794 just that commit. A fourth object type, the tag, is provided for this
797 When first created, objects are stored in individual files, but for
798 efficiency may later be compressed together into "pack files".
800 Named pointers called refs mark interesting points in history. A ref
801 may contain the SHA-1 name of an object or the name of another ref. Refs
802 with names beginning `ref/head/` contain the SHA-1 name of the most
803 recent commit (or "head") of a branch under development. SHA-1 names of
804 tags of interest are stored under `ref/tags/`. A special ref named
805 `HEAD` contains the name of the currently checked-out branch.
807 The index file is initialized with a list of all paths and, for each
808 path, a blob object and a set of attributes. The blob object represents
809 the contents of the file as of the head of the current branch. The
810 attributes (last modified time, size, etc.) are taken from the
811 corresponding file in the working tree. Subsequent changes to the
812 working tree can be found by comparing these attributes. The index may
813 be updated with new content, and new commits may be created from the
814 content stored in the index.
816 The index is also capable of storing multiple entries (called "stages")
817 for a given pathname. These stages are used to hold the various
818 unmerged version of a file when a merge is in progress.
820 FURTHER DOCUMENTATION
821 ---------------------
823 See the references in the "description" section to get started
824 using Git. The following is probably more detail than necessary
825 for a first-time user.
827 The link:user-manual.html#git-concepts[Git concepts chapter of the
828 user-manual] and linkgit:gitcore-tutorial[7] both provide
829 introductions to the underlying Git architecture.
831 See linkgit:gitworkflows[7] for an overview of recommended workflows.
833 See also the link:howto-index.html[howto] documents for some useful
836 The internals are documented in the
837 link:technical/api-index.html[Git API documentation].
839 Users migrating from CVS may also want to
840 read linkgit:gitcvs-migration[7].
845 Git was started by Linus Torvalds, and is currently maintained by Junio
846 C Hamano. Numerous contributions have come from the Git mailing list
847 <git@vger.kernel.org>. http://www.openhub.net/p/git/contributors/summary
848 gives you a more complete list of contributors.
850 If you have a clone of git.git itself, the
851 output of linkgit:git-shortlog[1] and linkgit:git-blame[1] can show you
852 the authors for specific parts of the project.
857 Report bugs to the Git mailing list <git@vger.kernel.org> where the
858 development and maintenance is primarily done. You do not have to be
859 subscribed to the list to send a message there.
861 Issues which are security relevant should be disclosed privately to
862 the Git Security mailing list <git-security@googlegroups.com>.
866 linkgit:gittutorial[7], linkgit:gittutorial-2[7],
867 linkgit:giteveryday[7], linkgit:gitcvs-migration[7],
868 linkgit:gitglossary[7], linkgit:gitcore-tutorial[7],
869 linkgit:gitcli[7], link:user-manual.html[The Git User's Manual],
870 linkgit:gitworkflows[7]
874 Part of the linkgit:git[1] suite