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|-P|--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
37 or https://git-scm.com/docs.
43 Prints the Git suite version that the 'git' program came from.
46 Prints the synopsis and a list of the most commonly used
47 commands. If the option `--all` or `-a` is given then all
48 available commands are printed. If a Git command is named this
49 option will bring up the manual page for that command.
51 Other options are available to control how the manual page is
52 displayed. See linkgit:git-help[1] for more information,
53 because `git --help ...` is converted internally into `git
57 Run as if git was started in '<path>' instead of the current working
58 directory. When multiple `-C` options are given, each subsequent
59 non-absolute `-C <path>` is interpreted relative to the preceding `-C
60 <path>`. If '<path>' is present but empty, e.g. `-C ""`, then the
61 current working directory is left unchanged.
63 This option affects options that expect path name like `--git-dir` and
64 `--work-tree` in that their interpretations of the path names would be
65 made relative to the working directory caused by the `-C` option. For
66 example the following invocations are equivalent:
68 git --git-dir=a.git --work-tree=b -C c status
69 git --git-dir=c/a.git --work-tree=c/b status
72 Pass a configuration parameter to the command. The value
73 given will override values from configuration files.
74 The <name> is expected in the same format as listed by
75 'git config' (subkeys separated by dots).
77 Note that omitting the `=` in `git -c foo.bar ...` is allowed and sets
78 `foo.bar` to the boolean true value (just like `[foo]bar` would in a
79 config file). Including the equals but with an empty value (like `git -c
80 foo.bar= ...`) sets `foo.bar` to the empty string which `git config
81 --type=bool` will convert to `false`.
83 --exec-path[=<path>]::
84 Path to wherever your core Git programs are installed.
85 This can also be controlled by setting the GIT_EXEC_PATH
86 environment variable. If no path is given, 'git' will print
87 the current setting and then exit.
90 Print the path, without trailing slash, where Git's HTML
91 documentation is installed and exit.
94 Print the manpath (see `man(1)`) for the man pages for
95 this version of Git and exit.
98 Print the path where the Info files documenting this
99 version of Git are installed and exit.
103 Pipe all output into 'less' (or if set, $PAGER) if standard
104 output is a terminal. This overrides the `pager.<cmd>`
105 configuration options (see the "Configuration Mechanism" section
110 Do not pipe Git output into a pager.
113 Set the path to the repository (".git" directory). This can also be
114 controlled by setting the `GIT_DIR` environment variable. It can be
115 an absolute path or relative path to current working directory.
117 Specifying the location of the ".git" directory using this
118 option (or `GIT_DIR` environment variable) turns off the
119 repository discovery that tries to find a directory with
120 ".git" subdirectory (which is how the repository and the
121 top-level of the working tree are discovered), and tells Git
122 that you are at the top level of the working tree. If you
123 are not at the top-level directory of the working tree, you
124 should tell Git where the top-level of the working tree is,
125 with the `--work-tree=<path>` option (or `GIT_WORK_TREE`
126 environment variable)
128 If you just want to run git as if it was started in `<path>` then use
132 Set the path to the working tree. It can be an absolute path
133 or a path relative to the current working directory.
134 This can also be controlled by setting the GIT_WORK_TREE
135 environment variable and the core.worktree configuration
136 variable (see core.worktree in linkgit:git-config[1] for a
137 more detailed discussion).
140 Set the Git namespace. See linkgit:gitnamespaces[7] for more
141 details. Equivalent to setting the `GIT_NAMESPACE` environment
144 --super-prefix=<path>::
145 Currently for internal use only. Set a prefix which gives a path from
146 above a repository down to its root. One use is to give submodules
147 context about the superproject that invoked it.
150 Treat the repository as a bare repository. If GIT_DIR
151 environment is not set, it is set to the current working
154 --no-replace-objects::
155 Do not use replacement refs to replace Git objects. See
156 linkgit:git-replace[1] for more information.
158 --literal-pathspecs::
159 Treat pathspecs literally (i.e. no globbing, no pathspec magic).
160 This is equivalent to setting the `GIT_LITERAL_PATHSPECS` environment
164 Add "glob" magic to all pathspec. This is equivalent to setting
165 the `GIT_GLOB_PATHSPECS` environment variable to `1`. Disabling
166 globbing on individual pathspecs can be done using pathspec
170 Add "literal" magic to all pathspec. This is equivalent to setting
171 the `GIT_NOGLOB_PATHSPECS` environment variable to `1`. Enabling
172 globbing on individual pathspecs can be done using pathspec
176 Add "icase" magic to all pathspec. This is equivalent to setting
177 the `GIT_ICASE_PATHSPECS` environment variable to `1`.
179 --no-optional-locks::
180 Do not perform optional operations that require locks. This is
181 equivalent to setting the `GIT_OPTIONAL_LOCKS` to `0`.
183 --list-cmds=group[,group...]::
184 List commands by group. This is an internal/experimental
185 option and may change or be removed in the future. Supported
186 groups are: builtins, parseopt (builtin commands that use
187 parse-options), main (all commands in libexec directory),
188 others (all other commands in `$PATH` that have git- prefix),
189 list-<category> (see categories in command-list.txt),
190 nohelpers (exclude helper commands), alias and config
191 (retrieve command list from config variable completion.commands)
196 We divide Git into high level ("porcelain") commands and low level
197 ("plumbing") commands.
199 High-level commands (porcelain)
200 -------------------------------
202 We separate the porcelain commands into the main commands and some
203 ancillary user utilities.
205 Main porcelain commands
206 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
208 include::cmds-mainporcelain.txt[]
214 include::cmds-ancillarymanipulators.txt[]
218 include::cmds-ancillaryinterrogators.txt[]
221 Interacting with Others
222 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
224 These commands are to interact with foreign SCM and with other
225 people via patch over e-mail.
227 include::cmds-foreignscminterface.txt[]
229 Reset, restore and revert
230 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
231 There are three commands with similar names: `git reset`,
232 `git restore` and `git revert`.
234 * linkgit:git-revert[1] is about making a new commit that reverts the
235 changes made by other commits.
237 * linkgit:git-restore[1] is about restoring files in the working tree
238 from either the index or another commit. This command does not
239 update your branch. The command can also be used to restore files in
240 the index from another commit.
242 * linkgit:git-reset[1] is about updating your branch, moving the tip
243 in order to add or remove commits from the branch. This operation
244 changes the commit history.
246 `git reset` can also be used to restore the index, overlapping with
250 Low-level commands (plumbing)
251 -----------------------------
253 Although Git includes its
254 own porcelain layer, its low-level commands are sufficient to support
255 development of alternative porcelains. Developers of such porcelains
256 might start by reading about linkgit:git-update-index[1] and
257 linkgit:git-read-tree[1].
259 The interface (input, output, set of options and the semantics)
260 to these low-level commands are meant to be a lot more stable
261 than Porcelain level commands, because these commands are
262 primarily for scripted use. The interface to Porcelain commands
263 on the other hand are subject to change in order to improve the
266 The following description divides
267 the low-level commands into commands that manipulate objects (in
268 the repository, index, and working tree), commands that interrogate and
269 compare objects, and commands that move objects and references between
273 Manipulation commands
274 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
276 include::cmds-plumbingmanipulators.txt[]
279 Interrogation commands
280 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
282 include::cmds-plumbinginterrogators.txt[]
284 In general, the interrogate commands do not touch the files in
291 include::cmds-synchingrepositories.txt[]
293 The following are helper commands used by the above; end users
294 typically do not use them directly.
296 include::cmds-synchelpers.txt[]
299 Internal helper commands
300 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
302 These are internal helper commands used by other commands; end
303 users typically do not use them directly.
305 include::cmds-purehelpers.txt[]
310 The following documentation pages are guides about Git concepts.
312 include::cmds-guide.txt[]
315 Configuration Mechanism
316 -----------------------
318 Git uses a simple text format to store customizations that are per
319 repository and are per user. Such a configuration file may look
324 # A '#' or ';' character indicates a comment.
329 ; Don't trust file modes
334 name = "Junio C Hamano"
335 email = "gitster@pobox.com"
339 Various commands read from the configuration file and adjust
340 their operation accordingly. See linkgit:git-config[1] for a
341 list and more details about the configuration mechanism.
344 Identifier Terminology
345 ----------------------
347 Indicates the object name for any type of object.
350 Indicates a blob object name.
353 Indicates a tree object name.
356 Indicates a commit object name.
359 Indicates a tree, commit or tag object name. A
360 command that takes a <tree-ish> argument ultimately wants to
361 operate on a <tree> object but automatically dereferences
362 <commit> and <tag> objects that point at a <tree>.
365 Indicates a commit or tag object name. A
366 command that takes a <commit-ish> argument ultimately wants to
367 operate on a <commit> object but automatically dereferences
368 <tag> objects that point at a <commit>.
371 Indicates that an object type is required.
372 Currently one of: `blob`, `tree`, `commit`, or `tag`.
375 Indicates a filename - almost always relative to the
376 root of the tree structure `GIT_INDEX_FILE` describes.
380 Any Git command accepting any <object> can also use the following
384 indicates the head of the current branch.
388 (i.e. a `refs/tags/<tag>` reference).
392 (i.e. a `refs/heads/<head>` reference).
394 For a more complete list of ways to spell object names, see
395 "SPECIFYING REVISIONS" section in linkgit:gitrevisions[7].
398 File/Directory Structure
399 ------------------------
401 Please see the linkgit:gitrepository-layout[5] document.
403 Read linkgit:githooks[5] for more details about each hook.
405 Higher level SCMs may provide and manage additional information in the
411 Please see linkgit:gitglossary[7].
414 Environment Variables
415 ---------------------
416 Various Git commands use the following environment variables:
420 These environment variables apply to 'all' core Git commands. Nb: it
421 is worth noting that they may be used/overridden by SCMS sitting above
422 Git so take care if using a foreign front-end.
425 This environment allows the specification of an alternate
426 index file. If not specified, the default of `$GIT_DIR/index`
429 `GIT_INDEX_VERSION`::
430 This environment variable allows the specification of an index
431 version for new repositories. It won't affect existing index
432 files. By default index file version 2 or 3 is used. See
433 linkgit:git-update-index[1] for more information.
435 `GIT_OBJECT_DIRECTORY`::
436 If the object storage directory is specified via this
437 environment variable then the sha1 directories are created
438 underneath - otherwise the default `$GIT_DIR/objects`
441 `GIT_ALTERNATE_OBJECT_DIRECTORIES`::
442 Due to the immutable nature of Git objects, old objects can be
443 archived into shared, read-only directories. This variable
444 specifies a ":" separated (on Windows ";" separated) list
445 of Git object directories which can be used to search for Git
446 objects. New objects will not be written to these directories.
448 Entries that begin with `"` (double-quote) will be interpreted
449 as C-style quoted paths, removing leading and trailing
450 double-quotes and respecting backslash escapes. E.g., the value
451 `"path-with-\"-and-:-in-it":vanilla-path` has two paths:
452 `path-with-"-and-:-in-it` and `vanilla-path`.
455 If the `GIT_DIR` environment variable is set then it
456 specifies a path to use instead of the default `.git`
457 for the base of the repository.
458 The `--git-dir` command-line option also sets this value.
461 Set the path to the root of the working tree.
462 This can also be controlled by the `--work-tree` command-line
463 option and the core.worktree configuration variable.
466 Set the Git namespace; see linkgit:gitnamespaces[7] for details.
467 The `--namespace` command-line option also sets this value.
469 `GIT_CEILING_DIRECTORIES`::
470 This should be a colon-separated list of absolute paths. If
471 set, it is a list of directories that Git should not chdir up
472 into while looking for a repository directory (useful for
473 excluding slow-loading network directories). It will not
474 exclude the current working directory or a GIT_DIR set on the
475 command line or in the environment. Normally, Git has to read
476 the entries in this list and resolve any symlink that
477 might be present in order to compare them with the current
478 directory. However, if even this access is slow, you
479 can add an empty entry to the list to tell Git that the
480 subsequent entries are not symlinks and needn't be resolved;
482 `GIT_CEILING_DIRECTORIES=/maybe/symlink::/very/slow/non/symlink`.
484 `GIT_DISCOVERY_ACROSS_FILESYSTEM`::
485 When run in a directory that does not have ".git" repository
486 directory, Git tries to find such a directory in the parent
487 directories to find the top of the working tree, but by default it
488 does not cross filesystem boundaries. This environment variable
489 can be set to true to tell Git not to stop at filesystem
490 boundaries. Like `GIT_CEILING_DIRECTORIES`, this will not affect
491 an explicit repository directory set via `GIT_DIR` or on the
495 If this variable is set to a path, non-worktree files that are
496 normally in $GIT_DIR will be taken from this path
497 instead. Worktree-specific files such as HEAD or index are
498 taken from $GIT_DIR. See linkgit:gitrepository-layout[5] and
499 linkgit:git-worktree[1] for
500 details. This variable has lower precedence than other path
501 variables such as GIT_INDEX_FILE, GIT_OBJECT_DIRECTORY...
504 If this variable is set, the default hash algorithm for new
505 repositories will be set to this value. This value is currently
506 ignored when cloning; the setting of the remote repository
507 is used instead. The default is "sha1".
512 The human-readable name used in the author identity when creating commit or
513 tag objects, or when writing reflogs. Overrides the `user.name` and
514 `author.name` configuration settings.
517 The email address used in the author identity when creating commit or
518 tag objects, or when writing reflogs. Overrides the `user.email` and
519 `author.email` configuration settings.
522 The date used for the author identity when creating commit or tag objects, or
523 when writing reflogs. See linkgit:git-commit[1] for valid formats.
525 `GIT_COMMITTER_NAME`::
526 The human-readable name used in the committer identity when creating commit or
527 tag objects, or when writing reflogs. Overrides the `user.name` and
528 `committer.name` configuration settings.
530 `GIT_COMMITTER_EMAIL`::
531 The email address used in the author identity when creating commit or
532 tag objects, or when writing reflogs. Overrides the `user.email` and
533 `committer.email` configuration settings.
535 `GIT_COMMITTER_DATE`::
536 The date used for the committer identity when creating commit or tag objects, or
537 when writing reflogs. See linkgit:git-commit[1] for valid formats.
540 The email address used in the author and committer identities if no other
541 relevant environment variable or configuration setting has been set.
546 Only valid setting is "--unified=??" or "-u??" to set the
547 number of context lines shown when a unified diff is created.
548 This takes precedence over any "-U" or "--unified" option
549 value passed on the Git diff command line.
551 `GIT_EXTERNAL_DIFF`::
552 When the environment variable `GIT_EXTERNAL_DIFF` is set, the
553 program named by it is called, instead of the diff invocation
554 described above. For a path that is added, removed, or modified,
555 `GIT_EXTERNAL_DIFF` is called with 7 parameters:
557 path old-file old-hex old-mode new-file new-hex new-mode
561 <old|new>-file:: are files GIT_EXTERNAL_DIFF can use to read the
562 contents of <old|new>,
563 <old|new>-hex:: are the 40-hexdigit SHA-1 hashes,
564 <old|new>-mode:: are the octal representation of the file modes.
566 The file parameters can point at the user's working file
567 (e.g. `new-file` in "git-diff-files"), `/dev/null` (e.g. `old-file`
568 when a new file is added), or a temporary file (e.g. `old-file` in the
569 index). `GIT_EXTERNAL_DIFF` should not worry about unlinking the
570 temporary file --- it is removed when `GIT_EXTERNAL_DIFF` exits.
572 For a path that is unmerged, `GIT_EXTERNAL_DIFF` is called with 1
575 For each path `GIT_EXTERNAL_DIFF` is called, two environment variables,
576 `GIT_DIFF_PATH_COUNTER` and `GIT_DIFF_PATH_TOTAL` are set.
578 `GIT_DIFF_PATH_COUNTER`::
579 A 1-based counter incremented by one for every path.
581 `GIT_DIFF_PATH_TOTAL`::
582 The total number of paths.
586 `GIT_MERGE_VERBOSITY`::
587 A number controlling the amount of output shown by
588 the recursive merge strategy. Overrides merge.verbosity.
589 See linkgit:git-merge[1]
592 This environment variable overrides `$PAGER`. If it is set
593 to an empty string or to the value "cat", Git will not launch
594 a pager. See also the `core.pager` option in
595 linkgit:git-config[1].
597 `GIT_PROGRESS_DELAY`::
598 A number controlling how many seconds to delay before showing
599 optional progress indicators. Defaults to 2.
602 This environment variable overrides `$EDITOR` and `$VISUAL`.
603 It is used by several Git commands when, on interactive mode,
604 an editor is to be launched. See also linkgit:git-var[1]
605 and the `core.editor` option in linkgit:git-config[1].
609 If either of these environment variables is set then 'git fetch'
610 and 'git push' will use the specified command instead of 'ssh'
611 when they need to connect to a remote system.
612 The command-line parameters passed to the configured command are
613 determined by the ssh variant. See `ssh.variant` option in
614 linkgit:git-config[1] for details.
616 `$GIT_SSH_COMMAND` takes precedence over `$GIT_SSH`, and is interpreted
617 by the shell, which allows additional arguments to be included.
618 `$GIT_SSH` on the other hand must be just the path to a program
619 (which can be a wrapper shell script, if additional arguments are
622 Usually it is easier to configure any desired options through your
623 personal `.ssh/config` file. Please consult your ssh documentation
627 If this environment variable is set, it overrides Git's autodetection
628 whether `GIT_SSH`/`GIT_SSH_COMMAND`/`core.sshCommand` refer to OpenSSH,
629 plink or tortoiseplink. This variable overrides the config setting
630 `ssh.variant` that serves the same purpose.
633 If this environment variable is set, then Git commands which need to
634 acquire passwords or passphrases (e.g. for HTTP or IMAP authentication)
635 will call this program with a suitable prompt as command-line argument
636 and read the password from its STDOUT. See also the `core.askPass`
637 option in linkgit:git-config[1].
639 `GIT_TERMINAL_PROMPT`::
640 If this environment variable is set to `0`, git will not prompt
641 on the terminal (e.g., when asking for HTTP authentication).
643 `GIT_CONFIG_NOSYSTEM`::
644 Whether to skip reading settings from the system-wide
645 `$(prefix)/etc/gitconfig` file. This environment variable can
646 be used along with `$HOME` and `$XDG_CONFIG_HOME` to create a
647 predictable environment for a picky script, or you can set it
648 temporarily to avoid using a buggy `/etc/gitconfig` file while
649 waiting for someone with sufficient permissions to fix it.
652 If this environment variable is set to "1", then commands such
653 as 'git blame' (in incremental mode), 'git rev-list', 'git log',
654 'git check-attr' and 'git check-ignore' will
655 force a flush of the output stream after each record have been
657 variable is set to "0", the output of these commands will be done
658 using completely buffered I/O. If this environment variable is
659 not set, Git will choose buffered or record-oriented flushing
660 based on whether stdout appears to be redirected to a file or not.
663 Enables general trace messages, e.g. alias expansion, built-in
664 command execution and external command execution.
666 If this variable is set to "1", "2" or "true" (comparison
667 is case insensitive), trace messages will be printed to
670 If the variable is set to an integer value greater than 2
671 and lower than 10 (strictly) then Git will interpret this
672 value as an open file descriptor and will try to write the
673 trace messages into this file descriptor.
675 Alternatively, if the variable is set to an absolute path
676 (starting with a '/' character), Git will interpret this
677 as a file path and will try to append the trace messages
680 Unsetting the variable, or setting it to empty, "0" or
681 "false" (case insensitive) disables trace messages.
683 `GIT_TRACE_FSMONITOR`::
684 Enables trace messages for the filesystem monitor extension.
685 See `GIT_TRACE` for available trace output options.
687 `GIT_TRACE_PACK_ACCESS`::
688 Enables trace messages for all accesses to any packs. For each
689 access, the pack file name and an offset in the pack is
690 recorded. This may be helpful for troubleshooting some
691 pack-related performance problems.
692 See `GIT_TRACE` for available trace output options.
695 Enables trace messages for all packets coming in or out of a
696 given program. This can help with debugging object negotiation
697 or other protocol issues. Tracing is turned off at a packet
698 starting with "PACK" (but see `GIT_TRACE_PACKFILE` below).
699 See `GIT_TRACE` for available trace output options.
701 `GIT_TRACE_PACKFILE`::
702 Enables tracing of packfiles sent or received by a
703 given program. Unlike other trace output, this trace is
704 verbatim: no headers, and no quoting of binary data. You almost
705 certainly want to direct into a file (e.g.,
706 `GIT_TRACE_PACKFILE=/tmp/my.pack`) rather than displaying it on
707 the terminal or mixing it with other trace output.
709 Note that this is currently only implemented for the client side
710 of clones and fetches.
712 `GIT_TRACE_PERFORMANCE`::
713 Enables performance related trace messages, e.g. total execution
714 time of each Git command.
715 See `GIT_TRACE` for available trace output options.
718 Enables trace messages printing the .git, working tree and current
719 working directory after Git has completed its setup phase.
720 See `GIT_TRACE` for available trace output options.
722 `GIT_TRACE_SHALLOW`::
723 Enables trace messages that can help debugging fetching /
724 cloning of shallow repositories.
725 See `GIT_TRACE` for available trace output options.
728 Enables a curl full trace dump of all incoming and outgoing data,
729 including descriptive information, of the git transport protocol.
730 This is similar to doing curl `--trace-ascii` on the command line.
731 See `GIT_TRACE` for available trace output options.
733 `GIT_TRACE_CURL_NO_DATA`::
734 When a curl trace is enabled (see `GIT_TRACE_CURL` above), do not dump
735 data (that is, only dump info lines and headers).
738 Enables more detailed trace messages from the "trace2" library.
739 Output from `GIT_TRACE2` is a simple text-based format for human
742 If this variable is set to "1", "2" or "true" (comparison
743 is case insensitive), trace messages will be printed to
746 If the variable is set to an integer value greater than 2
747 and lower than 10 (strictly) then Git will interpret this
748 value as an open file descriptor and will try to write the
749 trace messages into this file descriptor.
751 Alternatively, if the variable is set to an absolute path
752 (starting with a '/' character), Git will interpret this
753 as a file path and will try to append the trace messages
754 to it. If the path already exists and is a directory, the
755 trace messages will be written to files (one per process)
756 in that directory, named according to the last component
757 of the SID and an optional counter (to avoid filename
760 In addition, if the variable is set to
761 `af_unix:[<socket_type>:]<absolute-pathname>`, Git will try
762 to open the path as a Unix Domain Socket. The socket type
763 can be either `stream` or `dgram`.
765 Unsetting the variable, or setting it to empty, "0" or
766 "false" (case insensitive) disables trace messages.
768 See link:technical/api-trace2.html[Trace2 documentation]
773 This setting writes a JSON-based format that is suited for machine
775 See `GIT_TRACE2` for available trace output options and
776 link:technical/api-trace2.html[Trace2 documentation] for full details.
779 In addition to the text-based messages available in `GIT_TRACE2`, this
780 setting writes a column-based format for understanding nesting
782 See `GIT_TRACE2` for available trace output options and
783 link:technical/api-trace2.html[Trace2 documentation] for full details.
786 By default, when tracing is activated, Git redacts the values of
787 cookies, the "Authorization:" header, and the "Proxy-Authorization:"
788 header. Set this variable to `0` to prevent this redaction.
790 `GIT_LITERAL_PATHSPECS`::
791 Setting this variable to `1` will cause Git to treat all
792 pathspecs literally, rather than as glob patterns. For example,
793 running `GIT_LITERAL_PATHSPECS=1 git log -- '*.c'` will search
794 for commits that touch the path `*.c`, not any paths that the
795 glob `*.c` matches. You might want this if you are feeding
796 literal paths to Git (e.g., paths previously given to you by
797 `git ls-tree`, `--raw` diff output, etc).
799 `GIT_GLOB_PATHSPECS`::
800 Setting this variable to `1` will cause Git to treat all
801 pathspecs as glob patterns (aka "glob" magic).
803 `GIT_NOGLOB_PATHSPECS`::
804 Setting this variable to `1` will cause Git to treat all
805 pathspecs as literal (aka "literal" magic).
807 `GIT_ICASE_PATHSPECS`::
808 Setting this variable to `1` will cause Git to treat all
809 pathspecs as case-insensitive.
811 `GIT_REFLOG_ACTION`::
812 When a ref is updated, reflog entries are created to keep
813 track of the reason why the ref was updated (which is
814 typically the name of the high-level command that updated
815 the ref), in addition to the old and new values of the ref.
816 A scripted Porcelain command can use set_reflog_action
817 helper function in `git-sh-setup` to set its name to this
818 variable when it is invoked as the top level command by the
819 end user, to be recorded in the body of the reflog.
822 If set to `1`, include broken or badly named refs when iterating
823 over lists of refs. In a normal, non-corrupted repository, this
824 does nothing. However, enabling it may help git to detect and
825 abort some operations in the presence of broken refs. Git sets
826 this variable automatically when performing destructive
827 operations like linkgit:git-prune[1]. You should not need to set
828 it yourself unless you want to be paranoid about making sure
829 an operation has touched every ref (e.g., because you are
830 cloning a repository to make a backup).
832 `GIT_ALLOW_PROTOCOL`::
833 If set to a colon-separated list of protocols, behave as if
834 `protocol.allow` is set to `never`, and each of the listed
835 protocols has `protocol.<name>.allow` set to `always`
836 (overriding any existing configuration). In other words, any
837 protocol not mentioned will be disallowed (i.e., this is a
838 whitelist, not a blacklist). See the description of
839 `protocol.allow` in linkgit:git-config[1] for more details.
841 `GIT_PROTOCOL_FROM_USER`::
842 Set to 0 to prevent protocols used by fetch/push/clone which are
843 configured to the `user` state. This is useful to restrict recursive
844 submodule initialization from an untrusted repository or for programs
845 which feed potentially-untrusted URLS to git commands. See
846 linkgit:git-config[1] for more details.
849 For internal use only. Used in handshaking the wire protocol.
850 Contains a colon ':' separated list of keys with optional values
851 'key[=value]'. Presence of unknown keys and values must be
854 `GIT_OPTIONAL_LOCKS`::
855 If set to `0`, Git will complete any requested operation without
856 performing any optional sub-operations that require taking a lock.
857 For example, this will prevent `git status` from refreshing the
858 index as a side effect. This is useful for processes running in
859 the background which do not want to cause lock contention with
860 other operations on the repository. Defaults to `1`.
862 `GIT_REDIRECT_STDIN`::
863 `GIT_REDIRECT_STDOUT`::
864 `GIT_REDIRECT_STDERR`::
865 Windows-only: allow redirecting the standard input/output/error
866 handles to paths specified by the environment variables. This is
867 particularly useful in multi-threaded applications where the
868 canonical way to pass standard handles via `CreateProcess()` is
869 not an option because it would require the handles to be marked
870 inheritable (and consequently *every* spawned process would
871 inherit them, possibly blocking regular Git operations). The
872 primary intended use case is to use named pipes for communication
873 (e.g. `\\.\pipe\my-git-stdin-123`).
875 Two special values are supported: `off` will simply close the
876 corresponding standard handle, and if `GIT_REDIRECT_STDERR` is
877 `2>&1`, standard error will be redirected to the same handle as
880 `GIT_PRINT_SHA1_ELLIPSIS` (deprecated)::
881 If set to `yes`, print an ellipsis following an
882 (abbreviated) SHA-1 value. This affects indications of
883 detached HEADs (linkgit:git-checkout[1]) and the raw
884 diff output (linkgit:git-diff[1]). Printing an
885 ellipsis in the cases mentioned is no longer considered
886 adequate and support for it is likely to be removed in the
887 foreseeable future (along with the variable).
889 Discussion[[Discussion]]
890 ------------------------
892 More detail on the following is available from the
893 link:user-manual.html#git-concepts[Git concepts chapter of the
894 user-manual] and linkgit:gitcore-tutorial[7].
896 A Git project normally consists of a working directory with a ".git"
897 subdirectory at the top level. The .git directory contains, among other
898 things, a compressed object database representing the complete history
899 of the project, an "index" file which links that history to the current
900 contents of the working tree, and named pointers into that history such
901 as tags and branch heads.
903 The object database contains objects of three main types: blobs, which
904 hold file data; trees, which point to blobs and other trees to build up
905 directory hierarchies; and commits, which each reference a single tree
906 and some number of parent commits.
908 The commit, equivalent to what other systems call a "changeset" or
909 "version", represents a step in the project's history, and each parent
910 represents an immediately preceding step. Commits with more than one
911 parent represent merges of independent lines of development.
913 All objects are named by the SHA-1 hash of their contents, normally
914 written as a string of 40 hex digits. Such names are globally unique.
915 The entire history leading up to a commit can be vouched for by signing
916 just that commit. A fourth object type, the tag, is provided for this
919 When first created, objects are stored in individual files, but for
920 efficiency may later be compressed together into "pack files".
922 Named pointers called refs mark interesting points in history. A ref
923 may contain the SHA-1 name of an object or the name of another ref. Refs
924 with names beginning `ref/head/` contain the SHA-1 name of the most
925 recent commit (or "head") of a branch under development. SHA-1 names of
926 tags of interest are stored under `ref/tags/`. A special ref named
927 `HEAD` contains the name of the currently checked-out branch.
929 The index file is initialized with a list of all paths and, for each
930 path, a blob object and a set of attributes. The blob object represents
931 the contents of the file as of the head of the current branch. The
932 attributes (last modified time, size, etc.) are taken from the
933 corresponding file in the working tree. Subsequent changes to the
934 working tree can be found by comparing these attributes. The index may
935 be updated with new content, and new commits may be created from the
936 content stored in the index.
938 The index is also capable of storing multiple entries (called "stages")
939 for a given pathname. These stages are used to hold the various
940 unmerged version of a file when a merge is in progress.
942 FURTHER DOCUMENTATION
943 ---------------------
945 See the references in the "description" section to get started
946 using Git. The following is probably more detail than necessary
947 for a first-time user.
949 The link:user-manual.html#git-concepts[Git concepts chapter of the
950 user-manual] and linkgit:gitcore-tutorial[7] both provide
951 introductions to the underlying Git architecture.
953 See linkgit:gitworkflows[7] for an overview of recommended workflows.
955 See also the link:howto-index.html[howto] documents for some useful
958 The internals are documented in the
959 link:technical/api-index.html[Git API documentation].
961 Users migrating from CVS may also want to
962 read linkgit:gitcvs-migration[7].
967 Git was started by Linus Torvalds, and is currently maintained by Junio
968 C Hamano. Numerous contributions have come from the Git mailing list
969 <git@vger.kernel.org>. http://www.openhub.net/p/git/contributors/summary
970 gives you a more complete list of contributors.
972 If you have a clone of git.git itself, the
973 output of linkgit:git-shortlog[1] and linkgit:git-blame[1] can show you
974 the authors for specific parts of the project.
979 Report bugs to the Git mailing list <git@vger.kernel.org> where the
980 development and maintenance is primarily done. You do not have to be
981 subscribed to the list to send a message there. See the list archive
982 at https://lore.kernel.org/git for previous bug reports and other
985 Issues which are security relevant should be disclosed privately to
986 the Git Security mailing list <git-security@googlegroups.com>.
990 linkgit:gittutorial[7], linkgit:gittutorial-2[7],
991 linkgit:giteveryday[7], linkgit:gitcvs-migration[7],
992 linkgit:gitglossary[7], linkgit:gitcore-tutorial[7],
993 linkgit:gitcli[7], link:user-manual.html[The Git User's Manual],
994 linkgit:gitworkflows[7]
998 Part of the linkgit:git[1] suite