6 git - the stupid content tracker
12 'git' [-v | --version] [-h | --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>] [--config-env=<name>=<envvar>]
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.
44 Prints the Git suite version that the 'git' program came from.
46 This option is internally converted to `git version ...` and accepts
47 the same options as the linkgit:git-version[1] command. If `--help` is
48 also given, it takes precedence over `--version`.
52 Prints the synopsis and a list of the most commonly used
53 commands. If the option `--all` or `-a` is given then all
54 available commands are printed. If a Git command is named this
55 option will bring up the manual page for that command.
57 Other options are available to control how the manual page is
58 displayed. See linkgit:git-help[1] for more information,
59 because `git --help ...` is converted internally into `git
63 Run as if git was started in '<path>' instead of the current working
64 directory. When multiple `-C` options are given, each subsequent
65 non-absolute `-C <path>` is interpreted relative to the preceding `-C
66 <path>`. If '<path>' is present but empty, e.g. `-C ""`, then the
67 current working directory is left unchanged.
69 This option affects options that expect path name like `--git-dir` and
70 `--work-tree` in that their interpretations of the path names would be
71 made relative to the working directory caused by the `-C` option. For
72 example the following invocations are equivalent:
74 git --git-dir=a.git --work-tree=b -C c status
75 git --git-dir=c/a.git --work-tree=c/b status
78 Pass a configuration parameter to the command. The value
79 given will override values from configuration files.
80 The <name> is expected in the same format as listed by
81 'git config' (subkeys separated by dots).
83 Note that omitting the `=` in `git -c foo.bar ...` is allowed and sets
84 `foo.bar` to the boolean true value (just like `[foo]bar` would in a
85 config file). Including the equals but with an empty value (like `git -c
86 foo.bar= ...`) sets `foo.bar` to the empty string which `git config
87 --type=bool` will convert to `false`.
89 --config-env=<name>=<envvar>::
90 Like `-c <name>=<value>`, give configuration variable
91 '<name>' a value, where <envvar> is the name of an
92 environment variable from which to retrieve the value. Unlike
93 `-c` there is no shortcut for directly setting the value to an
94 empty string, instead the environment variable itself must be
95 set to the empty string. It is an error if the `<envvar>` does not exist
96 in the environment. `<envvar>` may not contain an equals sign
97 to avoid ambiguity with `<name>` containing one.
99 This is useful for cases where you want to pass transitory
100 configuration options to git, but are doing so on OS's where
101 other processes might be able to read your cmdline
102 (e.g. `/proc/self/cmdline`), but not your environ
103 (e.g. `/proc/self/environ`). That behavior is the default on
104 Linux, but may not be on your system.
106 Note that this might add security for variables such as
107 `http.extraHeader` where the sensitive information is part of
108 the value, but not e.g. `url.<base>.insteadOf` where the
109 sensitive information can be part of the key.
111 --exec-path[=<path>]::
112 Path to wherever your core Git programs are installed.
113 This can also be controlled by setting the GIT_EXEC_PATH
114 environment variable. If no path is given, 'git' will print
115 the current setting and then exit.
118 Print the path, without trailing slash, where Git's HTML
119 documentation is installed and exit.
122 Print the manpath (see `man(1)`) for the man pages for
123 this version of Git and exit.
126 Print the path where the Info files documenting this
127 version of Git are installed and exit.
131 Pipe all output into 'less' (or if set, $PAGER) if standard
132 output is a terminal. This overrides the `pager.<cmd>`
133 configuration options (see the "Configuration Mechanism" section
138 Do not pipe Git output into a pager.
141 Set the path to the repository (".git" directory). This can also be
142 controlled by setting the `GIT_DIR` environment variable. It can be
143 an absolute path or relative path to current working directory.
145 Specifying the location of the ".git" directory using this
146 option (or `GIT_DIR` environment variable) turns off the
147 repository discovery that tries to find a directory with
148 ".git" subdirectory (which is how the repository and the
149 top-level of the working tree are discovered), and tells Git
150 that you are at the top level of the working tree. If you
151 are not at the top-level directory of the working tree, you
152 should tell Git where the top-level of the working tree is,
153 with the `--work-tree=<path>` option (or `GIT_WORK_TREE`
154 environment variable)
156 If you just want to run git as if it was started in `<path>` then use
160 Set the path to the working tree. It can be an absolute path
161 or a path relative to the current working directory.
162 This can also be controlled by setting the GIT_WORK_TREE
163 environment variable and the core.worktree configuration
164 variable (see core.worktree in linkgit:git-config[1] for a
165 more detailed discussion).
168 Set the Git namespace. See linkgit:gitnamespaces[7] for more
169 details. Equivalent to setting the `GIT_NAMESPACE` environment
172 --super-prefix=<path>::
173 Currently for internal use only. Set a prefix which gives a path from
174 above a repository down to its root. One use is to give submodules
175 context about the superproject that invoked it.
178 Treat the repository as a bare repository. If GIT_DIR
179 environment is not set, it is set to the current working
182 --no-replace-objects::
183 Do not use replacement refs to replace Git objects. See
184 linkgit:git-replace[1] for more information.
186 --literal-pathspecs::
187 Treat pathspecs literally (i.e. no globbing, no pathspec magic).
188 This is equivalent to setting the `GIT_LITERAL_PATHSPECS` environment
192 Add "glob" magic to all pathspec. This is equivalent to setting
193 the `GIT_GLOB_PATHSPECS` environment variable to `1`. Disabling
194 globbing on individual pathspecs can be done using pathspec
198 Add "literal" magic to all pathspec. This is equivalent to setting
199 the `GIT_NOGLOB_PATHSPECS` environment variable to `1`. Enabling
200 globbing on individual pathspecs can be done using pathspec
204 Add "icase" magic to all pathspec. This is equivalent to setting
205 the `GIT_ICASE_PATHSPECS` environment variable to `1`.
207 --no-optional-locks::
208 Do not perform optional operations that require locks. This is
209 equivalent to setting the `GIT_OPTIONAL_LOCKS` to `0`.
211 --list-cmds=group[,group...]::
212 List commands by group. This is an internal/experimental
213 option and may change or be removed in the future. Supported
214 groups are: builtins, parseopt (builtin commands that use
215 parse-options), main (all commands in libexec directory),
216 others (all other commands in `$PATH` that have git- prefix),
217 list-<category> (see categories in command-list.txt),
218 nohelpers (exclude helper commands), alias and config
219 (retrieve command list from config variable completion.commands)
224 We divide Git into high level ("porcelain") commands and low level
225 ("plumbing") commands.
227 High-level commands (porcelain)
228 -------------------------------
230 We separate the porcelain commands into the main commands and some
231 ancillary user utilities.
233 Main porcelain commands
234 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
236 include::cmds-mainporcelain.txt[]
242 include::cmds-ancillarymanipulators.txt[]
246 include::cmds-ancillaryinterrogators.txt[]
249 Interacting with Others
250 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
252 These commands are to interact with foreign SCM and with other
253 people via patch over e-mail.
255 include::cmds-foreignscminterface.txt[]
257 Reset, restore and revert
258 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
259 There are three commands with similar names: `git reset`,
260 `git restore` and `git revert`.
262 * linkgit:git-revert[1] is about making a new commit that reverts the
263 changes made by other commits.
265 * linkgit:git-restore[1] is about restoring files in the working tree
266 from either the index or another commit. This command does not
267 update your branch. The command can also be used to restore files in
268 the index from another commit.
270 * linkgit:git-reset[1] is about updating your branch, moving the tip
271 in order to add or remove commits from the branch. This operation
272 changes the commit history.
274 `git reset` can also be used to restore the index, overlapping with
278 Low-level commands (plumbing)
279 -----------------------------
281 Although Git includes its
282 own porcelain layer, its low-level commands are sufficient to support
283 development of alternative porcelains. Developers of such porcelains
284 might start by reading about linkgit:git-update-index[1] and
285 linkgit:git-read-tree[1].
287 The interface (input, output, set of options and the semantics)
288 to these low-level commands are meant to be a lot more stable
289 than Porcelain level commands, because these commands are
290 primarily for scripted use. The interface to Porcelain commands
291 on the other hand are subject to change in order to improve the
294 The following description divides
295 the low-level commands into commands that manipulate objects (in
296 the repository, index, and working tree), commands that interrogate and
297 compare objects, and commands that move objects and references between
301 Manipulation commands
302 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
304 include::cmds-plumbingmanipulators.txt[]
307 Interrogation commands
308 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
310 include::cmds-plumbinginterrogators.txt[]
312 In general, the interrogate commands do not touch the files in
319 include::cmds-synchingrepositories.txt[]
321 The following are helper commands used by the above; end users
322 typically do not use them directly.
324 include::cmds-synchelpers.txt[]
327 Internal helper commands
328 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
330 These are internal helper commands used by other commands; end
331 users typically do not use them directly.
333 include::cmds-purehelpers.txt[]
338 The following documentation pages are guides about Git concepts.
340 include::cmds-guide.txt[]
342 Repository, command and file interfaces
343 ---------------------------------------
345 This documentation discusses repository and command interfaces which
346 users are expected to interact with directly. See `--user-formats` in
347 linkgit:git-help[1] for more details on the criteria.
349 include::cmds-userinterfaces.txt[]
351 File formats, protocols and other developer interfaces
352 ------------------------------------------------------
354 This documentation discusses file formats, over-the-wire protocols and
355 other git developer interfaces. See `--developer-interfaces` in
358 include::cmds-developerinterfaces.txt[]
360 Configuration Mechanism
361 -----------------------
363 Git uses a simple text format to store customizations that are per
364 repository and are per user. Such a configuration file may look
369 # A '#' or ';' character indicates a comment.
374 ; Don't trust file modes
379 name = "Junio C Hamano"
380 email = "gitster@pobox.com"
384 Various commands read from the configuration file and adjust
385 their operation accordingly. See linkgit:git-config[1] for a
386 list and more details about the configuration mechanism.
389 Identifier Terminology
390 ----------------------
392 Indicates the object name for any type of object.
395 Indicates a blob object name.
398 Indicates a tree object name.
401 Indicates a commit object name.
404 Indicates a tree, commit or tag object name. A
405 command that takes a <tree-ish> argument ultimately wants to
406 operate on a <tree> object but automatically dereferences
407 <commit> and <tag> objects that point at a <tree>.
410 Indicates a commit or tag object name. A
411 command that takes a <commit-ish> argument ultimately wants to
412 operate on a <commit> object but automatically dereferences
413 <tag> objects that point at a <commit>.
416 Indicates that an object type is required.
417 Currently one of: `blob`, `tree`, `commit`, or `tag`.
420 Indicates a filename - almost always relative to the
421 root of the tree structure `GIT_INDEX_FILE` describes.
425 Any Git command accepting any <object> can also use the following
429 indicates the head of the current branch.
433 (i.e. a `refs/tags/<tag>` reference).
437 (i.e. a `refs/heads/<head>` reference).
439 For a more complete list of ways to spell object names, see
440 "SPECIFYING REVISIONS" section in linkgit:gitrevisions[7].
443 File/Directory Structure
444 ------------------------
446 Please see the linkgit:gitrepository-layout[5] document.
448 Read linkgit:githooks[5] for more details about each hook.
450 Higher level SCMs may provide and manage additional information in the
456 Please see linkgit:gitglossary[7].
459 Environment Variables
460 ---------------------
461 Various Git commands pay attention to environment variables and change
462 their behavior. The environment variables marked as "Boolean" take
463 their values the same way as Boolean valued configuration variables, e.g.
464 "true", "yes", "on" and positive numbers are taken as "yes".
466 Here are the variables:
470 These environment variables apply to 'all' core Git commands. Nb: it
471 is worth noting that they may be used/overridden by SCMS sitting above
472 Git so take care if using a foreign front-end.
475 This environment variable specifies an alternate
476 index file. If not specified, the default of `$GIT_DIR/index`
479 `GIT_INDEX_VERSION`::
480 This environment variable specifies what index version is used
481 when writing the index file out. It won't affect existing index
482 files. By default index file version 2 or 3 is used. See
483 linkgit:git-update-index[1] for more information.
485 `GIT_OBJECT_DIRECTORY`::
486 If the object storage directory is specified via this
487 environment variable then the sha1 directories are created
488 underneath - otherwise the default `$GIT_DIR/objects`
491 `GIT_ALTERNATE_OBJECT_DIRECTORIES`::
492 Due to the immutable nature of Git objects, old objects can be
493 archived into shared, read-only directories. This variable
494 specifies a ":" separated (on Windows ";" separated) list
495 of Git object directories which can be used to search for Git
496 objects. New objects will not be written to these directories.
498 Entries that begin with `"` (double-quote) will be interpreted
499 as C-style quoted paths, removing leading and trailing
500 double-quotes and respecting backslash escapes. E.g., the value
501 `"path-with-\"-and-:-in-it":vanilla-path` has two paths:
502 `path-with-"-and-:-in-it` and `vanilla-path`.
505 If the `GIT_DIR` environment variable is set then it
506 specifies a path to use instead of the default `.git`
507 for the base of the repository.
508 The `--git-dir` command-line option also sets this value.
511 Set the path to the root of the working tree.
512 This can also be controlled by the `--work-tree` command-line
513 option and the core.worktree configuration variable.
516 Set the Git namespace; see linkgit:gitnamespaces[7] for details.
517 The `--namespace` command-line option also sets this value.
519 `GIT_CEILING_DIRECTORIES`::
520 This should be a colon-separated list of absolute paths. If
521 set, it is a list of directories that Git should not chdir up
522 into while looking for a repository directory (useful for
523 excluding slow-loading network directories). It will not
524 exclude the current working directory or a GIT_DIR set on the
525 command line or in the environment. Normally, Git has to read
526 the entries in this list and resolve any symlink that
527 might be present in order to compare them with the current
528 directory. However, if even this access is slow, you
529 can add an empty entry to the list to tell Git that the
530 subsequent entries are not symlinks and needn't be resolved;
532 `GIT_CEILING_DIRECTORIES=/maybe/symlink::/very/slow/non/symlink`.
534 `GIT_DISCOVERY_ACROSS_FILESYSTEM`::
535 When run in a directory that does not have ".git" repository
536 directory, Git tries to find such a directory in the parent
537 directories to find the top of the working tree, but by default it
538 does not cross filesystem boundaries. This Boolean environment variable
539 can be set to true to tell Git not to stop at filesystem
540 boundaries. Like `GIT_CEILING_DIRECTORIES`, this will not affect
541 an explicit repository directory set via `GIT_DIR` or on the
545 If this variable is set to a path, non-worktree files that are
546 normally in $GIT_DIR will be taken from this path
547 instead. Worktree-specific files such as HEAD or index are
548 taken from $GIT_DIR. See linkgit:gitrepository-layout[5] and
549 linkgit:git-worktree[1] for
550 details. This variable has lower precedence than other path
551 variables such as GIT_INDEX_FILE, GIT_OBJECT_DIRECTORY...
554 If this variable is set, the default hash algorithm for new
555 repositories will be set to this value. This value is currently
556 ignored when cloning; the setting of the remote repository
557 is used instead. The default is "sha1". THIS VARIABLE IS
558 EXPERIMENTAL! See `--object-format` in linkgit:git-init[1].
563 The human-readable name used in the author identity when creating commit or
564 tag objects, or when writing reflogs. Overrides the `user.name` and
565 `author.name` configuration settings.
568 The email address used in the author identity when creating commit or
569 tag objects, or when writing reflogs. Overrides the `user.email` and
570 `author.email` configuration settings.
573 The date used for the author identity when creating commit or tag objects, or
574 when writing reflogs. See linkgit:git-commit[1] for valid formats.
576 `GIT_COMMITTER_NAME`::
577 The human-readable name used in the committer identity when creating commit or
578 tag objects, or when writing reflogs. Overrides the `user.name` and
579 `committer.name` configuration settings.
581 `GIT_COMMITTER_EMAIL`::
582 The email address used in the author identity when creating commit or
583 tag objects, or when writing reflogs. Overrides the `user.email` and
584 `committer.email` configuration settings.
586 `GIT_COMMITTER_DATE`::
587 The date used for the committer identity when creating commit or tag objects, or
588 when writing reflogs. See linkgit:git-commit[1] for valid formats.
591 The email address used in the author and committer identities if no other
592 relevant environment variable or configuration setting has been set.
597 Only valid setting is "--unified=??" or "-u??" to set the
598 number of context lines shown when a unified diff is created.
599 This takes precedence over any "-U" or "--unified" option
600 value passed on the Git diff command line.
602 `GIT_EXTERNAL_DIFF`::
603 When the environment variable `GIT_EXTERNAL_DIFF` is set, the
604 program named by it is called to generate diffs, and Git
605 does not use its builtin diff machinery.
606 For a path that is added, removed, or modified,
607 `GIT_EXTERNAL_DIFF` is called with 7 parameters:
609 path old-file old-hex old-mode new-file new-hex new-mode
613 <old|new>-file:: are files GIT_EXTERNAL_DIFF can use to read the
614 contents of <old|new>,
615 <old|new>-hex:: are the 40-hexdigit SHA-1 hashes,
616 <old|new>-mode:: are the octal representation of the file modes.
618 The file parameters can point at the user's working file
619 (e.g. `new-file` in "git-diff-files"), `/dev/null` (e.g. `old-file`
620 when a new file is added), or a temporary file (e.g. `old-file` in the
621 index). `GIT_EXTERNAL_DIFF` should not worry about unlinking the
622 temporary file --- it is removed when `GIT_EXTERNAL_DIFF` exits.
624 For a path that is unmerged, `GIT_EXTERNAL_DIFF` is called with 1
627 For each path `GIT_EXTERNAL_DIFF` is called, two environment variables,
628 `GIT_DIFF_PATH_COUNTER` and `GIT_DIFF_PATH_TOTAL` are set.
630 `GIT_DIFF_PATH_COUNTER`::
631 A 1-based counter incremented by one for every path.
633 `GIT_DIFF_PATH_TOTAL`::
634 The total number of paths.
638 `GIT_MERGE_VERBOSITY`::
639 A number controlling the amount of output shown by
640 the recursive merge strategy. Overrides merge.verbosity.
641 See linkgit:git-merge[1]
644 This environment variable overrides `$PAGER`. If it is set
645 to an empty string or to the value "cat", Git will not launch
646 a pager. See also the `core.pager` option in
647 linkgit:git-config[1].
649 `GIT_PROGRESS_DELAY`::
650 A number controlling how many seconds to delay before showing
651 optional progress indicators. Defaults to 2.
654 This environment variable overrides `$EDITOR` and `$VISUAL`.
655 It is used by several Git commands when, on interactive mode,
656 an editor is to be launched. See also linkgit:git-var[1]
657 and the `core.editor` option in linkgit:git-config[1].
659 `GIT_SEQUENCE_EDITOR`::
660 This environment variable overrides the configured Git editor
661 when editing the todo list of an interactive rebase. See also
662 linkgit:git-rebase[1] and the `sequence.editor` option in
663 linkgit:git-config[1].
667 If either of these environment variables is set then 'git fetch'
668 and 'git push' will use the specified command instead of 'ssh'
669 when they need to connect to a remote system.
670 The command-line parameters passed to the configured command are
671 determined by the ssh variant. See `ssh.variant` option in
672 linkgit:git-config[1] for details.
674 `$GIT_SSH_COMMAND` takes precedence over `$GIT_SSH`, and is interpreted
675 by the shell, which allows additional arguments to be included.
676 `$GIT_SSH` on the other hand must be just the path to a program
677 (which can be a wrapper shell script, if additional arguments are
680 Usually it is easier to configure any desired options through your
681 personal `.ssh/config` file. Please consult your ssh documentation
685 If this environment variable is set, it overrides Git's autodetection
686 whether `GIT_SSH`/`GIT_SSH_COMMAND`/`core.sshCommand` refer to OpenSSH,
687 plink or tortoiseplink. This variable overrides the config setting
688 `ssh.variant` that serves the same purpose.
690 `GIT_SSL_NO_VERIFY`::
691 Setting and exporting this environment variable to any value
692 tells Git not to verify the SSL certificate when fetching or
696 If this environment variable is set, then Git commands which need to
697 acquire passwords or passphrases (e.g. for HTTP or IMAP authentication)
698 will call this program with a suitable prompt as command-line argument
699 and read the password from its STDOUT. See also the `core.askPass`
700 option in linkgit:git-config[1].
702 `GIT_TERMINAL_PROMPT`::
703 If this Boolean environment variable is set to false, git will not prompt
704 on the terminal (e.g., when asking for HTTP authentication).
706 `GIT_CONFIG_GLOBAL`::
707 `GIT_CONFIG_SYSTEM`::
708 Take the configuration from the given files instead from global or
709 system-level configuration files. If `GIT_CONFIG_SYSTEM` is set, the
710 system config file defined at build time (usually `/etc/gitconfig`)
711 will not be read. Likewise, if `GIT_CONFIG_GLOBAL` is set, neither
712 `$HOME/.gitconfig` nor `$XDG_CONFIG_HOME/git/config` will be read. Can
713 be set to `/dev/null` to skip reading configuration files of the
716 `GIT_CONFIG_NOSYSTEM`::
717 Whether to skip reading settings from the system-wide
718 `$(prefix)/etc/gitconfig` file. This Boolean environment variable can
719 be used along with `$HOME` and `$XDG_CONFIG_HOME` to create a
720 predictable environment for a picky script, or you can set it
721 to true to temporarily avoid using a buggy `/etc/gitconfig` file while
722 waiting for someone with sufficient permissions to fix it.
725 // NEEDSWORK: make it into a usual Boolean environment variable
726 If this environment variable is set to "1", then commands such
727 as 'git blame' (in incremental mode), 'git rev-list', 'git log',
728 'git check-attr' and 'git check-ignore' will
729 force a flush of the output stream after each record have been
731 variable is set to "0", the output of these commands will be done
732 using completely buffered I/O. If this environment variable is
733 not set, Git will choose buffered or record-oriented flushing
734 based on whether stdout appears to be redirected to a file or not.
737 Enables general trace messages, e.g. alias expansion, built-in
738 command execution and external command execution.
740 If this variable is set to "1", "2" or "true" (comparison
741 is case insensitive), trace messages will be printed to
744 If the variable is set to an integer value greater than 2
745 and lower than 10 (strictly) then Git will interpret this
746 value as an open file descriptor and will try to write the
747 trace messages into this file descriptor.
749 Alternatively, if the variable is set to an absolute path
750 (starting with a '/' character), Git will interpret this
751 as a file path and will try to append the trace messages
754 Unsetting the variable, or setting it to empty, "0" or
755 "false" (case insensitive) disables trace messages.
757 `GIT_TRACE_FSMONITOR`::
758 Enables trace messages for the filesystem monitor extension.
759 See `GIT_TRACE` for available trace output options.
761 `GIT_TRACE_PACK_ACCESS`::
762 Enables trace messages for all accesses to any packs. For each
763 access, the pack file name and an offset in the pack is
764 recorded. This may be helpful for troubleshooting some
765 pack-related performance problems.
766 See `GIT_TRACE` for available trace output options.
769 Enables trace messages for all packets coming in or out of a
770 given program. This can help with debugging object negotiation
771 or other protocol issues. Tracing is turned off at a packet
772 starting with "PACK" (but see `GIT_TRACE_PACKFILE` below).
773 See `GIT_TRACE` for available trace output options.
775 `GIT_TRACE_PACKFILE`::
776 Enables tracing of packfiles sent or received by a
777 given program. Unlike other trace output, this trace is
778 verbatim: no headers, and no quoting of binary data. You almost
779 certainly want to direct into a file (e.g.,
780 `GIT_TRACE_PACKFILE=/tmp/my.pack`) rather than displaying it on
781 the terminal or mixing it with other trace output.
783 Note that this is currently only implemented for the client side
784 of clones and fetches.
786 `GIT_TRACE_PERFORMANCE`::
787 Enables performance related trace messages, e.g. total execution
788 time of each Git command.
789 See `GIT_TRACE` for available trace output options.
792 Enables trace messages for operations on the ref database.
793 See `GIT_TRACE` for available trace output options.
796 Enables trace messages printing the .git, working tree and current
797 working directory after Git has completed its setup phase.
798 See `GIT_TRACE` for available trace output options.
800 `GIT_TRACE_SHALLOW`::
801 Enables trace messages that can help debugging fetching /
802 cloning of shallow repositories.
803 See `GIT_TRACE` for available trace output options.
806 Enables a curl full trace dump of all incoming and outgoing data,
807 including descriptive information, of the git transport protocol.
808 This is similar to doing curl `--trace-ascii` on the command line.
809 See `GIT_TRACE` for available trace output options.
811 `GIT_TRACE_CURL_NO_DATA`::
812 When a curl trace is enabled (see `GIT_TRACE_CURL` above), do not dump
813 data (that is, only dump info lines and headers).
816 Enables more detailed trace messages from the "trace2" library.
817 Output from `GIT_TRACE2` is a simple text-based format for human
820 If this variable is set to "1", "2" or "true" (comparison
821 is case insensitive), trace messages will be printed to
824 If the variable is set to an integer value greater than 2
825 and lower than 10 (strictly) then Git will interpret this
826 value as an open file descriptor and will try to write the
827 trace messages into this file descriptor.
829 Alternatively, if the variable is set to an absolute path
830 (starting with a '/' character), Git will interpret this
831 as a file path and will try to append the trace messages
832 to it. If the path already exists and is a directory, the
833 trace messages will be written to files (one per process)
834 in that directory, named according to the last component
835 of the SID and an optional counter (to avoid filename
838 In addition, if the variable is set to
839 `af_unix:[<socket_type>:]<absolute-pathname>`, Git will try
840 to open the path as a Unix Domain Socket. The socket type
841 can be either `stream` or `dgram`.
843 Unsetting the variable, or setting it to empty, "0" or
844 "false" (case insensitive) disables trace messages.
846 See link:technical/api-trace2.html[Trace2 documentation]
851 This setting writes a JSON-based format that is suited for machine
853 See `GIT_TRACE2` for available trace output options and
854 link:technical/api-trace2.html[Trace2 documentation] for full details.
857 In addition to the text-based messages available in `GIT_TRACE2`, this
858 setting writes a column-based format for understanding nesting
860 See `GIT_TRACE2` for available trace output options and
861 link:technical/api-trace2.html[Trace2 documentation] for full details.
864 By default, when tracing is activated, Git redacts the values of
865 cookies, the "Authorization:" header, the "Proxy-Authorization:"
866 header and packfile URIs. Set this Boolean environment variable to false to prevent this
869 `GIT_LITERAL_PATHSPECS`::
870 Setting this Boolean environment variable to true will cause Git to treat all
871 pathspecs literally, rather than as glob patterns. For example,
872 running `GIT_LITERAL_PATHSPECS=1 git log -- '*.c'` will search
873 for commits that touch the path `*.c`, not any paths that the
874 glob `*.c` matches. You might want this if you are feeding
875 literal paths to Git (e.g., paths previously given to you by
876 `git ls-tree`, `--raw` diff output, etc).
878 `GIT_GLOB_PATHSPECS`::
879 Setting this Boolean environment variable to true will cause Git to treat all
880 pathspecs as glob patterns (aka "glob" magic).
882 `GIT_NOGLOB_PATHSPECS`::
883 Setting this Boolean environment variable to true will cause Git to treat all
884 pathspecs as literal (aka "literal" magic).
886 `GIT_ICASE_PATHSPECS`::
887 Setting this Boolean environment variable to true will cause Git to treat all
888 pathspecs as case-insensitive.
890 `GIT_REFLOG_ACTION`::
891 When a ref is updated, reflog entries are created to keep
892 track of the reason why the ref was updated (which is
893 typically the name of the high-level command that updated
894 the ref), in addition to the old and new values of the ref.
895 A scripted Porcelain command can use set_reflog_action
896 helper function in `git-sh-setup` to set its name to this
897 variable when it is invoked as the top level command by the
898 end user, to be recorded in the body of the reflog.
901 If this Boolean environment variable is set to false, ignore broken or badly named refs when iterating
902 over lists of refs. Normally Git will try to include any such
903 refs, which may cause some operations to fail. This is usually
904 preferable, as potentially destructive operations (e.g.,
905 linkgit:git-prune[1]) are better off aborting rather than
906 ignoring broken refs (and thus considering the history they
907 point to as not worth saving). The default value is `1` (i.e.,
908 be paranoid about detecting and aborting all operations). You
909 should not normally need to set this to `0`, but it may be
910 useful when trying to salvage data from a corrupted repository.
912 `GIT_ALLOW_PROTOCOL`::
913 If set to a colon-separated list of protocols, behave as if
914 `protocol.allow` is set to `never`, and each of the listed
915 protocols has `protocol.<name>.allow` set to `always`
916 (overriding any existing configuration). See the description of
917 `protocol.allow` in linkgit:git-config[1] for more details.
919 `GIT_PROTOCOL_FROM_USER`::
920 Set this Boolean environment variable to false to prevent protocols used by fetch/push/clone which are
921 configured to the `user` state. This is useful to restrict recursive
922 submodule initialization from an untrusted repository or for programs
923 which feed potentially-untrusted URLS to git commands. See
924 linkgit:git-config[1] for more details.
927 For internal use only. Used in handshaking the wire protocol.
928 Contains a colon ':' separated list of keys with optional values
929 'key[=value]'. Presence of unknown keys and values must be
932 Note that servers may need to be configured to allow this variable to
933 pass over some transports. It will be propagated automatically when
934 accessing local repositories (i.e., `file://` or a filesystem path), as
935 well as over the `git://` protocol. For git-over-http, it should work
936 automatically in most configurations, but see the discussion in
937 linkgit:git-http-backend[1]. For git-over-ssh, the ssh server may need
938 to be configured to allow clients to pass this variable (e.g., by using
939 `AcceptEnv GIT_PROTOCOL` with OpenSSH).
941 This configuration is optional. If the variable is not propagated, then
942 clients will fall back to the original "v0" protocol (but may miss out
943 on some performance improvements or features). This variable currently
944 only affects clones and fetches; it is not yet used for pushes (but may
947 `GIT_OPTIONAL_LOCKS`::
948 If this Boolean environment variable is set to false, Git will complete any requested operation without
949 performing any optional sub-operations that require taking a lock.
950 For example, this will prevent `git status` from refreshing the
951 index as a side effect. This is useful for processes running in
952 the background which do not want to cause lock contention with
953 other operations on the repository. Defaults to `1`.
955 `GIT_REDIRECT_STDIN`::
956 `GIT_REDIRECT_STDOUT`::
957 `GIT_REDIRECT_STDERR`::
958 Windows-only: allow redirecting the standard input/output/error
959 handles to paths specified by the environment variables. This is
960 particularly useful in multi-threaded applications where the
961 canonical way to pass standard handles via `CreateProcess()` is
962 not an option because it would require the handles to be marked
963 inheritable (and consequently *every* spawned process would
964 inherit them, possibly blocking regular Git operations). The
965 primary intended use case is to use named pipes for communication
966 (e.g. `\\.\pipe\my-git-stdin-123`).
968 Two special values are supported: `off` will simply close the
969 corresponding standard handle, and if `GIT_REDIRECT_STDERR` is
970 `2>&1`, standard error will be redirected to the same handle as
973 `GIT_PRINT_SHA1_ELLIPSIS` (deprecated)::
974 If set to `yes`, print an ellipsis following an
975 (abbreviated) SHA-1 value. This affects indications of
976 detached HEADs (linkgit:git-checkout[1]) and the raw
977 diff output (linkgit:git-diff[1]). Printing an
978 ellipsis in the cases mentioned is no longer considered
979 adequate and support for it is likely to be removed in the
980 foreseeable future (along with the variable).
982 Discussion[[Discussion]]
983 ------------------------
985 More detail on the following is available from the
986 link:user-manual.html#git-concepts[Git concepts chapter of the
987 user-manual] and linkgit:gitcore-tutorial[7].
989 A Git project normally consists of a working directory with a ".git"
990 subdirectory at the top level. The .git directory contains, among other
991 things, a compressed object database representing the complete history
992 of the project, an "index" file which links that history to the current
993 contents of the working tree, and named pointers into that history such
994 as tags and branch heads.
996 The object database contains objects of three main types: blobs, which
997 hold file data; trees, which point to blobs and other trees to build up
998 directory hierarchies; and commits, which each reference a single tree
999 and some number of parent commits.
1001 The commit, equivalent to what other systems call a "changeset" or
1002 "version", represents a step in the project's history, and each parent
1003 represents an immediately preceding step. Commits with more than one
1004 parent represent merges of independent lines of development.
1006 All objects are named by the SHA-1 hash of their contents, normally
1007 written as a string of 40 hex digits. Such names are globally unique.
1008 The entire history leading up to a commit can be vouched for by signing
1009 just that commit. A fourth object type, the tag, is provided for this
1012 When first created, objects are stored in individual files, but for
1013 efficiency may later be compressed together into "pack files".
1015 Named pointers called refs mark interesting points in history. A ref
1016 may contain the SHA-1 name of an object or the name of another ref. Refs
1017 with names beginning `ref/head/` contain the SHA-1 name of the most
1018 recent commit (or "head") of a branch under development. SHA-1 names of
1019 tags of interest are stored under `ref/tags/`. A special ref named
1020 `HEAD` contains the name of the currently checked-out branch.
1022 The index file is initialized with a list of all paths and, for each
1023 path, a blob object and a set of attributes. The blob object represents
1024 the contents of the file as of the head of the current branch. The
1025 attributes (last modified time, size, etc.) are taken from the
1026 corresponding file in the working tree. Subsequent changes to the
1027 working tree can be found by comparing these attributes. The index may
1028 be updated with new content, and new commits may be created from the
1029 content stored in the index.
1031 The index is also capable of storing multiple entries (called "stages")
1032 for a given pathname. These stages are used to hold the various
1033 unmerged version of a file when a merge is in progress.
1035 FURTHER DOCUMENTATION
1036 ---------------------
1038 See the references in the "description" section to get started
1039 using Git. The following is probably more detail than necessary
1040 for a first-time user.
1042 The link:user-manual.html#git-concepts[Git concepts chapter of the
1043 user-manual] and linkgit:gitcore-tutorial[7] both provide
1044 introductions to the underlying Git architecture.
1046 See linkgit:gitworkflows[7] for an overview of recommended workflows.
1048 See also the link:howto-index.html[howto] documents for some useful
1051 The internals are documented in the
1052 link:technical/api-index.html[Git API documentation].
1054 Users migrating from CVS may also want to
1055 read linkgit:gitcvs-migration[7].
1060 Git was started by Linus Torvalds, and is currently maintained by Junio
1061 C Hamano. Numerous contributions have come from the Git mailing list
1062 <git@vger.kernel.org>. http://www.openhub.net/p/git/contributors/summary
1063 gives you a more complete list of contributors.
1065 If you have a clone of git.git itself, the
1066 output of linkgit:git-shortlog[1] and linkgit:git-blame[1] can show you
1067 the authors for specific parts of the project.
1072 Report bugs to the Git mailing list <git@vger.kernel.org> where the
1073 development and maintenance is primarily done. You do not have to be
1074 subscribed to the list to send a message there. See the list archive
1075 at https://lore.kernel.org/git for previous bug reports and other
1078 Issues which are security relevant should be disclosed privately to
1079 the Git Security mailing list <git-security@googlegroups.com>.
1083 linkgit:gittutorial[7], linkgit:gittutorial-2[7],
1084 linkgit:giteveryday[7], linkgit:gitcvs-migration[7],
1085 linkgit:gitglossary[7], linkgit:gitcore-tutorial[7],
1086 linkgit:gitcli[7], link:user-manual.html[The Git User's Manual],
1087 linkgit:gitworkflows[7]
1091 Part of the linkgit:git[1] suite