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 [--config-env=<name>=<envvar>] <command> [<args>]
20 Git is a fast, scalable, distributed revision control system with an
21 unusually rich command set that provides both high-level operations
22 and full access to internals.
24 See linkgit:gittutorial[7] to get started, then see
25 linkgit:giteveryday[7] for a useful minimum set of
26 commands. The link:user-manual.html[Git User's Manual] has a more
27 in-depth introduction.
29 After you mastered the basic concepts, you can come back to this
30 page to learn what commands Git offers. You can learn more about
31 individual Git commands with "git help command". linkgit:gitcli[7]
32 manual page gives you an overview of the command-line command syntax.
34 A formatted and hyperlinked copy of the latest Git documentation
35 can be viewed at https://git.github.io/htmldocs/git.html
36 or https://git-scm.com/docs.
43 Prints the Git suite version that the 'git' program came from.
45 This option is internally converted to `git version ...` and accepts
46 the same options as the linkgit:git-version[1] command. If `--help` is
47 also given, it takes precedence over `--version`.
51 Prints the synopsis and a list of the most commonly used
52 commands. If the option `--all` or `-a` is given then all
53 available commands are printed. If a Git command is named this
54 option will bring up the manual page for that command.
56 Other options are available to control how the manual page is
57 displayed. See linkgit:git-help[1] for more information,
58 because `git --help ...` is converted internally into `git
62 Run as if git was started in '<path>' instead of the current working
63 directory. When multiple `-C` options are given, each subsequent
64 non-absolute `-C <path>` is interpreted relative to the preceding `-C
65 <path>`. If '<path>' is present but empty, e.g. `-C ""`, then the
66 current working directory is left unchanged.
68 This option affects options that expect path name like `--git-dir` and
69 `--work-tree` in that their interpretations of the path names would be
70 made relative to the working directory caused by the `-C` option. For
71 example the following invocations are equivalent:
73 git --git-dir=a.git --work-tree=b -C c status
74 git --git-dir=c/a.git --work-tree=c/b status
77 Pass a configuration parameter to the command. The value
78 given will override values from configuration files.
79 The <name> is expected in the same format as listed by
80 'git config' (subkeys separated by dots).
82 Note that omitting the `=` in `git -c foo.bar ...` is allowed and sets
83 `foo.bar` to the boolean true value (just like `[foo]bar` would in a
84 config file). Including the equals but with an empty value (like `git -c
85 foo.bar= ...`) sets `foo.bar` to the empty string which `git config
86 --type=bool` will convert to `false`.
88 --config-env=<name>=<envvar>::
89 Like `-c <name>=<value>`, give configuration variable
90 '<name>' a value, where <envvar> is the name of an
91 environment variable from which to retrieve the value. Unlike
92 `-c` there is no shortcut for directly setting the value to an
93 empty string, instead the environment variable itself must be
94 set to the empty string. It is an error if the `<envvar>` does not exist
95 in the environment. `<envvar>` may not contain an equals sign
96 to avoid ambiguity with `<name>` containing one.
98 This is useful for cases where you want to pass transitory
99 configuration options to git, but are doing so on operating systems
100 where other processes might be able to read your command line
101 (e.g. `/proc/self/cmdline`), but not your environment
102 (e.g. `/proc/self/environ`). That behavior is the default on
103 Linux, but may not be on your system.
105 Note that this might add security for variables such as
106 `http.extraHeader` where the sensitive information is part of
107 the value, but not e.g. `url.<base>.insteadOf` where the
108 sensitive information can be part of the key.
110 --exec-path[=<path>]::
111 Path to wherever your core Git programs are installed.
112 This can also be controlled by setting the GIT_EXEC_PATH
113 environment variable. If no path is given, 'git' will print
114 the current setting and then exit.
117 Print the path, without trailing slash, where Git's HTML
118 documentation is installed and exit.
121 Print the manpath (see `man(1)`) for the man pages for
122 this version of Git and exit.
125 Print the path where the Info files documenting this
126 version of Git are installed and exit.
130 Pipe all output into 'less' (or if set, $PAGER) if standard
131 output is a terminal. This overrides the `pager.<cmd>`
132 configuration options (see the "Configuration Mechanism" section
137 Do not pipe Git output into a pager.
140 Set the path to the repository (".git" directory). This can also be
141 controlled by setting the `GIT_DIR` environment variable. It can be
142 an absolute path or relative path to current working directory.
144 Specifying the location of the ".git" directory using this
145 option (or `GIT_DIR` environment variable) turns off the
146 repository discovery that tries to find a directory with
147 ".git" subdirectory (which is how the repository and the
148 top-level of the working tree are discovered), and tells Git
149 that you are at the top level of the working tree. If you
150 are not at the top-level directory of the working tree, you
151 should tell Git where the top-level of the working tree is,
152 with the `--work-tree=<path>` option (or `GIT_WORK_TREE`
153 environment variable)
155 If you just want to run git as if it was started in `<path>` then use
159 Set the path to the working tree. It can be an absolute path
160 or a path relative to the current working directory.
161 This can also be controlled by setting the GIT_WORK_TREE
162 environment variable and the core.worktree configuration
163 variable (see core.worktree in linkgit:git-config[1] for a
164 more detailed discussion).
167 Set the Git namespace. See linkgit:gitnamespaces[7] for more
168 details. Equivalent to setting the `GIT_NAMESPACE` environment
172 Treat the repository as a bare repository. If GIT_DIR
173 environment is not set, it is set to the current working
176 --no-replace-objects::
177 Do not use replacement refs to replace Git objects. See
178 linkgit:git-replace[1] for more information.
180 --literal-pathspecs::
181 Treat pathspecs literally (i.e. no globbing, no pathspec magic).
182 This is equivalent to setting the `GIT_LITERAL_PATHSPECS` environment
186 Add "glob" magic to all pathspec. This is equivalent to setting
187 the `GIT_GLOB_PATHSPECS` environment variable to `1`. Disabling
188 globbing on individual pathspecs can be done using pathspec
192 Add "literal" magic to all pathspec. This is equivalent to setting
193 the `GIT_NOGLOB_PATHSPECS` environment variable to `1`. Enabling
194 globbing on individual pathspecs can be done using pathspec
198 Add "icase" magic to all pathspec. This is equivalent to setting
199 the `GIT_ICASE_PATHSPECS` environment variable to `1`.
201 --no-optional-locks::
202 Do not perform optional operations that require locks. This is
203 equivalent to setting the `GIT_OPTIONAL_LOCKS` to `0`.
205 --list-cmds=<group>[,<group>...]::
206 List commands by group. This is an internal/experimental
207 option and may change or be removed in the future. Supported
208 groups are: builtins, parseopt (builtin commands that use
209 parse-options), main (all commands in libexec directory),
210 others (all other commands in `$PATH` that have git- prefix),
211 list-<category> (see categories in command-list.txt),
212 nohelpers (exclude helper commands), alias and config
213 (retrieve command list from config variable completion.commands)
215 --attr-source=<tree-ish>::
216 Read gitattributes from <tree-ish> instead of the worktree. See
217 linkgit:gitattributes[5]. This is equivalent to setting the
218 `GIT_ATTR_SOURCE` environment variable.
223 We divide Git into high level ("porcelain") commands and low level
224 ("plumbing") commands.
226 High-level commands (porcelain)
227 -------------------------------
229 We separate the porcelain commands into the main commands and some
230 ancillary user utilities.
232 Main porcelain commands
233 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
235 include::cmds-mainporcelain.txt[]
241 include::cmds-ancillarymanipulators.txt[]
245 include::cmds-ancillaryinterrogators.txt[]
248 Interacting with Others
249 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
251 These commands are to interact with foreign SCM and with other
252 people via patch over e-mail.
254 include::cmds-foreignscminterface.txt[]
256 Reset, restore and revert
257 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
258 There are three commands with similar names: `git reset`,
259 `git restore` and `git revert`.
261 * linkgit:git-revert[1] is about making a new commit that reverts the
262 changes made by other commits.
264 * linkgit:git-restore[1] is about restoring files in the working tree
265 from either the index or another commit. This command does not
266 update your branch. The command can also be used to restore files in
267 the index from another commit.
269 * linkgit:git-reset[1] is about updating your branch, moving the tip
270 in order to add or remove commits from the branch. This operation
271 changes the commit history.
273 `git reset` can also be used to restore the index, overlapping with
277 Low-level commands (plumbing)
278 -----------------------------
280 Although Git includes its
281 own porcelain layer, its low-level commands are sufficient to support
282 development of alternative porcelains. Developers of such porcelains
283 might start by reading about linkgit:git-update-index[1] and
284 linkgit:git-read-tree[1].
286 The interface (input, output, set of options and the semantics)
287 to these low-level commands are meant to be a lot more stable
288 than Porcelain level commands, because these commands are
289 primarily for scripted use. The interface to Porcelain commands
290 on the other hand are subject to change in order to improve the
293 The following description divides
294 the low-level commands into commands that manipulate objects (in
295 the repository, index, and working tree), commands that interrogate and
296 compare objects, and commands that move objects and references between
300 Manipulation commands
301 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
303 include::cmds-plumbingmanipulators.txt[]
306 Interrogation commands
307 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
309 include::cmds-plumbinginterrogators.txt[]
311 In general, the interrogate commands do not touch the files in
318 include::cmds-synchingrepositories.txt[]
320 The following are helper commands used by the above; end users
321 typically do not use them directly.
323 include::cmds-synchelpers.txt[]
326 Internal helper commands
327 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
329 These are internal helper commands used by other commands; end
330 users typically do not use them directly.
332 include::cmds-purehelpers.txt[]
337 The following documentation pages are guides about Git concepts.
339 include::cmds-guide.txt[]
341 Repository, command and file interfaces
342 ---------------------------------------
344 This documentation discusses repository and command interfaces which
345 users are expected to interact with directly. See `--user-formats` in
346 linkgit:git-help[1] for more details on the criteria.
348 include::cmds-userinterfaces.txt[]
350 File formats, protocols and other developer interfaces
351 ------------------------------------------------------
353 This documentation discusses file formats, over-the-wire protocols and
354 other git developer interfaces. See `--developer-interfaces` in
357 include::cmds-developerinterfaces.txt[]
359 Configuration Mechanism
360 -----------------------
362 Git uses a simple text format to store customizations that are per
363 repository and are per user. Such a configuration file may look
368 # A '#' or ';' character indicates a comment.
373 ; Don't trust file modes
378 name = "Junio C Hamano"
379 email = "gitster@pobox.com"
383 Various commands read from the configuration file and adjust
384 their operation accordingly. See linkgit:git-config[1] for a
385 list and more details about the configuration mechanism.
388 Identifier Terminology
389 ----------------------
391 Indicates the object name for any type of object.
394 Indicates a blob object name.
397 Indicates a tree object name.
400 Indicates a commit object name.
403 Indicates a tree, commit or tag object name. A
404 command that takes a <tree-ish> argument ultimately wants to
405 operate on a <tree> object but automatically dereferences
406 <commit> and <tag> objects that point at a <tree>.
409 Indicates a commit or tag object name. A
410 command that takes a <commit-ish> argument ultimately wants to
411 operate on a <commit> object but automatically dereferences
412 <tag> objects that point at a <commit>.
415 Indicates that an object type is required.
416 Currently one of: `blob`, `tree`, `commit`, or `tag`.
419 Indicates a filename - almost always relative to the
420 root of the tree structure `GIT_INDEX_FILE` describes.
424 Any Git command accepting any <object> can also use the following
428 indicates the head of the current branch.
432 (i.e. a `refs/tags/<tag>` reference).
436 (i.e. a `refs/heads/<head>` reference).
438 For a more complete list of ways to spell object names, see
439 "SPECIFYING REVISIONS" section in linkgit:gitrevisions[7].
442 File/Directory Structure
443 ------------------------
445 Please see the linkgit:gitrepository-layout[5] document.
447 Read linkgit:githooks[5] for more details about each hook.
449 Higher level SCMs may provide and manage additional information in the
455 Please see linkgit:gitglossary[7].
458 Environment Variables
459 ---------------------
460 Various Git commands pay attention to environment variables and change
461 their behavior. The environment variables marked as "Boolean" take
462 their values the same way as Boolean valued configuration variables, e.g.
463 "true", "yes", "on" and positive numbers are taken as "yes".
465 Here are the variables:
469 These environment variables apply to 'all' core Git commands. Nb: it
470 is worth noting that they may be used/overridden by SCMS sitting above
471 Git so take care if using a foreign front-end.
474 This environment variable specifies an alternate
475 index file. If not specified, the default of `$GIT_DIR/index`
478 `GIT_INDEX_VERSION`::
479 This environment variable specifies what index version is used
480 when writing the index file out. It won't affect existing index
481 files. By default index file version 2 or 3 is used. See
482 linkgit:git-update-index[1] for more information.
484 `GIT_OBJECT_DIRECTORY`::
485 If the object storage directory is specified via this
486 environment variable then the sha1 directories are created
487 underneath - otherwise the default `$GIT_DIR/objects`
490 `GIT_ALTERNATE_OBJECT_DIRECTORIES`::
491 Due to the immutable nature of Git objects, old objects can be
492 archived into shared, read-only directories. This variable
493 specifies a ":" separated (on Windows ";" separated) list
494 of Git object directories which can be used to search for Git
495 objects. New objects will not be written to these directories.
497 Entries that begin with `"` (double-quote) will be interpreted
498 as C-style quoted paths, removing leading and trailing
499 double-quotes and respecting backslash escapes. E.g., the value
500 `"path-with-\"-and-:-in-it":vanilla-path` has two paths:
501 `path-with-"-and-:-in-it` and `vanilla-path`.
504 If the `GIT_DIR` environment variable is set then it
505 specifies a path to use instead of the default `.git`
506 for the base of the repository.
507 The `--git-dir` command-line option also sets this value.
510 Set the path to the root of the working tree.
511 This can also be controlled by the `--work-tree` command-line
512 option and the core.worktree configuration variable.
515 Set the Git namespace; see linkgit:gitnamespaces[7] for details.
516 The `--namespace` command-line option also sets this value.
518 `GIT_CEILING_DIRECTORIES`::
519 This should be a colon-separated list of absolute paths. If
520 set, it is a list of directories that Git should not chdir up
521 into while looking for a repository directory (useful for
522 excluding slow-loading network directories). It will not
523 exclude the current working directory or a GIT_DIR set on the
524 command line or in the environment. Normally, Git has to read
525 the entries in this list and resolve any symlink that
526 might be present in order to compare them with the current
527 directory. However, if even this access is slow, you
528 can add an empty entry to the list to tell Git that the
529 subsequent entries are not symlinks and needn't be resolved;
531 `GIT_CEILING_DIRECTORIES=/maybe/symlink::/very/slow/non/symlink`.
533 `GIT_DISCOVERY_ACROSS_FILESYSTEM`::
534 When run in a directory that does not have ".git" repository
535 directory, Git tries to find such a directory in the parent
536 directories to find the top of the working tree, but by default it
537 does not cross filesystem boundaries. This Boolean environment variable
538 can be set to true to tell Git not to stop at filesystem
539 boundaries. Like `GIT_CEILING_DIRECTORIES`, this will not affect
540 an explicit repository directory set via `GIT_DIR` or on the
544 If this variable is set to a path, non-worktree files that are
545 normally in $GIT_DIR will be taken from this path
546 instead. Worktree-specific files such as HEAD or index are
547 taken from $GIT_DIR. See linkgit:gitrepository-layout[5] and
548 linkgit:git-worktree[1] for
549 details. This variable has lower precedence than other path
550 variables such as GIT_INDEX_FILE, GIT_OBJECT_DIRECTORY...
553 If this variable is set, the default hash algorithm for new
554 repositories will be set to this value. This value is
555 ignored when cloning and the setting of the remote repository
556 is always used. The default is "sha1".
557 See `--object-format` in linkgit:git-init[1].
559 `GIT_DEFAULT_REF_FORMAT`::
560 If this variable is set, the default reference backend format for new
561 repositories will be set to this value. The default is "files".
562 See `--ref-format` in linkgit:git-init[1].
567 The human-readable name used in the author identity when creating commit or
568 tag objects, or when writing reflogs. Overrides the `user.name` and
569 `author.name` configuration settings.
572 The email address used in the author identity when creating commit or
573 tag objects, or when writing reflogs. Overrides the `user.email` and
574 `author.email` configuration settings.
577 The date used for the author identity when creating commit or tag objects, or
578 when writing reflogs. See linkgit:git-commit[1] for valid formats.
580 `GIT_COMMITTER_NAME`::
581 The human-readable name used in the committer identity when creating commit or
582 tag objects, or when writing reflogs. Overrides the `user.name` and
583 `committer.name` configuration settings.
585 `GIT_COMMITTER_EMAIL`::
586 The email address used in the author identity when creating commit or
587 tag objects, or when writing reflogs. Overrides the `user.email` and
588 `committer.email` configuration settings.
590 `GIT_COMMITTER_DATE`::
591 The date used for the committer identity when creating commit or tag objects, or
592 when writing reflogs. See linkgit:git-commit[1] for valid formats.
595 The email address used in the author and committer identities if no other
596 relevant environment variable or configuration setting has been set.
601 Only valid setting is "--unified=??" or "-u??" to set the
602 number of context lines shown when a unified diff is created.
603 This takes precedence over any "-U" or "--unified" option
604 value passed on the Git diff command line.
606 `GIT_EXTERNAL_DIFF`::
607 When the environment variable `GIT_EXTERNAL_DIFF` is set, the
608 program named by it is called to generate diffs, and Git
609 does not use its builtin diff machinery.
610 For a path that is added, removed, or modified,
611 `GIT_EXTERNAL_DIFF` is called with 7 parameters:
613 path old-file old-hex old-mode new-file new-hex new-mode
617 <old|new>-file:: are files GIT_EXTERNAL_DIFF can use to read the
618 contents of <old|new>,
619 <old|new>-hex:: are the 40-hexdigit SHA-1 hashes,
620 <old|new>-mode:: are the octal representation of the file modes.
622 The file parameters can point at the user's working file
623 (e.g. `new-file` in "git-diff-files"), `/dev/null` (e.g. `old-file`
624 when a new file is added), or a temporary file (e.g. `old-file` in the
625 index). `GIT_EXTERNAL_DIFF` should not worry about unlinking the
626 temporary file -- it is removed when `GIT_EXTERNAL_DIFF` exits.
628 For a path that is unmerged, `GIT_EXTERNAL_DIFF` is called with 1
631 For each path `GIT_EXTERNAL_DIFF` is called, two environment variables,
632 `GIT_DIFF_PATH_COUNTER` and `GIT_DIFF_PATH_TOTAL` are set.
634 `GIT_DIFF_PATH_COUNTER`::
635 A 1-based counter incremented by one for every path.
637 `GIT_DIFF_PATH_TOTAL`::
638 The total number of paths.
642 `GIT_MERGE_VERBOSITY`::
643 A number controlling the amount of output shown by
644 the recursive merge strategy. Overrides merge.verbosity.
645 See linkgit:git-merge[1]
648 This environment variable overrides `$PAGER`. If it is set
649 to an empty string or to the value "cat", Git will not launch
650 a pager. See also the `core.pager` option in
651 linkgit:git-config[1].
653 `GIT_PROGRESS_DELAY`::
654 A number controlling how many seconds to delay before showing
655 optional progress indicators. Defaults to 2.
658 This environment variable overrides `$EDITOR` and `$VISUAL`.
659 It is used by several Git commands when, on interactive mode,
660 an editor is to be launched. See also linkgit:git-var[1]
661 and the `core.editor` option in linkgit:git-config[1].
663 `GIT_SEQUENCE_EDITOR`::
664 This environment variable overrides the configured Git editor
665 when editing the todo list of an interactive rebase. See also
666 linkgit:git-rebase[1] and the `sequence.editor` option in
667 linkgit:git-config[1].
671 If either of these environment variables is set then 'git fetch'
672 and 'git push' will use the specified command instead of 'ssh'
673 when they need to connect to a remote system.
674 The command-line parameters passed to the configured command are
675 determined by the ssh variant. See `ssh.variant` option in
676 linkgit:git-config[1] for details.
678 `$GIT_SSH_COMMAND` takes precedence over `$GIT_SSH`, and is interpreted
679 by the shell, which allows additional arguments to be included.
680 `$GIT_SSH` on the other hand must be just the path to a program
681 (which can be a wrapper shell script, if additional arguments are
684 Usually it is easier to configure any desired options through your
685 personal `.ssh/config` file. Please consult your ssh documentation
689 If this environment variable is set, it overrides Git's autodetection
690 whether `GIT_SSH`/`GIT_SSH_COMMAND`/`core.sshCommand` refer to OpenSSH,
691 plink or tortoiseplink. This variable overrides the config setting
692 `ssh.variant` that serves the same purpose.
694 `GIT_SSL_NO_VERIFY`::
695 Setting and exporting this environment variable to any value
696 tells Git not to verify the SSL certificate when fetching or
700 Sets the treeish that gitattributes will be read from.
703 If this environment variable is set, then Git commands which need to
704 acquire passwords or passphrases (e.g. for HTTP or IMAP authentication)
705 will call this program with a suitable prompt as command-line argument
706 and read the password from its STDOUT. See also the `core.askPass`
707 option in linkgit:git-config[1].
709 `GIT_TERMINAL_PROMPT`::
710 If this Boolean environment variable is set to false, git will not prompt
711 on the terminal (e.g., when asking for HTTP authentication).
713 `GIT_CONFIG_GLOBAL`::
714 `GIT_CONFIG_SYSTEM`::
715 Take the configuration from the given files instead from global or
716 system-level configuration files. If `GIT_CONFIG_SYSTEM` is set, the
717 system config file defined at build time (usually `/etc/gitconfig`)
718 will not be read. Likewise, if `GIT_CONFIG_GLOBAL` is set, neither
719 `$HOME/.gitconfig` nor `$XDG_CONFIG_HOME/git/config` will be read. Can
720 be set to `/dev/null` to skip reading configuration files of the
723 `GIT_CONFIG_NOSYSTEM`::
724 Whether to skip reading settings from the system-wide
725 `$(prefix)/etc/gitconfig` file. This Boolean environment variable can
726 be used along with `$HOME` and `$XDG_CONFIG_HOME` to create a
727 predictable environment for a picky script, or you can set it
728 to true to temporarily avoid using a buggy `/etc/gitconfig` file while
729 waiting for someone with sufficient permissions to fix it.
732 If this Boolean environment variable is set to true, then commands such
733 as 'git blame' (in incremental mode), 'git rev-list', 'git log',
734 'git check-attr' and 'git check-ignore' will
735 force a flush of the output stream after each record have been
737 variable is set to false, the output of these commands will be done
738 using completely buffered I/O. If this environment variable is
739 not set, Git will choose buffered or record-oriented flushing
740 based on whether stdout appears to be redirected to a file or not.
743 Enables general trace messages, e.g. alias expansion, built-in
744 command execution and external command execution.
746 If this variable is set to "1", "2" or "true" (comparison
747 is case insensitive), trace messages will be printed to
750 If the variable is set to an integer value greater than 2
751 and lower than 10 (strictly) then Git will interpret this
752 value as an open file descriptor and will try to write the
753 trace messages into this file descriptor.
755 Alternatively, if the variable is set to an absolute path
756 (starting with a '/' character), Git will interpret this
757 as a file path and will try to append the trace messages
760 Unsetting the variable, or setting it to empty, "0" or
761 "false" (case insensitive) disables trace messages.
763 `GIT_TRACE_FSMONITOR`::
764 Enables trace messages for the filesystem monitor extension.
765 See `GIT_TRACE` for available trace output options.
767 `GIT_TRACE_PACK_ACCESS`::
768 Enables trace messages for all accesses to any packs. For each
769 access, the pack file name and an offset in the pack is
770 recorded. This may be helpful for troubleshooting some
771 pack-related performance problems.
772 See `GIT_TRACE` for available trace output options.
775 Enables trace messages for all packets coming in or out of a
776 given program. This can help with debugging object negotiation
777 or other protocol issues. Tracing is turned off at a packet
778 starting with "PACK" (but see `GIT_TRACE_PACKFILE` below).
779 See `GIT_TRACE` for available trace output options.
781 `GIT_TRACE_PACKFILE`::
782 Enables tracing of packfiles sent or received by a
783 given program. Unlike other trace output, this trace is
784 verbatim: no headers, and no quoting of binary data. You almost
785 certainly want to direct into a file (e.g.,
786 `GIT_TRACE_PACKFILE=/tmp/my.pack`) rather than displaying it on
787 the terminal or mixing it with other trace output.
789 Note that this is currently only implemented for the client side
790 of clones and fetches.
792 `GIT_TRACE_PERFORMANCE`::
793 Enables performance related trace messages, e.g. total execution
794 time of each Git command.
795 See `GIT_TRACE` for available trace output options.
798 Enables trace messages for operations on the ref database.
799 See `GIT_TRACE` for available trace output options.
802 Enables trace messages printing the .git, working tree and current
803 working directory after Git has completed its setup phase.
804 See `GIT_TRACE` for available trace output options.
806 `GIT_TRACE_SHALLOW`::
807 Enables trace messages that can help debugging fetching /
808 cloning of shallow repositories.
809 See `GIT_TRACE` for available trace output options.
812 Enables a curl full trace dump of all incoming and outgoing data,
813 including descriptive information, of the git transport protocol.
814 This is similar to doing curl `--trace-ascii` on the command line.
815 See `GIT_TRACE` for available trace output options.
817 `GIT_TRACE_CURL_NO_DATA`::
818 When a curl trace is enabled (see `GIT_TRACE_CURL` above), do not dump
819 data (that is, only dump info lines and headers).
822 Enables more detailed trace messages from the "trace2" library.
823 Output from `GIT_TRACE2` is a simple text-based format for human
826 If this variable is set to "1", "2" or "true" (comparison
827 is case insensitive), trace messages will be printed to
830 If the variable is set to an integer value greater than 2
831 and lower than 10 (strictly) then Git will interpret this
832 value as an open file descriptor and will try to write the
833 trace messages into this file descriptor.
835 Alternatively, if the variable is set to an absolute path
836 (starting with a '/' character), Git will interpret this
837 as a file path and will try to append the trace messages
838 to it. If the path already exists and is a directory, the
839 trace messages will be written to files (one per process)
840 in that directory, named according to the last component
841 of the SID and an optional counter (to avoid filename
844 In addition, if the variable is set to
845 `af_unix:[<socket-type>:]<absolute-pathname>`, Git will try
846 to open the path as a Unix Domain Socket. The socket type
847 can be either `stream` or `dgram`.
849 Unsetting the variable, or setting it to empty, "0" or
850 "false" (case insensitive) disables trace messages.
852 See link:technical/api-trace2.html[Trace2 documentation]
857 This setting writes a JSON-based format that is suited for machine
859 See `GIT_TRACE2` for available trace output options and
860 link:technical/api-trace2.html[Trace2 documentation] for full details.
863 In addition to the text-based messages available in `GIT_TRACE2`, this
864 setting writes a column-based format for understanding nesting
866 See `GIT_TRACE2` for available trace output options and
867 link:technical/api-trace2.html[Trace2 documentation] for full details.
870 By default, when tracing is activated, Git redacts the values of
871 cookies, the "Authorization:" header, the "Proxy-Authorization:"
872 header and packfile URIs. Set this Boolean environment variable to false to prevent this
875 `GIT_LITERAL_PATHSPECS`::
876 Setting this Boolean environment variable to true will cause Git to treat all
877 pathspecs literally, rather than as glob patterns. For example,
878 running `GIT_LITERAL_PATHSPECS=1 git log -- '*.c'` will search
879 for commits that touch the path `*.c`, not any paths that the
880 glob `*.c` matches. You might want this if you are feeding
881 literal paths to Git (e.g., paths previously given to you by
882 `git ls-tree`, `--raw` diff output, etc).
884 `GIT_GLOB_PATHSPECS`::
885 Setting this Boolean environment variable to true will cause Git to treat all
886 pathspecs as glob patterns (aka "glob" magic).
888 `GIT_NOGLOB_PATHSPECS`::
889 Setting this Boolean environment variable to true will cause Git to treat all
890 pathspecs as literal (aka "literal" magic).
892 `GIT_ICASE_PATHSPECS`::
893 Setting this Boolean environment variable to true will cause Git to treat all
894 pathspecs as case-insensitive.
896 `GIT_REFLOG_ACTION`::
897 When a ref is updated, reflog entries are created to keep
898 track of the reason why the ref was updated (which is
899 typically the name of the high-level command that updated
900 the ref), in addition to the old and new values of the ref.
901 A scripted Porcelain command can use set_reflog_action
902 helper function in `git-sh-setup` to set its name to this
903 variable when it is invoked as the top level command by the
904 end user, to be recorded in the body of the reflog.
907 If this Boolean environment variable is set to false, ignore broken or badly named refs when iterating
908 over lists of refs. Normally Git will try to include any such
909 refs, which may cause some operations to fail. This is usually
910 preferable, as potentially destructive operations (e.g.,
911 linkgit:git-prune[1]) are better off aborting rather than
912 ignoring broken refs (and thus considering the history they
913 point to as not worth saving). The default value is `1` (i.e.,
914 be paranoid about detecting and aborting all operations). You
915 should not normally need to set this to `0`, but it may be
916 useful when trying to salvage data from a corrupted repository.
918 `GIT_COMMIT_GRAPH_PARANOIA`::
919 When loading a commit object from the commit-graph, Git performs an
920 existence check on the object in the object database. This is done to
921 avoid issues with stale commit-graphs that contain references to
922 already-deleted commits, but comes with a performance penalty.
924 The default is "false", which disables the aforementioned behavior.
925 Setting this to "true" enables the existence check so that stale commits
926 will never be returned from the commit-graph at the cost of performance.
928 `GIT_ALLOW_PROTOCOL`::
929 If set to a colon-separated list of protocols, behave as if
930 `protocol.allow` is set to `never`, and each of the listed
931 protocols has `protocol.<name>.allow` set to `always`
932 (overriding any existing configuration). See the description of
933 `protocol.allow` in linkgit:git-config[1] for more details.
935 `GIT_PROTOCOL_FROM_USER`::
936 Set this Boolean environment variable to false to prevent protocols used by fetch/push/clone which are
937 configured to the `user` state. This is useful to restrict recursive
938 submodule initialization from an untrusted repository or for programs
939 which feed potentially-untrusted URLS to git commands. See
940 linkgit:git-config[1] for more details.
943 For internal use only. Used in handshaking the wire protocol.
944 Contains a colon ':' separated list of keys with optional values
945 'key[=value]'. Presence of unknown keys and values must be
948 Note that servers may need to be configured to allow this variable to
949 pass over some transports. It will be propagated automatically when
950 accessing local repositories (i.e., `file://` or a filesystem path), as
951 well as over the `git://` protocol. For git-over-http, it should work
952 automatically in most configurations, but see the discussion in
953 linkgit:git-http-backend[1]. For git-over-ssh, the ssh server may need
954 to be configured to allow clients to pass this variable (e.g., by using
955 `AcceptEnv GIT_PROTOCOL` with OpenSSH).
957 This configuration is optional. If the variable is not propagated, then
958 clients will fall back to the original "v0" protocol (but may miss out
959 on some performance improvements or features). This variable currently
960 only affects clones and fetches; it is not yet used for pushes (but may
963 `GIT_OPTIONAL_LOCKS`::
964 If this Boolean environment variable is set to false, Git will complete any requested operation without
965 performing any optional sub-operations that require taking a lock.
966 For example, this will prevent `git status` from refreshing the
967 index as a side effect. This is useful for processes running in
968 the background which do not want to cause lock contention with
969 other operations on the repository. Defaults to `1`.
971 `GIT_REDIRECT_STDIN`::
972 `GIT_REDIRECT_STDOUT`::
973 `GIT_REDIRECT_STDERR`::
974 Windows-only: allow redirecting the standard input/output/error
975 handles to paths specified by the environment variables. This is
976 particularly useful in multi-threaded applications where the
977 canonical way to pass standard handles via `CreateProcess()` is
978 not an option because it would require the handles to be marked
979 inheritable (and consequently *every* spawned process would
980 inherit them, possibly blocking regular Git operations). The
981 primary intended use case is to use named pipes for communication
982 (e.g. `\\.\pipe\my-git-stdin-123`).
984 Two special values are supported: `off` will simply close the
985 corresponding standard handle, and if `GIT_REDIRECT_STDERR` is
986 `2>&1`, standard error will be redirected to the same handle as
989 `GIT_PRINT_SHA1_ELLIPSIS` (deprecated)::
990 If set to `yes`, print an ellipsis following an
991 (abbreviated) SHA-1 value. This affects indications of
992 detached HEADs (linkgit:git-checkout[1]) and the raw
993 diff output (linkgit:git-diff[1]). Printing an
994 ellipsis in the cases mentioned is no longer considered
995 adequate and support for it is likely to be removed in the
996 foreseeable future (along with the variable).
998 Discussion[[Discussion]]
999 ------------------------
1001 More detail on the following is available from the
1002 link:user-manual.html#git-concepts[Git concepts chapter of the
1003 user-manual] and linkgit:gitcore-tutorial[7].
1005 A Git project normally consists of a working directory with a ".git"
1006 subdirectory at the top level. The .git directory contains, among other
1007 things, a compressed object database representing the complete history
1008 of the project, an "index" file which links that history to the current
1009 contents of the working tree, and named pointers into that history such
1010 as tags and branch heads.
1012 The object database contains objects of three main types: blobs, which
1013 hold file data; trees, which point to blobs and other trees to build up
1014 directory hierarchies; and commits, which each reference a single tree
1015 and some number of parent commits.
1017 The commit, equivalent to what other systems call a "changeset" or
1018 "version", represents a step in the project's history, and each parent
1019 represents an immediately preceding step. Commits with more than one
1020 parent represent merges of independent lines of development.
1022 All objects are named by the SHA-1 hash of their contents, normally
1023 written as a string of 40 hex digits. Such names are globally unique.
1024 The entire history leading up to a commit can be vouched for by signing
1025 just that commit. A fourth object type, the tag, is provided for this
1028 When first created, objects are stored in individual files, but for
1029 efficiency may later be compressed together into "pack files".
1031 Named pointers called refs mark interesting points in history. A ref
1032 may contain the SHA-1 name of an object or the name of another ref (the
1033 latter is called a "symbolic ref").
1034 Refs with names beginning `refs/head/` contain the SHA-1 name of the most
1035 recent commit (or "head") of a branch under development. SHA-1 names of
1036 tags of interest are stored under `refs/tags/`. A symbolic ref named
1037 `HEAD` contains the name of the currently checked-out branch.
1039 The index file is initialized with a list of all paths and, for each
1040 path, a blob object and a set of attributes. The blob object represents
1041 the contents of the file as of the head of the current branch. The
1042 attributes (last modified time, size, etc.) are taken from the
1043 corresponding file in the working tree. Subsequent changes to the
1044 working tree can be found by comparing these attributes. The index may
1045 be updated with new content, and new commits may be created from the
1046 content stored in the index.
1048 The index is also capable of storing multiple entries (called "stages")
1049 for a given pathname. These stages are used to hold the various
1050 unmerged version of a file when a merge is in progress.
1055 Some configuration options and hook files may cause Git to run arbitrary
1056 shell commands. Because configuration and hooks are not copied using
1057 `git clone`, it is generally safe to clone remote repositories with
1058 untrusted content, inspect them with `git log`, and so on.
1060 However, it is not safe to run Git commands in a `.git` directory (or
1061 the working tree that surrounds it) when that `.git` directory itself
1062 comes from an untrusted source. The commands in its config and hooks
1063 are executed in the usual way.
1065 By default, Git will refuse to run when the repository is owned by
1066 someone other than the user running the command. See the entry for
1067 `safe.directory` in linkgit:git-config[1]. While this can help protect
1068 you in a multi-user environment, note that you can also acquire
1069 untrusted repositories that are owned by you (for example, if you
1070 extract a zip file or tarball from an untrusted source). In such cases,
1071 you'd need to "sanitize" the untrusted repository first.
1073 If you have an untrusted `.git` directory, you should first clone it
1074 with `git clone --no-local` to obtain a clean copy. Git does restrict
1075 the set of options and hooks that will be run by `upload-pack`, which
1076 handles the server side of a clone or fetch, but beware that the
1077 surface area for attack against `upload-pack` is large, so this does
1078 carry some risk. The safest thing is to serve the repository as an
1079 unprivileged user (either via linkgit:git-daemon[1], ssh, or using
1080 other tools to change user ids). See the discussion in the `SECURITY`
1081 section of linkgit:git-upload-pack[1].
1083 FURTHER DOCUMENTATION
1084 ---------------------
1086 See the references in the "description" section to get started
1087 using Git. The following is probably more detail than necessary
1088 for a first-time user.
1090 The link:user-manual.html#git-concepts[Git concepts chapter of the
1091 user-manual] and linkgit:gitcore-tutorial[7] both provide
1092 introductions to the underlying Git architecture.
1094 See linkgit:gitworkflows[7] for an overview of recommended workflows.
1096 See also the link:howto-index.html[howto] documents for some useful
1099 The internals are documented in the
1100 link:technical/api-index.html[Git API documentation].
1102 Users migrating from CVS may also want to
1103 read linkgit:gitcvs-migration[7].
1108 Git was started by Linus Torvalds, and is currently maintained by Junio
1109 C Hamano. Numerous contributions have come from the Git mailing list
1110 <git@vger.kernel.org>. https://openhub.net/p/git/contributors/summary
1111 gives you a more complete list of contributors.
1113 If you have a clone of git.git itself, the
1114 output of linkgit:git-shortlog[1] and linkgit:git-blame[1] can show you
1115 the authors for specific parts of the project.
1120 Report bugs to the Git mailing list <git@vger.kernel.org> where the
1121 development and maintenance is primarily done. You do not have to be
1122 subscribed to the list to send a message there. See the list archive
1123 at https://lore.kernel.org/git for previous bug reports and other
1126 Issues which are security relevant should be disclosed privately to
1127 the Git Security mailing list <git-security@googlegroups.com>.
1131 linkgit:gittutorial[7], linkgit:gittutorial-2[7],
1132 linkgit:giteveryday[7], linkgit:gitcvs-migration[7],
1133 linkgit:gitglossary[7], linkgit:gitcore-tutorial[7],
1134 linkgit:gitcli[7], link:user-manual.html[The Git User's Manual],
1135 linkgit:gitworkflows[7]
1139 Part of the linkgit:git[1] suite