6 git-cat-file - Provide content or type and size information for repository objects
12 'git cat-file' <type> <object>
13 'git cat-file' (-e | -p) <object>
14 'git cat-file' (-t | -s) [--allow-unknown-type] <object>
15 'git cat-file' (--batch | --batch-check | --batch-command) [--batch-all-objects]
16 [--buffer] [--follow-symlinks] [--unordered]
17 [--textconv | --filters] [-z]
18 'git cat-file' (--textconv | --filters)
19 [<rev>:<path|tree-ish> | --path=<path|tree-ish> <rev>]
23 In its first form, the command provides the content or the type of an object in
24 the repository. The type is required unless `-t` or `-p` is used to find the
25 object type, or `-s` is used to find the object size, or `--textconv` or
26 `--filters` is used (which imply type "blob").
28 In the second form, a list of objects (separated by linefeeds) is provided on
29 stdin, and the SHA-1, type, and size of each object is printed on stdout. The
30 output format can be overridden using the optional `<format>` argument. If
31 either `--textconv` or `--filters` was specified, the input is expected to
32 list the object names followed by the path name, separated by a single
33 whitespace, so that the appropriate drivers can be determined.
38 The name of the object to show.
39 For a more complete list of ways to spell object names, see
40 the "SPECIFYING REVISIONS" section in linkgit:gitrevisions[7].
43 Instead of the content, show the object type identified by
47 Instead of the content, show the object size identified by
48 `<object>`. If used with `--use-mailmap` option, will show
49 the size of updated object after replacing idents using the
53 Exit with zero status if `<object>` exists and is a valid
54 object. If `<object>` is of an invalid format exit with non-zero and
55 emits an error on stderr.
58 Pretty-print the contents of `<object>` based on its type.
61 Typically this matches the real type of `<object>` but asking
62 for a type that can trivially be dereferenced from the given
63 `<object>` is also permitted. An example is to ask for a
64 "tree" with `<object>` being a commit object that contains it,
65 or to ask for a "blob" with `<object>` being a tag object that
70 Use mailmap file to map author, committer and tagger names
71 and email addresses to canonical real names and email addresses.
72 See linkgit:git-shortlog[1].
75 Show the content as transformed by a textconv filter. In this case,
76 `<object>` has to be of the form `<tree-ish>:<path>`, or `:<path>` in
77 order to apply the filter to the content recorded in the index at
81 Show the content as converted by the filters configured in
82 the current working tree for the given `<path>` (i.e. smudge filters,
83 end-of-line conversion, etc). In this case, `<object>` has to be of
84 the form `<tree-ish>:<path>`, or `:<path>`.
87 For use with `--textconv` or `--filters`, to allow specifying an object
88 name and a path separately, e.g. when it is difficult to figure out
89 the revision from which the blob came.
93 Print object information and contents for each object provided
94 on stdin. May not be combined with any other options or arguments
95 except `--textconv`, `--filters`, or `--use-mailmap`.
98 * When used with `--textconv` or `--filters`, the input lines
99 must specify the path, separated by whitespace. See the section
100 `BATCH OUTPUT` below for details.
102 * When used with `--use-mailmap`, for commit and tag objects, the
103 contents part of the output shows the identities replaced using the
104 mailmap mechanism, while the information part of the output shows
105 the size of the object as if it actually recorded the replacement
110 --batch-check=<format>::
111 Print object information for each object provided on stdin. May not be
112 combined with any other options or arguments except `--textconv`, `--filters`
116 * When used with `--textconv` or `--filters`, the input lines must
117 specify the path, separated by whitespace. See the section
118 `BATCH OUTPUT` below for details.
120 * When used with `--use-mailmap`, for commit and tag objects, the
121 printed object information shows the size of the object as if the
122 identities recorded in it were replaced by the mailmap mechanism.
126 --batch-command=<format>::
127 Enter a command mode that reads commands and arguments from stdin. May
128 only be combined with `--buffer`, `--textconv`, `--use-mailmap` or
132 * When used with `--textconv` or `--filters`, the input lines must
133 specify the path, separated by whitespace. See the section
134 `BATCH OUTPUT` below for details.
136 * When used with `--use-mailmap`, for commit and tag objects, the
137 `contents` command shows the identities replaced using the
138 mailmap mechanism, while the `info` command shows the size
139 of the object as if it actually recorded the replacement
143 `--batch-command` recognizes the following commands:
147 Print object contents for object reference `<object>`. This corresponds to
148 the output of `--batch`.
151 Print object info for object reference `<object>`. This corresponds to the
152 output of `--batch-check`.
155 Used with `--buffer` to execute all preceding commands that were issued
156 since the beginning or since the last flush was issued. When `--buffer`
157 is used, no output will come until a `flush` is issued. When `--buffer`
158 is not used, commands are flushed each time without issuing `flush`.
162 --batch-all-objects::
163 Instead of reading a list of objects on stdin, perform the
164 requested batch operation on all objects in the repository and
165 any alternate object stores (not just reachable objects).
166 Requires `--batch` or `--batch-check` be specified. By default,
167 the objects are visited in order sorted by their hashes; see
168 also `--unordered` below. Objects are presented as-is, without
169 respecting the "replace" mechanism of linkgit:git-replace[1].
172 Normally batch output is flushed after each object is output, so
173 that a process can interactively read and write from
174 `cat-file`. With this option, the output uses normal stdio
175 buffering; this is much more efficient when invoking
176 `--batch-check` or `--batch-command` on a large number of objects.
179 When `--batch-all-objects` is in use, visit objects in an
180 order which may be more efficient for accessing the object
181 contents than hash order. The exact details of the order are
182 unspecified, but if you do not require a specific order, this
183 should generally result in faster output, especially with
184 `--batch`. Note that `cat-file` will still show each object
185 only once, even if it is stored multiple times in the
188 --allow-unknown-type::
189 Allow `-s` or `-t` to query broken/corrupt objects of unknown type.
192 With `--batch` or `--batch-check`, follow symlinks inside the
193 repository when requesting objects with extended SHA-1
194 expressions of the form tree-ish:path-in-tree. Instead of
195 providing output about the link itself, provide output about
196 the linked-to object. If a symlink points outside the
197 tree-ish (e.g. a link to `/foo` or a root-level link to `../foo`),
198 the portion of the link which is outside the tree will be
201 This option does not (currently) work correctly when an object in the
202 index is specified (e.g. `:link` instead of `HEAD:link`) rather than
205 This option cannot (currently) be used unless `--batch` or
206 `--batch-check` is used.
208 For example, consider a git repository containing:
211 f: a file containing "hello\n"
213 dir/link: a symlink to ../f
214 plink: a symlink to ../f
215 alink: a symlink to /etc/passwd
218 For a regular file `f`, `echo HEAD:f | git cat-file --batch` would print
221 ce013625030ba8dba906f756967f9e9ca394464a blob 6
224 And `echo HEAD:link | git cat-file --batch --follow-symlinks` would
225 print the same thing, as would `HEAD:dir/link`, as they both point at
228 Without `--follow-symlinks`, these would print data about the symlink
229 itself. In the case of `HEAD:link`, you would see
232 4d1ae35ba2c8ec712fa2a379db44ad639ca277bd blob 1
235 Both `plink` and `alink` point outside the tree, so they would
247 Only meaningful with `--batch`, `--batch-check`, or
248 `--batch-command`; input is NUL-delimited instead of
254 If `-t` is specified, one of the `<type>`.
256 If `-s` is specified, the size of the `<object>` in bytes.
258 If `-e` is specified, no output, unless the `<object>` is malformed.
260 If `-p` is specified, the contents of `<object>` are pretty-printed.
262 If `<type>` is specified, the raw (though uncompressed) contents of the `<object>`
268 If `--batch` or `--batch-check` is given, `cat-file` will read objects
269 from stdin, one per line, and print information about them. By default,
270 the whole line is considered as an object, as if it were fed to
271 linkgit:git-rev-parse[1].
273 When `--batch-command` is given, `cat-file` will read commands from stdin,
274 one per line, and print information based on the command given. With
275 `--batch-command`, the `info` command followed by an object will print
276 information about the object the same way `--batch-check` would, and the
277 `contents` command followed by an object prints contents in the same way
280 You can specify the information shown for each object by using a custom
281 `<format>`. The `<format>` is copied literally to stdout for each
282 object, with placeholders of the form `%(atom)` expanded, followed by a
283 newline. The available atoms are:
286 The full hex representation of the object name.
289 The type of the object (the same as `cat-file -t` reports).
292 The size, in bytes, of the object (the same as `cat-file -s`
296 The size, in bytes, that the object takes up on disk. See the
297 note about on-disk sizes in the `CAVEATS` section below.
300 If the object is stored as a delta on-disk, this expands to the
301 full hex representation of the delta base object name.
302 Otherwise, expands to the null OID (all zeroes). See `CAVEATS`
306 If this atom is used in the output string, input lines are split
307 at the first whitespace boundary. All characters before that
308 whitespace are considered to be the object name; characters
309 after that first run of whitespace (i.e., the "rest" of the
310 line) are output in place of the `%(rest)` atom.
312 If no format is specified, the default format is `%(objectname)
313 %(objecttype) %(objectsize)`.
315 If `--batch` is specified, or if `--batch-command` is used with the `contents`
316 command, the object information is followed by the object contents (consisting
317 of `%(objectsize)` bytes), followed by a newline.
319 For example, `--batch` without a custom format would produce:
322 <oid> SP <type> SP <size> LF
326 Whereas `--batch-check='%(objectname) %(objecttype)'` would produce:
332 If a name is specified on stdin that cannot be resolved to an object in
333 the repository, then `cat-file` will ignore any custom format and print:
336 <object> SP missing LF
339 If a name is specified that might refer to more than one object (an ambiguous short sha), then `cat-file` will ignore any custom format and print:
342 <object> SP ambiguous LF
345 If `--follow-symlinks` is used, and a symlink in the repository points
346 outside the repository, then `cat-file` will ignore any custom format
354 The symlink will either be absolute (beginning with a `/`), or relative
355 to the tree root. For instance, if dir/link points to `../../foo`, then
356 `<symlink>` will be `../foo`. `<size>` is the size of the symlink in bytes.
358 If `--follow-symlinks` is used, the following error messages will be
362 <object> SP missing LF
364 is printed when the initial symlink requested does not exist.
367 dangling SP <size> LF
370 is printed when the initial symlink exists, but something that
371 it (transitive-of) points to does not.
377 is printed for symlink loops (or any symlinks that
378 require more than 40 link resolutions to resolve).
384 is printed when, during symlink resolution, a file is used as a
390 Note that the sizes of objects on disk are reported accurately, but care
391 should be taken in drawing conclusions about which refs or objects are
392 responsible for disk usage. The size of a packed non-delta object may be
393 much larger than the size of objects which delta against it, but the
394 choice of which object is the base and which is the delta is arbitrary
395 and is subject to change during a repack.
397 Note also that multiple copies of an object may be present in the object
398 database; in this case, it is undefined which copy's size or delta base
403 Part of the linkgit:git[1] suite