4 The git configuration file contains a number of variables that affect
5 the git command's behavior. `.git/config` file for each repository
6 is used to store the information for that repository, and
7 `$HOME/.gitconfig` is used to store per user information to give
8 fallback values for `.git/config` file.
10 They can be used by both the git plumbing
11 and the porcelains. The variables are divided into sections, where
12 in the fully qualified variable name the variable itself is the last
13 dot-separated segment and the section name is everything before the last
14 dot. The variable names are case-insensitive and only alphanumeric
15 characters are allowed. Some variables may appear multiple times.
20 The syntax is fairly flexible and permissive; whitespaces are mostly
21 ignored. The '#' and ';' characters begin comments to the end of line,
22 blank lines are ignored.
24 The file consists of sections and variables. A section begins with
25 the name of the section in square brackets and continues until the next
26 section begins. Section names are not case sensitive. Only alphanumeric
27 characters, '`-`' and '`.`' are allowed in section names. Each variable
28 must belong to some section, which means that there must be section
29 header before first setting of a variable.
31 Sections can be further divided into subsections. To begin a subsection
32 put its name in double quotes, separated by space from the section name,
33 in the section header, like in example below:
36 [section "subsection"]
40 Subsection names can contain any characters except newline (doublequote
41 '`"`' and backslash have to be escaped as '`\"`' and '`\\`',
42 respecitvely) and are case sensitive. Section header cannot span multiple
43 lines. Variables may belong directly to a section or to a given subsection.
44 You can have `[section]` if you have `[section "subsection"]`, but you
47 There is also (case insensitive) alternative `[section.subsection]` syntax.
48 In this syntax subsection names follow the same restrictions as for section
51 All the other lines are recognized as setting variables, in the form
52 'name = value'. If there is no equal sign on the line, the entire line
53 is taken as 'name' and the variable is recognized as boolean "true".
54 The variable names are case-insensitive and only alphanumeric
55 characters and '`-`' are allowed. There can be more than one value
56 for a given variable; we say then that variable is multivalued.
58 Leading and trailing whitespace in a variable value is discarded.
59 Internal whitespace within a variable value is retained verbatim.
61 The values following the equals sign in variable assign are all either
62 a string, an integer, or a boolean. Boolean values may be given as yes/no,
63 0/1 or true/false. Case is not significant in boolean values, when
64 converting value to the canonical form using '--bool' type specifier;
65 `git-repo-config` will ensure that the output is "true" or "false".
67 String values may be entirely or partially enclosed in double quotes.
68 You need to enclose variable value in double quotes if you want to
69 preserve leading or trailing whitespace, or if variable value contains
70 beginning of comment characters (if it contains '#' or ';').
71 Double quote '`"`' and backslash '`\`' characters in variable value must
72 be escaped: use '`\"`' for '`"`' and '`\\`' for '`\`'.
74 The following escape sequences (beside '`\"`' and '`\\`') are recognized:
75 '`\n`' for newline character (NL), '`\t`' for horizontal tabulation (HT, TAB)
76 and '`\b`' for backspace (BS). No other char escape sequence, nor octal
77 char sequences are valid.
79 Variable value ending in a '`\`' is continued on the next line in the
80 customary UNIX fashion.
82 Some variables may require special value format.
89 ; Don't trust file modes
94 external = "/usr/local/bin/gnu-diff -u"
99 merge = refs/heads/devel
103 gitProxy="ssh" for "ssh://kernel.org/"
104 gitProxy=default-proxy ; for the rest
109 Note that this list is non-comprehensive and not necessarily complete.
110 For command-specific variables, you will find a more detailed description
111 in the appropriate manual page. You will find a description of non-core
112 porcelain configuration variables in the respective porcelain documentation.
115 If false, the executable bit differences between the index and
116 the working copy are ignored; useful on broken filesystems like FAT.
117 See gitlink:git-update-index[1]. True by default.
120 A "proxy command" to execute (as 'command host port') instead
121 of establishing direct connection to the remote server when
122 using the git protocol for fetching. If the variable value is
123 in the "COMMAND for DOMAIN" format, the command is applied only
124 on hostnames ending with the specified domain string. This variable
125 may be set multiple times and is matched in the given order;
126 the first match wins.
128 Can be overridden by the 'GIT_PROXY_COMMAND' environment variable
129 (which always applies universally, without the special "for"
133 The working copy files are assumed to stay unchanged until you
134 mark them otherwise manually - Git will not detect the file changes
135 by lstat() calls. This is useful on systems where those are very
136 slow, such as Microsoft Windows. See gitlink:git-update-index[1].
139 core.preferSymlinkRefs::
140 Instead of the default "symref" format for HEAD
141 and other symbolic reference files, use symbolic links.
142 This is sometimes needed to work with old scripts that
143 expect HEAD to be a symbolic link.
145 core.logAllRefUpdates::
146 Updates to a ref <ref> is logged to the file
147 "$GIT_DIR/logs/<ref>", by appending the new and old
148 SHA1, the date/time and the reason of the update, but
149 only when the file exists. If this configuration
150 variable is set to true, missing "$GIT_DIR/logs/<ref>"
151 file is automatically created for branch heads.
153 This information can be used to determine what commit
154 was the tip of a branch "2 days ago".
156 This value is true by default in a repository that has
157 a working directory associated with it, and false by
158 default in a bare repository.
160 core.repositoryFormatVersion::
161 Internal variable identifying the repository format and layout
164 core.sharedRepository::
165 When 'group' (or 'true'), the repository is made shareable between
166 several users in a group (making sure all the files and objects are
167 group-writable). When 'all' (or 'world' or 'everybody'), the
168 repository will be readable by all users, additionally to being
169 group-shareable. When 'umask' (or 'false'), git will use permissions
170 reported by umask(2). See gitlink:git-init[1]. False by default.
172 core.warnAmbiguousRefs::
173 If true, git will warn you if the ref name you passed it is ambiguous
174 and might match multiple refs in the .git/refs/ tree. True by default.
177 An integer -1..9, indicating the compression level for objects that
178 are not in a pack file. -1 is the zlib and git default. 0 means no
179 compression, and 1..9 are various speed/size tradeoffs, 9 being
183 A boolean which enables the legacy object header format in case
184 you want to interoperate with old clients accessing the object
185 database directly (where the "http://" and "rsync://" protocols
186 count as direct access).
188 core.packedGitWindowSize::
189 Number of bytes of a pack file to map into memory in a
190 single mapping operation. Larger window sizes may allow
191 your system to process a smaller number of large pack files
192 more quickly. Smaller window sizes will negatively affect
193 performance due to increased calls to the operating system's
194 memory manager, but may improve performance when accessing
195 a large number of large pack files.
197 Default is 1 MiB if NO_MMAP was set at compile time, otherwise 32
198 MiB on 32 bit platforms and 1 GiB on 64 bit platforms. This should
199 be reasonable for all users/operating systems. You probably do
200 not need to adjust this value.
202 Common unit suffixes of 'k', 'm', or 'g' are supported.
204 core.packedGitLimit::
205 Maximum number of bytes to map simultaneously into memory
206 from pack files. If Git needs to access more than this many
207 bytes at once to complete an operation it will unmap existing
208 regions to reclaim virtual address space within the process.
210 Default is 256 MiB on 32 bit platforms and 8 GiB on 64 bit platforms.
211 This should be reasonable for all users/operating systems, except on
212 the largest projects. You probably do not need to adjust this value.
214 Common unit suffixes of 'k', 'm', or 'g' are supported.
217 Command aliases for the gitlink:git[1] command wrapper - e.g.
218 after defining "alias.last = cat-file commit HEAD", the invocation
219 "git last" is equivalent to "git cat-file commit HEAD". To avoid
220 confusion and troubles with script usage, aliases that
221 hide existing git commands are ignored. Arguments are split by
222 spaces, the usual shell quoting and escaping is supported.
223 quote pair and a backslash can be used to quote them.
226 Tells `git-apply` how to handle whitespaces, in the same way
227 as the '--whitespace' option. See gitlink:git-apply[1].
229 branch.<name>.remote::
230 When in branch <name>, it tells `git fetch` which remote to fetch.
231 If this option is not given, `git fetch` defaults to remote "origin".
233 branch.<name>.merge::
234 When in branch <name>, it tells `git fetch` the default refspec to
235 be marked for merging in FETCH_HEAD. The value has exactly to match
236 a remote part of one of the refspecs which are fetched from the remote
237 given by "branch.<name>.remote".
238 The merge information is used by `git pull` (which at first calls
239 `git fetch`) to lookup the default branch for merging. Without
240 this option, `git pull` defaults to merge the first refspec fetched.
241 Specify multiple values to get an octopus merge.
244 A boolean to enable/disable color in the output of
245 gitlink:git-branch[1]. May be set to `true` (or `always`),
246 `false` (or `never`) or `auto`, in which case colors are used
247 only when the output is to a terminal. Defaults to false.
249 color.branch.<slot>::
250 Use customized color for branch coloration. `<slot>` is one of
251 `current` (the current branch), `local` (a local branch),
252 `remote` (a tracking branch in refs/remotes/), `plain` (other
255 The value for these configuration variables is a list of colors (at most
256 two) and attributes (at most one), separated by spaces. The colors
257 accepted are `normal`, `black`, `red`, `green`, `yellow`, `blue`,
258 `magenta`, `cyan` and `white`; the attributes are `bold`, `dim`, `ul`,
259 `blink` and `reverse`. The first color given is the foreground; the
260 second is the background. The position of the attribute, if any,
264 When true (or `always`), always use colors in patch.
265 When false (or `never`), never. When set to `auto`, use
266 colors only when the output is to the terminal.
269 Use customized color for diff colorization. `<slot>` specifies
270 which part of the patch to use the specified color, and is one
271 of `plain` (context text), `meta` (metainformation), `frag`
272 (hunk header), `old` (removed lines), `new` (added lines),
273 `commit` (commit headers), or `whitespace` (highlighting dubious
274 whitespace). The values of these variables may be specified as
275 in color.branch.<slot>.
278 A boolean to enable/disable colored output when the pager is in
279 use (default is true).
282 A boolean to enable/disable color in the output of
283 gitlink:git-status[1]. May be set to `true` (or `always`),
284 `false` (or `never`) or `auto`, in which case colors are used
285 only when the output is to a terminal. Defaults to false.
287 color.status.<slot>::
288 Use customized color for status colorization. `<slot>` is
289 one of `header` (the header text of the status message),
290 `added` or `updated` (files which are added but not committed),
291 `changed` (files which are changed but not added in the index),
292 or `untracked` (files which are not tracked by git). The values of
293 these variables may be specified as in color.branch.<slot>.
296 The number of files to consider when performing the copy/rename
297 detection; equivalent to the git diff option '-l'.
300 Tells git to detect renames. If set to any boolean value, it
301 will enable basic rename detection. If set to "copies" or
302 "copy", it will detect copies, as well.
305 If the number of objects fetched over the git native
306 transfer is below this
307 limit, then the objects will be unpacked into loose object
308 files. However if the number of received objects equals or
309 exceeds this limit then the received pack will be stored as
310 a pack, after adding any missing delta bases. Storing the
311 pack from a push can make the push operation complete faster,
312 especially on slow filesystems.
315 Additional email headers to include in a patch to be submitted
316 by mail. See gitlink:git-format-patch[1].
319 `git reflog expire` removes reflog entries older than
320 this time; defaults to 90 days.
322 gc.reflogexpireunreachable::
323 `git reflog expire` removes reflog entries older than
324 this time and are not reachable from the current tip;
328 Records of conflicted merge you resolved earlier are
329 kept for this many days when `git rerere gc` is run.
330 The default is 60 days. See gitlink:git-rerere[1].
332 gc.rerereunresolved::
333 Records of conflicted merge you have not resolved are
334 kept for this many days when `git rerere gc` is run.
335 The default is 15 days. See gitlink:git-rerere[1].
338 Whether the cvs pserver interface is enabled for this repository.
339 See gitlink:git-cvsserver[1].
342 Path to a log file where the cvs pserver interface well... logs
343 various stuff. See gitlink:git-cvsserver[1].
346 Whether to verify the SSL certificate when fetching or pushing
347 over HTTPS. Can be overridden by the 'GIT_SSL_NO_VERIFY' environment
351 File containing the SSL certificate when fetching or pushing
352 over HTTPS. Can be overridden by the 'GIT_SSL_CERT' environment
356 File containing the SSL private key when fetching or pushing
357 over HTTPS. Can be overridden by the 'GIT_SSL_KEY' environment
361 File containing the certificates to verify the peer with when
362 fetching or pushing over HTTPS. Can be overridden by the
363 'GIT_SSL_CAINFO' environment variable.
366 Path containing files with the CA certificates to verify the peer
367 with when fetching or pushing over HTTPS. Can be overridden
368 by the 'GIT_SSL_CAPATH' environment variable.
371 How many HTTP requests to launch in parallel. Can be overridden
372 by the 'GIT_HTTP_MAX_REQUESTS' environment variable. Default is 5.
374 http.lowSpeedLimit, http.lowSpeedTime::
375 If the HTTP transfer speed is less than 'http.lowSpeedLimit'
376 for longer than 'http.lowSpeedTime' seconds, the transfer is aborted.
377 Can be overridden by the 'GIT_HTTP_LOW_SPEED_LIMIT' and
378 'GIT_HTTP_LOW_SPEED_TIME' environment variables.
381 A boolean which disables using of EPSV ftp command by curl.
382 This can helpful with some "poor" ftp servers which doesn't
383 support EPSV mode. Can be overridden by the 'GIT_CURL_FTP_NO_EPSV'
384 environment variable. Default is false (curl will use EPSV).
386 i18n.commitEncoding::
387 Character encoding the commit messages are stored in; git itself
388 does not care per se, but this information is necessary e.g. when
389 importing commits from emails or in the gitk graphical history
390 browser (and possibly at other places in the future or in other
391 porcelains). See e.g. gitlink:git-mailinfo[1]. Defaults to 'utf-8'.
393 i18n.logOutputEncoding::
394 Character encoding the commit messages are converted to when
395 running `git-log` and friends.
398 If true, the initial commit will be shown as a big creation event.
399 This is equivalent to a diff against an empty tree.
400 Tools like gitlink:git-log[1] or gitlink:git-whatchanged[1], which
401 normally hide the root commit will now show it. True by default.
404 Whether to include summaries of merged commits in newly created
405 merge commit messages. False by default.
408 Controls the amount of output shown by the recursive merge
409 strategy. Level 0 outputs nothing except a final error
410 message if conflicts were detected. Level 1 outputs only
411 conflicts, 2 outputs conflicts and file changes. Level 5 and
412 above outputs debugging information. The default is level 2.
415 The size of the window used by gitlink:git-pack-objects[1] when no
416 window size is given on the command line. Defaults to 10.
419 The default merge strategy to use when pulling multiple branches
423 The default merge strategy to use when pulling a single branch.
426 The URL of a remote repository. See gitlink:git-fetch[1] or
429 remote.<name>.fetch::
430 The default set of "refspec" for gitlink:git-fetch[1]. See
431 gitlink:git-fetch[1].
434 The default set of "refspec" for gitlink:git-push[1]. See
437 remote.<name>.receivepack::
438 The default program to execute on the remote side when pushing. See
439 option \--exec of gitlink:git-push[1].
441 remote.<name>.uploadpack::
442 The default program to execute on the remote side when fetching. See
443 option \--exec of gitlink:git-fetch-pack[1].
445 repack.usedeltabaseoffset::
446 Allow gitlink:git-repack[1] to create packs that uses
447 delta-base offset. Defaults to false.
450 The default gitlink:git-diff-tree[1] arguments to be used
451 for gitlink:git-show[1].
454 The default set of branches for gitlink:git-show-branch[1].
455 See gitlink:git-show-branch[1].
458 By default, gitlink:git-tar-tree[1] sets file and directories modes
459 to 0666 or 0777. While this is both useful and acceptable for projects
460 such as the Linux Kernel, it might be excessive for other projects.
461 With this variable, it becomes possible to tell
462 gitlink:git-tar-tree[1] to apply a specific umask to the modes above.
463 The special value "user" indicates that the user's current umask will
464 be used. This should be enough for most projects, as it will lead to
465 the same permissions as gitlink:git-checkout[1] would use. The default
466 value remains 0, which means world read-write.
469 Your email address to be recorded in any newly created commits.
470 Can be overridden by the 'GIT_AUTHOR_EMAIL' and 'GIT_COMMITTER_EMAIL'
471 environment variables. See gitlink:git-commit-tree[1].
474 Your full name to be recorded in any newly created commits.
475 Can be overridden by the 'GIT_AUTHOR_NAME' and 'GIT_COMMITTER_NAME'
476 environment variables. See gitlink:git-commit-tree[1].
479 If gitlink:git-tag[1] is not selecting the key you want it to
480 automatically when creating a signed tag, you can override the
481 default selection with this variable. This option is passed
482 unchanged to gpg's --local-user parameter, so you may specify a key
483 using any method that gpg supports.
485 whatchanged.difftree::
486 The default gitlink:git-diff-tree[1] arguments to be used
487 for gitlink:git-whatchanged[1].
490 The configuration variables in the 'imap' section are described
491 in gitlink:git-imap-send[1].
493 receive.unpackLimit::
494 If the number of objects received in a push is below this
495 limit then the objects will be unpacked into loose object
496 files. However if the number of received objects equals or
497 exceeds this limit then the received pack will be stored as
498 a pack, after adding any missing delta bases. Storing the
499 pack from a push can make the push operation complete faster,
500 especially on slow filesystems.
502 receive.denyNonFastForwards::
503 If set to true, git-receive-pack will deny a ref update which is
504 not a fast forward. Use this to prevent such an update via a push,
505 even if that push is forced. This configuration variable is
506 set when initializing a shared repository.
508 transfer.unpackLimit::
509 When `fetch.unpackLimit` or `receive.unpackLimit` are
510 not set, the value of this variable is used instead.