Documentation/git.txt

   1 git(7)
   2 ======
   3 v0.99.4, Aug 2005
   4
   5 NAME
   6 ----
   7 git - the stupid content tracker
   8
   9
  10 SYNOPSIS
  11 --------
  12 'git-<command>' <args>
  13
  14 DESCRIPTION
  15 -----------
  16
  17 This is reference information for the core git commands.
  18
  19 The Discussion section below contains much useful definition and
  20 clarification info - read that first.  And of the commands, I suggest
  21 reading link:git-update-cache.html[git-update-cache] and
  22 link:git-read-tree.html[git-read-tree] first - I wish I had!
  23
  24 David Greaves <david@dgreaves.com>
  25 08/05/05
  26
  27 Updated by Junio C Hamano <junkio@cox.net> on 2005-05-05 to
  28 reflect recent changes.
  29
  30 Commands Overview
  31 -----------------
  32 The git commands can helpfully be split into those that manipulate
  33 the repository, the cache and the working fileset, those that
  34 interrogate and compare them, and those that moves objects and
  35 references between repositories.
  36
  37 In addition, git itself comes with a spartan set of porcelain
  38 commands.  They are usable but are not meant to compete with real
  39 Porcelains.
  40
  41 There are also some ancillary programs that can be viewed as useful
  42 aids for using the core commands but which are unlikely to be used by
  43 SCMs layered over git.
  44
  45 Manipulation commands
  46 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
  47 link:git-checkout-cache.html[git-checkout-cache]::
  48         Copy files from the cache to the working directory
  49
  50 link:git-commit-tree.html[git-commit-tree]::
  51         Creates a new commit object
  52
  53 link:git-init-db.html[git-init-db]::
  54         Creates an empty git object database
  55
  56 link:git-merge-base.html[git-merge-base]::
  57         Finds as good a common ancestor as possible for a merge
  58
  59 link:git-mktag.html[git-mktag]::
  60         Creates a tag object
  61
  62 link:git-read-tree.html[git-read-tree]::
  63         Reads tree information into the directory cache
  64
  65 link:git-update-cache.html[git-update-cache]::
  66         Modifies the index or directory cache
  67
  68 link:git-hash-object.html[git-hash-object]::
  69         Computes the object ID from a file.
  70
  71 link:git-write-tree.html[git-write-tree]::
  72         Creates a tree from the current cache
  73
  74 link:git-pack-objects.html[git-pack-objects]::
  75         Creates a packed archive of objects.
  76
  77 link:git-unpack-objects.html[git-unpack-objects]::
  78         Unpacks objects out of a packed archive.
  79
  80 link:git-prune-packed.html[git-prune-packed]::
  81         Remove extra objects that are already in pack files.
  82
  83 link:git-apply.html[git-apply]::
  84         Reads a "diff -up1" or git generated patch file and
  85         applies it to the working tree.
  86
  87
  88 Interrogation commands
  89 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
  90 link:git-cat-file.html[git-cat-file]::
  91         Provide content or type information for repository objects
  92
  93 link:git-diff-cache.html[git-diff-cache]::
  94         Compares content and mode of blobs between the cache and repository
  95
  96 link:git-diff-files.html[git-diff-files]::
  97         Compares files in the working tree and the cache
  98
  99 link:git-diff-tree.html[git-diff-tree]::
 100         Compares the content and mode of blobs found via two tree objects
 101
 102 link:git-diff-stages.html[git-diff-stages]::
 103         Compares two "merge stages" in the index file.
 104
 105 link:git-export.html[git-export]::
 106         Exports each commit and a diff against each of its parents
 107
 108 link:git-fsck-cache.html[git-fsck-cache]::
 109         Verifies the connectivity and validity of the objects in the database
 110
 111 link:git-ls-files.html[git-ls-files]::
 112         Information about files in the cache/working directory
 113
 114 link:git-ls-tree.html[git-ls-tree]::
 115         Displays a tree object in human readable form
 116
 117 link:git-merge-cache.html[git-merge-cache]::
 118         Runs a merge for files needing merging
 119
 120 link:git-rev-list.html[git-rev-list]::
 121         Lists commit objects in reverse chronological order
 122
 123 link:git-rev-tree.html[git-rev-tree]::
 124         Provides the revision tree for one or more commits
 125
 126 link:git-tar-tree.html[git-tar-tree]::
 127         Creates a tar archive of the files in the named tree
 128
 129 link:git-unpack-file.html[git-unpack-file]::
 130         Creates a temporary file with a blob's contents
 131
 132 link:git-var.html[git-var]::
 133         Displays a git logical variable
 134
 135 link:git-show-index.html[git-show-index]::
 136         Displays contents of a pack idx file.
 137
 138 link:git-verify-pack.html[git-verify-pack]::
 139         Validates packed GIT archive files
 140
 141 The interrogate commands may create files - and you can force them to
 142 touch the working file set - but in general they don't
 143
 144
 145 Synching repositories
 146 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 147
 148 link:git-clone-script.html[git-clone-script]::
 149         Clones a repository into the current repository (user interface)
 150
 151 link:git-clone-pack.html[git-clone-pack]::
 152         Clones a repository into the current repository (engine
 153         for ssh and local transport)
 154
 155 link:git-http-pull.html[git-http-pull]::
 156         Downloads a remote GIT repository via HTTP
 157
 158 link:git-local-pull.html[git-local-pull]::
 159         Duplicates another GIT repository on a local system
 160
 161 link:git-ssh-pull.html[git-ssh-pull]::
 162         Pulls from a remote repository over ssh connection
 163
 164 link:git-send-pack.html[git-send-pack]::
 165         Pushes to a remote repository, intelligently.
 166
 167 link:git-receive-pack.html[git-receive-pack]::
 168         Invoked by 'git-send-pack' to receive what is pushed to it.
 169
 170 link:git-clone-pack.html[git-clone-pack]::
 171         Clones from a remote repository.
 172
 173 link:git-fetch-pack.html[git-fetch-pack]::
 174         Updates from a remote repository.
 175
 176 link:git-peek-remote.html[git-peek-remote]::
 177         Lists references on a remote repository using upload-pack protocol.
 178
 179 link:git-upload-pack.html[git-upload-pack]::
 180         Invoked by 'git-clone-pack' and 'git-fetch-pack' to push
 181         what are asked for.
 182
 183 link:git-update-server-info.html[git-update-server-info]::
 184         Updates auxiliary information on a dumb server to help
 185         clients discover references and packs on it.
 186
 187
 188 Porcelain-ish Commands
 189 ----------------------
 190 link:git-whatchanged.html[git-whatchanged]::
 191         Shows commit logs and differences they introduce.
 192
 193 link:git-log-script.html[git-log-script]::
 194         Shows commit logs.
 195
 196 link:git-shortlog.html[git-shortlog]::
 197         Summarizes 'git log' output.
 198
 199 link:git-status-script.html[git-status-script]::
 200         Shows the working tree status.
 201
 202 link:git-fetch-script.html[git-fetch-script]::
 203         Download from a remote repository via various protocols.
 204
 205 link:git-pull-script.html[git-pull-script]::
 206         Fetch from and merge with a remote repository.
 207
 208 link:git-commit-script.html[git-commit-script]::
 209         Record changes to the repository.
 210
 211 link:git-show-branches-script.html[git-show-branches-script]::
 212         Show branches and their commits.
 213
 214 link:git-repack-script.html[git-repack-script]::
 215         Pack unpacked objects in a repository.
 216
 217 link:git-rename-script.html[git-rename]::
 218         Rename files and directories.
 219
 220 link:git-ls-remote-script.html[git-ls-remote-script]::
 221         Shows references in a remote or local repository.
 222
 223
 224 Ancillary Commands
 225 ------------------
 226 Manipulators:
 227
 228 link:git-apply-patch-script.html[git-apply-patch-script]::
 229         Sample script to apply the diffs from git-diff-*
 230
 231 link:git-convert-cache.html[git-convert-cache]::
 232         Converts old-style GIT repository
 233
 234 link:git-merge-one-file-script.html[git-merge-one-file-script]::
 235         The standard helper program to use with "git-merge-cache"
 236
 237 link:git-prune-script.html[git-prune-script]::
 238         Prunes all unreachable objects from the object database
 239
 240 link:git-resolve-script.html[git-resolve-script]::
 241         Script used to merge two trees
 242
 243 link:git-tag-script.html[git-tag-script]::
 244         An example script to create a tag object signed with GPG
 245
 246 link:git-cvsimport-script.html[git-cvsimport-script]::
 247         Salvage your data out of another SCM people love to hate.
 248
 249
 250 Interrogators:
 251
 252 link:git-diff-helper.html[git-diff-helper]::
 253         Generates patch format output for git-diff-*
 254
 255 link:git-ssh-push.html[git-ssh-push]::
 256         Helper "server-side" program used by git-ssh-pull
 257
 258 link:git-send-email-script.html[git-send-email]::
 259         Send patch e-mails out of "format-patch --mbox" output.
 260
 261
 262 Identifier Terminology
 263 ----------------------
 264 <object>::
 265         Indicates the sha1 identifier for any type of object
 266
 267 <blob>::
 268         Indicates a blob object sha1 identifier
 269
 270 <tree>::
 271         Indicates a tree object sha1 identifier
 272
 273 <commit>::
 274         Indicates a commit object sha1 identifier
 275
 276 <tree-ish>::
 277         Indicates a tree, commit or tag object sha1 identifier.  A
 278         command that takes a <tree-ish> argument ultimately wants to
 279         operate on a <tree> object but automatically dereferences
 280         <commit> and <tag> objects that point at a <tree>.
 281
 282 <type>::
 283         Indicates that an object type is required.
 284         Currently one of: blob/tree/commit/tag
 285
 286 <file>::
 287         Indicates a filename - always relative to the root of
 288         the tree structure GIT_INDEX_FILE describes.
 289
 290 Symbolic Identifiers
 291 --------------------
 292 Any git command accepting any <object> can also use the following
 293 symbolic notation:
 294
 295 HEAD::
 296         indicates the head of the repository (ie the contents of
 297         `$GIT_DIR/HEAD`)
 298 <tag>::
 299         a valid tag 'name'+
 300         (ie the contents of `$GIT_DIR/refs/tags/<tag>`)
 301 <head>::
 302         a valid head 'name'+
 303         (ie the contents of `$GIT_DIR/refs/heads/<head>`)
 304 <snap>::
 305         a valid snapshot 'name'+
 306         (ie the contents of `$GIT_DIR/refs/snap/<snap>`)
 307
 308
 309 File/Directory Structure
 310 ------------------------
 311 The git-core manipulates the following areas in the directory:
 312
 313  .git/         The base (overridden with $GIT_DIR)
 314    objects/    The object base (overridden with $GIT_OBJECT_DIRECTORY)
 315      ??/       'First 2 chars of object' directories.
 316      pack/     Packed archives.
 317
 318    refs/       Directories containing symbolic names for objects
 319                (each file contains the hex SHA1 + newline)
 320      heads/    Commits which are heads of various sorts
 321      tags/     Tags, by the tag name (or some local renaming of it)
 322      */        Any other subdirectory of refs/ can be used to store
 323                files similar to what are under refs/heads/.
 324    HEAD        Symlink to refs/heads/<current-branch-name>
 325
 326 Higher level SCMs may provide and manage additional information in the
 327 GIT_DIR.
 328
 329 Terminology
 330 -----------
 331 Each line contains terms which you may see used interchangeably
 332
 333  object database, .git directory
 334  directory cache, index
 335  id, sha1, sha1-id, sha1 hash
 336  type, tag
 337
 338
 339 Environment Variables
 340 ---------------------
 341 Various git commands use the following environment variables:
 342
 343 The git Repository
 344 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 345 These environment variables apply to 'all' core git commands. Nb: it
 346 is worth noting that they may be used/overridden by SCMS sitting above
 347 git so take care if using Cogito etc
 348
 349 'GIT_INDEX_FILE'::
 350         This environment allows the specification of an alternate
 351         cache/index file. If not specified, the default of
 352         `$GIT_DIR/index` is used.
 353
 354 'GIT_OBJECT_DIRECTORY'::
 355         If the object storage directory is specified via this
 356         environment variable then the sha1 directories are created
 357         underneath - otherwise the default `$GIT_DIR/objects`
 358         directory is used.
 359
 360 'GIT_ALTERNATE_OBJECT_DIRECTORIES'::
 361         Due to the immutable nature of git objects, old objects can be
 362         archived into shared, read-only directories. This variable
 363         specifies a ":" separated list of git object directories which
 364         can be used to search for git objects. New objects will not be
 365         written to these directories.
 366
 367 'GIT_DIR'::
 368         If the 'GIT_DIR' environment variable is set then it specifies
 369         a path to use instead of `./.git` for the base of the
 370         repository.
 371
 372 git Commits
 373 ~~~~~~~~~~~
 374 'GIT_AUTHOR_NAME'::
 375 'GIT_AUTHOR_EMAIL'::
 376 'GIT_AUTHOR_DATE'::
 377 'GIT_COMMITTER_NAME'::
 378 'GIT_COMMITTER_EMAIL'::
 379         see link:git-commit-tree.html[git-commit-tree]
 380
 381 git Diffs
 382 ~~~~~~~~~
 383 'GIT_DIFF_OPTS'::
 384 'GIT_EXTERNAL_DIFF'::
 385         see the "generating patches" section in :
 386         link:git-diff-cache.html[git-diff-cache];
 387         link:git-diff-files.html[git-diff-files];
 388         link:git-diff-tree.html[git-diff-tree]
 389
 390 Discussion
 391 ----------
 392 include::../README[]
 393
 394 Author
 395 ------
 396 Written by Linus Torvalds <torvalds@osdl.org> and the git-list <git@vger.kernel.org>.
 397
 398 Documentation
 399 --------------
 400 Documentation by David Greaves, Junio C Hamano and the git-list <git@vger.kernel.org>.
 401
 402 GIT
 403 ---
 404 Part of the link:git.html[git] suite
 405