1 ifndef::doctype-manpage[]
4 Jonas Fonseca <fonseca@diku.dk>
5 endif::doctype-manpage[]
7 This is the manual for tig, the ncurses-based text-mode interface for git.
8 Tig allows you to browse changes in a git repository and can additionally act
9 as a pager for output of various git commands. When used as a pager, it will
10 display input from stdin and colorize it.
12 When browsing repositories, tig uses the underlying git commands to present
13 the user with various views, such as summarized commit log and showing the
14 commit with the log message, diffstat, and the diff.
16 ifndef::backend-docbook[]
20 endif::backend-docbook[]
22 [[calling-conventions]]
30 If stdin is a pipe, any log or diff options will be ignored and the pager view
31 will be opened loading data from stdin. The pager mode can be used for
32 colorizing output from various git commands.
34 Example on how to colorize the output of git-show(1):
36 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
38 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
44 All git command options specified on the command line will be passed to the
45 given command and all will be shell quoted before they are passed to the
48 NOTE: If you specify options for the main view, you should not use the
49 `--pretty` option as this option will be set automatically to the format
50 expected by the main view.
52 Example on how to view a commit and show both author and committer
55 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
56 $ tig show --pretty=fuller
57 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
59 See the section on <<refspec, specifying revisions>> for an introduction to
60 revision options supported by the git commands. For details on specific git
61 command options, refer to the man page of the command in question.
67 The display consists of a status window on the last line of the screen and one
68 or more views. The default is to only show one view at the time but it is
69 possible to split both the main and log view to also show the commit diff.
71 If you are in the log view and press 'Enter' when the current line is a commit
74 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
75 commit 4d55caff4cc89335192f3e566004b4ceef572521
76 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
78 You will split the view so that the log view is displayed in the top window
79 and the diff view in the bottom window. You can switch between the two views
80 by pressing 'Tab'. To maximize the log view again, simply press 'l'.
86 Various 'views' of a repository is presented. Each view is based on output
87 from an external command, most often 'git log', 'git diff', or 'git show'.
90 Is the default view, and it shows a one line summary of each commit
91 in the chosen list of revisions. The summary includes commit date,
92 author, and the first line of the log message. Additionally, any
93 repository references, such as tags, will be shown.
96 Presents a more rich view of the revision log showing the whole log
97 message and the diffstat.
100 Shows either the diff of the current working tree, that is, what
101 has changed since the last commit, or the commit diff complete
102 with log message, diffstat and diff.
105 Lists directory trees associated with the current revision allowing
106 subdirectories to be descended or ascended and file blobs to be
110 Displays the file content or "blob" of data associated with a file
114 Displays the file content annotated or blamed by commits.
117 Displays the branches in the repository.
120 Displays status of files in the working tree and allows changes to be
121 staged/unstaged as well as adding of untracked files.
124 Displays diff changes for staged or unstanged files being tracked or
125 file content of untracked files.
128 Is used for displaying both input from stdin and output from git
129 commands entered in the internal prompt.
132 Displays a quick reference of key bindings.
135 Browsing State and User-defined Commands
136 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
138 The viewer keeps track of both what head and commit ID you are currently
139 viewing. The commit ID will follow the cursor line and change every time you
140 highlight a different commit. Whenever you reopen the diff view it will be
141 reloaded, if the commit ID changed. The head ID is used when opening the main
142 and log view to indicate from what revision to show history.
144 Some of the commands used or provided by tig can be configured. This goes for
145 some of the <<env-variables, environment variables>> as well as the
146 <<external-commands, external commands>>. These user-defined commands can use
147 arguments that refer to the current browsing state by using one of the
150 .Browsing state variables
151 [frame="none",grid="none",cols="25<m,75<"]
152 |=============================================================================
153 |%(head) |The currently viewed 'head' ID. Defaults to HEAD
154 |%(commit) |The currently selected commit ID.
155 |%(blob) |The currently selected blob ID.
156 |%(branch) |The currently selected branch name.
157 |%(directory) |The current directory path in the tree view;
158 empty for the root directory.
159 |%(file) |The currently selected file.
160 |%(ref) |The reference given to blame or HEAD if undefined.
161 |%(rev-args) |The revision arguments passed on the command line.
162 |%(file-args) |The file arguments passed on the command line.
163 |%(diff-args) |The diff options passed on the command line.
164 |=============================================================================
170 Each view has a title window which shows the name of the view, current commit
171 ID if available, and where the view is positioned:
173 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
174 [main] c622eefaa485995320bc743431bae0d497b1d875 - commit 1 of 61 (1%)
175 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
177 By default, the title of the current view is highlighted using bold font. For
178 long loading views (taking over 3 seconds) the time since loading started will
181 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
182 [main] 77d9e40fbcea3238015aea403e06f61542df9a31 - commit 1 of 779 (0%) 5s
183 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
186 Environment Variables
187 ---------------------
189 Several options related to the interface with git can be configured via
192 [[configuration-files]]
196 Upon startup, tig first reads the system wide configuration file
197 (`{sysconfdir}/tigrc` by default) and then proceeds to read the user's
198 configuration file (`~/.tigrc` by default). The paths to either of these files
199 can be overridden through the following environment variables:
202 Path of the user configuration file.
205 Path of the system wide configuration file.
208 Repository References
209 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
211 Commits that are referenced by tags and branch heads will be marked by the
212 reference name surrounded by '[' and ']':
214 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
215 2006-03-26 19:42 Petr Baudis | [cogito-0.17.1] Cogito 0.17.1
216 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
218 If you want to filter what branches gets shown, say limit to only show
219 branches named `master` or which starts with the `jf/` prefix, you can
220 do it by setting the following variable:
222 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
223 $ TIG_LS_REMOTE="git ls-remote . master jf/*" tig
224 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
226 Or set the variable permanently in your environment.
232 Set command for retrieving all repository references. The command
233 should output data in the same format as git-ls-remote(1). Defaults
235 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
237 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
245 It is possible to alter which commands are used for the different views. If
246 for example you prefer commits in the main view to be sorted by date and only
247 show 500 commits, use:
249 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
250 $ TIG_MAIN_CMD="git log --date-order -n500 --pretty=raw %(head)" tig
251 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
253 Or set the variable permanently in your environment.
255 Notice, how `%(head)` is used to specify the commit reference.
261 The command used for the diff view. Defaults to:
262 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
263 git show --pretty=fuller --no-color --root
264 --patch-with-stat --find-copies-harder -C %(commit)
265 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
269 The command used for the log view. If you prefer to have both
270 author and committer shown in the log view be sure to pass
271 `--pretty=fuller` to git log. Defaults to:
272 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
273 git log --no-color --cc --stat -n100 %(head)
274 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
278 The command used for the main view. Note, you must always specify
279 the option: `--pretty=raw` since the main view parser expects to
281 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
282 git log --no-color --pretty=raw --parents --topo-order %(head)
283 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
295 The command used for the tree view. Defaults to:
296 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
297 git ls-tree %(commit) %(directory)
298 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
302 The command used for the blob view. Defaults to:
303 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
304 git cat-file blob %(blob)
305 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
312 Below the default key bindings are shown.
318 [frame="none",grid="none",cols="2<,8<",options="header"]
319 |=============================================================================
321 |m |Switch to main view.
322 |d |Switch to diff view.
323 |l |Switch to log view.
324 |p |Switch to pager view.
325 |t |Switch to (directory) tree view.
326 |f |Switch to (file) blob view.
327 |B |Switch to blame view.
328 |H |Switch to branch view.
329 |h |Switch to help view
330 |S |Switch to status view
331 |c |Switch to stage view
332 |=============================================================================
334 [[view-manipulation]]
338 [frame="none",grid="none",cols="2<,8<",options="header"]
339 |=============================================================================
341 |q |Close view, if multiple views are open it will jump back to the
342 previous view in the view stack. If it is the last open view it
343 will quit. Use 'Q' to quit all views at once.
344 |Enter |This key is "context sensitive" depending on what view you are
345 currently in. When in log view on a commit line or in the main
346 view, split the view and show the commit diff. In the diff view
347 pressing Enter will simply scroll the view one line down.
348 |Tab |Switch to next view.
349 |R |Reload and refresh the current view.
350 |M |Maximize the current view to fill the whole display.
351 |Up |This key is "context sensitive" and will move the cursor one
352 line up. However, if you opened a diff view from the main view
353 (split- or full-screen) it will change the cursor to point to
354 the previous commit in the main view and update the diff view
356 |Down |Similar to 'Up' but will move down.
357 |, |Move to parent. In the tree view, this means switch to the parent
358 directory. In the blame view it will load blame for the parent
359 commit. For merges the parent is queried.
360 |=============================================================================
363 View Specific Actions
364 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
366 [frame="none",grid="none",cols="2<,8<",options="header"]
367 |=============================================================================
369 |u |Update status of file. In the status view, this allows you to add an
370 untracked file or stage changes to a file for next commit (similar to
371 running git-add <filename>). In the stage view, when pressing this on
372 a diff chunk line stages only that chunk for next commit, when not on
373 a diff chunk line all changes in the displayed diff is staged.
374 |M |Resolve unmerged file by launching git-mergetool(1). Note, to work
375 correctly this might require some initial configuration of your
376 preferred merge tool. See the manpage of git-mergetool(1).
377 |! |Checkout file with unstaged changes. This will reset the file to
378 contain the content it had at last commit.
379 |@ |Move to next chunk in the stage view.
380 |=============================================================================
386 [frame="none",grid="none",cols="2<,8<",options="header"]
387 |=============================================================================
389 |k |Move cursor one line up.
390 |j |Move cursor one line down.
391 |PgUp,-,a |Move cursor one page up.
392 |PgDown, Space |Move cursor one page down.
393 |End |Jump to last line.
394 |Home |Jump to first line.
395 |=============================================================================
401 [frame="none",grid="none",cols="2<,8<",options="header"]
402 |=============================================================================
404 |Insert |Scroll view one line up.
405 |Delete |Scroll view one line down.
406 |w |Scroll view one page up.
407 |s |Scroll view one page down.
408 |Left |Scroll view one column left.
409 |Right |Scroll view one column right.
410 |=============================================================================
416 [frame="none",grid="none",cols="2<,8<",options="header"]
417 |=============================================================================
419 |/ |Search the view. Opens a prompt for entering search regexp to use.
420 |? |Search backwards in the view. Also prompts for regexp.
421 |n |Find next match for the current search regexp.
422 |N |Find previous match for the current search regexp.
423 |=============================================================================
429 [frame="none",grid="none",cols="2<,8<",options="header"]
430 |=============================================================================
434 |z |Stop all background loading. This can be useful if you use
435 tig in a repository with a long history without limiting
439 |. |Toggle line numbers on/off.
440 |D |Toggle date display on/off/short/relative/local.
441 |A |Toggle author display on/off/abbreviated.
442 |g |Toggle revision graph visualization on/off.
443 |F |Toggle reference display on/off (tag and branch names).
444 |: |Open prompt. This allows you to specify what git command
445 to run. Example `:log -p`. You can also use this to jump
446 to a specific line by typing `:<linenumber>`, e.g. `:80`.
447 |e |Open file in editor.
448 |=============================================================================
450 [[external-commands]]
454 For more custom needs, external commands provide a way to easily execute
455 a script or program. They are bound to keys and use information from the
456 current browsing state, such as the current commit ID. Tig comes with
457 the following built-in external commands:
459 [frame="none",grid="none",cols="1<,1<,8<",options="header"]
460 |=============================================================================
462 |main |C |git cherry-pick %(commit)
463 |status |C |git commit
465 |=============================================================================
468 Revision Specification
469 ----------------------
471 This section describes various ways to specify what revisions to display or
472 otherwise limit the view to. Tig does not itself parse the described
473 revision options so refer to the relevant git man pages for further
474 information. Relevant man pages besides git-log(1) are git-diff(1) and
477 You can tune the interaction with git by making use of the options explained
478 in this section. For example, by configuring the environment variables
479 described in the section on <<history-commands, history commands>>.
485 If you are interested only in those revisions that made changes to a specific
486 file (or even several files) list the files like this:
488 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
489 $ tig Makefile README
490 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
492 To avoid ambiguity with tig's subcommands or repository references such as tag
493 name, be sure to separate file names from other git options using "`--`". So if
494 you have a file named 'status' it will clash with the 'status' subcommand, and
495 thus you will have to use:
497 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
499 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
501 [[date-number-limiting]]
502 Limit by Date or Number
503 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
505 To speed up interaction with git, you can limit the amount of commits to show
506 both for the log and main view. Either limit by date using e.g.
507 `--since=1.month` or limit by the number of commits using `-n400`.
509 If you are only interested in changed that happened between two dates you can
512 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
513 $ tig --after="May 5th" --before="2006-05-16 15:44"
514 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
516 NOTE: If you want to avoid having to quote dates containing spaces you can use
517 "." instead, e.g. `--after=May.5th`.
519 [[commit-range-limiting]]
520 Limiting by Commit Ranges
521 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
523 Alternatively, commits can be limited to a specific range, such as "all
524 commits between 'tag-1.0' and 'tag-2.0'". For example:
526 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
527 $ tig tag-1.0..tag-2.0
528 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
530 This way of commit limiting makes it trivial to only browse the commits which
531 haven't been pushed to a remote branch. Assuming 'origin' is your upstream
532 remote branch, using:
534 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
536 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
538 will list what will be pushed to the remote branch. Optionally, the ending
539 'HEAD' can be left out since it is implied.
541 [[reachability-limiting]]
542 Limiting by Reachability
543 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
545 Git interprets the range specifier "tag-1.0..tag-2.0" as "all commits
546 reachable from 'tag-2.0' but not from 'tag-1.0'". Where reachability refers
547 to what commits are ancestors (or part of the history) of the branch or tagged
548 revision in question.
550 If you prefer to specify which commit to preview in this way use the
553 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
554 $ tig tag-2.0 ^tag-1.0
555 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
557 You can think of '^' as a negation operator. Using this alternate syntax, it
558 is possible to further prune commits by specifying multiple branch cut offs.
561 Combining Revisions Specification
562 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
564 Revisions options can to some degree be combined, which makes it possible to
565 say "show at most 20 commits from within the last month that changed files
566 under the Documentation/ directory."
568 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
569 $ tig --since=1.month -n20 -- Documentation/
570 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
573 Examining All Repository References
574 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
576 In some cases, it can be useful to query changes across all references in a
577 repository. An example is to ask "did any line of development in this
578 repository change a particular file within the last week". This can be
581 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
582 $ tig --all --since=1.week -- Makefile
583 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
591 Copyright (c) 2006-2010 Jonas Fonseca <fonseca@diku.dk>
593 This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
594 it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
595 the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or
596 (at your option) any later version.
599 References and Related Tools
600 ----------------------------