git(1)
======
NAME
----
git - the stupid content tracker
SYNOPSIS
--------
[verse]
'git' [-v | --version] [-h | --help] [-C <path>] [-c <name>=<value>]
[--exec-path[=<path>]] [--html-path] [--man-path] [--info-path]
[-p | --paginate | -P | --no-pager] [--no-replace-objects] [--no-lazy-fetch]
[--no-optional-locks] [--no-advice] [--bare] [--git-dir=<path>]
[--work-tree=<path>] [--namespace=<name>] [--config-env=<name>=<envvar>]
<command> [<args>]
DESCRIPTION
-----------
Git is a fast, scalable, distributed revision control system with an
unusually rich command set that provides both high-level operations
and full access to internals.
See linkgit:gittutorial[7] to get started, then see
linkgit:giteveryday[7] for a useful minimum set of
commands. The link:user-manual.html[Git User's Manual] has a more
in-depth introduction.
After you mastered the basic concepts, you can come back to this
page to learn what commands Git offers. You can learn more about
individual Git commands with "git help command". linkgit:gitcli[7]
manual page gives you an overview of the command-line command syntax.
A formatted and hyperlinked copy of the latest Git documentation
can be viewed at https://git.github.io/htmldocs/git.html
or https://git-scm.com/docs.
OPTIONS
-------
-v::
--version::
Prints the Git suite version that the 'git' program came from.
+
This option is internally converted to `git version ...` and accepts
the same options as the linkgit:git-version[1] command. If `--help` is
also given, it takes precedence over `--version`.
-h::
--help::
Prints the synopsis and a list of the most commonly used
commands. If the option `--all` or `-a` is given then all
available commands are printed. If a Git command is named this
option will bring up the manual page for that command.
+
Other options are available to control how the manual page is
displayed. See linkgit:git-help[1] for more information,
because `git --help ...` is converted internally into `git
help ...`.
-C <path>::
Run as if git was started in '<path>' instead of the current working
directory. When multiple `-C` options are given, each subsequent
non-absolute `-C <path>` is interpreted relative to the preceding `-C
<path>`. If '<path>' is present but empty, e.g. `-C ""`, then the
current working directory is left unchanged.
+
This option affects options that expect path name like `--git-dir` and
`--work-tree` in that their interpretations of the path names would be
made relative to the working directory caused by the `-C` option. For
example the following invocations are equivalent:
git --git-dir=a.git --work-tree=b -C c status
git --git-dir=c/a.git --work-tree=c/b status
-c <name>=<value>::
Pass a configuration parameter to the command. The value
given will override values from configuration files.
The <name> is expected in the same format as listed by
'git config' (subkeys separated by dots).
+
Note that omitting the `=` in `git -c foo.bar ...` is allowed and sets
`foo.bar` to the boolean true value (just like `[foo]bar` would in a
config file). Including the equals but with an empty value (like `git -c
foo.bar= ...`) sets `foo.bar` to the empty string which `git config
--type=bool` will convert to `false`.
--config-env=<name>=<envvar>::
Like `-c <name>=<value>`, give configuration variable
'<name>' a value, where <envvar> is the name of an
environment variable from which to retrieve the value. Unlike
`-c` there is no shortcut for directly setting the value to an
empty string, instead the environment variable itself must be
set to the empty string. It is an error if the `<envvar>` does not exist
in the environment. `<envvar>` may not contain an equals sign
to avoid ambiguity with `<name>` containing one.
+
This is useful for cases where you want to pass transitory
configuration options to git, but are doing so on operating systems
where other processes might be able to read your command line
(e.g. `/proc/self/cmdline`), but not your environment
(e.g. `/proc/self/environ`). That behavior is the default on
Linux, but may not be on your system.
+
Note that this might add security for variables such as
`http.extraHeader` where the sensitive information is part of
the value, but not e.g. `url.<base>.insteadOf` where the
sensitive information can be part of the key.
--exec-path[=<path>]::
Path to wherever your core Git programs are installed.
This can also be controlled by setting the GIT_EXEC_PATH
environment variable. If no path is given, 'git' will print
the current setting and then exit.
--html-path::
Print the path, without trailing slash, where Git's HTML
documentation is installed and exit.
--man-path::
Print the manpath (see `man(1)`) for the man pages for
this version of Git and exit.
--info-path::
Print the path where the Info files documenting this
version of Git are installed and exit.
-p::
--paginate::
Pipe all output into 'less' (or if set, $PAGER) if standard
output is a terminal. This overrides the `pager.<cmd>`
configuration options (see the "Configuration Mechanism" section
below).
-P::
--no-pager::
Do not pipe Git output into a pager.
--git-dir=<path>::
Set the path to the repository (".git" directory). This can also be
controlled by setting the `GIT_DIR` environment variable. It can be
an absolute path or relative path to current working directory.
+
Specifying the location of the ".git" directory using this
option (or `GIT_DIR` environment variable) turns off the
repository discovery that tries to find a directory with
".git" subdirectory (which is how the repository and the
top-level of the working tree are discovered), and tells Git
that you are at the top level of the working tree. If you
are not at the top-level directory of the working tree, you
should tell Git where the top-level of the working tree is,
with the `--work-tree=<path>` option (or `GIT_WORK_TREE`
environment variable)
+
If you just want to run git as if it was started in `<path>` then use
`git -C <path>`.
--work-tree=<path>::
Set the path to the working tree. It can be an absolute path
or a path relative to the current working directory.
This can also be controlled by setting the GIT_WORK_TREE
environment variable and the core.worktree configuration
variable (see core.worktree in linkgit:git-config[1] for a
more detailed discussion).
--namespace=<path>::
Set the Git namespace. See linkgit:gitnamespaces[7] for more
details. Equivalent to setting the `GIT_NAMESPACE` environment
variable.
--bare::
Treat the repository as a bare repository. If GIT_DIR
environment is not set, it is set to the current working
directory.
--no-replace-objects::
Do not use replacement refs to replace Git objects.
This is equivalent to exporting the `GIT_NO_REPLACE_OBJECTS`
environment variable with any value.
See linkgit:git-replace[1] for more information.
--no-lazy-fetch::
Do not fetch missing objects from the promisor remote on
demand. Useful together with `git cat-file -e <object>` to
see if the object is locally available.
This is equivalent to setting the `GIT_NO_LAZY_FETCH`
environment variable to `1`.
--no-optional-locks::
Do not perform optional operations that require locks. This is
equivalent to setting the `GIT_OPTIONAL_LOCKS` to `0`.
--no-advice::
Disable all advice hints from being printed.
--literal-pathspecs::
Treat pathspecs literally (i.e. no globbing, no pathspec magic).
This is equivalent to setting the `GIT_LITERAL_PATHSPECS` environment
variable to `1`.
--glob-pathspecs::
Add "glob" magic to all pathspec. This is equivalent to setting
the `GIT_GLOB_PATHSPECS` environment variable to `1`. Disabling
globbing on individual pathspecs can be done using pathspec
magic ":(literal)"
--noglob-pathspecs::
Add "literal" magic to all pathspec. This is equivalent to setting
the `GIT_NOGLOB_PATHSPECS` environment variable to `1`. Enabling
globbing on individual pathspecs can be done using pathspec
magic ":(glob)"
--icase-pathspecs::
Add "icase" magic to all pathspec. This is equivalent to setting
the `GIT_ICASE_PATHSPECS` environment variable to `1`.
--list-cmds=<group>[,<group>...]::
List commands by group. This is an internal/experimental
option and may change or be removed in the future. Supported
groups are: builtins, parseopt (builtin commands that use
parse-options), main (all commands in libexec directory),
others (all other commands in `$PATH` that have git- prefix),
list-<category> (see categories in command-list.txt),
nohelpers (exclude helper commands), alias and config
(retrieve command list from config variable completion.commands)
--attr-source=<tree-ish>::
Read gitattributes from <tree-ish> instead of the worktree. See
linkgit:gitattributes[5]. This is equivalent to setting the
`GIT_ATTR_SOURCE` environment variable.
GIT COMMANDS
------------
We divide Git into high level ("porcelain") commands and low level
("plumbing") commands.
High-level commands (porcelain)
-------------------------------
We separate the porcelain commands into the main commands and some
ancillary user utilities.
Main porcelain commands
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
include::cmds-mainporcelain.txt[]
Ancillary Commands
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Manipulators:
include::cmds-ancillarymanipulators.txt[]
Interrogators:
include::cmds-ancillaryinterrogators.txt[]
Interacting with Others
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
These commands are to interact with foreign SCM and with other
people via patch over e-mail.
include::cmds-foreignscminterface.txt[]
Reset, restore and revert
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
There are three commands with similar names: `git reset`,
`git restore` and `git revert`.
* linkgit:git-revert[1] is about making a new commit that reverts the
changes made by other commits.
* linkgit:git-restore[1] is about restoring files in the working tree
from either the index or another commit. This command does not
update your branch. The command can also be used to restore files in
the index from another commit.
* linkgit:git-reset[1] is about updating your branch, moving the tip
in order to add or remove commits from the branch. This operation
changes the commit history.
+
`git reset` can also be used to restore the index, overlapping with
`git restore`.
Low-level commands (plumbing)
-----------------------------
Although Git includes its
own porcelain layer, its low-level commands are sufficient to support
development of alternative porcelains. Developers of such porcelains
might start by reading about linkgit:git-update-index[1] and
linkgit:git-read-tree[1].
The interface (input, output, set of options and the semantics)
to these low-level commands are meant to be a lot more stable
than Porcelain level commands, because these commands are
primarily for scripted use. The interface to Porcelain commands
on the other hand are subject to change in order to improve the
end user experience.
The following description divides
the low-level commands into commands that manipulate objects (in
the repository, index, and working tree), commands that interrogate and
compare objects, and commands that move objects and references between
repositories.
Manipulation commands
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
include::cmds-plumbingmanipulators.txt[]
Interrogation commands
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
include::cmds-plumbinginterrogators.txt[]
In general, the interrogate commands do not touch the files in
the working tree.
Syncing repositories
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
include::cmds-synchingrepositories.txt[]
The following are helper commands used by the above; end users
typically do not use them directly.
include::cmds-synchelpers.txt[]
Internal helper commands
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
These are internal helper commands used by other commands; end
users typically do not use them directly.
include::cmds-purehelpers.txt[]
Guides
------
The following documentation pages are guides about Git concepts.
include::cmds-guide.txt[]
Repository, command and file interfaces
---------------------------------------
This documentation discusses repository and command interfaces which
users are expected to interact with directly. See `--user-formats` in
linkgit:git-help[1] for more details on the criteria.
include::cmds-userinterfaces.txt[]
File formats, protocols and other developer interfaces
------------------------------------------------------
This documentation discusses file formats, over-the-wire protocols and
other git developer interfaces. See `--developer-interfaces` in
linkgit:git-help[1].
include::cmds-developerinterfaces.txt[]
Configuration Mechanism
-----------------------
Git uses a simple text format to store customizations that are per
repository and are per user. Such a configuration file may look
like this:
------------
#
# A '#' or ';' character indicates a comment.
#
; core variables
[core]
; Don't trust file modes
filemode = false
; user identity
[user]
name = "Junio C Hamano"
email = "[email protected]"
------------
Various commands read from the configuration file and adjust
their operation accordingly. See linkgit:git-config[1] for a
list and more details about the configuration mechanism.
Identifier Terminology
----------------------
<object>::
Indicates the object name for any type of object.
<blob>::
Indicates a blob object name.
<tree>::
Indicates a tree object name.
<commit>::
Indicates a commit object name.
<tree-ish>::
Indicates a tree, commit or tag object name. A
command that takes a <tree-ish> argument ultimately wants to
operate on a <tree> object but automatically dereferences
<commit> and <tag> objects that point at a <tree>.
<commit-ish>::
Indicates a commit or tag object name. A
command that takes a <commit-ish> argument ultimately wants to
operate on a <commit> object but automatically dereferences
<tag> objects that point at a <commit>.
<type>::
Indicates that an object type is required.
Currently one of: `blob`, `tree`, `commit`, or `tag`.
<file>::
Indicates a filename - almost always relative to the
root of the tree structure `GIT_INDEX_FILE` describes.
Symbolic Identifiers
--------------------
Any Git command accepting any <object> can also use the following
symbolic notation:
HEAD::
indicates the head of the current branch.
<tag>::
a valid tag 'name'
(i.e. a `refs/tags/<tag>` reference).
<head>::
a valid head 'name'
(i.e. a `refs/heads/<head>` reference).
For a more complete list of ways to spell object names, see
"SPECIFYING REVISIONS" section in linkgit:gitrevisions[7].
File/Directory Structure
------------------------
Please see the linkgit:gitrepository-layout[5] document.
Read linkgit:githooks[5] for more details about each hook.
Higher level SCMs may provide and manage additional information in the
`$GIT_DIR`.
Terminology
-----------
Please see linkgit:gitglossary[7].
Environment Variables
---------------------
Various Git commands pay attention to environment variables and change
their behavior. The environment variables marked as "Boolean" take
their values the same way as Boolean valued configuration variables, e.g.
"true", "yes", "on" and positive numbers are taken as "yes".
Here are the variables:
The Git Repository
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
These environment variables apply to 'all' core Git commands. Nb: it
is worth noting that they may be used/overridden by SCMS sitting above
Git so take care if using a foreign front-end.
`GIT_INDEX_FILE`::
This environment variable specifies an alternate
index file. If not specified, the default of `$GIT_DIR/index`
is used.
`GIT_INDEX_VERSION`::
This environment variable specifies what index version is used
when writing the index file out. It won't affect existing index
files. By default index file version 2 or 3 is used. See
linkgit:git-update-index[1] for more information.
`GIT_OBJECT_DIRECTORY`::
If the object storage directory is specified via this
environment variable then the sha1 directories are created
underneath - otherwise the default `$GIT_DIR/objects`
directory is used.
`GIT_ALTERNATE_OBJECT_DIRECTORIES`::
Due to the immutable nature of Git objects, old objects can be
archived into shared, read-only directories. This variable
specifies a ":" separated (on Windows ";" separated) list
of Git object directories which can be used to search for Git
objects. New objects will not be written to these directories.
+
Entries that begin with `"` (double-quote) will be interpreted
as C-style quoted paths, removing leading and trailing
double-quotes and respecting backslash escapes. E.g., the value
`"path-with-\"-and-:-in-it":vanilla-path` has two paths:
`path-with-"-and-:-in-it` and `vanilla-path`.
`GIT_DIR`::
If the `GIT_DIR` environment variable is set then it
specifies a path to use instead of the default `.git`
for the base of the repository.
The `--git-dir` command-line option also sets this value.
`GIT_WORK_TREE`::
Set the path to the root of the working tree.
This can also be controlled by the `--work-tree` command-line
option and the core.worktree configuration variable.
`GIT_NAMESPACE`::
Set the Git namespace; see linkgit:gitnamespaces[7] for details.
The `--namespace` command-line option also sets this value.
`GIT_CEILING_DIRECTORIES`::
This should be a colon-separated list of absolute paths. If
set, it is a list of directories that Git should not chdir up
into while looking for a repository directory (useful for
excluding slow-loading network directories). It will not
exclude the current working directory or a GIT_DIR set on the
command line or in the environment. Normally, Git has to read
the entries in this list and resolve any symlink that
might be present in order to compare them with the current
directory. However, if even this access is slow, you
can add an empty entry to the list to tell Git that the
subsequent entries are not symlinks and needn't be resolved;
e.g.,
`GIT_CEILING_DIRECTORIES=/maybe/symlink::/very/slow/non/symlink`.
`GIT_DISCOVERY_ACROSS_FILESYSTEM`::
When run in a directory that does not have ".git" repository
directory, Git tries to find such a directory in the parent
directories to find the top of the working tree, but by default it
does not cross filesystem boundaries. This Boolean environment variable
can be set to true to tell Git not to stop at filesystem
boundaries. Like `GIT_CEILING_DIRECTORIES`, this will not affect
an explicit repository directory set via `GIT_DIR` or on the
command line.
`GIT_COMMON_DIR`::
If this variable is set to a path, non-worktree files that are
normally in $GIT_DIR will be taken from this path
instead. Worktree-specific files such as HEAD or index are
taken from $GIT_DIR. See linkgit:gitrepository-layout[5] and
linkgit:git-worktree[1] for
details. This variable has lower precedence than other path
variables such as GIT_INDEX_FILE, GIT_OBJECT_DIRECTORY...
`GIT_DEFAULT_HASH`::
If this variable is set, the default hash algorithm for new
repositories will be set to this value. This value is
ignored when cloning and the setting of the remote repository
is always used. The default is "sha1".
See `--object-format` in linkgit:git-init[1].
`GIT_DEFAULT_REF_FORMAT`::
If this variable is set, the default reference backend format for new
repositories will be set to this value. The default is "files".
See `--ref-format` in linkgit:git-init[1].
Git Commits
~~~~~~~~~~~
`GIT_AUTHOR_NAME`::
The human-readable name used in the author identity when creating commit or
tag objects, or when writing reflogs. Overrides the `user.name` and
`author.name` configuration settings.
`GIT_AUTHOR_EMAIL`::
The email address used in the author identity when creating commit or
tag objects, or when writing reflogs. Overrides the `user.email` and
`author.email` configuration settings.
`GIT_AUTHOR_DATE`::
The date used for the author identity when creating commit or tag objects, or
when writing reflogs. See linkgit:git-commit[1] for valid formats.
`GIT_COMMITTER_NAME`::
The human-readable name used in the committer identity when creating commit or
tag objects, or when writing reflogs. Overrides the `user.name` and
`committer.name` configuration settings.
`GIT_COMMITTER_EMAIL`::
The email address used in the author identity when creating commit or
tag objects, or when writing reflogs. Overrides the `user.email` and
`committer.email` configuration settings.
`GIT_COMMITTER_DATE`::
The date used for the committer identity when creating commit or tag objects, or
when writing reflogs. See linkgit:git-commit[1] for valid formats.
`EMAIL`::
The email address used in the author and committer identities if no other
relevant environment variable or configuration setting has been set.
Git Diffs
~~~~~~~~~
`GIT_DIFF_OPTS`::
Only valid setting is "--unified=??" or "-u??" to set the
number of context lines shown when a unified diff is created.
This takes precedence over any "-U" or "--unified" option
value passed on the Git diff command line.
`GIT_EXTERNAL_DIFF`::
When the environment variable `GIT_EXTERNAL_DIFF` is set, the
program named by it is called to generate diffs, and Git
does not use its builtin diff machinery.
For a path that is added, removed, or modified,
`GIT_EXTERNAL_DIFF` is called with 7 parameters:
path old-file old-hex old-mode new-file new-hex new-mode
+
where:
<old|new>-file:: are files GIT_EXTERNAL_DIFF can use to read the
contents of <old|new>,
<old|new>-hex:: are the 40-hexdigit SHA-1 hashes,
<old|new>-mode:: are the octal representation of the file modes.
+
The file parameters can point at the user's working file
(e.g. `new-file` in "git-diff-files"), `/dev/null` (e.g. `old-file`
when a new file is added), or a temporary file (e.g. `old-file` in the
index). `GIT_EXTERNAL_DIFF` should not worry about unlinking the
temporary file -- it is removed when `GIT_EXTERNAL_DIFF` exits.
+
For a path that is unmerged, `GIT_EXTERNAL_DIFF` is called with 1
parameter, <path>.
+
For each path `GIT_EXTERNAL_DIFF` is called, two environment variables,
`GIT_DIFF_PATH_COUNTER` and `GIT_DIFF_PATH_TOTAL` are set.
`GIT_EXTERNAL_DIFF_TRUST_EXIT_CODE`::
If this Boolean environment variable is set to true then the
`GIT_EXTERNAL_DIFF` command is expected to return exit code
0 if it considers the input files to be equal or 1 if it
considers them to be different, like `diff(1)`.
If it is set to false, which is the default, then the command
is expected to return exit code 0 regardless of equality.
Any other exit code causes Git to report a fatal error.
`GIT_DIFF_PATH_COUNTER`::
A 1-based counter incremented by one for every path.
`GIT_DIFF_PATH_TOTAL`::
The total number of paths.
other
~~~~~
`GIT_MERGE_VERBOSITY`::
A number controlling the amount of output shown by
the recursive merge strategy. Overrides merge.verbosity.
See linkgit:git-merge[1]
`GIT_PAGER`::
This environment variable overrides `$PAGER`. If it is set
to an empty string or to the value "cat", Git will not launch
a pager. See also the `core.pager` option in
linkgit:git-config[1].
`GIT_PROGRESS_DELAY`::
A number controlling how many seconds to delay before showing
optional progress indicators. Defaults to 2.
`GIT_EDITOR`::
This environment variable overrides `$EDITOR` and `$VISUAL`.
It is used by several Git commands when, on interactive mode,
an editor is to be launched. See also linkgit:git-var[1]
and the `core.editor` option in linkgit:git-config[1].
`GIT_SEQUENCE_EDITOR`::
This environment variable overrides the configured Git editor
when editing the todo list of an interactive rebase. See also
linkgit:git-rebase[1] and the `sequence.editor` option in
linkgit:git-config[1].
`GIT_SSH`::
`GIT_SSH_COMMAND`::
If either of these environment variables is set then 'git fetch'
and 'git push' will use the specified command instead of 'ssh'
when they need to connect to a remote system.
The command-line parameters passed to the configured command are
determined by the ssh variant. See `ssh.variant` option in
linkgit:git-config[1] for details.
+
`$GIT_SSH_COMMAND` takes precedence over `$GIT_SSH`, and is interpreted
by the shell, which allows additional arguments to be included.
`$GIT_SSH` on the other hand must be just the path to a program
(which can be a wrapper shell script, if additional arguments are
needed).
+
Usually it is easier to configure any desired options through your
personal `.ssh/config` file. Please consult your ssh documentation
for further details.
`GIT_SSH_VARIANT`::
If this environment variable is set, it overrides Git's autodetection
whether `GIT_SSH`/`GIT_SSH_COMMAND`/`core.sshCommand` refer to OpenSSH,
plink or tortoiseplink. This variable overrides the config setting
`ssh.variant` that serves the same purpose.
`GIT_SSL_NO_VERIFY`::
Setting and exporting this environment variable to any value
tells Git not to verify the SSL certificate when fetching or
pushing over HTTPS.
`GIT_ATTR_SOURCE`::
Sets the treeish that gitattributes will be read from.
`GIT_ASKPASS`::
If this environment variable is set, then Git commands which need to
acquire passwords or passphrases (e.g. for HTTP or IMAP authentication)
will call this program with a suitable prompt as command-line argument
and read the password from its STDOUT. See also the `core.askPass`
option in linkgit:git-config[1].
`GIT_TERMINAL_PROMPT`::
If this Boolean environment variable is set to false, git will not prompt
on the terminal (e.g., when asking for HTTP authentication).
`GIT_CONFIG_GLOBAL`::
`GIT_CONFIG_SYSTEM`::
Take the configuration from the given files instead from global or
system-level configuration files. If `GIT_CONFIG_SYSTEM` is set, the
system config file defined at build time (usually `/etc/gitconfig`)
will not be read. Likewise, if `GIT_CONFIG_GLOBAL` is set, neither
`$HOME/.gitconfig` nor `$XDG_CONFIG_HOME/git/config` will be read. Can
be set to `/dev/null` to skip reading configuration files of the
respective level.
`GIT_CONFIG_NOSYSTEM`::
Whether to skip reading settings from the system-wide
`$(prefix)/etc/gitconfig` file. This Boolean environment variable can
be used along with `$HOME` and `$XDG_CONFIG_HOME` to create a
predictable environment for a picky script, or you can set it
to true to temporarily avoid using a buggy `/etc/gitconfig` file while
waiting for someone with sufficient permissions to fix it.
`GIT_FLUSH`::
If this Boolean environment variable is set to true, then commands such
as 'git blame' (in incremental mode), 'git rev-list', 'git log',
'git check-attr' and 'git check-ignore' will
force a flush of the output stream after each record have been
flushed. If this
variable is set to false, the output of these commands will be done
using completely buffered I/O. If this environment variable is
not set, Git will choose buffered or record-oriented flushing
based on whether stdout appears to be redirected to a file or not.
`GIT_TRACE`::
Enables general trace messages, e.g. alias expansion, built-in
command execution and external command execution.
+
If this variable is set to "1", "2" or "true" (comparison
is case insensitive), trace messages will be printed to
stderr.
+
If the variable is set to an integer value greater than 2
and lower than 10 (strictly) then Git will interpret this
value as an open file descriptor and will try to write the
trace messages into this file descriptor.
+
Alternatively, if the variable is set to an absolute path
(starting with a '/' character), Git will interpret this
as a file path and will try to append the trace messages
to it.
+
Unsetting the variable, or setting it to empty, "0" or
"false" (case insensitive) disables trace messages.
`GIT_TRACE_FSMONITOR`::
Enables trace messages for the filesystem monitor extension.
See `GIT_TRACE` for available trace output options.
`GIT_TRACE_PACK_ACCESS`::
Enables trace messages for all accesses to any packs. For each
access, the pack file name and an offset in the pack is
recorded. This may be helpful for troubleshooting some
pack-related performance problems.
See `GIT_TRACE` for available trace output options.
`GIT_TRACE_PACKET`::
Enables trace messages for all packets coming in or out of a
given program. This can help with debugging object negotiation
or other protocol issues. Tracing is turned off at a packet
starting with "PACK" (but see `GIT_TRACE_PACKFILE` below).
See `GIT_TRACE` for available trace output options.
`GIT_TRACE_PACKFILE`::
Enables tracing of packfiles sent or received by a
given program. Unlike other trace output, this trace is
verbatim: no headers, and no quoting of binary data. You almost
certainly want to direct into a file (e.g.,
`GIT_TRACE_PACKFILE=/tmp/my.pack`) rather than displaying it on
the terminal or mixing it with other trace output.
+
Note that this is currently only implemented for the client side
of clones and fetches.
`GIT_TRACE_PERFORMANCE`::
Enables performance related trace messages, e.g. total execution
time of each Git command.
See `GIT_TRACE` for available trace output options.
`GIT_TRACE_REFS`::
Enables trace messages for operations on the ref database.
See `GIT_TRACE` for available trace output options.
`GIT_TRACE_SETUP`::
Enables trace messages printing the .git, working tree and current
working directory after Git has completed its setup phase.
See `GIT_TRACE` for available trace output options.
`GIT_TRACE_SHALLOW`::
Enables trace messages that can help debugging fetching /
cloning of shallow repositories.
See `GIT_TRACE` for available trace output options.
`GIT_TRACE_CURL`::
Enables a curl full trace dump of all incoming and outgoing data,
including descriptive information, of the git transport protocol.
This is similar to doing curl `--trace-ascii` on the command line.
See `GIT_TRACE` for available trace output options.
`GIT_TRACE_CURL_NO_DATA`::
When a curl trace is enabled (see `GIT_TRACE_CURL` above), do not dump
data (that is, only dump info lines and headers).
`GIT_TRACE2`::
Enables more detailed trace messages from the "trace2" library.
Output from `GIT_TRACE2` is a simple text-based format for human
readability.
+
If this variable is set to "1", "2" or "true" (comparison
is case insensitive), trace messages will be printed to
stderr.
+
If the variable is set to an integer value greater than 2
and lower than 10 (strictly) then Git will interpret this
value as an open file descriptor and will try to write the
trace messages into this file descriptor.
+
Alternatively, if the variable is set to an absolute path
(starting with a '/' character), Git will interpret this
as a file path and will try to append the trace messages
to it. If the path already exists and is a directory, the
trace messages will be written to files (one per process)
in that directory, named according to the last component
of the SID and an optional counter (to avoid filename
collisions).
+
In addition, if the variable is set to
`af_unix:[<socket-type>:]<absolute-pathname>`, Git will try
to open the path as a Unix Domain Socket. The socket type
can be either `stream` or `dgram`.
+
Unsetting the variable, or setting it to empty, "0" or
"false" (case insensitive) disables trace messages.
+
See link:technical/api-trace2.html[Trace2 documentation]
for full details.
`GIT_TRACE2_EVENT`::
This setting writes a JSON-based format that is suited for machine
interpretation.
See `GIT_TRACE2` for available trace output options and
link:technical/api-trace2.html[Trace2 documentation] for full details.
`GIT_TRACE2_PERF`::
In addition to the text-based messages available in `GIT_TRACE2`, this
setting writes a column-based format for understanding nesting
regions.
See `GIT_TRACE2` for available trace output options and
link:technical/api-trace2.html[Trace2 documentation] for full details.
`GIT_TRACE_REDACT`::
By default, when tracing is activated, Git redacts the values of
cookies, the "Authorization:" header, the "Proxy-Authorization:"
header and packfile URIs. Set this Boolean environment variable to false to prevent this
redaction.
`GIT_NO_REPLACE_OBJECTS`::
Setting and exporting this environment variable tells Git to
ignore replacement refs and do not replace Git objects.
`GIT_LITERAL_PATHSPECS`::
Setting this Boolean environment variable to true will cause Git to treat all
pathspecs literally, rather than as glob patterns. For example,
running `GIT_LITERAL_PATHSPECS=1 git log -- '*.c'` will search
for commits that touch the path `*.c`, not any paths that the
glob `*.c` matches. You might want this if you are feeding
literal paths to Git (e.g., paths previously given to you by
`git ls-tree`, `--raw` diff output, etc).
`GIT_GLOB_PATHSPECS`::
Setting this Boolean environment variable to true will cause Git to treat all
pathspecs as glob patterns (aka "glob" magic).
`GIT_NOGLOB_PATHSPECS`::
Setting this Boolean environment variable to true will cause Git to treat all
pathspecs as literal (aka "literal" magic).
`GIT_ICASE_PATHSPECS`::
Setting this Boolean environment variable to true will cause Git to treat all
pathspecs as case-insensitive.
`GIT_NO_LAZY_FETCH`::
Setting this Boolean environment variable to true tells Git
not to lazily fetch missing objects from the promisor remote
on demand.
`GIT_REFLOG_ACTION`::
When a ref is updated, reflog entries are created to keep
track of the reason why the ref was updated (which is
typically the name of the high-level command that updated
the ref), in addition to the old and new values of the ref.
A scripted Porcelain command can use set_reflog_action
helper function in `git-sh-setup` to set its name to this
variable when it is invoked as the top level command by the
end user, to be recorded in the body of the reflog.
`GIT_REF_PARANOIA`::
If this Boolean environment variable is set to false, ignore broken or badly named refs when iterating
over lists of refs. Normally Git will try to include any such
refs, which may cause some operations to fail. This is usually
preferable, as potentially destructive operations (e.g.,
linkgit:git-prune[1]) are better off aborting rather than
ignoring broken refs (and thus considering the history they
point to as not worth saving). The default value is `1` (i.e.,
be paranoid about detecting and aborting all operations). You
should not normally need to set this to `0`, but it may be
useful when trying to salvage data from a corrupted repository.
`GIT_COMMIT_GRAPH_PARANOIA`::
When loading a commit object from the commit-graph, Git performs an
existence check on the object in the object database. This is done to
avoid issues with stale commit-graphs that contain references to
already-deleted commits, but comes with a performance penalty.
+
The default is "false", which disables the aforementioned behavior.
Setting this to "true" enables the existence check so that stale commits
will never be returned from the commit-graph at the cost of performance.
`GIT_ALLOW_PROTOCOL`::
If set to a colon-separated list of protocols, behave as if
`protocol.allow` is set to `never`, and each of the listed
protocols has `protocol.<name>.allow` set to `always`
(overriding any existing configuration). See the description of
`protocol.allow` in linkgit:git-config[1] for more details.
`GIT_PROTOCOL_FROM_USER`::
Set this Boolean environment variable to false to prevent protocols used by fetch/push/clone which are
configured to the `user` state. This is useful to restrict recursive
submodule initialization from an untrusted repository or for programs
which feed potentially-untrusted URLS to git commands. See
linkgit:git-config[1] for more details.
`GIT_PROTOCOL`::
For internal use only. Used in handshaking the wire protocol.
Contains a colon ':' separated list of keys with optional values
'<key>[=<value>]'. Presence of unknown keys and values must be
ignored.
+
Note that servers may need to be configured to allow this variable to
pass over some transports. It will be propagated automatically when
accessing local repositories (i.e., `file://` or a filesystem path), as
well as over the `git://` protocol. For git-over-http, it should work
automatically in most configurations, but see the discussion in
linkgit:git-http-backend[1]. For git-over-ssh, the ssh server may need
to be configured to allow clients to pass this variable (e.g., by using
`AcceptEnv GIT_PROTOCOL` with OpenSSH).
+
This configuration is optional. If the variable is not propagated, then
clients will fall back to the original "v0" protocol (but may miss out
on some performance improvements or features). This variable currently
only affects clones and fetches; it is not yet used for pushes (but may
be in the future).
`GIT_OPTIONAL_LOCKS`::
If this Boolean environment variable is set to false, Git will complete any requested operation without
performing any optional sub-operations that require taking a lock.
For example, this will prevent `git status` from refreshing the
index as a side effect. This is useful for processes running in
the background which do not want to cause lock contention with
other operations on the repository. Defaults to `1`.
`GIT_REDIRECT_STDIN`::
`GIT_REDIRECT_STDOUT`::
`GIT_REDIRECT_STDERR`::
Windows-only: allow redirecting the standard input/output/error
handles to paths specified by the environment variables. This is
particularly useful in multi-threaded applications where the
canonical way to pass standard handles via `CreateProcess()` is
not an option because it would require the handles to be marked
inheritable (and consequently *every* spawned process would
inherit them, possibly blocking regular Git operations). The
primary intended use case is to use named pipes for communication
(e.g. `\\.\pipe\my-git-stdin-123`).
+
Two special values are supported: `off` will simply close the
corresponding standard handle, and if `GIT_REDIRECT_STDERR` is
`2>&1`, standard error will be redirected to the same handle as
standard output.
`GIT_PRINT_SHA1_ELLIPSIS` (deprecated)::
If set to `yes`, print an ellipsis following an
(abbreviated) SHA-1 value. This affects indications of
detached HEADs (linkgit:git-checkout[1]) and the raw
diff output (linkgit:git-diff[1]). Printing an
ellipsis in the cases mentioned is no longer considered
adequate and support for it is likely to be removed in the
foreseeable future (along with the variable).
`GIT_ADVICE`::
If set to `0`, then disable all advice messages. These messages are
intended to provide hints to human users that may help them get out of
problematic situations or take advantage of new features. Users can
disable individual messages using the `advice.*` config keys. These
messages may be disruptive to tools that execute Git processes, so this
variable is available to disable the messages. (The `--no-advice`
global option is also available, but old Git versions may fail when
this option is not understood. The environment variable will be ignored
by Git versions that do not understand it.)
Discussion[[Discussion]]
------------------------
More detail on the following is available from the
link:user-manual.html#git-concepts[Git concepts chapter of the
user-manual] and linkgit:gitcore-tutorial[7].
A Git project normally consists of a working directory with a ".git"
subdirectory at the top level. The .git directory contains, among other
things, a compressed object database representing the complete history
of the project, an "index" file which links that history to the current
contents of the working tree, and named pointers into that history such
as tags and branch heads.
The object database contains objects of three main types: blobs, which
hold file data; trees, which point to blobs and other trees to build up
directory hierarchies; and commits, which each reference a single tree
and some number of parent commits.
The commit, equivalent to what other systems call a "changeset" or
"version", represents a step in the project's history, and each parent
represents an immediately preceding step. Commits with more than one
parent represent merges of independent lines of development.
All objects are named by the SHA-1 hash of their contents, normally
written as a string of 40 hex digits. Such names are globally unique.
The entire history leading up to a commit can be vouched for by signing
just that commit. A fourth object type, the tag, is provided for this
purpose.
When first created, objects are stored in individual files, but for
efficiency may later be compressed together into "pack files".
Named pointers called refs mark interesting points in history. A ref
may contain the SHA-1 name of an object or the name of another ref (the
latter is called a "symbolic ref").
Refs with names beginning `refs/head/` contain the SHA-1 name of the most
recent commit (or "head") of a branch under development. SHA-1 names of
tags of interest are stored under `refs/tags/`. A symbolic ref named
`HEAD` contains the name of the currently checked-out branch.
The index file is initialized with a list of all paths and, for each
path, a blob object and a set of attributes. The blob object represents
the contents of the file as of the head of the current branch. The
attributes (last modified time, size, etc.) are taken from the
corresponding file in the working tree. Subsequent changes to the
working tree can be found by comparing these attributes. The index may
be updated with new content, and new commits may be created from the
content stored in the index.
The index is also capable of storing multiple entries (called "stages")
for a given pathname. These stages are used to hold the various
unmerged version of a file when a merge is in progress.
SECURITY
--------
Some configuration options and hook files may cause Git to run arbitrary
shell commands. Because configuration and hooks are not copied using
`git clone`, it is generally safe to clone remote repositories with
untrusted content, inspect them with `git log`, and so on.
However, it is not safe to run Git commands in a `.git` directory (or
the working tree that surrounds it) when that `.git` directory itself
comes from an untrusted source. The commands in its config and hooks
are executed in the usual way.
By default, Git will refuse to run when the repository is owned by
someone other than the user running the command. See the entry for
`safe.directory` in linkgit:git-config[1]. While this can help protect
you in a multi-user environment, note that you can also acquire
untrusted repositories that are owned by you (for example, if you
extract a zip file or tarball from an untrusted source). In such cases,
you'd need to "sanitize" the untrusted repository first.
If you have an untrusted `.git` directory, you should first clone it
with `git clone --no-local` to obtain a clean copy. Git does restrict
the set of options and hooks that will be run by `upload-pack`, which
handles the server side of a clone or fetch, but beware that the
surface area for attack against `upload-pack` is large, so this does
carry some risk. The safest thing is to serve the repository as an
unprivileged user (either via linkgit:git-daemon[1], ssh, or using
other tools to change user ids). See the discussion in the `SECURITY`
section of linkgit:git-upload-pack[1].
FURTHER DOCUMENTATION
---------------------
See the references in the "description" section to get started
using Git. The following is probably more detail than necessary
for a first-time user.
The link:user-manual.html#git-concepts[Git concepts chapter of the
user-manual] and linkgit:gitcore-tutorial[7] both provide
introductions to the underlying Git architecture.
See linkgit:gitworkflows[7] for an overview of recommended workflows.
See also the link:howto-index.html[howto] documents for some useful
examples.
The internals are documented in the
link:technical/api-index.html[Git API documentation].
Users migrating from CVS may also want to
read linkgit:gitcvs-migration[7].
Authors
-------
Git was started by Linus Torvalds, and is currently maintained by Junio
C Hamano. Numerous contributions have come from the Git mailing list
<[email protected]>. https://openhub.net/p/git/contributors/summary
gives you a more complete list of contributors.
If you have a clone of git.git itself, the
output of linkgit:git-shortlog[1] and linkgit:git-blame[1] can show you
the authors for specific parts of the project.
Reporting Bugs
--------------
Report bugs to the Git mailing list <[email protected]> where the
development and maintenance is primarily done. You do not have to be
subscribed to the list to send a message there. See the list archive
at https://lore.kernel.org/git for previous bug reports and other
discussions.
Issues which are security relevant should be disclosed privately to
the Git Security mailing list <[email protected]>.
SEE ALSO
--------
linkgit:gittutorial[7], linkgit:gittutorial-2[7],
linkgit:giteveryday[7], linkgit:gitcvs-migration[7],
linkgit:gitglossary[7], linkgit:gitcore-tutorial[7],
linkgit:gitcli[7], link:user-manual.html[The Git User's Manual],
linkgit:gitworkflows[7]
GIT
---
Part of the linkgit:git[1] suite
Codebase Browser
git