freshlybakedca.ke
Git fork
1git(1)
2======
3
4NAME
5----
6git - the stupid content tracker
7
8
9SYNOPSIS
10--------
11[verse]
12'git' [-v | --version] [-h | --help] [-C <path>] [-c <name>=<value>]
13 [--exec-path[=<path>]] [--html-path] [--man-path] [--info-path]
14 [-p | --paginate | -P | --no-pager] [--no-replace-objects] [--no-lazy-fetch]
15 [--no-optional-locks] [--no-advice] [--bare] [--git-dir=<path>]
16 [--work-tree=<path>] [--namespace=<name>] [--config-env=<name>=<envvar>]
17 <command> [<args>]
18
19DESCRIPTION
20-----------
21Git is a fast, scalable, distributed revision control system with an
22unusually rich command set that provides both high-level operations
23and full access to internals.
24
25See linkgit:gittutorial[7] to get started, then see
26linkgit:giteveryday[7] for a useful minimum set of
27commands. The link:user-manual.html[Git User's Manual] has a more
28in-depth introduction.
29
30After you mastered the basic concepts, you can come back to this
31page to learn what commands Git offers. You can learn more about
32individual Git commands with "git help command". linkgit:gitcli[7]
33manual page gives you an overview of the command-line command syntax.
34
35A formatted and hyperlinked copy of the latest Git documentation
36can be viewed at https://git.github.io/htmldocs/git.html
37or https://git-scm.com/docs.
38
39
40OPTIONS
41-------
42-v::
43--version::
44 Prints the Git suite version that the 'git' program came from.
45+
46This option is internally converted to `git version ...` and accepts
47the same options as the linkgit:git-version[1] command. If `--help` is
48also given, it takes precedence over `--version`.
49
50-h::
51--help::
52 Prints the synopsis and a list of the most commonly used
53 commands. If the option `--all` or `-a` is given then all
54 available commands are printed. If a Git command is named this
55 option will bring up the manual page for that command.
56+
57Other options are available to control how the manual page is
58displayed. See linkgit:git-help[1] for more information,
59because `git --help ...` is converted internally into `git
60help ...`.
61
62-C <path>::
63 Run as if git was started in '<path>' instead of the current working
64 directory. When multiple `-C` options are given, each subsequent
65 non-absolute `-C <path>` is interpreted relative to the preceding `-C
66 <path>`. If '<path>' is present but empty, e.g. `-C ""`, then the
67 current working directory is left unchanged.
68+
69This option affects options that expect path name like `--git-dir` and
70`--work-tree` in that their interpretations of the path names would be
71made relative to the working directory caused by the `-C` option. For
72example the following invocations are equivalent:
73
74 git --git-dir=a.git --work-tree=b -C c status
75 git --git-dir=c/a.git --work-tree=c/b status
76
77-c <name>=<value>::
78 Pass a configuration parameter to the command. The value
79 given will override values from configuration files.
80 The <name> is expected in the same format as listed by
81 'git config' (subkeys separated by dots).
82+
83Note that omitting the `=` in `git -c foo.bar ...` is allowed and sets
84`foo.bar` to the boolean true value (just like `[foo]bar` would in a
85config file). Including the equals but with an empty value (like `git -c
86foo.bar= ...`) sets `foo.bar` to the empty string which `git config
87--type=bool` will convert to `false`.
88
89--config-env=<name>=<envvar>::
90 Like `-c <name>=<value>`, give configuration variable
91 '<name>' a value, where <envvar> is the name of an
92 environment variable from which to retrieve the value. Unlike
93 `-c` there is no shortcut for directly setting the value to an
94 empty string, instead the environment variable itself must be
95 set to the empty string. It is an error if the `<envvar>` does not exist
96 in the environment. `<envvar>` may not contain an equals sign
97 to avoid ambiguity with `<name>` containing one.
98+
99This is useful for cases where you want to pass transitory
100configuration options to git, but are doing so on operating systems
101where other processes might be able to read your command line
102(e.g. `/proc/self/cmdline`), but not your environment
103(e.g. `/proc/self/environ`). That behavior is the default on
104Linux, but may not be on your system.
105+
106Note that this might add security for variables such as
107`http.extraHeader` where the sensitive information is part of
108the value, but not e.g. `url.<base>.insteadOf` where the
109sensitive information can be part of the key.
110
111--exec-path[=<path>]::
112 Path to wherever your core Git programs are installed.
113 This can also be controlled by setting the GIT_EXEC_PATH
114 environment variable. If no path is given, 'git' will print
115 the current setting and then exit.
116
117--html-path::
118 Print the path, without trailing slash, where Git's HTML
119 documentation is installed and exit.
120
121--man-path::
122 Print the manpath (see `man(1)`) for the man pages for
123 this version of Git and exit.
124
125--info-path::
126 Print the path where the Info files documenting this
127 version of Git are installed and exit.
128
129-p::
130--paginate::
131 Pipe all output into 'less' (or if set, $PAGER) if standard
132 output is a terminal. This overrides the `pager.<cmd>`
133 configuration options (see the "Configuration Mechanism" section
134 below).
135
136-P::
137--no-pager::
138 Do not pipe Git output into a pager.
139
140--git-dir=<path>::
141 Set the path to the repository (".git" directory). This can also be
142 controlled by setting the `GIT_DIR` environment variable. It can be
143 an absolute path or relative path to current working directory.
144+
145Specifying the location of the ".git" directory using this
146option (or `GIT_DIR` environment variable) turns off the
147repository discovery that tries to find a directory with
148".git" subdirectory (which is how the repository and the
149top-level of the working tree are discovered), and tells Git
150that you are at the top level of the working tree. If you
151are not at the top-level directory of the working tree, you
152should tell Git where the top-level of the working tree is,
153with the `--work-tree=<path>` option (or `GIT_WORK_TREE`
154environment variable)
155+
156If you just want to run git as if it was started in `<path>` then use
157`git -C <path>`.
158
159--work-tree=<path>::
160 Set the path to the working tree. It can be an absolute path
161 or a path relative to the current working directory.
162 This can also be controlled by setting the GIT_WORK_TREE
163 environment variable and the core.worktree configuration
164 variable (see core.worktree in linkgit:git-config[1] for a
165 more detailed discussion).
166
167--namespace=<path>::
168 Set the Git namespace. See linkgit:gitnamespaces[7] for more
169 details. Equivalent to setting the `GIT_NAMESPACE` environment
170 variable.
171
172--bare::
173 Treat the repository as a bare repository. If GIT_DIR
174 environment is not set, it is set to the current working
175 directory.
176
177--no-replace-objects::
178 Do not use replacement refs to replace Git objects.
179 This is equivalent to exporting the `GIT_NO_REPLACE_OBJECTS`
180 environment variable with any value.
181 See linkgit:git-replace[1] for more information.
182
183--no-lazy-fetch::
184 Do not fetch missing objects from the promisor remote on
185 demand. Useful together with `git cat-file -e <object>` to
186 see if the object is locally available.
187 This is equivalent to setting the `GIT_NO_LAZY_FETCH`
188 environment variable to `1`.
189
190--no-optional-locks::
191 Do not perform optional operations that require locks. This is
192 equivalent to setting the `GIT_OPTIONAL_LOCKS` to `0`.
193
194--no-advice::
195 Disable all advice hints from being printed.
196
197--literal-pathspecs::
198 Treat pathspecs literally (i.e. no globbing, no pathspec magic).
199 This is equivalent to setting the `GIT_LITERAL_PATHSPECS` environment
200 variable to `1`.
201
202--glob-pathspecs::
203 Add "glob" magic to all pathspec. This is equivalent to setting
204 the `GIT_GLOB_PATHSPECS` environment variable to `1`. Disabling
205 globbing on individual pathspecs can be done using pathspec
206 magic ":(literal)"
207
208--noglob-pathspecs::
209 Add "literal" magic to all pathspec. This is equivalent to setting
210 the `GIT_NOGLOB_PATHSPECS` environment variable to `1`. Enabling
211 globbing on individual pathspecs can be done using pathspec
212 magic ":(glob)"
213
214--icase-pathspecs::
215 Add "icase" magic to all pathspec. This is equivalent to setting
216 the `GIT_ICASE_PATHSPECS` environment variable to `1`.
217
218--list-cmds=<group>[,<group>...]::
219 List commands by group. This is an internal/experimental
220 option and may change or be removed in the future. Supported
221 groups are: builtins, parseopt (builtin commands that use
222 parse-options), deprecated (deprecated builtins),
223 main (all commands in libexec directory),
224 others (all other commands in `$PATH` that have git- prefix),
225 list-<category> (see categories in command-list.txt),
226 nohelpers (exclude helper commands), alias and config
227 (retrieve command list from config variable completion.commands)
228
229--attr-source=<tree-ish>::
230 Read gitattributes from <tree-ish> instead of the worktree. See
231 linkgit:gitattributes[5]. This is equivalent to setting the
232 `GIT_ATTR_SOURCE` environment variable.
233
234GIT COMMANDS
235------------
236
237We divide Git into high level ("porcelain") commands and low level
238("plumbing") commands.
239
240High-level commands (porcelain)
241-------------------------------
242
243We separate the porcelain commands into the main commands and some
244ancillary user utilities.
245
246Main porcelain commands
247~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
248
249include::{build_dir}/cmds-mainporcelain.adoc[]
250
251Ancillary Commands
252~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
253Manipulators:
254
255include::{build_dir}/cmds-ancillarymanipulators.adoc[]
256
257Interrogators:
258
259include::{build_dir}/cmds-ancillaryinterrogators.adoc[]
260
261
262Interacting with Others
263~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
264
265These commands are to interact with foreign SCM and with other
266people via patch over e-mail.
267
268include::{build_dir}/cmds-foreignscminterface.adoc[]
269
270Reset, restore and revert
271~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
272There are three commands with similar names: `git reset`,
273`git restore` and `git revert`.
274
275* linkgit:git-revert[1] is about making a new commit that reverts the
276 changes made by other commits.
277
278* linkgit:git-restore[1] is about restoring files in the working tree
279 from either the index or another commit. This command does not
280 update your branch. The command can also be used to restore files in
281 the index from another commit.
282
283* linkgit:git-reset[1] is about updating your branch, moving the tip
284 in order to add or remove commits from the branch. This operation
285 changes the commit history.
286+
287`git reset` can also be used to restore the index, overlapping with
288`git restore`.
289
290
291Low-level commands (plumbing)
292-----------------------------
293
294Although Git includes its
295own porcelain layer, its low-level commands are sufficient to support
296development of alternative porcelains. Developers of such porcelains
297might start by reading about linkgit:git-update-index[1] and
298linkgit:git-read-tree[1].
299
300The interface (input, output, set of options and the semantics)
301to these low-level commands are meant to be a lot more stable
302than Porcelain level commands, because these commands are
303primarily for scripted use. The interface to Porcelain commands
304on the other hand are subject to change in order to improve the
305end user experience.
306
307The following description divides
308the low-level commands into commands that manipulate objects (in
309the repository, index, and working tree), commands that interrogate and
310compare objects, and commands that move objects and references between
311repositories.
312
313
314Manipulation commands
315~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
316
317include::{build_dir}/cmds-plumbingmanipulators.adoc[]
318
319
320Interrogation commands
321~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
322
323include::{build_dir}/cmds-plumbinginterrogators.adoc[]
324
325In general, the interrogate commands do not touch the files in
326the working tree.
327
328
329Syncing repositories
330~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
331
332include::{build_dir}/cmds-synchingrepositories.adoc[]
333
334The following are helper commands used by the above; end users
335typically do not use them directly.
336
337include::{build_dir}/cmds-synchelpers.adoc[]
338
339
340Internal helper commands
341~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
342
343These are internal helper commands used by other commands; end
344users typically do not use them directly.
345
346include::{build_dir}/cmds-purehelpers.adoc[]
347
348Guides
349------
350
351The following documentation pages are guides about Git concepts.
352
353include::{build_dir}/cmds-guide.adoc[]
354
355Repository, command and file interfaces
356---------------------------------------
357
358This documentation discusses repository and command interfaces which
359users are expected to interact with directly. See `--user-formats` in
360linkgit:git-help[1] for more details on the criteria.
361
362include::{build_dir}/cmds-userinterfaces.adoc[]
363
364File formats, protocols and other developer interfaces
365------------------------------------------------------
366
367This documentation discusses file formats, over-the-wire protocols and
368other git developer interfaces. See `--developer-interfaces` in
369linkgit:git-help[1].
370
371include::{build_dir}/cmds-developerinterfaces.adoc[]
372
373Configuration Mechanism
374-----------------------
375
376Git uses a simple text format to store customizations that are per
377repository and are per user. Such a configuration file may look
378like this:
379
380------------
381#
382# A '#' or ';' character indicates a comment.
383#
384
385; core variables
386[core]
387 ; Don't trust file modes
388 filemode = false
389
390; user identity
391[user]
392 name = "Junio C Hamano"
393 email = "gitster@pobox.com"
394
395------------
396
397Various commands read from the configuration file and adjust
398their operation accordingly. See linkgit:git-config[1] for a
399list and more details about the configuration mechanism.
400
401
402Identifier Terminology
403----------------------
404<object>::
405 Indicates the object name for any type of object.
406
407<blob>::
408 Indicates a blob object name.
409
410<tree>::
411 Indicates a tree object name.
412
413<commit>::
414 Indicates a commit object name.
415
416<tree-ish>::
417 Indicates a tree, commit or tag object name. A
418 command that takes a <tree-ish> argument ultimately wants to
419 operate on a <tree> object but automatically dereferences
420 <commit> and <tag> objects that point at a <tree>.
421
422<commit-ish>::
423 Indicates a commit or tag object name. A
424 command that takes a <commit-ish> argument ultimately wants to
425 operate on a <commit> object but automatically dereferences
426 <tag> objects that point at a <commit>.
427
428<type>::
429 Indicates that an object type is required.
430 Currently one of: `blob`, `tree`, `commit`, or `tag`.
431
432<file>::
433 Indicates a filename - almost always relative to the
434 root of the tree structure `GIT_INDEX_FILE` describes.
435
436Symbolic Identifiers
437--------------------
438Any Git command accepting any <object> can also use the following
439symbolic notation:
440
441HEAD::
442 indicates the head of the current branch.
443
444<tag>::
445 a valid tag 'name'
446 (i.e. a `refs/tags/<tag>` reference).
447
448<head>::
449 a valid head 'name'
450 (i.e. a `refs/heads/<head>` reference).
451
452For a more complete list of ways to spell object names, see
453"SPECIFYING REVISIONS" section in linkgit:gitrevisions[7].
454
455
456File/Directory Structure
457------------------------
458
459Please see the linkgit:gitrepository-layout[5] document.
460
461Read linkgit:githooks[5] for more details about each hook.
462
463Higher level SCMs may provide and manage additional information in the
464`$GIT_DIR`.
465
466
467Terminology
468-----------
469Please see linkgit:gitglossary[7].
470
471
472Environment Variables
473---------------------
474Various Git commands pay attention to environment variables and change
475their behavior. The environment variables marked as "Boolean" take
476their values the same way as Boolean valued configuration variables, i.e.,
477"true", "yes", "on" and positive numbers are taken as "yes", while "false",
478"no", "off", and "0" are taken as "no".
479
480Here are the variables:
481
482System
483~~~~~~
484`HOME`::
485 Specifies the path to the user's home directory. On Windows, if
486 unset, Git will set a process environment variable equal to:
487 `$HOMEDRIVE$HOMEPATH` if both `$HOMEDRIVE` and `$HOMEPATH` exist;
488 otherwise `$USERPROFILE` if `$USERPROFILE` exists.
489
490The Git Repository
491~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
492These environment variables apply to 'all' core Git commands. Nb: it
493is worth noting that they may be used/overridden by SCMS sitting above
494Git so take care if using a foreign front-end.
495
496`GIT_INDEX_FILE`::
497 This environment variable specifies an alternate
498 index file. If not specified, the default of `$GIT_DIR/index`
499 is used.
500
501`GIT_INDEX_VERSION`::
502 This environment variable specifies what index version is used
503 when writing the index file out. It won't affect existing index
504 files. By default index file version 2 or 3 is used. See
505 linkgit:git-update-index[1] for more information.
506
507`GIT_OBJECT_DIRECTORY`::
508 If the object storage directory is specified via this
509 environment variable then the sha1 directories are created
510 underneath - otherwise the default `$GIT_DIR/objects`
511 directory is used.
512
513`GIT_ALTERNATE_OBJECT_DIRECTORIES`::
514 Due to the immutable nature of Git objects, old objects can be
515 archived into shared, read-only directories. This variable
516 specifies a ":" separated (on Windows ";" separated) list
517 of Git object directories which can be used to search for Git
518 objects. New objects will not be written to these directories.
519+
520Entries that begin with `"` (double-quote) will be interpreted
521as C-style quoted paths, removing leading and trailing
522double-quotes and respecting backslash escapes. E.g., the value
523`"path-with-\"-and-:-in-it":vanilla-path` has two paths:
524`path-with-"-and-:-in-it` and `vanilla-path`.
525
526`GIT_DIR`::
527 If the `GIT_DIR` environment variable is set then it
528 specifies a path to use instead of the default `.git`
529 for the base of the repository.
530 The `--git-dir` command-line option also sets this value.
531
532`GIT_WORK_TREE`::
533 Set the path to the root of the working tree.
534 This can also be controlled by the `--work-tree` command-line
535 option and the core.worktree configuration variable.
536
537`GIT_NAMESPACE`::
538 Set the Git namespace; see linkgit:gitnamespaces[7] for details.
539 The `--namespace` command-line option also sets this value.
540
541`GIT_CEILING_DIRECTORIES`::
542 This should be a colon-separated list of absolute paths. If
543 set, it is a list of directories that Git should not chdir up
544 into while looking for a repository directory (useful for
545 excluding slow-loading network directories). It will not
546 exclude the current working directory or a GIT_DIR set on the
547 command line or in the environment. Normally, Git has to read
548 the entries in this list and resolve any symlink that
549 might be present in order to compare them with the current
550 directory. However, if even this access is slow, you
551 can add an empty entry to the list to tell Git that the
552 subsequent entries are not symlinks and needn't be resolved;
553 e.g.,
554 `GIT_CEILING_DIRECTORIES=/maybe/symlink::/very/slow/non/symlink`.
555
556`GIT_DISCOVERY_ACROSS_FILESYSTEM`::
557 When run in a directory that does not have ".git" repository
558 directory, Git tries to find such a directory in the parent
559 directories to find the top of the working tree, but by default it
560 does not cross filesystem boundaries. This Boolean environment variable
561 can be set to true to tell Git not to stop at filesystem
562 boundaries. Like `GIT_CEILING_DIRECTORIES`, this will not affect
563 an explicit repository directory set via `GIT_DIR` or on the
564 command line.
565
566`GIT_COMMON_DIR`::
567 If this variable is set to a path, non-worktree files that are
568 normally in $GIT_DIR will be taken from this path
569 instead. Worktree-specific files such as HEAD or index are
570 taken from $GIT_DIR. See linkgit:gitrepository-layout[5] and
571 linkgit:git-worktree[1] for
572 details. This variable has lower precedence than other path
573 variables such as GIT_INDEX_FILE, GIT_OBJECT_DIRECTORY...
574
575`GIT_DEFAULT_HASH`::
576 If this variable is set, the default hash algorithm for new
577 repositories will be set to this value. This value is
578 ignored when cloning and the setting of the remote repository
579 is always used. The default is "sha1".
580 See `--object-format` in linkgit:git-init[1].
581
582`GIT_DEFAULT_REF_FORMAT`::
583 If this variable is set, the default reference backend format for new
584 repositories will be set to this value. The default is "files".
585 See `--ref-format` in linkgit:git-init[1].
586
587Git Commits
588~~~~~~~~~~~
589`GIT_AUTHOR_NAME`::
590 The human-readable name used in the author identity when creating commit or
591 tag objects, or when writing reflogs. Overrides the `user.name` and
592 `author.name` configuration settings.
593
594`GIT_AUTHOR_EMAIL`::
595 The email address used in the author identity when creating commit or
596 tag objects, or when writing reflogs. Overrides the `user.email` and
597 `author.email` configuration settings.
598
599`GIT_AUTHOR_DATE`::
600 The date used for the author identity when creating commit or tag objects, or
601 when writing reflogs. See linkgit:git-commit[1] for valid formats.
602
603`GIT_COMMITTER_NAME`::
604 The human-readable name used in the committer identity when creating commit or
605 tag objects, or when writing reflogs. Overrides the `user.name` and
606 `committer.name` configuration settings.
607
608`GIT_COMMITTER_EMAIL`::
609 The email address used in the author identity when creating commit or
610 tag objects, or when writing reflogs. Overrides the `user.email` and
611 `committer.email` configuration settings.
612
613`GIT_COMMITTER_DATE`::
614 The date used for the committer identity when creating commit or tag objects, or
615 when writing reflogs. See linkgit:git-commit[1] for valid formats.
616
617`EMAIL`::
618 The email address used in the author and committer identities if no other
619 relevant environment variable or configuration setting has been set.
620
621Git Diffs
622~~~~~~~~~
623`GIT_DIFF_OPTS`::
624 Only valid setting is "--unified=??" or "-u??" to set the
625 number of context lines shown when a unified diff is created.
626 This takes precedence over any "-U" or "--unified" option
627 value passed on the Git diff command line.
628
629`GIT_EXTERNAL_DIFF`::
630 When the environment variable `GIT_EXTERNAL_DIFF` is set, the
631 program named by it is called to generate diffs, and Git
632 does not use its builtin diff machinery.
633 For a path that is added, removed, or modified,
634 `GIT_EXTERNAL_DIFF` is called with 7 parameters:
635
636 path old-file old-hex old-mode new-file new-hex new-mode
637+
638where:
639
640 <old|new>-file:: are files GIT_EXTERNAL_DIFF can use to read the
641 contents of <old|new>,
642 <old|new>-hex:: are the 40-hexdigit SHA-1 hashes,
643 <old|new>-mode:: are the octal representation of the file modes.
644+
645The file parameters can point at the user's working file
646(e.g. `new-file` in "git-diff-files"), `/dev/null` (e.g. `old-file`
647when a new file is added), or a temporary file (e.g. `old-file` in the
648index). `GIT_EXTERNAL_DIFF` should not worry about unlinking the
649temporary file -- it is removed when `GIT_EXTERNAL_DIFF` exits.
650+
651For a path that is unmerged, `GIT_EXTERNAL_DIFF` is called with 1
652parameter, <path>.
653+
654For each path `GIT_EXTERNAL_DIFF` is called, two environment variables,
655`GIT_DIFF_PATH_COUNTER` and `GIT_DIFF_PATH_TOTAL` are set.
656
657`GIT_EXTERNAL_DIFF_TRUST_EXIT_CODE`::
658 If this Boolean environment variable is set to true then the
659 `GIT_EXTERNAL_DIFF` command is expected to return exit code
660 0 if it considers the input files to be equal or 1 if it
661 considers them to be different, like `diff(1)`.
662 If it is set to false, which is the default, then the command
663 is expected to return exit code 0 regardless of equality.
664 Any other exit code causes Git to report a fatal error.
665
666
667`GIT_DIFF_PATH_COUNTER`::
668 A 1-based counter incremented by one for every path.
669
670`GIT_DIFF_PATH_TOTAL`::
671 The total number of paths.
672
673other
674~~~~~
675`GIT_MERGE_VERBOSITY`::
676 A number controlling the amount of output shown by
677 the recursive merge strategy. Overrides merge.verbosity.
678 See linkgit:git-merge[1]
679
680`GIT_PAGER`::
681 This environment variable overrides `$PAGER`. If it is set
682 to an empty string or to the value "cat", Git will not launch
683 a pager. See also the `core.pager` option in
684 linkgit:git-config[1].
685
686`GIT_PROGRESS_DELAY`::
687 A number controlling how many seconds to delay before showing
688 optional progress indicators. Defaults to 1.
689
690`GIT_EDITOR`::
691 This environment variable overrides `$EDITOR` and `$VISUAL`.
692 It is used by several Git commands when, on interactive mode,
693 an editor is to be launched. See also linkgit:git-var[1]
694 and the `core.editor` option in linkgit:git-config[1].
695
696`GIT_SEQUENCE_EDITOR`::
697 This environment variable overrides the configured Git editor
698 when editing the todo list of an interactive rebase. See also
699 linkgit:git-rebase[1] and the `sequence.editor` option in
700 linkgit:git-config[1].
701
702`GIT_SSH`::
703`GIT_SSH_COMMAND`::
704 If either of these environment variables is set then 'git fetch'
705 and 'git push' will use the specified command instead of 'ssh'
706 when they need to connect to a remote system.
707 The command-line parameters passed to the configured command are
708 determined by the ssh variant. See `ssh.variant` option in
709 linkgit:git-config[1] for details.
710+
711`$GIT_SSH_COMMAND` takes precedence over `$GIT_SSH`, and is interpreted
712by the shell, which allows additional arguments to be included.
713`$GIT_SSH` on the other hand must be just the path to a program
714(which can be a wrapper shell script, if additional arguments are
715needed).
716+
717Usually it is easier to configure any desired options through your
718personal `.ssh/config` file. Please consult your ssh documentation
719for further details.
720
721`GIT_SSH_VARIANT`::
722 If this environment variable is set, it overrides Git's autodetection
723 whether `GIT_SSH`/`GIT_SSH_COMMAND`/`core.sshCommand` refer to OpenSSH,
724 plink or tortoiseplink. This variable overrides the config setting
725 `ssh.variant` that serves the same purpose.
726
727`GIT_SSL_NO_VERIFY`::
728 Setting and exporting this environment variable to any value
729 tells Git not to verify the SSL certificate when fetching or
730 pushing over HTTPS.
731
732`GIT_ATTR_SOURCE`::
733 Sets the treeish that gitattributes will be read from.
734
735`GIT_ASKPASS`::
736 If this environment variable is set, then Git commands which need to
737 acquire passwords or passphrases (e.g. for HTTP or IMAP authentication)
738 will call this program with a suitable prompt as command-line argument
739 and read the password from its STDOUT. See also the `core.askPass`
740 option in linkgit:git-config[1].
741
742`GIT_TERMINAL_PROMPT`::
743 If this Boolean environment variable is set to false, git will not prompt
744 on the terminal (e.g., when asking for HTTP authentication).
745
746`GIT_CONFIG_GLOBAL`::
747`GIT_CONFIG_SYSTEM`::
748 Take the configuration from the given files instead from global or
749 system-level configuration files. If `GIT_CONFIG_SYSTEM` is set, the
750 system config file defined at build time (usually `/etc/gitconfig`)
751 will not be read. Likewise, if `GIT_CONFIG_GLOBAL` is set, neither
752 `$HOME/.gitconfig` nor `$XDG_CONFIG_HOME/git/config` will be read. Can
753 be set to `/dev/null` to skip reading configuration files of the
754 respective level.
755
756`GIT_CONFIG_NOSYSTEM`::
757 Whether to skip reading settings from the system-wide
758 `$(prefix)/etc/gitconfig` file. This Boolean environment variable can
759 be used along with `$HOME` and `$XDG_CONFIG_HOME` to create a
760 predictable environment for a picky script, or you can set it
761 to true to temporarily avoid using a buggy `/etc/gitconfig` file while
762 waiting for someone with sufficient permissions to fix it.
763
764`GIT_FLUSH`::
765 If this Boolean environment variable is set to true, then commands such
766 as 'git blame' (in incremental mode), 'git rev-list', 'git log',
767 'git check-attr' and 'git check-ignore' will
768 force a flush of the output stream after each record have been
769 flushed. If this
770 variable is set to false, the output of these commands will be done
771 using completely buffered I/O. If this environment variable is
772 not set, Git will choose buffered or record-oriented flushing
773 based on whether stdout appears to be redirected to a file or not.
774
775`GIT_TRACE`::
776 Enables general trace messages, e.g. alias expansion, built-in
777 command execution and external command execution.
778+
779If this variable is set to "1", "2" or "true" (comparison
780is case insensitive), trace messages will be printed to
781stderr.
782+
783If the variable is set to an integer value greater than 2
784and lower than 10 (strictly) then Git will interpret this
785value as an open file descriptor and will try to write the
786trace messages into this file descriptor.
787+
788Alternatively, if the variable is set to an absolute path
789(starting with a '/' character), Git will interpret this
790as a file path and will try to append the trace messages
791to it.
792+
793Unsetting the variable, or setting it to empty, "0" or
794"false" (case insensitive) disables trace messages.
795
796`GIT_TRACE_FSMONITOR`::
797 Enables trace messages for the filesystem monitor extension.
798 See `GIT_TRACE` for available trace output options.
799
800`GIT_TRACE_PACK_ACCESS`::
801 Enables trace messages for all accesses to any packs. For each
802 access, the pack file name and an offset in the pack is
803 recorded. This may be helpful for troubleshooting some
804 pack-related performance problems.
805 See `GIT_TRACE` for available trace output options.
806
807`GIT_TRACE_PACKET`::
808 Enables trace messages for all packets coming in or out of a
809 given program. This can help with debugging object negotiation
810 or other protocol issues. Tracing is turned off at a packet
811 starting with "PACK" (but see `GIT_TRACE_PACKFILE` below).
812 See `GIT_TRACE` for available trace output options.
813
814`GIT_TRACE_PACKFILE`::
815 Enables tracing of packfiles sent or received by a
816 given program. Unlike other trace output, this trace is
817 verbatim: no headers, and no quoting of binary data. You almost
818 certainly want to direct into a file (e.g.,
819 `GIT_TRACE_PACKFILE=/tmp/my.pack`) rather than displaying it on
820 the terminal or mixing it with other trace output.
821+
822Note that this is currently only implemented for the client side
823of clones and fetches.
824
825`GIT_TRACE_PERFORMANCE`::
826 Enables performance related trace messages, e.g. total execution
827 time of each Git command.
828 See `GIT_TRACE` for available trace output options.
829
830`GIT_TRACE_REFS`::
831 Enables trace messages for operations on the ref database.
832 See `GIT_TRACE` for available trace output options.
833
834`GIT_TRACE_SETUP`::
835 Enables trace messages printing the .git, working tree and current
836 working directory after Git has completed its setup phase.
837 See `GIT_TRACE` for available trace output options.
838
839`GIT_TRACE_SHALLOW`::
840 Enables trace messages that can help debugging fetching /
841 cloning of shallow repositories.
842 See `GIT_TRACE` for available trace output options.
843
844`GIT_TRACE_CURL`::
845 Enables a curl full trace dump of all incoming and outgoing data,
846 including descriptive information, of the git transport protocol.
847 This is similar to doing curl `--trace-ascii` on the command line.
848 See `GIT_TRACE` for available trace output options.
849
850`GIT_TRACE_CURL_NO_DATA`::
851 When a curl trace is enabled (see `GIT_TRACE_CURL` above), do not dump
852 data (that is, only dump info lines and headers).
853
854`GIT_TRACE2`::
855 Enables more detailed trace messages from the "trace2" library.
856 Output from `GIT_TRACE2` is a simple text-based format for human
857 readability.
858+
859If this variable is set to "1", "2" or "true" (comparison
860is case insensitive), trace messages will be printed to
861stderr.
862+
863If the variable is set to an integer value greater than 2
864and lower than 10 (strictly) then Git will interpret this
865value as an open file descriptor and will try to write the
866trace messages into this file descriptor.
867+
868Alternatively, if the variable is set to an absolute path
869(starting with a '/' character), Git will interpret this
870as a file path and will try to append the trace messages
871to it. If the path already exists and is a directory, the
872trace messages will be written to files (one per process)
873in that directory, named according to the last component
874of the SID and an optional counter (to avoid filename
875collisions).
876+
877In addition, if the variable is set to
878`af_unix:[<socket-type>:]<absolute-pathname>`, Git will try
879to open the path as a Unix Domain Socket. The socket type
880can be either `stream` or `dgram`.
881+
882Unsetting the variable, or setting it to empty, "0" or
883"false" (case insensitive) disables trace messages.
884+
885See link:technical/api-trace2.html[Trace2 documentation]
886for full details.
887
888
889`GIT_TRACE2_EVENT`::
890 This setting writes a JSON-based format that is suited for machine
891 interpretation.
892 See `GIT_TRACE2` for available trace output options and
893 link:technical/api-trace2.html[Trace2 documentation] for full details.
894
895`GIT_TRACE2_PERF`::
896 In addition to the text-based messages available in `GIT_TRACE2`, this
897 setting writes a column-based format for understanding nesting
898 regions.
899 See `GIT_TRACE2` for available trace output options and
900 link:technical/api-trace2.html[Trace2 documentation] for full details.
901
902`GIT_TRACE_REDACT`::
903 By default, when tracing is activated, Git redacts the values of
904 cookies, the "Authorization:" header, the "Proxy-Authorization:"
905 header and packfile URIs. Set this Boolean environment variable to false to prevent this
906 redaction.
907
908`GIT_NO_REPLACE_OBJECTS`::
909 Setting and exporting this environment variable tells Git to
910 ignore replacement refs and do not replace Git objects.
911
912`GIT_LITERAL_PATHSPECS`::
913 Setting this Boolean environment variable to true will cause Git to treat all
914 pathspecs literally, rather than as glob patterns. For example,
915 running `GIT_LITERAL_PATHSPECS=1 git log -- '*.c'` will search
916 for commits that touch the path `*.c`, not any paths that the
917 glob `*.c` matches. You might want this if you are feeding
918 literal paths to Git (e.g., paths previously given to you by
919 `git ls-tree`, `--raw` diff output, etc).
920
921`GIT_GLOB_PATHSPECS`::
922 Setting this Boolean environment variable to true will cause Git to treat all
923 pathspecs as glob patterns (aka "glob" magic).
924
925`GIT_NOGLOB_PATHSPECS`::
926 Setting this Boolean environment variable to true will cause Git to treat all
927 pathspecs as literal (aka "literal" magic).
928
929`GIT_ICASE_PATHSPECS`::
930 Setting this Boolean environment variable to true will cause Git to treat all
931 pathspecs as case-insensitive.
932
933`GIT_NO_LAZY_FETCH`::
934 Setting this Boolean environment variable to true tells Git
935 not to lazily fetch missing objects from the promisor remote
936 on demand.
937
938`GIT_REFLOG_ACTION`::
939 When a ref is updated, reflog entries are created to keep
940 track of the reason why the ref was updated (which is
941 typically the name of the high-level command that updated
942 the ref), in addition to the old and new values of the ref.
943 A scripted Porcelain command can use set_reflog_action
944 helper function in `git-sh-setup` to set its name to this
945 variable when it is invoked as the top level command by the
946 end user, to be recorded in the body of the reflog.
947
948`GIT_REF_PARANOIA`::
949 If this Boolean environment variable is set to false, ignore broken or badly named refs when iterating
950 over lists of refs. Normally Git will try to include any such
951 refs, which may cause some operations to fail. This is usually
952 preferable, as potentially destructive operations (e.g.,
953 linkgit:git-prune[1]) are better off aborting rather than
954 ignoring broken refs (and thus considering the history they
955 point to as not worth saving). The default value is `1` (i.e.,
956 be paranoid about detecting and aborting all operations). You
957 should not normally need to set this to `0`, but it may be
958 useful when trying to salvage data from a corrupted repository.
959
960`GIT_COMMIT_GRAPH_PARANOIA`::
961 When loading a commit object from the commit-graph, Git performs an
962 existence check on the object in the object database. This is done to
963 avoid issues with stale commit-graphs that contain references to
964 already-deleted commits, but comes with a performance penalty.
965+
966The default is "false", which disables the aforementioned behavior.
967Setting this to "true" enables the existence check so that stale commits
968will never be returned from the commit-graph at the cost of performance.
969
970`GIT_ALLOW_PROTOCOL`::
971 If set to a colon-separated list of protocols, behave as if
972 `protocol.allow` is set to `never`, and each of the listed
973 protocols has `protocol.<name>.allow` set to `always`
974 (overriding any existing configuration). See the description of
975 `protocol.allow` in linkgit:git-config[1] for more details.
976
977`GIT_PROTOCOL_FROM_USER`::
978 Set this Boolean environment variable to false to prevent protocols used by fetch/push/clone which are
979 configured to the `user` state. This is useful to restrict recursive
980 submodule initialization from an untrusted repository or for programs
981 which feed potentially-untrusted URLS to git commands. See
982 linkgit:git-config[1] for more details.
983
984`GIT_PROTOCOL`::
985 For internal use only. Used in handshaking the wire protocol.
986 Contains a colon ':' separated list of keys with optional values
987 '<key>[=<value>]'. Presence of unknown keys and values must be
988 ignored.
989+
990Note that servers may need to be configured to allow this variable to
991pass over some transports. It will be propagated automatically when
992accessing local repositories (i.e., `file://` or a filesystem path), as
993well as over the `git://` protocol. For git-over-http, it should work
994automatically in most configurations, but see the discussion in
995linkgit:git-http-backend[1]. For git-over-ssh, the ssh server may need
996to be configured to allow clients to pass this variable (e.g., by using
997`AcceptEnv GIT_PROTOCOL` with OpenSSH).
998+
999This configuration is optional. If the variable is not propagated, then
1000clients will fall back to the original "v0" protocol (but may miss out
1001on some performance improvements or features). This variable currently
1002only affects clones and fetches; it is not yet used for pushes (but may
1003be in the future).
1004
1005`GIT_OPTIONAL_LOCKS`::
1006 If this Boolean environment variable is set to false, Git will complete any requested operation without
1007 performing any optional sub-operations that require taking a lock.
1008 For example, this will prevent `git status` from refreshing the
1009 index as a side effect. This is useful for processes running in
1010 the background which do not want to cause lock contention with
1011 other operations on the repository. Defaults to `1`.
1012
1013`GIT_REDIRECT_STDIN`::
1014`GIT_REDIRECT_STDOUT`::
1015`GIT_REDIRECT_STDERR`::
1016 Windows-only: allow redirecting the standard input/output/error
1017 handles to paths specified by the environment variables. This is
1018 particularly useful in multi-threaded applications where the
1019 canonical way to pass standard handles via `CreateProcess()` is
1020 not an option because it would require the handles to be marked
1021 inheritable (and consequently *every* spawned process would
1022 inherit them, possibly blocking regular Git operations). The
1023 primary intended use case is to use named pipes for communication
1024 (e.g. `\\.\pipe\my-git-stdin-123`).
1025+
1026Two special values are supported: `off` will simply close the
1027corresponding standard handle, and if `GIT_REDIRECT_STDERR` is
1028`2>&1`, standard error will be redirected to the same handle as
1029standard output.
1030
1031`GIT_PRINT_SHA1_ELLIPSIS` (deprecated)::
1032 If set to `yes`, print an ellipsis following an
1033 (abbreviated) SHA-1 value. This affects indications of
1034 detached HEADs (linkgit:git-checkout[1]) and the raw
1035 diff output (linkgit:git-diff[1]). Printing an
1036 ellipsis in the cases mentioned is no longer considered
1037 adequate and support for it is likely to be removed in the
1038 foreseeable future (along with the variable).
1039
1040`GIT_ADVICE`::
1041 If set to `0`, then disable all advice messages. These messages are
1042 intended to provide hints to human users that may help them get out of
1043 problematic situations or take advantage of new features. Users can
1044 disable individual messages using the `advice.*` config keys. These
1045 messages may be disruptive to tools that execute Git processes, so this
1046 variable is available to disable the messages. (The `--no-advice`
1047 global option is also available, but old Git versions may fail when
1048 this option is not understood. The environment variable will be ignored
1049 by Git versions that do not understand it.)
1050
1051Discussion[[Discussion]]
1052------------------------
1053
1054More detail on the following is available from the
1055link:user-manual.html#git-concepts[Git concepts chapter of the
1056user-manual] and linkgit:gitcore-tutorial[7].
1057
1058A Git project normally consists of a working directory with a ".git"
1059subdirectory at the top level. The .git directory contains, among other
1060things, a compressed object database representing the complete history
1061of the project, an "index" file which links that history to the current
1062contents of the working tree, and named pointers into that history such
1063as tags and branch heads.
1064
1065The object database contains objects of three main types: blobs, which
1066hold file data; trees, which point to blobs and other trees to build up
1067directory hierarchies; and commits, which each reference a single tree
1068and some number of parent commits.
1069
1070The commit, equivalent to what other systems call a "changeset" or
1071"version", represents a step in the project's history, and each parent
1072represents an immediately preceding step. Commits with more than one
1073parent represent merges of independent lines of development.
1074
1075All objects are named by the SHA-1 hash of their contents, normally
1076written as a string of 40 hex digits. Such names are globally unique.
1077The entire history leading up to a commit can be vouched for by signing
1078just that commit. A fourth object type, the tag, is provided for this
1079purpose.
1080
1081When first created, objects are stored in individual files, but for
1082efficiency may later be compressed together into "pack files".
1083
1084Named pointers called refs mark interesting points in history. A ref
1085may contain the SHA-1 name of an object or the name of another ref (the
1086latter is called a "symbolic ref").
1087Refs with names beginning `refs/head/` contain the SHA-1 name of the most
1088recent commit (or "head") of a branch under development. SHA-1 names of
1089tags of interest are stored under `refs/tags/`. A symbolic ref named
1090`HEAD` contains the name of the currently checked-out branch.
1091
1092The index file is initialized with a list of all paths and, for each
1093path, a blob object and a set of attributes. The blob object represents
1094the contents of the file as of the head of the current branch. The
1095attributes (last modified time, size, etc.) are taken from the
1096corresponding file in the working tree. Subsequent changes to the
1097working tree can be found by comparing these attributes. The index may
1098be updated with new content, and new commits may be created from the
1099content stored in the index.
1100
1101The index is also capable of storing multiple entries (called "stages")
1102for a given pathname. These stages are used to hold the various
1103unmerged version of a file when a merge is in progress.
1104
1105SECURITY
1106--------
1107
1108Some configuration options and hook files may cause Git to run arbitrary
1109shell commands. Because configuration and hooks are not copied using
1110`git clone`, it is generally safe to clone remote repositories with
1111untrusted content, inspect them with `git log`, and so on.
1112
1113However, it is not safe to run Git commands in a `.git` directory (or
1114the working tree that surrounds it) when that `.git` directory itself
1115comes from an untrusted source. The commands in its config and hooks
1116are executed in the usual way.
1117
1118By default, Git will refuse to run when the repository is owned by
1119someone other than the user running the command. See the entry for
1120`safe.directory` in linkgit:git-config[1]. While this can help protect
1121you in a multi-user environment, note that you can also acquire
1122untrusted repositories that are owned by you (for example, if you
1123extract a zip file or tarball from an untrusted source). In such cases,
1124you'd need to "sanitize" the untrusted repository first.
1125
1126If you have an untrusted `.git` directory, you should first clone it
1127with `git clone --no-local` to obtain a clean copy. Git does restrict
1128the set of options and hooks that will be run by `upload-pack`, which
1129handles the server side of a clone or fetch, but beware that the
1130surface area for attack against `upload-pack` is large, so this does
1131carry some risk. The safest thing is to serve the repository as an
1132unprivileged user (either via linkgit:git-daemon[1], ssh, or using
1133other tools to change user ids). See the discussion in the `SECURITY`
1134section of linkgit:git-upload-pack[1].
1135
1136FURTHER DOCUMENTATION
1137---------------------
1138
1139See the references in the "description" section to get started
1140using Git. The following is probably more detail than necessary
1141for a first-time user.
1142
1143The link:user-manual.html#git-concepts[Git concepts chapter of the
1144user-manual] and linkgit:gitcore-tutorial[7] both provide
1145introductions to the underlying Git architecture.
1146
1147See linkgit:gitworkflows[7] for an overview of recommended workflows.
1148
1149See also the link:howto-index.html[howto] documents for some useful
1150examples.
1151
1152The internals are documented in the
1153link:technical/api-index.html[Git API documentation].
1154
1155Users migrating from CVS may also want to
1156read linkgit:gitcvs-migration[7].
1157
1158
1159Authors
1160-------
1161Git was started by Linus Torvalds, and is currently maintained by Junio
1162C Hamano. Numerous contributions have come from the Git mailing list
1163<git@vger.kernel.org>. https://openhub.net/p/git/contributors/summary
1164gives you a more complete list of contributors.
1165
1166If you have a clone of git.git itself, the
1167output of linkgit:git-shortlog[1] and linkgit:git-blame[1] can show you
1168the authors for specific parts of the project.
1169
1170Reporting Bugs
1171--------------
1172
1173Report bugs to the Git mailing list <git@vger.kernel.org> where the
1174development and maintenance is primarily done. You do not have to be
1175subscribed to the list to send a message there. See the list archive
1176at https://lore.kernel.org/git for previous bug reports and other
1177discussions.
1178
1179Issues which are security relevant should be disclosed privately to
1180the Git Security mailing list <git-security@googlegroups.com>.
1181
1182SEE ALSO
1183--------
1184linkgit:gittutorial[7], linkgit:gittutorial-2[7],
1185linkgit:giteveryday[7], linkgit:gitcvs-migration[7],
1186linkgit:gitglossary[7], linkgit:gitcore-tutorial[7],
1187linkgit:gitcli[7], link:user-manual.html[The Git User's Manual],
1188linkgit:gitworkflows[7]
1189
1190GIT
1191---
1192Part of the linkgit:git[1] suite