1git(1) 2====== 3 4NAME 5---- 6git - the stupid content tracker 7 8 9SYNOPSIS 10-------- 11[verse] 12'git' [--version] [--exec-path[=GIT_EXEC_PATH]] [--html-path] 13 [-p|--paginate|--no-pager] [--no-replace-objects] 14 [--bare] [--git-dir=GIT_DIR] [--work-tree=GIT_WORK_TREE] 15 [-c name=value] 16 [--help] COMMAND [ARGS] 17 18DESCRIPTION 19----------- 20Git is a fast, scalable, distributed revision control system with an 21unusually rich command set that provides both high-level operations 22and full access to internals. 23 24See linkgit:gittutorial[7] to get started, then see 25link:everyday.html[Everyday Git] for a useful minimum set of commands, and 26"man git-commandname" for documentation of each command. CVS users may 27also want to read linkgit:gitcvs-migration[7]. See 28the link:user-manual.html[Git User's Manual] for a more in-depth 29introduction. 30 31The COMMAND is either a name of a Git command (see below) or an alias 32as defined in the configuration file (see linkgit:git-config[1]). 33 34Formatted and hyperlinked version of the latest git 35documentation can be viewed at 36`http://www.kernel.org/pub/software/scm/git/docs/`. 37 38ifdef::stalenotes[] 39[NOTE] 40============ 41 42You are reading the documentation for the latest (possibly 43unreleased) version of git, that is available from 'master' 44branch of the `git.git` repository. 45Documentation for older releases are available here: 46 47* link:v1.7.0.2/git.html[documentation for release 1.7.0.2] 48 49* release notes for 50 link:RelNotes-1.7.0.2.txt[1.7.0.2], 51 link:RelNotes-1.7.0.1.txt[1.7.0.1], 52 link:RelNotes-1.7.0.txt[1.7.0]. 53 54* link:v1.6.6.2/git.html[documentation for release 1.6.6.2] 55 56* release notes for 57 link:RelNotes-1.6.6.2.txt[1.6.6.2], 58 link:RelNotes-1.6.6.1.txt[1.6.6.1], 59 link:RelNotes-1.6.6.txt[1.6.6]. 60 61* link:v1.6.5.8/git.html[documentation for release 1.6.5.8] 62 63* release notes for 64 link:RelNotes-1.6.5.8.txt[1.6.5.8], 65 link:RelNotes-1.6.5.7.txt[1.6.5.7], 66 link:RelNotes-1.6.5.6.txt[1.6.5.6], 67 link:RelNotes-1.6.5.5.txt[1.6.5.5], 68 link:RelNotes-1.6.5.4.txt[1.6.5.4], 69 link:RelNotes-1.6.5.3.txt[1.6.5.3], 70 link:RelNotes-1.6.5.2.txt[1.6.5.2], 71 link:RelNotes-1.6.5.1.txt[1.6.5.1], 72 link:RelNotes-1.6.5.txt[1.6.5]. 73 74* link:v1.6.4.4/git.html[documentation for release 1.6.4.4] 75 76* release notes for 77 link:RelNotes-1.6.4.4.txt[1.6.4.4], 78 link:RelNotes-1.6.4.3.txt[1.6.4.3], 79 link:RelNotes-1.6.4.2.txt[1.6.4.2], 80 link:RelNotes-1.6.4.1.txt[1.6.4.1], 81 link:RelNotes-1.6.4.txt[1.6.4]. 82 83* link:v1.6.3.4/git.html[documentation for release 1.6.3.4] 84 85* release notes for 86 link:RelNotes-1.6.3.4.txt[1.6.3.4], 87 link:RelNotes-1.6.3.3.txt[1.6.3.3], 88 link:RelNotes-1.6.3.2.txt[1.6.3.2], 89 link:RelNotes-1.6.3.1.txt[1.6.3.1], 90 link:RelNotes-1.6.3.txt[1.6.3]. 91 92* release notes for 93 link:RelNotes-1.6.2.5.txt[1.6.2.5], 94 link:RelNotes-1.6.2.4.txt[1.6.2.4], 95 link:RelNotes-1.6.2.3.txt[1.6.2.3], 96 link:RelNotes-1.6.2.2.txt[1.6.2.2], 97 link:RelNotes-1.6.2.1.txt[1.6.2.1], 98 link:RelNotes-1.6.2.txt[1.6.2]. 99 100* link:v1.6.1.3/git.html[documentation for release 1.6.1.3] 101 102* release notes for 103 link:RelNotes-1.6.1.3.txt[1.6.1.3], 104 link:RelNotes-1.6.1.2.txt[1.6.1.2], 105 link:RelNotes-1.6.1.1.txt[1.6.1.1], 106 link:RelNotes-1.6.1.txt[1.6.1]. 107 108* link:v1.6.0.6/git.html[documentation for release 1.6.0.6] 109 110* release notes for 111 link:RelNotes-1.6.0.6.txt[1.6.0.6], 112 link:RelNotes-1.6.0.5.txt[1.6.0.5], 113 link:RelNotes-1.6.0.4.txt[1.6.0.4], 114 link:RelNotes-1.6.0.3.txt[1.6.0.3], 115 link:RelNotes-1.6.0.2.txt[1.6.0.2], 116 link:RelNotes-1.6.0.1.txt[1.6.0.1], 117 link:RelNotes-1.6.0.txt[1.6.0]. 118 119* link:v1.5.6.6/git.html[documentation for release 1.5.6.6] 120 121* release notes for 122 link:RelNotes-1.5.6.6.txt[1.5.6.6], 123 link:RelNotes-1.5.6.5.txt[1.5.6.5], 124 link:RelNotes-1.5.6.4.txt[1.5.6.4], 125 link:RelNotes-1.5.6.3.txt[1.5.6.3], 126 link:RelNotes-1.5.6.2.txt[1.5.6.2], 127 link:RelNotes-1.5.6.1.txt[1.5.6.1], 128 link:RelNotes-1.5.6.txt[1.5.6]. 129 130* link:v1.5.5.6/git.html[documentation for release 1.5.5.6] 131 132* release notes for 133 link:RelNotes-1.5.5.6.txt[1.5.5.6], 134 link:RelNotes-1.5.5.5.txt[1.5.5.5], 135 link:RelNotes-1.5.5.4.txt[1.5.5.4], 136 link:RelNotes-1.5.5.3.txt[1.5.5.3], 137 link:RelNotes-1.5.5.2.txt[1.5.5.2], 138 link:RelNotes-1.5.5.1.txt[1.5.5.1], 139 link:RelNotes-1.5.5.txt[1.5.5]. 140 141* link:v1.5.4.7/git.html[documentation for release 1.5.4.7] 142 143* release notes for 144 link:RelNotes-1.5.4.7.txt[1.5.4.7], 145 link:RelNotes-1.5.4.6.txt[1.5.4.6], 146 link:RelNotes-1.5.4.5.txt[1.5.4.5], 147 link:RelNotes-1.5.4.4.txt[1.5.4.4], 148 link:RelNotes-1.5.4.3.txt[1.5.4.3], 149 link:RelNotes-1.5.4.2.txt[1.5.4.2], 150 link:RelNotes-1.5.4.1.txt[1.5.4.1], 151 link:RelNotes-1.5.4.txt[1.5.4]. 152 153* link:v1.5.3.8/git.html[documentation for release 1.5.3.8] 154 155* release notes for 156 link:RelNotes-1.5.3.8.txt[1.5.3.8], 157 link:RelNotes-1.5.3.7.txt[1.5.3.7], 158 link:RelNotes-1.5.3.6.txt[1.5.3.6], 159 link:RelNotes-1.5.3.5.txt[1.5.3.5], 160 link:RelNotes-1.5.3.4.txt[1.5.3.4], 161 link:RelNotes-1.5.3.3.txt[1.5.3.3], 162 link:RelNotes-1.5.3.2.txt[1.5.3.2], 163 link:RelNotes-1.5.3.1.txt[1.5.3.1], 164 link:RelNotes-1.5.3.txt[1.5.3]. 165 166* link:v1.5.2.5/git.html[documentation for release 1.5.2.5] 167 168* release notes for 169 link:RelNotes-1.5.2.5.txt[1.5.2.5], 170 link:RelNotes-1.5.2.4.txt[1.5.2.4], 171 link:RelNotes-1.5.2.3.txt[1.5.2.3], 172 link:RelNotes-1.5.2.2.txt[1.5.2.2], 173 link:RelNotes-1.5.2.1.txt[1.5.2.1], 174 link:RelNotes-1.5.2.txt[1.5.2]. 175 176* link:v1.5.1.6/git.html[documentation for release 1.5.1.6] 177 178* release notes for 179 link:RelNotes-1.5.1.6.txt[1.5.1.6], 180 link:RelNotes-1.5.1.5.txt[1.5.1.5], 181 link:RelNotes-1.5.1.4.txt[1.5.1.4], 182 link:RelNotes-1.5.1.3.txt[1.5.1.3], 183 link:RelNotes-1.5.1.2.txt[1.5.1.2], 184 link:RelNotes-1.5.1.1.txt[1.5.1.1], 185 link:RelNotes-1.5.1.txt[1.5.1]. 186 187* link:v1.5.0.7/git.html[documentation for release 1.5.0.7] 188 189* release notes for 190 link:RelNotes-1.5.0.7.txt[1.5.0.7], 191 link:RelNotes-1.5.0.6.txt[1.5.0.6], 192 link:RelNotes-1.5.0.5.txt[1.5.0.5], 193 link:RelNotes-1.5.0.3.txt[1.5.0.3], 194 link:RelNotes-1.5.0.2.txt[1.5.0.2], 195 link:RelNotes-1.5.0.1.txt[1.5.0.1], 196 link:RelNotes-1.5.0.txt[1.5.0]. 197 198* documentation for release link:v1.4.4.4/git.html[1.4.4.4], 199 link:v1.3.3/git.html[1.3.3], 200 link:v1.2.6/git.html[1.2.6], 201 link:v1.0.13/git.html[1.0.13]. 202 203============ 204 205endif::stalenotes[] 206 207OPTIONS 208------- 209--version:: 210 Prints the git suite version that the 'git' program came from. 211 212--help:: 213 Prints the synopsis and a list of the most commonly used 214 commands. If the option '--all' or '-a' is given then all 215 available commands are printed. If a git command is named this 216 option will bring up the manual page for that command. 217+ 218Other options are available to control how the manual page is 219displayed. See linkgit:git-help[1] for more information, 220because `git --help ...` is converted internally into `git 221help ...`. 222 223-c <name>=<value>:: 224 Pass a configuration parameter to the command. The value 225 given will override values from configuration files. 226 The <name> is expected in the same format as listed by 227 'git config' (subkeys separated by dots). 228 229--exec-path:: 230 Path to wherever your core git programs are installed. 231 This can also be controlled by setting the GIT_EXEC_PATH 232 environment variable. If no path is given, 'git' will print 233 the current setting and then exit. 234 235--html-path:: 236 Print the path to wherever your git HTML documentation is installed 237 and exit. 238 239-p:: 240--paginate:: 241 Pipe all output into 'less' (or if set, $PAGER) if standard 242 output is a terminal. This overrides the `pager.<cmd>` 243 configuration options (see the "Configuration Mechanism" section 244 below). 245 246--no-pager:: 247 Do not pipe git output into a pager. 248 249--git-dir=<path>:: 250 Set the path to the repository. This can also be controlled by 251 setting the GIT_DIR environment variable. It can be an absolute 252 path or relative path to current working directory. 253 254--work-tree=<path>:: 255 Set the path to the working tree. The value will not be 256 used in combination with repositories found automatically in 257 a .git directory (i.e. $GIT_DIR is not set). 258 This can also be controlled by setting the GIT_WORK_TREE 259 environment variable and the core.worktree configuration 260 variable. It can be an absolute path or relative path to 261 the directory specified by --git-dir or GIT_DIR. 262 Note: If --git-dir or GIT_DIR are specified but none of 263 --work-tree, GIT_WORK_TREE and core.worktree is specified, 264 the current working directory is regarded as the top directory 265 of your working tree. 266 267--bare:: 268 Treat the repository as a bare repository. If GIT_DIR 269 environment is not set, it is set to the current working 270 directory. 271 272--no-replace-objects:: 273 Do not use replacement refs to replace git objects. See 274 linkgit:git-replace[1] for more information. 275 276 277FURTHER DOCUMENTATION 278--------------------- 279 280See the references above to get started using git. The following is 281probably more detail than necessary for a first-time user. 282 283The link:user-manual.html#git-concepts[git concepts chapter of the 284user-manual] and linkgit:gitcore-tutorial[7] both provide 285introductions to the underlying git architecture. 286 287See linkgit:gitworkflows[7] for an overview of recommended workflows. 288 289See also the link:howto-index.html[howto] documents for some useful 290examples. 291 292The internals are documented in the 293link:technical/api-index.html[GIT API documentation]. 294 295GIT COMMANDS 296------------ 297 298We divide git into high level ("porcelain") commands and low level 299("plumbing") commands. 300 301High-level commands (porcelain) 302------------------------------- 303 304We separate the porcelain commands into the main commands and some 305ancillary user utilities. 306 307Main porcelain commands 308~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 309 310include::cmds-mainporcelain.txt[] 311 312Ancillary Commands 313~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 314Manipulators: 315 316include::cmds-ancillarymanipulators.txt[] 317 318Interrogators: 319 320include::cmds-ancillaryinterrogators.txt[] 321 322 323Interacting with Others 324~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 325 326These commands are to interact with foreign SCM and with other 327people via patch over e-mail. 328 329include::cmds-foreignscminterface.txt[] 330 331 332Low-level commands (plumbing) 333----------------------------- 334 335Although git includes its 336own porcelain layer, its low-level commands are sufficient to support 337development of alternative porcelains. Developers of such porcelains 338might start by reading about linkgit:git-update-index[1] and 339linkgit:git-read-tree[1]. 340 341The interface (input, output, set of options and the semantics) 342to these low-level commands are meant to be a lot more stable 343than Porcelain level commands, because these commands are 344primarily for scripted use. The interface to Porcelain commands 345on the other hand are subject to change in order to improve the 346end user experience. 347 348The following description divides 349the low-level commands into commands that manipulate objects (in 350the repository, index, and working tree), commands that interrogate and 351compare objects, and commands that move objects and references between 352repositories. 353 354 355Manipulation commands 356~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 357 358include::cmds-plumbingmanipulators.txt[] 359 360 361Interrogation commands 362~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 363 364include::cmds-plumbinginterrogators.txt[] 365 366In general, the interrogate commands do not touch the files in 367the working tree. 368 369 370Synching repositories 371~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 372 373include::cmds-synchingrepositories.txt[] 374 375The following are helper commands used by the above; end users 376typically do not use them directly. 377 378include::cmds-synchelpers.txt[] 379 380 381Internal helper commands 382~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 383 384These are internal helper commands used by other commands; end 385users typically do not use them directly. 386 387include::cmds-purehelpers.txt[] 388 389 390Configuration Mechanism 391----------------------- 392 393Starting from 0.99.9 (actually mid 0.99.8.GIT), `.git/config` file 394is used to hold per-repository configuration options. It is a 395simple text file modeled after `.ini` format familiar to some 396people. Here is an example: 397 398------------ 399# 400# A '#' or ';' character indicates a comment. 401# 402 403; core variables 404[core] 405 ; Don't trust file modes 406 filemode = false 407 408; user identity 409[user] 410 name = "Junio C Hamano" 411 email = "junkio@twinsun.com" 412 413------------ 414 415Various commands read from the configuration file and adjust 416their operation accordingly. See linkgit:git-config[1] for a 417list. 418 419 420Identifier Terminology 421---------------------- 422<object>:: 423 Indicates the object name for any type of object. 424 425<blob>:: 426 Indicates a blob object name. 427 428<tree>:: 429 Indicates a tree object name. 430 431<commit>:: 432 Indicates a commit object name. 433 434<tree-ish>:: 435 Indicates a tree, commit or tag object name. A 436 command that takes a <tree-ish> argument ultimately wants to 437 operate on a <tree> object but automatically dereferences 438 <commit> and <tag> objects that point at a <tree>. 439 440<commit-ish>:: 441 Indicates a commit or tag object name. A 442 command that takes a <commit-ish> argument ultimately wants to 443 operate on a <commit> object but automatically dereferences 444 <tag> objects that point at a <commit>. 445 446<type>:: 447 Indicates that an object type is required. 448 Currently one of: `blob`, `tree`, `commit`, or `tag`. 449 450<file>:: 451 Indicates a filename - almost always relative to the 452 root of the tree structure `GIT_INDEX_FILE` describes. 453 454Symbolic Identifiers 455-------------------- 456Any git command accepting any <object> can also use the following 457symbolic notation: 458 459HEAD:: 460 indicates the head of the current branch (i.e. the 461 contents of `$GIT_DIR/HEAD`). 462 463<tag>:: 464 a valid tag 'name' 465 (i.e. the contents of `$GIT_DIR/refs/tags/<tag>`). 466 467<head>:: 468 a valid head 'name' 469 (i.e. the contents of `$GIT_DIR/refs/heads/<head>`). 470 471For a more complete list of ways to spell object names, see 472"SPECIFYING REVISIONS" section in linkgit:git-rev-parse[1]. 473 474 475File/Directory Structure 476------------------------ 477 478Please see the linkgit:gitrepository-layout[5] document. 479 480Read linkgit:githooks[5] for more details about each hook. 481 482Higher level SCMs may provide and manage additional information in the 483`$GIT_DIR`. 484 485 486Terminology 487----------- 488Please see linkgit:gitglossary[7]. 489 490 491Environment Variables 492--------------------- 493Various git commands use the following environment variables: 494 495The git Repository 496~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 497These environment variables apply to 'all' core git commands. Nb: it 498is worth noting that they may be used/overridden by SCMS sitting above 499git so take care if using Cogito etc. 500 501'GIT_INDEX_FILE':: 502 This environment allows the specification of an alternate 503 index file. If not specified, the default of `$GIT_DIR/index` 504 is used. 505 506'GIT_OBJECT_DIRECTORY':: 507 If the object storage directory is specified via this 508 environment variable then the sha1 directories are created 509 underneath - otherwise the default `$GIT_DIR/objects` 510 directory is used. 511 512'GIT_ALTERNATE_OBJECT_DIRECTORIES':: 513 Due to the immutable nature of git objects, old objects can be 514 archived into shared, read-only directories. This variable 515 specifies a ":" separated (on Windows ";" separated) list 516 of git object directories which can be used to search for git 517 objects. New objects will not be written to these directories. 518 519'GIT_DIR':: 520 If the 'GIT_DIR' environment variable is set then it 521 specifies a path to use instead of the default `.git` 522 for the base of the repository. 523 524'GIT_WORK_TREE':: 525 Set the path to the working tree. The value will not be 526 used in combination with repositories found automatically in 527 a .git directory (i.e. $GIT_DIR is not set). 528 This can also be controlled by the '--work-tree' command line 529 option and the core.worktree configuration variable. 530 531'GIT_CEILING_DIRECTORIES':: 532 This should be a colon-separated list of absolute paths. 533 If set, it is a list of directories that git should not chdir 534 up into while looking for a repository directory. 535 It will not exclude the current working directory or 536 a GIT_DIR set on the command line or in the environment. 537 (Useful for excluding slow-loading network directories.) 538 539git Commits 540~~~~~~~~~~~ 541'GIT_AUTHOR_NAME':: 542'GIT_AUTHOR_EMAIL':: 543'GIT_AUTHOR_DATE':: 544'GIT_COMMITTER_NAME':: 545'GIT_COMMITTER_EMAIL':: 546'GIT_COMMITTER_DATE':: 547'EMAIL':: 548 see linkgit:git-commit-tree[1] 549 550git Diffs 551~~~~~~~~~ 552'GIT_DIFF_OPTS':: 553 Only valid setting is "--unified=??" or "-u??" to set the 554 number of context lines shown when a unified diff is created. 555 This takes precedence over any "-U" or "--unified" option 556 value passed on the git diff command line. 557 558'GIT_EXTERNAL_DIFF':: 559 When the environment variable 'GIT_EXTERNAL_DIFF' is set, the 560 program named by it is called, instead of the diff invocation 561 described above. For a path that is added, removed, or modified, 562 'GIT_EXTERNAL_DIFF' is called with 7 parameters: 563 564 path old-file old-hex old-mode new-file new-hex new-mode 565+ 566where: 567 568 <old|new>-file:: are files GIT_EXTERNAL_DIFF can use to read the 569 contents of <old|new>, 570 <old|new>-hex:: are the 40-hexdigit SHA1 hashes, 571 <old|new>-mode:: are the octal representation of the file modes. 572 573+ 574The file parameters can point at the user's working file 575(e.g. `new-file` in "git-diff-files"), `/dev/null` (e.g. `old-file` 576when a new file is added), or a temporary file (e.g. `old-file` in the 577index). 'GIT_EXTERNAL_DIFF' should not worry about unlinking the 578temporary file --- it is removed when 'GIT_EXTERNAL_DIFF' exits. 579+ 580For a path that is unmerged, 'GIT_EXTERNAL_DIFF' is called with 1 581parameter, <path>. 582 583other 584~~~~~ 585'GIT_MERGE_VERBOSITY':: 586 A number controlling the amount of output shown by 587 the recursive merge strategy. Overrides merge.verbosity. 588 See linkgit:git-merge[1] 589 590'GIT_PAGER':: 591 This environment variable overrides `$PAGER`. If it is set 592 to an empty string or to the value "cat", git will not launch 593 a pager. See also the `core.pager` option in 594 linkgit:git-config[1]. 595 596'GIT_SSH':: 597 If this environment variable is set then 'git fetch' 598 and 'git push' will use this command instead 599 of 'ssh' when they need to connect to a remote system. 600 The '$GIT_SSH' command will be given exactly two arguments: 601 the 'username@host' (or just 'host') from the URL and the 602 shell command to execute on that remote system. 603+ 604To pass options to the program that you want to list in GIT_SSH 605you will need to wrap the program and options into a shell script, 606then set GIT_SSH to refer to the shell script. 607+ 608Usually it is easier to configure any desired options through your 609personal `.ssh/config` file. Please consult your ssh documentation 610for further details. 611 612'GIT_FLUSH':: 613 If this environment variable is set to "1", then commands such 614 as 'git blame' (in incremental mode), 'git rev-list', 'git log', 615 and 'git whatchanged' will force a flush of the output stream 616 after each commit-oriented record have been flushed. If this 617 variable is set to "0", the output of these commands will be done 618 using completely buffered I/O. If this environment variable is 619 not set, git will choose buffered or record-oriented flushing 620 based on whether stdout appears to be redirected to a file or not. 621 622'GIT_TRACE':: 623 If this variable is set to "1", "2" or "true" (comparison 624 is case insensitive), git will print `trace:` messages on 625 stderr telling about alias expansion, built-in command 626 execution and external command execution. 627 If this variable is set to an integer value greater than 1 628 and lower than 10 (strictly) then git will interpret this 629 value as an open file descriptor and will try to write the 630 trace messages into this file descriptor. 631 Alternatively, if this variable is set to an absolute path 632 (starting with a '/' character), git will interpret this 633 as a file path and will try to write the trace messages 634 into it. 635 636Discussion[[Discussion]] 637------------------------ 638 639More detail on the following is available from the 640link:user-manual.html#git-concepts[git concepts chapter of the 641user-manual] and linkgit:gitcore-tutorial[7]. 642 643A git project normally consists of a working directory with a ".git" 644subdirectory at the top level. The .git directory contains, among other 645things, a compressed object database representing the complete history 646of the project, an "index" file which links that history to the current 647contents of the working tree, and named pointers into that history such 648as tags and branch heads. 649 650The object database contains objects of three main types: blobs, which 651hold file data; trees, which point to blobs and other trees to build up 652directory hierarchies; and commits, which each reference a single tree 653and some number of parent commits. 654 655The commit, equivalent to what other systems call a "changeset" or 656"version", represents a step in the project's history, and each parent 657represents an immediately preceding step. Commits with more than one 658parent represent merges of independent lines of development. 659 660All objects are named by the SHA1 hash of their contents, normally 661written as a string of 40 hex digits. Such names are globally unique. 662The entire history leading up to a commit can be vouched for by signing 663just that commit. A fourth object type, the tag, is provided for this 664purpose. 665 666When first created, objects are stored in individual files, but for 667efficiency may later be compressed together into "pack files". 668 669Named pointers called refs mark interesting points in history. A ref 670may contain the SHA1 name of an object or the name of another ref. Refs 671with names beginning `ref/head/` contain the SHA1 name of the most 672recent commit (or "head") of a branch under development. SHA1 names of 673tags of interest are stored under `ref/tags/`. A special ref named 674`HEAD` contains the name of the currently checked-out branch. 675 676The index file is initialized with a list of all paths and, for each 677path, a blob object and a set of attributes. The blob object represents 678the contents of the file as of the head of the current branch. The 679attributes (last modified time, size, etc.) are taken from the 680corresponding file in the working tree. Subsequent changes to the 681working tree can be found by comparing these attributes. The index may 682be updated with new content, and new commits may be created from the 683content stored in the index. 684 685The index is also capable of storing multiple entries (called "stages") 686for a given pathname. These stages are used to hold the various 687unmerged version of a file when a merge is in progress. 688 689Authors 690------- 691* git's founding father is Linus Torvalds <torvalds@osdl.org>. 692* The current git nurse is Junio C Hamano <gitster@pobox.com>. 693* The git potty was written by Andreas Ericsson <ae@op5.se>. 694* General upbringing is handled by the git-list <git@vger.kernel.org>. 695 696Documentation 697-------------- 698The documentation for git suite was started by David Greaves 699<david@dgreaves.com>, and later enhanced greatly by the 700contributors on the git-list <git@vger.kernel.org>. 701 702SEE ALSO 703-------- 704linkgit:gittutorial[7], linkgit:gittutorial-2[7], 705link:everyday.html[Everyday Git], linkgit:gitcvs-migration[7], 706linkgit:gitglossary[7], linkgit:gitcore-tutorial[7], 707linkgit:gitcli[7], link:user-manual.html[The Git User's Manual], 708linkgit:gitworkflows[7] 709 710GIT 711--- 712Part of the linkgit:git[1] suite