1git-branch(1) 2============= 3 4NAME 5---- 6git-branch - List, create, or delete branches 7 8SYNOPSIS 9-------- 10[verse] 11'git branch' [--color[=<when>] | --no-color] [-r | -a] 12 [--list] [-v [--abbrev=<length> | --no-abbrev]] 13 [(--merged | --no-merged | --contains) [<commit>]] 14'git branch' [--set-upstream | --track | --no-track] [-l] [-f] <branchname> [<start-point>] 15'git branch' (-m | -M) [<oldbranch>] <newbranch> 16'git branch' (-d | -D) [-r] <branchname>... 17 18DESCRIPTION 19----------- 20 21With no arguments, existing branches are listed and the current branch will 22be highlighted with an asterisk. Option `-r` causes the remote-tracking 23branches to be listed, and option `-a` shows both. This list mode is also 24activated by the `--list` and `-v` options (see below). 25 26With `--contains`, shows only the branches that contain the named commit 27(in other words, the branches whose tip commits are descendants of the 28named commit). With `--merged`, only branches merged into the named 29commit (i.e. the branches whose tip commits are reachable from the named 30commit) will be listed. With `--no-merged` only branches not merged into 31the named commit will be listed. If the <commit> argument is missing it 32defaults to 'HEAD' (i.e. the tip of the current branch). 33 34The command's second form creates a new branch head named <branchname> 35which points to the current 'HEAD', or <start-point> if given. 36 37Note that this will create the new branch, but it will not switch the 38working tree to it; use "git checkout <newbranch>" to switch to the 39new branch. 40 41When a local branch is started off a remote-tracking branch, git sets up the 42branch so that 'git pull' will appropriately merge from 43the remote-tracking branch. This behavior may be changed via the global 44`branch.autosetupmerge` configuration flag. That setting can be 45overridden by using the `--track` and `--no-track` options, and 46changed later using `git branch --set-upstream`. 47 48With a '-m' or '-M' option, <oldbranch> will be renamed to <newbranch>. 49If <oldbranch> had a corresponding reflog, it is renamed to match 50<newbranch>, and a reflog entry is created to remember the branch 51renaming. If <newbranch> exists, -M must be used to force the rename 52to happen. 53 54With a `-d` or `-D` option, `<branchname>` will be deleted. You may 55specify more than one branch for deletion. If the branch currently 56has a reflog then the reflog will also be deleted. 57 58Use -r together with -d to delete remote-tracking branches. Note, that it 59only makes sense to delete remote-tracking branches if they no longer exist 60in the remote repository or if 'git fetch' was configured not to fetch 61them again. See also the 'prune' subcommand of linkgit:git-remote[1] for a 62way to clean up all obsolete remote-tracking branches. 63 64 65OPTIONS 66------- 67-d:: 68--delete:: 69 Delete a branch. The branch must be fully merged in its 70 upstream branch, or in `HEAD` if no upstream was set with 71 `--track` or `--set-upstream`. 72 73-D:: 74 Delete a branch irrespective of its merged status. 75 76-l:: 77--create-reflog:: 78 Create the branch's reflog. This activates recording of 79 all changes made to the branch ref, enabling use of date 80 based sha1 expressions such as "<branchname>@\{yesterday}". 81 Note that in non-bare repositories, reflogs are usually 82 enabled by default by the `core.logallrefupdates` config option. 83 84-f:: 85--force:: 86 Reset <branchname> to <startpoint> if <branchname> exists 87 already. Without `-f` 'git branch' refuses to change an existing branch. 88 89-m:: 90--move:: 91 Move/rename a branch and the corresponding reflog. 92 93-M:: 94 Move/rename a branch even if the new branch name already exists. 95 96--color[=<when>]:: 97 Color branches to highlight current, local, and 98 remote-tracking branches. 99 The value must be always (the default), never, or auto. 100 101--no-color:: 102 Turn off branch colors, even when the configuration file gives the 103 default to color output. 104 Same as `--color=never`. 105 106-r:: 107--remotes:: 108 List or delete (if used with -d) the remote-tracking branches. 109 110-a:: 111--all:: 112 List both remote-tracking branches and local branches. 113 114--list:: 115 Activate the list mode. 116 117-v:: 118--verbose:: 119 Show sha1 and commit subject line for each head, along with 120 relationship to upstream branch (if any). If given twice, print 121 the name of the upstream branch, as well. 122 `--list` is implied by all verbosity options. 123 124--abbrev=<length>:: 125 Alter the sha1's minimum display length in the output listing. 126 The default value is 7 and can be overridden by the `core.abbrev` 127 config option. 128 129--no-abbrev:: 130 Display the full sha1s in the output listing rather than abbreviating them. 131 132-t:: 133--track:: 134 When creating a new branch, set up configuration to mark the 135 start-point branch as "upstream" from the new branch. This 136 configuration will tell git to show the relationship between the 137 two branches in `git status` and `git branch -v`. Furthermore, 138 it directs `git pull` without arguments to pull from the 139 upstream when the new branch is checked out. 140+ 141This behavior is the default when the start point is a remote-tracking branch. 142Set the branch.autosetupmerge configuration variable to `false` if you 143want `git checkout` and `git branch` to always behave as if '--no-track' 144were given. Set it to `always` if you want this behavior when the 145start-point is either a local or remote-tracking branch. 146 147--no-track:: 148 Do not set up "upstream" configuration, even if the 149 branch.autosetupmerge configuration variable is true. 150 151--set-upstream:: 152 If specified branch does not exist yet or if '--force' has been 153 given, acts exactly like '--track'. Otherwise sets up configuration 154 like '--track' would when creating the branch, except that where 155 branch points to is not changed. 156 157--contains <commit>:: 158 Only list branches which contain the specified commit. 159 160--merged [<commit>]:: 161 Only list branches whose tips are reachable from the 162 specified commit (HEAD if not specified). 163 164--no-merged [<commit>]:: 165 Only list branches whose tips are not reachable from the 166 specified commit (HEAD if not specified). 167 168<branchname>:: 169 The name of the branch to create or delete. 170 The new branch name must pass all checks defined by 171 linkgit:git-check-ref-format[1]. Some of these checks 172 may restrict the characters allowed in a branch name. 173 174<start-point>:: 175 The new branch head will point to this commit. It may be 176 given as a branch name, a commit-id, or a tag. If this 177 option is omitted, the current HEAD will be used instead. 178 179<oldbranch>:: 180 The name of an existing branch to rename. 181 182<newbranch>:: 183 The new name for an existing branch. The same restrictions as for 184 <branchname> apply. 185 186 187Examples 188-------- 189 190Start development from a known tag:: 191+ 192------------ 193$ git clone git://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/.../linux-2.6 my2.6 194$ cd my2.6 195$ git branch my2.6.14 v2.6.14 <1> 196$ git checkout my2.6.14 197------------ 198+ 199<1> This step and the next one could be combined into a single step with 200"checkout -b my2.6.14 v2.6.14". 201 202Delete an unneeded branch:: 203+ 204------------ 205$ git clone git://git.kernel.org/.../git.git my.git 206$ cd my.git 207$ git branch -d -r origin/todo origin/html origin/man <1> 208$ git branch -D test <2> 209------------ 210+ 211<1> Delete the remote-tracking branches "todo", "html" and "man". The next 212'fetch' or 'pull' will create them again unless you configure them not to. 213See linkgit:git-fetch[1]. 214<2> Delete the "test" branch even if the "master" branch (or whichever branch 215is currently checked out) does not have all commits from the test branch. 216 217 218Notes 219----- 220 221If you are creating a branch that you want to checkout immediately, it is 222easier to use the git checkout command with its `-b` option to create 223a branch and check it out with a single command. 224 225The options `--contains`, `--merged` and `--no-merged` serve three related 226but different purposes: 227 228- `--contains <commit>` is used to find all branches which will need 229 special attention if <commit> were to be rebased or amended, since those 230 branches contain the specified <commit>. 231 232- `--merged` is used to find all branches which can be safely deleted, 233 since those branches are fully contained by HEAD. 234 235- `--no-merged` is used to find branches which are candidates for merging 236 into HEAD, since those branches are not fully contained by HEAD. 237 238SEE ALSO 239-------- 240linkgit:git-check-ref-format[1], 241linkgit:git-fetch[1], 242linkgit:git-remote[1], 243link:user-manual.html#what-is-a-branch[``Understanding history: What is 244a branch?''] in the Git User's Manual. 245 246GIT 247--- 248Part of the linkgit:git[1] suite