git-branch(1)
NAME
git-branch - List, create, or delete branches
SYNOPSIS
git branch [--color[=<when>] | --no-color] [-r | -a]
[--list] [-v [--abbrev=<length> | --no-abbrev]]
[--column[=<options>] | --no-column]
[(--merged | --no-merged | --contains) [<commit>]] [--sort=<key>]
[--points-at <object>] [<pattern>...]
git branch [--set-upstream | --track | --no-track] [-l] [-f] <branchname> [<start-point>]
git branch (--set-upstream-to=<upstream> | -u <upstream>) [<branchname>]
git branch --unset-upstream [<branchname>]
git branch (-m | -M) [<oldbranch>] <newbranch>
git branch (-d | -D) [-r] <branchname>...
git branch --edit-description [<branchname>]
DESCRIPTION
If --list is given, or if there are no non-option arguments, existing branches are listed; the current branch will be highlighted with an asterisk. Option -r causes the remote-tracking branches to be listed, and option -a shows both local and remote branches. If a <pattern> is given, it is used as a shell wildcard to restrict the output to matching branches. If multiple patterns are given, a branch is shown if it matches any of the patterns. Note that when providing a <pattern>, you must use --list; otherwise the command is interpreted as branch creation. With --contains, shows only the branches that contain the named commit (in other words, the branches whose tip commits are descendants of the named commit). With --merged, only branches merged into the named commit (i.e. the branches whose tip commits are reachable from the named commit) will be listed. With --no-merged only branches not merged into the named commit will be listed. If the <commit> argument is missing it defaults to HEAD (i.e. the tip of the current branch). The command's second form creates a new branch head named <branchname> which points to the current HEAD, or <start-point> if given. Note that this will create the new branch, but it will not switch the working tree to it; use "git checkout <newbranch>" to switch to the new branch. When a local branch is started off a remote-tracking branch, Git sets up the branch (specifically the branch.<name>.remote and branch.<name>.merge configuration entries) so that git pull will appropriately merge from the remote-tracking branch. This behavior may be changed via the global branch.autoSetupMerge configuration flag. That setting can be overridden by using the --track and --no-track options, and changed later using git branch --set-upstream-to. With a -m or -M option, <oldbranch> will be renamed to <newbranch>. If <oldbranch> had a corresponding reflog, it is renamed to match <newbranch>, and a reflog entry is created to remember the branch renaming. If <newbranch> exists, -M must be used to force the rename to happen. With a -d or -D option, <branchname> will be deleted. You may specify more than one branch for deletion. If the branch currently has a reflog then the reflog will also be deleted. Use -r together with -d to delete remote-tracking branches. Note, that it only makes sense to delete remote-tracking branches if they no longer exist in the remote repository or if git fetch was configured not to fetch them again. See also the prune subcommand of git-remote(1) for a way to clean up all obsolete remote-tracking branches.
OPTIONS
-d, --delete
Delete a branch. The branch must be fully merged in its upstream
branch, or in HEAD if no upstream was set with --track or
--set-upstream.
-D
Shortcut for --delete --force.
-l, --create-reflog
Create the branch's reflog. This activates recording of all changes
made to the branch ref, enabling use of date based sha1 expressions
such as "<branchname>@{yesterday}". Note that in non-bare
repositories, reflogs are usually enabled by default by the
core.logallrefupdates config option.
-f, --force
Reset <branchname> to <startpoint> if <branchname> exists already.
Without -f git branch refuses to change an existing branch. In
combination with -d (or --delete), allow deleting the branch
irrespective of its merged status. In combination with -m (or
--move), allow renaming the branch even if the new branch name
already exists.
-m, --move
Move/rename a branch and the corresponding reflog.
-M
Shortcut for --move --force.
--color[=<when>]
Color branches to highlight current, local, and remote-tracking
branches. The value must be always (the default), never, or auto.
--no-color
Turn off branch colors, even when the configuration file gives the
default to color output. Same as --color=never.
--column[=<options>], --no-column
Display branch listing in columns. See configuration variable
column.branch for option syntax.--column and --no-column without
options are equivalent to always and never respectively.
This option is only applicable in non-verbose mode.
-r, --remotes
List or delete (if used with -d) the remote-tracking branches.
-a, --all
List both remote-tracking branches and local branches.
--list
Activate the list mode. git branch <pattern> would try to create a
branch, use git branch --list <pattern> to list matching branches.
-v, -vv, --verbose
When in list mode, show sha1 and commit subject line for each head,
along with relationship to upstream branch (if any). If given
twice, print the name of the upstream branch, as well (see also git
remote show <remote>).
-q, --quiet
Be more quiet when creating or deleting a branch, suppressing
non-error messages.
--abbrev=<length>
Alter the sha1's minimum display length in the output listing. The
default value is 7 and can be overridden by the core.abbrev config
option.
--no-abbrev
Display the full sha1s in the output listing rather than
abbreviating them.
-t, --track
When creating a new branch, set up branch.<name>.remote and
branch.<name>.merge configuration entries to mark the start-point
branch as "upstream" from the new branch. This configuration will
tell git to show the relationship between the two branches in git
status and git branch -v. Furthermore, it directs git pull without
arguments to pull from the upstream when the new branch is checked
out.
This behavior is the default when the start point is a
remote-tracking branch. Set the branch.autoSetupMerge configuration
variable to false if you want git checkout and git branch to always
behave as if --no-track were given. Set it to always if you want
this behavior when the start-point is either a local or
remote-tracking branch.
--no-track
Do not set up "upstream" configuration, even if the
branch.autoSetupMerge configuration variable is true.
--set-upstream
If specified branch does not exist yet or if --force has been
given, acts exactly like --track. Otherwise sets up configuration
like --track would when creating the branch, except that where
branch points to is not changed.
-u <upstream>, --set-upstream-to=<upstream>
Set up <branchname>'s tracking information so <upstream> is
considered <branchname>'s upstream branch. If no <branchname> is
specified, then it defaults to the current branch.
--unset-upstream
Remove the upstream information for <branchname>. If no branch is
specified it defaults to the current branch.
--edit-description
Open an editor and edit the text to explain what the branch is for,
to be used by various other commands (e.g. format-patch,
request-pull, and merge (if enabled)). Multi-line explanations may
be used.
--contains [<commit>]
Only list branches which contain the specified commit (HEAD if not
specified). Implies --list.
--merged [<commit>]
Only list branches whose tips are reachable from the specified
commit (HEAD if not specified). Implies --list.
--no-merged [<commit>]
Only list branches whose tips are not reachable from the specified
commit (HEAD if not specified). Implies --list.
<branchname>
The name of the branch to create or delete. The new branch name
must pass all checks defined by git-check-ref-format(1). Some of
these checks may restrict the characters allowed in a branch name.
<start-point>
The new branch head will point to this commit. It may be given as a
branch name, a commit-id, or a tag. If this option is omitted, the
current HEAD will be used instead.
<oldbranch>
The name of an existing branch to rename.
<newbranch>
The new name for an existing branch. The same restrictions as for
<branchname> apply.
--sort=<key>
Sort based on the key given. Prefix - to sort in descending order
of the value. You may use the --sort=<key> option multiple times,
in which case the last key becomes the primary key. The keys
supported are the same as those in git for-each-ref. Sort order
defaults to sorting based on the full refname (including refs/...
prefix). This lists detached HEAD (if present) first, then local
branches and finally remote-tracking branches.
--points-at <object>
Only list branches of the given object.
EXAMPLES
Start development from a known tag
$ git clone git://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/.../linux-2.6 my2.6
$ cd my2.6
$ git branch my2.6.14 v2.6.14 (1)
$ git checkout my2.6.14
1. This step and the next one could be combined into a single step
with "checkout -b my2.6.14 v2.6.14".
Delete an unneeded branch
$ git clone git://git.kernel.org/.../git.git my.git
$ cd my.git
$ git branch -d -r origin/todo origin/html origin/man (1)
$ git branch -D test (2)
1. Delete the remote-tracking branches "todo", "html" and "man".
The next fetch or pull will create them again unless you configure
them not to. See git-fetch(1).
2. Delete the "test" branch even if the "master" branch (or
whichever branch is currently checked out) does not have all
commits from the test branch.
NOTES
If you are creating a branch that you want to checkout immediately, it
is easier to use the git checkout command with its -b option to create
a branch and check it out with a single command.
The options --contains, --merged and --no-merged serve three related
but different purposes:
* --contains <commit> is used to find all branches which will need
special attention if <commit> were to be rebased or amended, since
those branches contain the specified <commit>.
* --merged is used to find all branches which can be safely deleted,
since those branches are fully contained by HEAD.
* --no-merged is used to find branches which are candidates for
merging into HEAD, since those branches are not fully contained by
HEAD.
SEE ALSO
git-check-ref-format(1), git-fetch(1), git-remote(1), "Understanding history: What is a branch?"[1] in the Git User's Manual.
GIT
Part of the git(1) suite
NOTES
1. "Understanding history: What is a branch?"
file:///usr/share/doc/git/html/user-manual.html#what-is-a-branch
Opportunity
Personal Opportunity - Free software gives you access to billions of dollars of software at no cost. Use this software for your business, personal use or to develop a profitable skill. Access to source code provides access to a level of capabilities/information that companies protect though copyrights. Open source is a core component of the Internet and it is available to you. Leverage the billions of dollars in resources and capabilities to build a career, establish a business or change the world. The potential is endless for those who understand the opportunity.
Business Opportunity - Goldman Sachs, IBM and countless large corporations are leveraging open source to reduce costs, develop products and increase their bottom lines. Learn what these companies know about open source and how open source can give you the advantage.
Free Software
Free Software provides computer programs and capabilities at no cost but more importantly, it provides the freedom to run, edit, contribute to, and share the software. The importance of free software is a matter of access, not price. Software at no cost is a benefit but ownership rights to the software and source code is far more significant.
Free Office Software - The Libre Office suite provides top desktop productivity tools for free. This includes, a word processor, spreadsheet, presentation engine, drawing and flowcharting, database and math applications. Libre Office is available for Linux or Windows.
Free Books
The Free Books Library is a collection of thousands of the most popular public domain books in an online readable format. The collection includes great classical literature and more recent works where the U.S. copyright has expired. These books are yours to read and use without restrictions.
Source Code - Want to change a program or know how it works? Open Source provides the source code for its programs so that anyone can use, modify or learn how to write those programs themselves. Visit the GNU source code repositories to download the source.
Education
Study at Harvard, Stanford or MIT - Open edX provides free online courses from Harvard, MIT, Columbia, UC Berkeley and other top Universities. Hundreds of courses for almost all major subjects and course levels. Open edx also offers some paid courses and selected certifications.
Linux Manual Pages - A man or manual page is a form of software documentation found on Linux/Unix operating systems. Topics covered include computer programs (including library and system calls), formal standards and conventions, and even abstract concepts.
