GIT-BRANCH(1)GIT-BRANCH(1)NAMEgit-branch - List, create, or delete branches
SYNOPSIS
git branch [--color[=<when>] | --no-color] [-r | -a]
[-v [--abbrev=<length> | --no-abbrev]]
[(--merged | --no-merged | --contains) [<commit>]]
git branch [--set-upstream | --track | --no-track] [-l] [-f] <branchname> [<start-point>]
git branch (-m | -M) [<oldbranch>] <newbranch>
git branch (-d | -D) [-r] <branchname>...
DESCRIPTION
With no arguments, existing branches are listed and the current branch
will be highlighted with an asterisk. Option -r causes the
remote-tracking branches to be listed, and option -a shows both.
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 com-
mit (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 branch, git sets up the
branch so that git pull will appropriately merge from the remote
branch. This behavior may be changed via the global branch.autosetup-
merge configuration flag. That setting can be overridden by using the
--track and --no-track options.
With a -m or -M option, <oldbranch> will be renamed to <newbranch>. If
<oldbranch> had a corresponding reflog, it is renamed to match <new-
branch>, 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.
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GIT-BRANCH(1)GIT-BRANCH(1)
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 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 Delete a branch irrespective of its merged status.
-l 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.
-m Move/rename a branch and the corresponding reflog.
-M Move/rename a branch even if the new branch name already exists.
--color[=<when>]
Color branches to highlight current, local, and remote 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.
-r List or delete (if used with -d) the remote-tracking branches.
-a List both remote-tracking branches and local branches.
-v, --verbose
Show sha1 and commit subject line for each head, along with
relationship to upstream branch (if any). If given twice, print
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GIT-BRANCH(1)GIT-BRANCH(1)
the name of the upstream branch, as well.
--abbrev=<length>
Alter the sha1’s minimum display length in the output
listing. The default value is 7.
--no-abbrev
Display the full sha1s in the output listing rather than abbre-
viating them.
-t, --track
When creating a new branch, set up configuration to mark the
start-point branch as "upstream" from the new branch. This con-
figuration 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
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
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 configura-
tion like --track would when creating the branch, except that
where branch points to is not changed.
--contains <commit>
Only list branches which contain the specified commit.
--merged [<commit>]
Only list branches whose tips are reachable from the specified
commit (HEAD if not specified).
--no-merged [<commit>]
Only list branches whose tips are not reachable from the speci-
fied commit (HEAD if not specified).
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GIT-BRANCH(1)GIT-BRANCH(1)
<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 omit-
ted, 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.
EXAMPLES
Start development from a known tag
.ft C
$ 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
.ft
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
.ft C
$ 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)
.ft
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GIT-BRANCH(1)GIT-BRANCH(1)
1. Delete the remote-tracking branches "todo", "html" and "man".
The next fetch or pull will create them again unless you config-
ure 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:
o --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>.
o --merged is used to find all branches which can be safely deleted,
since those branches are fully contained by HEAD.
o --no-merged is used to find branches which are candidates for merg-
ing into HEAD, since those branches are not fully contained by HEAD.
SEE ALSOgit-check-ref-format(1), git-fetch(1), git-remote(1), “Under-
standing history: What is a branch?”: user-manual.html#what-is-a-
branch in the Git User’s Manual.
AUTHOR
Written by Linus Torvalds <torvalds@osdl.org: mailto:torvalds@osdl.org>
and Junio C Hamano <gitster@pobox.com: mailto:gitster@pobox.com>
DOCUMENTATION
Documentation by Junio C Hamano and the git-list <git@vger.kernel.org:
mailto:git@vger.kernel.org>.
GIT
Part of the git(1) suite
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