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] [--sort=<key>]
               [(--merged | --no-merged) [<commit>]]
               [--contains [<commit]] [--no-contains [<commit>]]
               [--points-at <object>] [--format=<format>] [<pattern>...]
       git branch [--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 (-c | -C) [<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), --no-contains inverts it. 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.

       The -c and -C options have the exact same semantics as -m and -M, except instead of the branch being
       renamed it along with its config and reflog will be copied to a new name.

       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-to.

       -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. The
           negated form --no-create-reflog only overrides an earlier --create-reflog, but currently does not
           negate the setting of core.logAllRefUpdates.

       -f, --force
           Reset <branchname> to <startpoint>, even 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, the same applies for -c (or --copy).

       -m, --move
           Move/rename a branch and the corresponding reflog.

       -M
           Shortcut for --move --force.

       -c, --copy
           Copy a branch and the corresponding reflog.

       -C
           Shortcut for --copy --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.

       -i, --ignore-case
           Sorting and filtering branches are case insensitive.

       --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
           List branches. With optional <pattern>..., e.g.  git branch --list 'maint-*', list only the branches
           that match the pattern(s).

           This should not be confused with git branch -l <branchname>, which creates a branch named
           <branchname> with a reflog. See --create-reflog above for details.

       -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
           As this option had confusing syntax, it is no longer supported. Please use --track or
           --set-upstream-to instead.

       -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.

       --no-contains [<commit>]
           Only list branches which don’t 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, incompatible with --no-merged.

       --no-merged [<commit>]
           Only list branches whose tips are not reachable from the specified commit (HEAD if not specified).
           Implies --list, incompatible with --merged.

       <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.

       --format <format>
           A string that interpolates %(fieldname) from a branch ref being shown and the object it points at.
           The format is the same as that of git-for-each-ref(1).

CONFIGURATION

       pager.branch is only respected when listing branches, i.e., when --list is used or implied. The default
       is to use a pager. See git-config(1).

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, --no-contains, --merged and --no-merged serve four 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>.

       •   --no-contains <commit> is the inverse of that, i.e. branches that don’t 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