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NAME
git-branch - List, create, or delete branches
SYNOPSIS
git branch [--color[=<when>] | --no-color] [--show-current]
[-v [--abbrev=<n> | --no-abbrev]]
[--column[=<options>] | --no-column] [--sort=<key>]
[--merged [<commit>]] [--no-merged [<commit>]]
[--contains [<commit>]] [--no-contains [<commit>]]
[--points-at <object>] [--format=<format>]
[(-r | --remotes) | (-a | --all)]
[--list] [<pattern>...]
git branch [--track[=(direct|inherit)] | --no-track] [-f]
[--recurse-submodules] <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 in green and marked with an asterisk. Any branches
checked out in linked worktrees will be highlighted in cyan and marked with a plus sign.
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 may be
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. As a special case, for <start-point>, you may use
"A...B" as a shortcut for the merge base of A and B if there is exactly one merge base.
You can leave out at most one of A and B, in which case it defaults to HEAD.
Note that this will create the new branch, but it will not switch the working tree to it;
use "git switch <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 will be copied to a new name, along with its config and reflog.
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.
--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 <start-point>, 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, or whether it even points
to a valid commit. 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).
Note that git branch -f <branchname> [<start-point>], even with -f, refuses to change
an existing branch <branchname> that is checked out in another worktree linked to the
same repository.
-m, --move
Move/rename a branch, together with its config and reflog.
-M
Shortcut for --move --force.
-c, --copy
Copy a branch, together with its config and 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.
--omit-empty
Do not print a newline after formatted refs where the format expands to the empty
string.
--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. Combine with --list to
match the optional pattern(s).
-a, --all
List both remote-tracking branches and local branches. Combine with --list to match
optional pattern(s).
-l, --list
List branches. With optional <pattern>..., e.g. git branch --list 'maint-*', list
only the branches that match the pattern(s).
--show-current
Print the name of the current branch. In detached HEAD state, nothing is printed.
-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 path of the linked
worktree (if any) and the name of the upstream branch, as well (see also git remote
show <remote>). Note that the current worktree’s HEAD will not have its path printed
(it will always be your current directory).
-q, --quiet
Be more quiet when creating or deleting a branch, suppressing non-error messages.
--abbrev=<n>
In the verbose listing that show the commit object name, show the shortest prefix that
is at least <n> hexdigits long that uniquely refers the object. 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[=(direct|inherit)]
When creating a new branch, set up branch.<name>.remote and branch.<name>.merge
configuration entries to set "upstream" tracking configuration for 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.
The exact upstream branch is chosen depending on the optional argument: -t, --track,
or --track=direct means to use the start-point branch itself as the upstream;
--track=inherit means to copy the upstream configuration of the start-point branch.
The branch.autoSetupMerge configuration variable specifies how git switch, git
checkout and git branch should behave when neither --track nor --no-track are
specified:
The default option, true, behaves as though --track=direct were given whenever the
start-point is a remote-tracking branch. false behaves as if --no-track were given.
always behaves as though --track=direct were given. inherit behaves as though
--track=inherit were given. simple behaves as though --track=direct were given only
when the start-point is a remote-tracking branch and the new branch has the same name
as the remote branch.
See git-pull(1) and git-config(1) for additional discussion on how the
branch.<name>.remote and branch.<name>.merge options are used.
--no-track
Do not set up "upstream" configuration, even if the branch.autoSetupMerge
configuration variable is set.
--recurse-submodules
THIS OPTION IS EXPERIMENTAL! Causes the current command to recurse into submodules if
submodule.propagateBranches is enabled. See submodule.propagateBranches in git-
config(1). Currently, only branch creation is supported.
When used in branch creation, a new branch <branchname> will be created in the
superproject and all of the submodules in the superproject’s <start-point>. In
submodules, the branch will point to the submodule commit in the superproject’s
<start-point> but the branch’s tracking information will be set up based on the
submodule’s branches and remotes e.g. git branch --recurse-submodules topic
origin/main will create the submodule branch "topic" that points to the submodule
commit in the superproject’s "origin/main", but tracks the submodule’s "origin/main".
--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.
--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. If this option is omitted, the name of the current
branch will be used instead.
<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 the value configured for the branch.sort variable if it exists, or 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. See
git-config(1).
--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).
Everything above this line in this section isn’t included from the git-config(1)
documentation. The content that follows is the same as what’s found there:
branch.autoSetupMerge
Tells git branch, git switch and git checkout to set up new branches so that git-
pull(1) will appropriately merge from the starting point branch. Note that even if
this option is not set, this behavior can be chosen per-branch using the --track and
--no-track options. The valid settings are: false — no automatic setup is done; true —
automatic setup is done when the starting point is a remote-tracking branch; always —
automatic setup is done when the starting point is either a local branch or
remote-tracking branch; inherit — if the starting point has a tracking configuration,
it is copied to the new branch; simple — automatic setup is done only when the
starting point is a remote-tracking branch and the new branch has the same name as the
remote branch. This option defaults to true.
branch.autoSetupRebase
When a new branch is created with git branch, git switch or git checkout that tracks
another branch, this variable tells Git to set up pull to rebase instead of merge (see
"branch.<name>.rebase"). When never, rebase is never automatically set to true. When
local, rebase is set to true for tracked branches of other local branches. When
remote, rebase is set to true for tracked branches of remote-tracking branches. When
always, rebase will be set to true for all tracking branches. See
"branch.autoSetupMerge" for details on how to set up a branch to track another branch.
This option defaults to never.
branch.sort
This variable controls the sort ordering of branches when displayed by git-branch(1).
Without the "--sort=<value>" option provided, the value of this variable will be used
as the default. See git-for-each-ref(1) field names for valid values.
branch.<name>.remote
When on branch <name>, it tells git fetch and git push which remote to fetch from or
push to. The remote to push to may be overridden with remote.pushDefault (for all
branches). The remote to push to, for the current branch, may be further overridden by
branch.<name>.pushRemote. If no remote is configured, or if you are not on any branch
and there is more than one remote defined in the repository, it defaults to origin for
fetching and remote.pushDefault for pushing. Additionally, . (a period) is the
current local repository (a dot-repository), see branch.<name>.merge's final note
below.
branch.<name>.pushRemote
When on branch <name>, it overrides branch.<name>.remote for pushing. It also
overrides remote.pushDefault for pushing from branch <name>. When you pull from one
place (e.g. your upstream) and push to another place (e.g. your own publishing
repository), you would want to set remote.pushDefault to specify the remote to push to
for all branches, and use this option to override it for a specific branch.
branch.<name>.merge
Defines, together with branch.<name>.remote, the upstream branch for the given branch.
It tells git fetch/git pull/git rebase which branch to merge and can also affect git
push (see push.default). When in branch <name>, it tells git fetch the default refspec
to be marked for merging in FETCH_HEAD. The value is handled like the remote part of a
refspec, and must match a ref which is fetched from the remote given by
"branch.<name>.remote". The merge information is used by git pull (which first calls
git fetch) to lookup the default branch for merging. Without this option, git pull
defaults to merge the first refspec fetched. Specify multiple values to get an octopus
merge. If you wish to setup git pull so that it merges into <name> from another branch
in the local repository, you can point branch.<name>.merge to the desired branch, and
use the relative path setting . (a period) for branch.<name>.remote.
branch.<name>.mergeOptions
Sets default options for merging into branch <name>. The syntax and supported options
are the same as those of git-merge(1), but option values containing whitespace
characters are currently not supported.
branch.<name>.rebase
When true, rebase the branch <name> on top of the fetched branch, instead of merging
the default branch from the default remote when "git pull" is run. See "pull.rebase"
for doing this in a non branch-specific manner.
When merges (or just m), pass the --rebase-merges option to git rebase so that the
local merge commits are included in the rebase (see git-rebase(1) for details).
When the value is interactive (or just i), the rebase is run in interactive mode.
NOTE: this is a possibly dangerous operation; do not use it unless you understand the
implications (see git-rebase(1) for details).
branch.<name>.description
Branch description, can be edited with git branch --edit-description. Branch
description is automatically added to the format-patch cover letter or request-pull
summary.
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 switch 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.
Listing branches from a specific remote
$ git branch -r -l '<remote>/<pattern>' (1)
$ git for-each-ref 'refs/remotes/<remote>/<pattern>' (2)
1. Using -a would conflate <remote> with any local branches you happen to
have been prefixed with the same <remote> pattern.
2. for-each-ref can take a wide range of options. See git-for-each-ref(1)
Patterns will normally need quoting.
NOTES
If you are creating a branch that you want to switch to immediately, it is easier to use
the "git switch" command with its -c option to do the same thing 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.
When combining multiple --contains and --no-contains filters, only references that contain
at least one of the --contains commits and contain none of the --no-contains commits are
shown.
When combining multiple --merged and --no-merged filters, only references that are
reachable from at least one of the --merged commits and from none of the --no-merged
commits are shown.
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