1GIT-BRANCH(1) Git Manual GIT-BRANCH(1)
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6 git-branch - List, create, or delete branches
7
9 git branch [--color[=<when>] | --no-color] [-r | -a]
10 [--list] [-v [--abbrev=<length> | --no-abbrev]]
11 [--column[=<options>] | --no-column] [--sort=<key>]
12 [(--merged | --no-merged) [<commit>]]
13 [--contains [<commit]] [--no-contains [<commit>]]
14 [--points-at <object>] [--format=<format>] [<pattern>...]
15 git branch [--track | --no-track] [-l] [-f] <branchname> [<start-point>]
16 git branch (--set-upstream-to=<upstream> | -u <upstream>) [<branchname>]
17 git branch --unset-upstream [<branchname>]
18 git branch (-m | -M) [<oldbranch>] <newbranch>
19 git branch (-c | -C) [<oldbranch>] <newbranch>
20 git branch (-d | -D) [-r] <branchname>...
21 git branch --edit-description [<branchname>]
22
25 If --list is given, or if there are no non-option arguments, existing
26 branches are listed; the current branch will be highlighted with an
27 asterisk. Option -r causes the remote-tracking branches to be listed,
28 and option -a shows both local and remote branches. If a <pattern> is
29 given, it is used as a shell wildcard to restrict the output to
30 matching branches. If multiple patterns are given, a branch is shown if
31 it matches any of the patterns. Note that when providing a <pattern>,
32 you must use --list; otherwise the command is interpreted as branch
33 creation.
34 With --contains, shows only the branches that contain the named commit
36 (in other words, the branches whose tip commits are descendants of the
37 named commit), --no-contains inverts it. With --merged, only branches
38 merged into the named commit (i.e. the branches whose tip commits are
39 reachable from the named commit) will be listed. With --no-merged only
40 branches not merged into the named commit will be listed. If the
41 <commit> argument is missing it defaults to HEAD (i.e. the tip of the
42 current branch).
43 The command’s second form creates a new branch head named <branchname>
45 which points to the current HEAD, or <start-point> if given.
46 Note that this will create the new branch, but it will not switch the
48 working tree to it; use "git checkout <newbranch>" to switch to the new
49 branch.
50 When a local branch is started off a remote-tracking branch, Git sets
52 up the branch (specifically the branch.<name>.remote and
53 branch.<name>.merge configuration entries) so that git pull will
54 appropriately merge from the remote-tracking branch. This behavior may
55 be changed via the global branch.autoSetupMerge configuration flag.
56 That setting can be overridden by using the --track and --no-track
57 options, and changed later using git branch --set-upstream-to.
58 With a -m or -M option, <oldbranch> will be renamed to <newbranch>. If
60 <oldbranch> had a corresponding reflog, it is renamed to match
61 <newbranch>, and a reflog entry is created to remember the branch
62 renaming. If <newbranch> exists, -M must be used to force the rename to
63 happen.
64 The -c and -C options have the exact same semantics as -m and -M,
66 except instead of the branch being renamed it along with its config and
67 reflog will be copied to a new name.
68 With a -d or -D option, <branchname> will be deleted. You may specify
70 more than one branch for deletion. If the branch currently has a reflog
71 then the reflog will also be deleted.
72 Use -r together with -d to delete remote-tracking branches. Note, that
74 it only makes sense to delete remote-tracking branches if they no
75 longer exist in the remote repository or if git fetch was configured
76 not to fetch them again. See also the prune subcommand of git-remote(1)
77 for a way to clean up all obsolete remote-tracking branches.
78
80 -d, --delete
81 Delete a branch. The branch must be fully merged in its upstream
82 branch, or in HEAD if no upstream was set with --track or
83 --set-upstream-to.
84 -D
86 Shortcut for --delete --force.
87 -l, --create-reflog
89 Create the branch’s reflog. This activates recording of all changes
90 made to the branch ref, enabling use of date based sha1 expressions
91 such as "<branchname>@{yesterday}". Note that in non-bare
92 repositories, reflogs are usually enabled by default by the
93 core.logAllRefUpdates config option. The negated form
94 --no-create-reflog only overrides an earlier --create-reflog, but
95 currently does not negate the setting of core.logAllRefUpdates.
96 -f, --force
98 Reset <branchname> to <startpoint>, even if <branchname> exists
99 already. Without -f, git branch refuses to change an existing
100 branch. In combination with -d (or --delete), allow deleting the
101 branch irrespective of its merged status. In combination with -m
102 (or --move), allow renaming the branch even if the new branch name
103 already exists, the same applies for -c (or --copy).
104 -m, --move
106 Move/rename a branch and the corresponding reflog.
107 -M
109 Shortcut for --move --force.
110 -c, --copy
112 Copy a branch and the corresponding reflog.
113 -C
115 Shortcut for --copy --force.
116 --color[=<when>]
118 Color branches to highlight current, local, and remote-tracking
119 branches. The value must be always (the default), never, or auto.
120 --no-color
122 Turn off branch colors, even when the configuration file gives the
123 default to color output. Same as --color=never.
124 -i, --ignore-case
126 Sorting and filtering branches are case insensitive.
127 --column[=<options>], --no-column
129 Display branch listing in columns. See configuration variable
130 column.branch for option syntax.--column and --no-column without
131 options are equivalent to always and never respectively.
132 This option is only applicable in non-verbose mode.
134 -r, --remotes
136 List or delete (if used with -d) the remote-tracking branches.
137 -a, --all
139 List both remote-tracking branches and local branches.
140 --list
142 List branches. With optional <pattern>..., e.g. git branch --list
143 'maint-*', list only the branches that match the pattern(s).
144 This should not be confused with git branch -l <branchname>, which
146 creates a branch named <branchname> with a reflog. See
147 --create-reflog above for details.
148 -v, -vv, --verbose
150 When in list mode, show sha1 and commit subject line for each head,
151 along with relationship to upstream branch (if any). If given
152 twice, print the name of the upstream branch, as well (see also git
153 remote show <remote>).
154 -q, --quiet
156 Be more quiet when creating or deleting a branch, suppressing
157 non-error messages.
158 --abbrev=<length>
160 Alter the sha1’s minimum display length in the output listing. The
161 default value is 7 and can be overridden by the core.abbrev config
162 option.
163 --no-abbrev
165 Display the full sha1s in the output listing rather than
166 abbreviating them.
167 -t, --track
169 When creating a new branch, set up branch.<name>.remote and
170 branch.<name>.merge configuration entries to mark the start-point
171 branch as "upstream" from the new branch. This configuration will
172 tell git to show the relationship between the two branches in git
173 status and git branch -v. Furthermore, it directs git pull without
174 arguments to pull from the upstream when the new branch is checked
175 out.
176 This behavior is the default when the start point is a
178 remote-tracking branch. Set the branch.autoSetupMerge configuration
179 variable to false if you want git checkout and git branch to always
180 behave as if --no-track were given. Set it to always if you want
181 this behavior when the start-point is either a local or
182 remote-tracking branch.
183 --no-track
185 Do not set up "upstream" configuration, even if the
186 branch.autoSetupMerge configuration variable is true.
187 --set-upstream
189 As this option had confusing syntax, it is no longer supported.
190 Please use --track or --set-upstream-to instead.
191 -u <upstream>, --set-upstream-to=<upstream>
193 Set up <branchname>'s tracking information so <upstream> is
194 considered <branchname>'s upstream branch. If no <branchname> is
195 specified, then it defaults to the current branch.
196 --unset-upstream
198 Remove the upstream information for <branchname>. If no branch is
199 specified it defaults to the current branch.
200 --edit-description
202 Open an editor and edit the text to explain what the branch is for,
203 to be used by various other commands (e.g. format-patch,
204 request-pull, and merge (if enabled)). Multi-line explanations may
205 be used.
206 --contains [<commit>]
208 Only list branches which contain the specified commit (HEAD if not
209 specified). Implies --list.
210 --no-contains [<commit>]
212 Only list branches which don’t contain the specified commit (HEAD
213 if not specified). Implies --list.
214 --merged [<commit>]
216 Only list branches whose tips are reachable from the specified
217 commit (HEAD if not specified). Implies --list, incompatible with
218 --no-merged.
219 --no-merged [<commit>]
221 Only list branches whose tips are not reachable from the specified
222 commit (HEAD if not specified). Implies --list, incompatible with
223 --merged.
224 <branchname>
226 The name of the branch to create or delete. The new branch name
227 must pass all checks defined by git-check-ref-format(1). Some of
228 these checks may restrict the characters allowed in a branch name.
229 <start-point>
231 The new branch head will point to this commit. It may be given as a
232 branch name, a commit-id, or a tag. If this option is omitted, the
233 current HEAD will be used instead.
234 <oldbranch>
236 The name of an existing branch to rename.
237 <newbranch>
239 The new name for an existing branch. The same restrictions as for
240 <branchname> apply.
241 --sort=<key>
243 Sort based on the key given. Prefix - to sort in descending order
244 of the value. You may use the --sort=<key> option multiple times,
245 in which case the last key becomes the primary key. The keys
246 supported are the same as those in git for-each-ref. Sort order
247 defaults to sorting based on the full refname (including refs/...
248 prefix). This lists detached HEAD (if present) first, then local
249 branches and finally remote-tracking branches.
250 --points-at <object>
252 Only list branches of the given object.
253 --format <format>
255 A string that interpolates %(fieldname) from a branch ref being
256 shown and the object it points at. The format is the same as that
257 of git-for-each-ref(1).
258
260 pager.branch is only respected when listing branches, i.e., when --list
261 is used or implied. The default is to use a pager. See git-config(1).
262
264 Start development from a known tag
265 $ git clone git://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/.../linux-2.6 my2.6
267 $ cd my2.6
268 $ git branch my2.6.14 v2.6.14 [1m(1)
269 $ git checkout my2.6.14
270 1. This step and the next one could be combined into a single step
272 with "checkout -b my2.6.14 v2.6.14".
273 Delete an unneeded branch
275 $ git clone git://git.kernel.org/.../git.git my.git
277 $ cd my.git
278 $ git branch -d -r origin/todo origin/html origin/man [1m(1)
279 $ git branch -D test [1m(2)
280 1. Delete the remote-tracking branches "todo", "html" and "man".
282 The next fetch or pull will create them again unless you configure
283 them not to. See git-fetch(1).
284 2. Delete the "test" branch even if the "master" branch (or
285 whichever branch is currently checked out) does not have all
286 commits from the test branch.
287
289 If you are creating a branch that you want to checkout immediately, it
290 is easier to use the git checkout command with its -b option to create
291 a branch and check it out with a single command.
292 The options --contains, --no-contains, --merged and --no-merged serve
294 four related but different purposes:
295 · --contains <commit> is used to find all branches which will need
297 special attention if <commit> were to be rebased or amended, since
298 those branches contain the specified <commit>.
299 · --no-contains <commit> is the inverse of that, i.e. branches that
301 don’t contain the specified <commit>.
302 · --merged is used to find all branches which can be safely deleted,
304 since those branches are fully contained by HEAD.
305 · --no-merged is used to find branches which are candidates for
307 merging into HEAD, since those branches are not fully contained by
308 HEAD.
309
311 git-check-ref-format(1), git-fetch(1), git-remote(1), “Understanding
312 history: What is a branch?”[1] in the Git User’s Manual.
313
315 Part of the git(1) suite
316
318 1. “Understanding history: What is a branch?”
319 file:///usr/share/doc/git/user-manual.html#what-is-a-branch
320Git 2.18.1 05/14/2019 GIT-BRANCH(1)