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] [-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 --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 -l, --list
142 List branches. With optional <pattern>..., e.g. git branch --list
143 'maint-*', list only the branches that match the pattern(s).
144 -v, -vv, --verbose
146 When in list mode, show sha1 and commit subject line for each head,
147 along with relationship to upstream branch (if any). If given
148 twice, print the name of the upstream branch, as well (see also git
149 remote show <remote>).
150 -q, --quiet
152 Be more quiet when creating or deleting a branch, suppressing
153 non-error messages.
154 --abbrev=<length>
156 Alter the sha1’s minimum display length in the output listing. The
157 default value is 7 and can be overridden by the core.abbrev config
158 option.
159 --no-abbrev
161 Display the full sha1s in the output listing rather than
162 abbreviating them.
163 -t, --track
165 When creating a new branch, set up branch.<name>.remote and
166 branch.<name>.merge configuration entries to mark the start-point
167 branch as "upstream" from the new branch. This configuration will
168 tell git to show the relationship between the two branches in git
169 status and git branch -v. Furthermore, it directs git pull without
170 arguments to pull from the upstream when the new branch is checked
171 out.
172 This behavior is the default when the start point is a
174 remote-tracking branch. Set the branch.autoSetupMerge configuration
175 variable to false if you want git checkout and git branch to always
176 behave as if --no-track were given. Set it to always if you want
177 this behavior when the start-point is either a local or
178 remote-tracking branch.
179 --no-track
181 Do not set up "upstream" configuration, even if the
182 branch.autoSetupMerge configuration variable is true.
183 --set-upstream
185 As this option had confusing syntax, it is no longer supported.
186 Please use --track or --set-upstream-to instead.
187 -u <upstream>, --set-upstream-to=<upstream>
189 Set up <branchname>'s tracking information so <upstream> is
190 considered <branchname>'s upstream branch. If no <branchname> is
191 specified, then it defaults to the current branch.
192 --unset-upstream
194 Remove the upstream information for <branchname>. If no branch is
195 specified it defaults to the current branch.
196 --edit-description
198 Open an editor and edit the text to explain what the branch is for,
199 to be used by various other commands (e.g. format-patch,
200 request-pull, and merge (if enabled)). Multi-line explanations may
201 be used.
202 --contains [<commit>]
204 Only list branches which contain the specified commit (HEAD if not
205 specified). Implies --list.
206 --no-contains [<commit>]
208 Only list branches which don’t contain the specified commit (HEAD
209 if not specified). Implies --list.
210 --merged [<commit>]
212 Only list branches whose tips are reachable from the specified
213 commit (HEAD if not specified). Implies --list, incompatible with
214 --no-merged.
215 --no-merged [<commit>]
217 Only list branches whose tips are not reachable from the specified
218 commit (HEAD if not specified). Implies --list, incompatible with
219 --merged.
220 <branchname>
222 The name of the branch to create or delete. The new branch name
223 must pass all checks defined by git-check-ref-format(1). Some of
224 these checks may restrict the characters allowed in a branch name.
225 <start-point>
227 The new branch head will point to this commit. It may be given as a
228 branch name, a commit-id, or a tag. If this option is omitted, the
229 current HEAD will be used instead.
230 <oldbranch>
232 The name of an existing branch to rename.
233 <newbranch>
235 The new name for an existing branch. The same restrictions as for
236 <branchname> apply.
237 --sort=<key>
239 Sort based on the key given. Prefix - to sort in descending order
240 of the value. You may use the --sort=<key> option multiple times,
241 in which case the last key becomes the primary key. The keys
242 supported are the same as those in git for-each-ref. Sort order
243 defaults to the value configured for the branch.sort variable if
244 exists, or to sorting based on the full refname (including refs/...
245 prefix). This lists detached HEAD (if present) first, then local
246 branches and finally remote-tracking branches. See git-config(1).
247 --points-at <object>
249 Only list branches of the given object.
250 --format <format>
252 A string that interpolates %(fieldname) from a branch ref being
253 shown and the object it points at. The format is the same as that
254 of git-for-each-ref(1).
255
257 pager.branch is only respected when listing branches, i.e., when --list
258 is used or implied. The default is to use a pager. See git-config(1).
259
261 Start development from a known tag
262 $ git clone git://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/.../linux-2.6 my2.6
264 $ cd my2.6
265 $ git branch my2.6.14 v2.6.14 [1m(1)
266 $ git checkout my2.6.14
267 1. This step and the next one could be combined into a single step
269 with "checkout -b my2.6.14 v2.6.14".
270 Delete an unneeded branch
272 $ git clone git://git.kernel.org/.../git.git my.git
274 $ cd my.git
275 $ git branch -d -r origin/todo origin/html origin/man [1m(1)
276 $ git branch -D test [1m(2)
277 1. Delete the remote-tracking branches "todo", "html" and "man".
279 The next fetch or pull will create them again unless you configure
280 them not to. See git-fetch(1).
281 2. Delete the "test" branch even if the "master" branch (or
282 whichever branch is currently checked out) does not have all
283 commits from the test branch.
284
286 If you are creating a branch that you want to checkout immediately, it
287 is easier to use the git checkout command with its -b option to create
288 a branch and check it out with a single command.
289 The options --contains, --no-contains, --merged and --no-merged serve
291 four related but different purposes:
292 · --contains <commit> is used to find all branches which will need
294 special attention if <commit> were to be rebased or amended, since
295 those branches contain the specified <commit>.
296 · --no-contains <commit> is the inverse of that, i.e. branches that
298 don’t contain the specified <commit>.
299 · --merged is used to find all branches which can be safely deleted,
301 since those branches are fully contained by HEAD.
302 · --no-merged is used to find branches which are candidates for
304 merging into HEAD, since those branches are not fully contained by
305 HEAD.
306
308 git-check-ref-format(1), git-fetch(1), git-remote(1), “Understanding
309 history: What is a branch?”[1] in the Git User’s Manual.
310
312 Part of the git(1) suite
313
315 1. “Understanding history: What is a branch?”
316 file:///usr/share/doc/git/user-manual.html#what-is-a-branch
317Git 2.21.0 02/24/2019 GIT-BRANCH(1)