1GIT-REV-PARSE(1) Git Manual GIT-REV-PARSE(1)
2
6 git-rev-parse - Pick out and massage parameters
7
9 git rev-parse [<options>] <args>...
10
12 Many Git porcelainish commands take mixture of flags (i.e. parameters
13 that begin with a dash -) and parameters meant for the underlying git
14 rev-list command they use internally and flags and parameters for the
15 other commands they use downstream of git rev-list. This command is
16 used to distinguish between them.
17
19 Operation Modes
20 Each of these options must appear first on the command line.
21 --parseopt
23 Use git rev-parse in option parsing mode (see PARSEOPT section
24 below).
25 --sq-quote
27 Use git rev-parse in shell quoting mode (see SQ-QUOTE section
28 below). In contrast to the --sq option below, this mode does only
29 quoting. Nothing else is done to command input.
30 Options for --parseopt
32 --keep-dashdash
33 Only meaningful in --parseopt mode. Tells the option parser to echo
34 out the first -- met instead of skipping it.
35 --stop-at-non-option
37 Only meaningful in --parseopt mode. Lets the option parser stop at
38 the first non-option argument. This can be used to parse
39 sub-commands that take options themselves.
40 --stuck-long
42 Only meaningful in --parseopt mode. Output the options in their
43 long form if available, and with their arguments stuck.
44 Options for Filtering
46 --revs-only
47 Do not output flags and parameters not meant for git rev-list
48 command.
49 --no-revs
51 Do not output flags and parameters meant for git rev-list command.
52 --flags
54 Do not output non-flag parameters.
55 --no-flags
57 Do not output flag parameters.
58 Options for Output
60 --default <arg>
61 If there is no parameter given by the user, use <arg> instead.
62 --prefix <arg>
64 Behave as if git rev-parse was invoked from the <arg> subdirectory
65 of the working tree. Any relative filenames are resolved as if they
66 are prefixed by <arg> and will be printed in that form.
67 This can be used to convert arguments to a command run in a
69 subdirectory so that they can still be used after moving to the
70 top-level of the repository. For example:
71 prefix=$(git rev-parse --show-prefix)
73 cd "$(git rev-parse --show-toplevel)"
74 # rev-parse provides the -- needed for 'set'
75 eval "set $(git rev-parse --sq --prefix "$prefix" -- "$@")"
76 --verify
78 Verify that exactly one parameter is provided, and that it can be
79 turned into a raw 20-byte SHA-1 that can be used to access the
80 object database. If so, emit it to the standard output; otherwise,
81 error out.
82 If you want to make sure that the output actually names an object
84 in your object database and/or can be used as a specific type of
85 object you require, you can add the ^{type} peeling operator to the
86 parameter. For example, git rev-parse "$VAR^{commit}" will make
87 sure $VAR names an existing object that is a commit-ish (i.e. a
88 commit, or an annotated tag that points at a commit). To make sure
89 that $VAR names an existing object of any type, git rev-parse
90 "$VAR^{object}" can be used.
91 Note that if you are verifying a name from an untrusted source, it
93 is wise to use --end-of-options so that the name argument is not
94 mistaken for another option.
95 -q, --quiet
97 Only meaningful in --verify mode. Do not output an error message if
98 the first argument is not a valid object name; instead exit with
99 non-zero status silently. SHA-1s for valid object names are printed
100 to stdout on success.
101 --sq
103 Usually the output is made one line per flag and parameter. This
104 option makes output a single line, properly quoted for consumption
105 by shell. Useful when you expect your parameter to contain
106 whitespaces and newlines (e.g. when using pickaxe -S with git
107 diff-*). In contrast to the --sq-quote option, the command input is
108 still interpreted as usual.
109 --short[=length]
111 Same as --verify but shortens the object name to a unique prefix
112 with at least length characters. The minimum length is 4, the
113 default is the effective value of the core.abbrev configuration
114 variable (see git-config(1)).
115 --not
117 When showing object names, prefix them with ^ and strip ^ prefix
118 from the object names that already have one.
119 --abbrev-ref[=(strict|loose)]
121 A non-ambiguous short name of the objects name. The option
122 core.warnAmbiguousRefs is used to select the strict abbreviation
123 mode.
124 --symbolic
126 Usually the object names are output in SHA-1 form (with possible ^
127 prefix); this option makes them output in a form as close to the
128 original input as possible.
129 --symbolic-full-name
131 This is similar to --symbolic, but it omits input that are not refs
132 (i.e. branch or tag names; or more explicitly disambiguating
133 "heads/master" form, when you want to name the "master" branch when
134 there is an unfortunately named tag "master"), and show them as
135 full refnames (e.g. "refs/heads/master").
136 Options for Objects
138 --all
139 Show all refs found in refs/.
140 --branches[=pattern], --tags[=pattern], --remotes[=pattern]
142 Show all branches, tags, or remote-tracking branches, respectively
143 (i.e., refs found in refs/heads, refs/tags, or refs/remotes,
144 respectively).
145 If a pattern is given, only refs matching the given shell glob are
147 shown. If the pattern does not contain a globbing character (?, *,
148 or [), it is turned into a prefix match by appending /*.
149 --glob=pattern
151 Show all refs matching the shell glob pattern pattern. If the
152 pattern does not start with refs/, this is automatically prepended.
153 If the pattern does not contain a globbing character (?, *, or [),
154 it is turned into a prefix match by appending /*.
155 --exclude=<glob-pattern>
157 Do not include refs matching <glob-pattern> that the next --all,
158 --branches, --tags, --remotes, or --glob would otherwise consider.
159 Repetitions of this option accumulate exclusion patterns up to the
160 next --all, --branches, --tags, --remotes, or --glob option (other
161 options or arguments do not clear accumulated patterns).
162 The patterns given should not begin with refs/heads, refs/tags, or
164 refs/remotes when applied to --branches, --tags, or --remotes,
165 respectively, and they must begin with refs/ when applied to --glob
166 or --all. If a trailing /* is intended, it must be given
167 explicitly.
168 --disambiguate=<prefix>
170 Show every object whose name begins with the given prefix. The
171 <prefix> must be at least 4 hexadecimal digits long to avoid
172 listing each and every object in the repository by mistake.
173 Options for Files
175 --local-env-vars
176 List the GIT_* environment variables that are local to the
177 repository (e.g. GIT_DIR or GIT_WORK_TREE, but not GIT_EDITOR).
178 Only the names of the variables are listed, not their value, even
179 if they are set.
180 --path-format=(absolute|relative)
182 Controls the behavior of certain other options. If specified as
183 absolute, the paths printed by those options will be absolute and
184 canonical. If specified as relative, the paths will be relative to
185 the current working directory if that is possible. The default is
186 option specific.
187 This option may be specified multiple times and affects only the
189 arguments that follow it on the command line, either to the end of
190 the command line or the next instance of this option.
191 The following options are modified by --path-format:
193 --git-dir
195 Show $GIT_DIR if defined. Otherwise show the path to the .git
196 directory. The path shown, when relative, is relative to the
197 current working directory.
198 If $GIT_DIR is not defined and the current directory is not
200 detected to lie in a Git repository or work tree print a message to
201 stderr and exit with nonzero status.
202 --git-common-dir
204 Show $GIT_COMMON_DIR if defined, else $GIT_DIR.
205 --resolve-git-dir <path>
207 Check if <path> is a valid repository or a gitfile that points at a
208 valid repository, and print the location of the repository. If
209 <path> is a gitfile then the resolved path to the real repository
210 is printed.
211 --git-path <path>
213 Resolve "$GIT_DIR/<path>" and takes other path relocation variables
214 such as $GIT_OBJECT_DIRECTORY, $GIT_INDEX_FILE... into account. For
215 example, if $GIT_OBJECT_DIRECTORY is set to /foo/bar then "git
216 rev-parse --git-path objects/abc" returns /foo/bar/abc.
217 --show-toplevel
219 Show the (by default, absolute) path of the top-level directory of
220 the working tree. If there is no working tree, report an error.
221 --show-superproject-working-tree
223 Show the absolute path of the root of the superproject’s working
224 tree (if exists) that uses the current repository as its submodule.
225 Outputs nothing if the current repository is not used as a
226 submodule by any project.
227 --shared-index-path
229 Show the path to the shared index file in split index mode, or
230 empty if not in split-index mode.
231 The following options are unaffected by --path-format:
233 --absolute-git-dir
235 Like --git-dir, but its output is always the canonicalized absolute
236 path.
237 --is-inside-git-dir
239 When the current working directory is below the repository
240 directory print "true", otherwise "false".
241 --is-inside-work-tree
243 When the current working directory is inside the work tree of the
244 repository print "true", otherwise "false".
245 --is-bare-repository
247 When the repository is bare print "true", otherwise "false".
248 --is-shallow-repository
250 When the repository is shallow print "true", otherwise "false".
251 --show-cdup
253 When the command is invoked from a subdirectory, show the path of
254 the top-level directory relative to the current directory
255 (typically a sequence of "../", or an empty string).
256 --show-prefix
258 When the command is invoked from a subdirectory, show the path of
259 the current directory relative to the top-level directory.
260 --show-object-format[=(storage|input|output)]
262 Show the object format (hash algorithm) used for the repository for
263 storage inside the .git directory, input, or output. For input,
264 multiple algorithms may be printed, space-separated. If not
265 specified, the default is "storage".
266 Other Options
268 --since=datestring, --after=datestring
269 Parse the date string, and output the corresponding --max-age=
270 parameter for git rev-list.
271 --until=datestring, --before=datestring
273 Parse the date string, and output the corresponding --min-age=
274 parameter for git rev-list.
275 <args>...
277 Flags and parameters to be parsed.
278
280 A revision parameter <rev> typically, but not necessarily, names a
281 commit object. It uses what is called an extended SHA-1 syntax. Here
282 are various ways to spell object names. The ones listed near the end of
283 this list name trees and blobs contained in a commit.
284 Note
286 This document shows the "raw" syntax as seen by git. The shell and
287 other UIs might require additional quoting to protect special
288 characters and to avoid word splitting.
289 <sha1>, e.g. dae86e1950b1277e545cee180551750029cfe735, dae86e
291 The full SHA-1 object name (40-byte hexadecimal string), or a
292 leading substring that is unique within the repository. E.g.
293 dae86e1950b1277e545cee180551750029cfe735 and dae86e both name the
294 same commit object if there is no other object in your repository
295 whose object name starts with dae86e.
296 <describeOutput>, e.g. v1.7.4.2-679-g3bee7fb
298 Output from git describe; i.e. a closest tag, optionally followed
299 by a dash and a number of commits, followed by a dash, a g, and an
300 abbreviated object name.
301 <refname>, e.g. master, heads/master, refs/heads/master
303 A symbolic ref name. E.g. master typically means the commit object
304 referenced by refs/heads/master. If you happen to have both
305 heads/master and tags/master, you can explicitly say heads/master
306 to tell Git which one you mean. When ambiguous, a <refname> is
307 disambiguated by taking the first match in the following rules:
308 1. If $GIT_DIR/<refname> exists, that is what you mean (this is
310 usually useful only for HEAD, FETCH_HEAD, ORIG_HEAD, MERGE_HEAD
311 and CHERRY_PICK_HEAD);
312 2. otherwise, refs/<refname> if it exists;
314 3. otherwise, refs/tags/<refname> if it exists;
316 4. otherwise, refs/heads/<refname> if it exists;
318 5. otherwise, refs/remotes/<refname> if it exists;
320 6. otherwise, refs/remotes/<refname>/HEAD if it exists.
322 HEAD names the commit on which you based the changes in the
324 working tree. FETCH_HEAD records the branch which you fetched
325 from a remote repository with your last git fetch invocation.
326 ORIG_HEAD is created by commands that move your HEAD in a
327 drastic way, to record the position of the HEAD before their
328 operation, so that you can easily change the tip of the branch
329 back to the state before you ran them. MERGE_HEAD records the
330 commit(s) which you are merging into your branch when you run
331 git merge. CHERRY_PICK_HEAD records the commit which you are
332 cherry-picking when you run git cherry-pick.
333 Note that any of the refs/* cases above may come either from
335 the $GIT_DIR/refs directory or from the $GIT_DIR/packed-refs
336 file. While the ref name encoding is unspecified, UTF-8 is
337 preferred as some output processing may assume ref names in
338 UTF-8.
339 @
341 @ alone is a shortcut for HEAD.
342 [<refname>]@{<date>}, e.g. master@{yesterday}, HEAD@{5 minutes ago}
344 A ref followed by the suffix @ with a date specification enclosed
345 in a brace pair (e.g. {yesterday}, {1 month 2 weeks 3 days 1 hour
346 1 second ago} or {1979-02-26 18:30:00}) specifies the value of the
347 ref at a prior point in time. This suffix may only be used
348 immediately following a ref name and the ref must have an existing
349 log ($GIT_DIR/logs/<ref>). Note that this looks up the state of
350 your local ref at a given time; e.g., what was in your local master
351 branch last week. If you want to look at commits made during
352 certain times, see --since and --until.
353 <refname>@{<n>}, e.g. master@{1}
355 A ref followed by the suffix @ with an ordinal specification
356 enclosed in a brace pair (e.g. {1}, {15}) specifies the n-th prior
357 value of that ref. For example master@{1} is the immediate prior
358 value of master while master@{5} is the 5th prior value of master.
359 This suffix may only be used immediately following a ref name and
360 the ref must have an existing log ($GIT_DIR/logs/<refname>).
361 @{<n>}, e.g. @{1}
363 You can use the @ construct with an empty ref part to get at a
364 reflog entry of the current branch. For example, if you are on
365 branch blabla then @{1} means the same as blabla@{1}.
366 @{-<n>}, e.g. @{-1}
368 The construct @{-<n>} means the <n>th branch/commit checked out
369 before the current one.
370 [<branchname>]@{upstream}, e.g. master@{upstream}, @{u}
372 The suffix @{upstream} to a branchname (short form
373 <branchname>@{u}) refers to the branch that the branch specified by
374 branchname is set to build on top of (configured with
375 branch.<name>.remote and branch.<name>.merge). A missing branchname
376 defaults to the current one. These suffixes are also accepted when
377 spelled in uppercase, and they mean the same thing no matter the
378 case.
379 [<branchname>]@{push}, e.g. master@{push}, @{push}
381 The suffix @{push} reports the branch "where we would push to" if
382 git push were run while branchname was checked out (or the current
383 HEAD if no branchname is specified). Since our push destination is
384 in a remote repository, of course, we report the local tracking
385 branch that corresponds to that branch (i.e., something in
386 refs/remotes/).
387 Here’s an example to make it more clear:
389 $ git config push.default current
391 $ git config remote.pushdefault myfork
392 $ git switch -c mybranch origin/master
393 $ git rev-parse --symbolic-full-name @{upstream}
395 refs/remotes/origin/master
396 $ git rev-parse --symbolic-full-name @{push}
398 refs/remotes/myfork/mybranch
399 Note in the example that we set up a triangular workflow, where we
401 pull from one location and push to another. In a non-triangular
402 workflow, @{push} is the same as @{upstream}, and there is no need
403 for it.
404 This suffix is also accepted when spelled in uppercase, and means
406 the same thing no matter the case.
407 <rev>^[<n>], e.g. HEAD^, v1.5.1^0
409 A suffix ^ to a revision parameter means the first parent of that
410 commit object. ^<n> means the <n>th parent (i.e. <rev>^ is
411 equivalent to <rev>^1). As a special rule, <rev>^0 means the commit
412 itself and is used when <rev> is the object name of a tag object
413 that refers to a commit object.
414 <rev>~[<n>], e.g. HEAD~, master~3
416 A suffix ~ to a revision parameter means the first parent of that
417 commit object. A suffix ~<n> to a revision parameter means the
418 commit object that is the <n>th generation ancestor of the named
419 commit object, following only the first parents. I.e. <rev>~3 is
420 equivalent to <rev>^^^ which is equivalent to <rev>^1^1^1. See
421 below for an illustration of the usage of this form.
422 <rev>^{<type>}, e.g. v0.99.8^{commit}
424 A suffix ^ followed by an object type name enclosed in brace pair
425 means dereference the object at <rev> recursively until an object
426 of type <type> is found or the object cannot be dereferenced
427 anymore (in which case, barf). For example, if <rev> is a
428 commit-ish, <rev>^{commit} describes the corresponding commit
429 object. Similarly, if <rev> is a tree-ish, <rev>^{tree} describes
430 the corresponding tree object. <rev>^0 is a short-hand for
431 <rev>^{commit}.
432 <rev>^{object} can be used to make sure <rev> names an object that
434 exists, without requiring <rev> to be a tag, and without
435 dereferencing <rev>; because a tag is already an object, it does
436 not have to be dereferenced even once to get to an object.
437 <rev>^{tag} can be used to ensure that <rev> identifies an existing
439 tag object.
440 <rev>^{}, e.g. v0.99.8^{}
442 A suffix ^ followed by an empty brace pair means the object could
443 be a tag, and dereference the tag recursively until a non-tag
444 object is found.
445 <rev>^{/<text>}, e.g. HEAD^{/fix nasty bug}
447 A suffix ^ to a revision parameter, followed by a brace pair that
448 contains a text led by a slash, is the same as the :/fix nasty bug
449 syntax below except that it returns the youngest matching commit
450 which is reachable from the <rev> before ^.
451 :/<text>, e.g. :/fix nasty bug
453 A colon, followed by a slash, followed by a text, names a commit
454 whose commit message matches the specified regular expression. This
455 name returns the youngest matching commit which is reachable from
456 any ref, including HEAD. The regular expression can match any part
457 of the commit message. To match messages starting with a string,
458 one can use e.g. :/^foo. The special sequence :/! is reserved for
459 modifiers to what is matched. :/!-foo performs a negative match,
460 while :/!!foo matches a literal ! character, followed by foo. Any
461 other sequence beginning with :/! is reserved for now. Depending
462 on the given text, the shell’s word splitting rules might require
463 additional quoting.
464 <rev>:<path>, e.g. HEAD:README, master:./README
466 A suffix : followed by a path names the blob or tree at the given
467 path in the tree-ish object named by the part before the colon. A
468 path starting with ./ or ../ is relative to the current working
469 directory. The given path will be converted to be relative to the
470 working tree’s root directory. This is most useful to address a
471 blob or tree from a commit or tree that has the same tree structure
472 as the working tree.
473 :[<n>:]<path>, e.g. :0:README, :README
475 A colon, optionally followed by a stage number (0 to 3) and a
476 colon, followed by a path, names a blob object in the index at the
477 given path. A missing stage number (and the colon that follows it)
478 names a stage 0 entry. During a merge, stage 1 is the common
479 ancestor, stage 2 is the target branch’s version (typically the
480 current branch), and stage 3 is the version from the branch which
481 is being merged.
482 Here is an illustration, by Jon Loeliger. Both commit nodes B and C are
484 parents of commit node A. Parent commits are ordered left-to-right.
485 G H I J
487 \ / \ /
488 D E F
489 \ | / \
490 \ | / |
491 \|/ |
492 B C
493 \ /
494 \ /
495 A
496 A = = A^0
498 B = A^ = A^1 = A~1
499 C = = A^2
500 D = A^^ = A^1^1 = A~2
501 E = B^2 = A^^2
502 F = B^3 = A^^3
503 G = A^^^ = A^1^1^1 = A~3
504 H = D^2 = B^^2 = A^^^2 = A~2^2
505 I = F^ = B^3^ = A^^3^
506 J = F^2 = B^3^2 = A^^3^2
507
509 History traversing commands such as git log operate on a set of
510 commits, not just a single commit.
511 For these commands, specifying a single revision, using the notation
513 described in the previous section, means the set of commits reachable
514 from the given commit.
515 Specifying several revisions means the set of commits reachable from
517 any of the given commits.
518 A commit’s reachable set is the commit itself and the commits in its
520 ancestry chain.
521 There are several notations to specify a set of connected commits
523 (called a "revision range"), illustrated below.
524 Commit Exclusions
526 ^<rev> (caret) Notation
527 To exclude commits reachable from a commit, a prefix ^ notation is
528 used. E.g. ^r1 r2 means commits reachable from r2 but exclude the
529 ones reachable from r1 (i.e. r1 and its ancestors).
530 Dotted Range Notations
532 The .. (two-dot) Range Notation
533 The ^r1 r2 set operation appears so often that there is a shorthand
534 for it. When you have two commits r1 and r2 (named according to the
535 syntax explained in SPECIFYING REVISIONS above), you can ask for
536 commits that are reachable from r2 excluding those that are
537 reachable from r1 by ^r1 r2 and it can be written as r1..r2.
538 The ... (three-dot) Symmetric Difference Notation
540 A similar notation r1...r2 is called symmetric difference of r1 and
541 r2 and is defined as r1 r2 --not $(git merge-base --all r1 r2). It
542 is the set of commits that are reachable from either one of r1
543 (left side) or r2 (right side) but not from both.
544 In these two shorthand notations, you can omit one end and let it
546 default to HEAD. For example, origin.. is a shorthand for origin..HEAD
547 and asks "What did I do since I forked from the origin branch?"
548 Similarly, ..origin is a shorthand for HEAD..origin and asks "What did
549 the origin do since I forked from them?" Note that .. would mean
550 HEAD..HEAD which is an empty range that is both reachable and
551 unreachable from HEAD.
552 Commands that are specifically designed to take two distinct ranges
554 (e.g. "git range-diff R1 R2" to compare two ranges) do exist, but they
555 are exceptions. Unless otherwise noted, all "git" commands that operate
556 on a set of commits work on a single revision range. In other words,
557 writing two "two-dot range notation" next to each other, e.g.
558 $ git log A..B C..D
560 does not specify two revision ranges for most commands. Instead it will
562 name a single connected set of commits, i.e. those that are reachable
563 from either B or D but are reachable from neither A or C. In a linear
564 history like this:
565 ---A---B---o---o---C---D
567 because A and B are reachable from C, the revision range specified by
569 these two dotted ranges is a single commit D.
570 Other <rev>^ Parent Shorthand Notations
572 Three other shorthands exist, particularly useful for merge commits,
573 for naming a set that is formed by a commit and its parent commits.
574 The r1^@ notation means all parents of r1.
576 The r1^! notation includes commit r1 but excludes all of its parents.
578 By itself, this notation denotes the single commit r1.
579 The <rev>^-[<n>] notation includes <rev> but excludes the <n>th parent
581 (i.e. a shorthand for <rev>^<n>..<rev>), with <n> = 1 if not given.
582 This is typically useful for merge commits where you can just pass
583 <commit>^- to get all the commits in the branch that was merged in
584 merge commit <commit> (including <commit> itself).
585 While <rev>^<n> was about specifying a single commit parent, these
587 three notations also consider its parents. For example you can say
588 HEAD^2^@, however you cannot say HEAD^@^2.
589
591 <rev>
592 Include commits that are reachable from <rev> (i.e. <rev> and its
593 ancestors).
594 ^<rev>
596 Exclude commits that are reachable from <rev> (i.e. <rev> and its
597 ancestors).
598 <rev1>..<rev2>
600 Include commits that are reachable from <rev2> but exclude those
601 that are reachable from <rev1>. When either <rev1> or <rev2> is
602 omitted, it defaults to HEAD.
603 <rev1>...<rev2>
605 Include commits that are reachable from either <rev1> or <rev2> but
606 exclude those that are reachable from both. When either <rev1> or
607 <rev2> is omitted, it defaults to HEAD.
608 <rev>^@, e.g. HEAD^@
610 A suffix ^ followed by an at sign is the same as listing all
611 parents of <rev> (meaning, include anything reachable from its
612 parents, but not the commit itself).
613 <rev>^!, e.g. HEAD^!
615 A suffix ^ followed by an exclamation mark is the same as giving
616 commit <rev> and then all its parents prefixed with ^ to exclude
617 them (and their ancestors).
618 <rev>^-<n>, e.g. HEAD^-, HEAD^-2
620 Equivalent to <rev>^<n>..<rev>, with <n> = 1 if not given.
621 Here are a handful of examples using the Loeliger illustration above,
623 with each step in the notation’s expansion and selection carefully
624 spelt out:
625 Args Expanded arguments Selected commits
627 D G H D
628 D F G H I J D F
629 ^G D H D
630 ^D B E I J F B
631 ^D B C E I J F B C
632 C I J F C
633 B..C = ^B C C
634 B...C = B ^F C G H D E B C
635 B^- = B^..B
636 = ^B^1 B E I J F B
637 C^@ = C^1
638 = F I J F
639 B^@ = B^1 B^2 B^3
640 = D E F D G H E F I J
641 C^! = C ^C^@
642 = C ^C^1
643 = C ^F C
644 B^! = B ^B^@
645 = B ^B^1 ^B^2 ^B^3
646 = B ^D ^E ^F B
647 F^! D = F ^I ^J D G H D F
648
650 In --parseopt mode, git rev-parse helps massaging options to bring to
651 shell scripts the same facilities C builtins have. It works as an
652 option normalizer (e.g. splits single switches aggregate values), a bit
653 like getopt(1) does.
654 It takes on the standard input the specification of the options to
656 parse and understand, and echoes on the standard output a string
657 suitable for sh(1) eval to replace the arguments with normalized ones.
658 In case of error, it outputs usage on the standard error stream, and
659 exits with code 129.
660 Note: Make sure you quote the result when passing it to eval. See below
662 for an example.
663 Input Format
665 git rev-parse --parseopt input format is fully text based. It has two
666 parts, separated by a line that contains only --. The lines before the
667 separator (should be one or more) are used for the usage. The lines
668 after the separator describe the options.
669 Each line of options has this format:
671 <opt-spec><flags>*<arg-hint>? SP+ help LF
673 <opt-spec>
675 its format is the short option character, then the long option name
676 separated by a comma. Both parts are not required, though at least
677 one is necessary. May not contain any of the <flags> characters.
678 h,help, dry-run and f are examples of correct <opt-spec>.
679 <flags>
681 <flags> are of *, =, ? or !.
682 • Use = if the option takes an argument.
684 • Use ? to mean that the option takes an optional argument. You
686 probably want to use the --stuck-long mode to be able to
687 unambiguously parse the optional argument.
688 • Use * to mean that this option should not be listed in the
690 usage generated for the -h argument. It’s shown for --help-all
691 as documented in gitcli(7).
692 • Use ! to not make the corresponding negated long option
694 available.
695 <arg-hint>
697 <arg-hint>, if specified, is used as a name of the argument in the
698 help output, for options that take arguments. <arg-hint> is
699 terminated by the first whitespace. It is customary to use a dash
700 to separate words in a multi-word argument hint.
701 The remainder of the line, after stripping the spaces, is used as the
703 help associated to the option.
704 Blank lines are ignored, and lines that don’t match this specification
706 are used as option group headers (start the line with a space to create
707 such lines on purpose).
708 Example
710 OPTS_SPEC="\
711 some-command [<options>] <args>...
712 some-command does foo and bar!
714 --
715 h,help show the help
716 foo some nifty option --foo
718 bar= some cool option --bar with an argument
719 baz=arg another cool option --baz with a named argument
720 qux?path qux may take a path argument but has meaning by itself
721 An option group Header
723 C? option C with an optional argument"
724 eval "$(echo "$OPTS_SPEC" | git rev-parse --parseopt -- "$@" || echo exit $?)"
726 Usage text
728 When "$@" is -h or --help in the above example, the following usage
729 text would be shown:
730 usage: some-command [<options>] <args>...
732 some-command does foo and bar!
734 -h, --help show the help
736 --foo some nifty option --foo
737 --bar ... some cool option --bar with an argument
738 --baz <arg> another cool option --baz with a named argument
739 --qux[=<path>] qux may take a path argument but has meaning by itself
740 An option group Header
742 -C[...] option C with an optional argument
743
745 In --sq-quote mode, git rev-parse echoes on the standard output a
746 single line suitable for sh(1) eval. This line is made by normalizing
747 the arguments following --sq-quote. Nothing other than quoting the
748 arguments is done.
749 If you want command input to still be interpreted as usual by git
751 rev-parse before the output is shell quoted, see the --sq option.
752 Example
754 $ cat >your-git-script.sh <<\EOF
755 #!/bin/sh
756 args=$(git rev-parse --sq-quote "$@") # quote user-supplied arguments
757 command="git frotz -n24 $args" # and use it inside a handcrafted
758 # command line
759 eval "$command"
760 EOF
761 $ sh your-git-script.sh "a b'c"
763
765 • Print the object name of the current commit:
766 $ git rev-parse --verify HEAD
768 • Print the commit object name from the revision in the $REV shell
770 variable:
771 $ git rev-parse --verify --end-of-options $REV^{commit}
773 This will error out if $REV is empty or not a valid revision.
775 • Similar to above:
777 $ git rev-parse --default master --verify --end-of-options $REV
779 but if $REV is empty, the commit object name from master will be
781 printed.
782
784 Part of the git(1) suite
785Git 2.36.1 2022-05-05 GIT-REV-PARSE(1)