GIT-BRANCH(1)			  Git Manual			 GIT-BRANCH(1)



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 <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, 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).

       -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.

       --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 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 the value configured for the branch.sort variable if
	   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/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 at 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 in
	   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:

       o   --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>.

       o   --no-contains <commit> is the inverse of that, i.e. branches that
	   don't contain the specified <commit>.

       o   --merged is used to find all branches which can be safely deleted,
	   since those branches are fully contained by HEAD.

       o   --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-2.38.4/user-manual.html#what-is-a-branch



Git 2.38.4			  02/20/2023			 GIT-BRANCH(1)