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1 <repository>::
2 The "remote" repository that is the source of a fetch
3 or pull operation. This parameter can be either a URL
4 (see the section <<URLS,GIT URLS>> below) or the name
5 of a remote (see the section <<REMOTES,REMOTES>> below).
7 ifndef::git-pull[]
8 <group>::
9 A name referring to a list of repositories as the value
10 of remotes.<group> in the configuration file.
11 (See linkgit:git-config[1]).
12 endif::git-pull[]
14 <refspec>::
15 Specifies which refs to fetch and which local refs to update.
16 When no <refspec>s appear on the command line, the refs to fetch
17 are read from `remote.<repository>.fetch` variables instead
18 ifndef::git-pull[]
19 (see <<CRTB,CONFIGURED REMOTE-TRACKING BRANCHES>> below).
20 endif::git-pull[]
21 ifdef::git-pull[]
22 (see the section "CONFIGURED REMOTE-TRACKING BRANCHES"
23 in linkgit:git-fetch[1]).
24 endif::git-pull[]
25 +
26 The format of a <refspec> parameter is an optional plus
27 `+`, followed by the source <src>, followed
28 by a colon `:`, followed by the destination <dst>.
29 The colon can be omitted when <dst> is empty. <src> is
30 typically a ref, or a glob pattern with a single `*` that is used
31 to match a set of refs, but it can also be a fully spelled hex object
32 name.
33 +
34 A <refspec> may contain a `*` in its <src> to indicate a simple pattern
35 match. Such a refspec functions like a glob that matches any ref with the
36 pattern. A pattern <refspec> must have one and only one `*` in both the <src> and
37 <dst>. It will map refs to the destination by replacing the `*` with the
38 contents matched from the source.
39 +
40 If a refspec is prefixed by `^`, it will be interpreted as a negative
41 refspec. Rather than specifying which refs to fetch or which local refs to
42 update, such a refspec will instead specify refs to exclude. A ref will be
43 considered to match if it matches at least one positive refspec, and does
44 not match any negative refspec. Negative refspecs can be useful to restrict
45 the scope of a pattern refspec so that it will not include specific refs.
46 Negative refspecs can themselves be pattern refspecs. However, they may only
47 contain a <src> and do not specify a <dst>. Fully spelled out hex object
48 names are also not supported.
49 +
50 `tag <tag>` means the same as `refs/tags/<tag>:refs/tags/<tag>`;
51 it requests fetching everything up to the given tag.
52 +
53 The remote ref that matches <src>
54 is fetched, and if <dst> is not an empty string, an attempt
55 is made to update the local ref that matches it.
56 +
57 Whether that update is allowed without `--force` depends on the ref
58 namespace it's being fetched to, the type of object being fetched, and
59 whether the update is considered to be a fast-forward. Generally, the
60 same rules apply for fetching as when pushing, see the `<refspec>...`
61 section of linkgit:git-push[1] for what those are. Exceptions to those
62 rules particular to 'git fetch' are noted below.
63 +
64 Until Git version 2.20, and unlike when pushing with
65 linkgit:git-push[1], any updates to `refs/tags/*` would be accepted
66 without `+` in the refspec (or `--force`). When fetching, we promiscuously
67 considered all tag updates from a remote to be forced fetches. Since
68 Git version 2.20, fetching to update `refs/tags/*` works the same way
69 as when pushing. I.e. any updates will be rejected without `+` in the
70 refspec (or `--force`).
71 +
72 Unlike when pushing with linkgit:git-push[1], any updates outside of
73 `refs/{tags,heads}/*` will be accepted without `+` in the refspec (or
74 `--force`), whether that's swapping e.g. a tree object for a blob, or
75 a commit for another commit that doesn't have the previous commit as
76 an ancestor etc.
77 +
78 Unlike when pushing with linkgit:git-push[1], there is no
79 configuration which'll amend these rules, and nothing like a
80 `pre-fetch` hook analogous to the `pre-receive` hook.
81 +
82 As with pushing with linkgit:git-push[1], all of the rules described
83 above about what's not allowed as an update can be overridden by
84 adding an optional leading `+` to a refspec (or using the `--force`
85 command line option). The only exception to this is that no amount of
86 forcing will make the `refs/heads/*` namespace accept a non-commit
87 object.
88 +
89 [NOTE]
90 When the remote branch you want to fetch is known to
91 be rewound and rebased regularly, it is expected that
92 its new tip will not be a descendant of its previous tip
93 (as stored in your remote-tracking branch the last time
94 you fetched). You would want
95 to use the `+` sign to indicate non-fast-forward updates
96 will be needed for such branches. There is no way to
97 determine or declare that a branch will be made available
98 in a repository with this behavior; the pulling user simply
99 must know this is the expected usage pattern for a branch.
100 ifdef::git-pull[]
101 +
102 [NOTE]
103 There is a difference between listing multiple <refspec>
104 directly on 'git pull' command line and having multiple
105 `remote.<repository>.fetch` entries in your configuration
106 for a <repository> and running a
107 'git pull' command without any explicit <refspec> parameters.
108 <refspec>s listed explicitly on the command line are always
109 merged into the current branch after fetching. In other words,
110 if you list more than one remote ref, 'git pull' will create
111 an Octopus merge. On the other hand, if you do not list any
112 explicit <refspec> parameter on the command line, 'git pull'
113 will fetch all the <refspec>s it finds in the
114 `remote.<repository>.fetch` configuration and merge
115 only the first <refspec> found into the current branch.
116 This is because making an
117 Octopus from remote refs is rarely done, while keeping track
118 of multiple remote heads in one-go by fetching more than one
119 is often useful.
120 endif::git-pull[]