| blob | 61666f1c88a94982c552162f88cfb2a0fb3c53ef |
1 '\" t
2 .\" Title: git-cat-file
3 .\" Author: [FIXME: author] [see http://www.docbook.org/tdg5/en/html/author]
4 .\" Generator: DocBook XSL Stylesheets v1.79.2 <http://docbook.sf.net/>
5 .\" Date: 2024-09-18
6 .\" Manual: Git Manual
7 .\" Source: Git 2.46.1.565.g6531f31ef3
8 .\" Language: English
9 .\"
10 .TH "GIT\-CAT\-FILE" "1" "2024-09-18" "Git 2\&.46\&.1\&.565\&.g6531f3" "Git Manual"
11 .\" -----------------------------------------------------------------
12 .\" * Define some portability stuff
13 .\" -----------------------------------------------------------------
14 .\" ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
15 .\" http://bugs.debian.org/507673
16 .\" http://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/groff/2009-02/msg00013.html
17 .\" ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
18 .ie \n(.g .ds Aq \(aq
19 .el .ds Aq '
20 .\" -----------------------------------------------------------------
21 .\" * set default formatting
22 .\" -----------------------------------------------------------------
23 .\" disable hyphenation
24 .nh
25 .\" disable justification (adjust text to left margin only)
26 .ad l
27 .\" -----------------------------------------------------------------
28 .\" * MAIN CONTENT STARTS HERE *
29 .\" -----------------------------------------------------------------
30 .SH "NAME"
31 git-cat-file \- Provide contents or details of repository objects
32 .SH "SYNOPSIS"
33 .sp
34 .nf
35 \fIgit cat\-file\fR <type> <object>
36 \fIgit cat\-file\fR (\-e | \-p) <object>
37 \fIgit cat\-file\fR (\-t | \-s) [\-\-allow\-unknown\-type] <object>
38 \fIgit cat\-file\fR (\-\-textconv | \-\-filters)
39 [<rev>:<path|tree\-ish> | \-\-path=<path|tree\-ish> <rev>]
40 \fIgit cat\-file\fR (\-\-batch | \-\-batch\-check | \-\-batch\-command) [\-\-batch\-all\-objects]
41 [\-\-buffer] [\-\-follow\-symlinks] [\-\-unordered]
42 [\-\-textconv | \-\-filters] [\-Z]
43 .fi
44 .SH "DESCRIPTION"
45 .sp
46 Output the contents or other properties such as size, type or delta information of one or more objects\&.
47 .sp
48 This command can operate in two modes, depending on whether an option from the \fB\-\-batch\fR family is specified\&.
49 .sp
50 In non\-batch mode, the command provides information on an object named on the command line\&.
51 .sp
52 In batch mode, arguments are read from standard input\&.
53 .SH "OPTIONS"
54 .PP
55 <object>
56 .RS 4
57 The name of the object to show\&. For a more complete list of ways to spell object names, see the "SPECIFYING REVISIONS" section in
58 \fBgitrevisions\fR(7)\&.
59 .RE
60 .PP
61 \-t
62 .RS 4
63 Instead of the content, show the object type identified by
64 \fB<object>\fR\&.
65 .RE
66 .PP
67 \-s
68 .RS 4
69 Instead of the content, show the object size identified by
70 \fB<object>\fR\&. If used with
71 \fB\-\-use\-mailmap\fR
72 option, will show the size of updated object after replacing idents using the mailmap mechanism\&.
73 .RE
74 .PP
75 \-e
76 .RS 4
77 Exit with zero status if
78 \fB<object>\fR
79 exists and is a valid object\&. If
80 \fB<object>\fR
81 is of an invalid format, exit with non\-zero status and emit an error on stderr\&.
82 .RE
83 .PP
84 \-p
85 .RS 4
86 Pretty\-print the contents of
87 \fB<object>\fR
88 based on its type\&.
89 .RE
90 .PP
91 <type>
92 .RS 4
93 Typically this matches the real type of
94 \fB<object>\fR
95 but asking for a type that can trivially be dereferenced from the given
96 \fB<object>\fR
97 is also permitted\&. An example is to ask for a "tree" with
98 \fB<object>\fR
99 being a commit object that contains it, or to ask for a "blob" with
100 \fB<object>\fR
101 being a tag object that points at it\&.
102 .RE
103 .PP
104 \-\-[no\-]mailmap, \-\-[no\-]use\-mailmap
105 .RS 4
106 Use mailmap file to map author, committer and tagger names and email addresses to canonical real names and email addresses\&. See
107 \fBgit-shortlog\fR(1)\&.
108 .RE
109 .PP
110 \-\-textconv
111 .RS 4
112 Show the content as transformed by a textconv filter\&. In this case,
113 \fB<object>\fR
114 has to be of the form
115 \fB<tree\-ish>:<path>\fR, or
116 \fB:<path>\fR
117 in order to apply the filter to the content recorded in the index at
118 \fB<path>\fR\&.
119 .RE
120 .PP
121 \-\-filters
122 .RS 4
123 Show the content as converted by the filters configured in the current working tree for the given
124 \fB<path>\fR
125 (i\&.e\&. smudge filters, end\-of\-line conversion, etc)\&. In this case,
126 \fB<object>\fR
127 has to be of the form
128 \fB<tree\-ish>:<path>\fR, or
129 \fB:<path>\fR\&.
130 .RE
131 .PP
132 \-\-path=<path>
133 .RS 4
134 For use with
135 \fB\-\-textconv\fR
136 or
137 \fB\-\-filters\fR, to allow specifying an object name and a path separately, e\&.g\&. when it is difficult to figure out the revision from which the blob came\&.
138 .RE
139 .PP
140 \-\-batch, \-\-batch=<format>
141 .RS 4
142 Print object information and contents for each object provided on stdin\&. May not be combined with any other options or arguments except
143 \fB\-\-textconv\fR,
144 \fB\-\-filters\fR, or
145 \fB\-\-use\-mailmap\fR\&.
146 .sp
147 .RS 4
148 .ie n \{\
149 \h'-04'\(bu\h'+03'\c
150 .\}
151 .el \{\
152 .sp -1
153 .IP \(bu 2.3
154 .\}
155 When used with
156 \fB\-\-textconv\fR
157 or
158 \fB\-\-filters\fR, the input lines must specify the path, separated by whitespace\&. See the section
159 \fBBATCH OUTPUT\fR
160 below for details\&.
161 .RE
162 .sp
163 .RS 4
164 .ie n \{\
165 \h'-04'\(bu\h'+03'\c
166 .\}
167 .el \{\
168 .sp -1
169 .IP \(bu 2.3
170 .\}
171 When used with
172 \fB\-\-use\-mailmap\fR, for commit and tag objects, the contents part of the output shows the identities replaced using the mailmap mechanism, while the information part of the output shows the size of the object as if it actually recorded the replacement identities\&.
173 .RE
174 .RE
175 .PP
176 \-\-batch\-check, \-\-batch\-check=<format>
177 .RS 4
178 Print object information for each object provided on stdin\&. May not be combined with any other options or arguments except
179 \fB\-\-textconv\fR,
180 \fB\-\-filters\fR
181 or
182 \fB\-\-use\-mailmap\fR\&.
183 .sp
184 .RS 4
185 .ie n \{\
186 \h'-04'\(bu\h'+03'\c
187 .\}
188 .el \{\
189 .sp -1
190 .IP \(bu 2.3
191 .\}
192 When used with
193 \fB\-\-textconv\fR
194 or
195 \fB\-\-filters\fR, the input lines must specify the path, separated by whitespace\&. See the section
196 \fBBATCH OUTPUT\fR
197 below for details\&.
198 .RE
199 .sp
200 .RS 4
201 .ie n \{\
202 \h'-04'\(bu\h'+03'\c
203 .\}
204 .el \{\
205 .sp -1
206 .IP \(bu 2.3
207 .\}
208 When used with
209 \fB\-\-use\-mailmap\fR, for commit and tag objects, the printed object information shows the size of the object as if the identities recorded in it were replaced by the mailmap mechanism\&.
210 .RE
211 .RE
212 .PP
213 \-\-batch\-command, \-\-batch\-command=<format>
214 .RS 4
215 Enter a command mode that reads commands and arguments from stdin\&. May only be combined with
216 \fB\-\-buffer\fR,
217 \fB\-\-textconv\fR,
218 \fB\-\-use\-mailmap\fR
219 or
220 \fB\-\-filters\fR\&.
221 .sp
222 .RS 4
223 .ie n \{\
224 \h'-04'\(bu\h'+03'\c
225 .\}
226 .el \{\
227 .sp -1
228 .IP \(bu 2.3
229 .\}
230 When used with
231 \fB\-\-textconv\fR
232 or
233 \fB\-\-filters\fR, the input lines must specify the path, separated by whitespace\&. See the section
234 \fBBATCH OUTPUT\fR
235 below for details\&.
236 .RE
237 .sp
238 .RS 4
239 .ie n \{\
240 \h'-04'\(bu\h'+03'\c
241 .\}
242 .el \{\
243 .sp -1
244 .IP \(bu 2.3
245 .\}
246 When used with
247 \fB\-\-use\-mailmap\fR, for commit and tag objects, the
248 \fBcontents\fR
249 command shows the identities replaced using the mailmap mechanism, while the
250 \fBinfo\fR
251 command shows the size of the object as if it actually recorded the replacement identities\&.
252 .RE
253 .sp
254 \fB\-\-batch\-command\fR
255 recognizes the following commands:
256 .PP
257 contents <object>
258 .RS 4
259 Print object contents for object reference
260 \fB<object>\fR\&. This corresponds to the output of
261 \fB\-\-batch\fR\&.
262 .RE
263 .PP
264 info <object>
265 .RS 4
266 Print object info for object reference
267 \fB<object>\fR\&. This corresponds to the output of
268 \fB\-\-batch\-check\fR\&.
269 .RE
270 .PP
271 flush
272 .RS 4
273 Used with
274 \fB\-\-buffer\fR
275 to execute all preceding commands that were issued since the beginning or since the last flush was issued\&. When
276 \fB\-\-buffer\fR
277 is used, no output will come until a
278 \fBflush\fR
279 is issued\&. When
280 \fB\-\-buffer\fR
281 is not used, commands are flushed each time without issuing
282 \fBflush\fR\&.
283 .RE
284 .RE
285 .PP
286 \-\-batch\-all\-objects
287 .RS 4
288 Instead of reading a list of objects on stdin, perform the requested batch operation on all objects in the repository and any alternate object stores (not just reachable objects)\&. Requires
289 \fB\-\-batch\fR
290 or
291 \fB\-\-batch\-check\fR
292 be specified\&. By default, the objects are visited in order sorted by their hashes; see also
293 \fB\-\-unordered\fR
294 below\&. Objects are presented as\-is, without respecting the "replace" mechanism of
295 \fBgit-replace\fR(1)\&.
296 .RE
297 .PP
298 \-\-buffer
299 .RS 4
300 Normally batch output is flushed after each object is output, so that a process can interactively read and write from
301 \fBcat\-file\fR\&. With this option, the output uses normal stdio buffering; this is much more efficient when invoking
302 \fB\-\-batch\-check\fR
303 or
304 \fB\-\-batch\-command\fR
305 on a large number of objects\&.
306 .RE
307 .PP
308 \-\-unordered
309 .RS 4
310 When
311 \fB\-\-batch\-all\-objects\fR
312 is in use, visit objects in an order which may be more efficient for accessing the object contents than hash order\&. The exact details of the order are unspecified, but if you do not require a specific order, this should generally result in faster output, especially with
313 \fB\-\-batch\fR\&. Note that
314 \fBcat\-file\fR
315 will still show each object only once, even if it is stored multiple times in the repository\&.
316 .RE
317 .PP
318 \-\-allow\-unknown\-type
319 .RS 4
320 Allow
321 \fB\-s\fR
322 or
323 \fB\-t\fR
324 to query broken/corrupt objects of unknown type\&.
325 .RE
326 .PP
327 \-\-follow\-symlinks
328 .RS 4
329 With
330 \fB\-\-batch\fR
331 or
332 \fB\-\-batch\-check\fR, follow symlinks inside the repository when requesting objects with extended SHA\-1 expressions of the form tree\-ish:path\-in\-tree\&. Instead of providing output about the link itself, provide output about the linked\-to object\&. If a symlink points outside the tree\-ish (e\&.g\&. a link to
333 \fB/foo\fR
334 or a root\-level link to
335 \fB\&.\&./foo\fR), the portion of the link which is outside the tree will be printed\&.
336 .sp
337 This option does not (currently) work correctly when an object in the index is specified (e\&.g\&.
338 \fB:link\fR
339 instead of
340 \fBHEAD:link\fR) rather than one in the tree\&.
341 .sp
342 This option cannot (currently) be used unless
343 \fB\-\-batch\fR
344 or
345 \fB\-\-batch\-check\fR
346 is used\&.
347 .sp
348 For example, consider a git repository containing:
349 .sp
350 .if n \{\
351 .RS 4
352 .\}
353 .nf
354 f: a file containing "hello\en"
355 link: a symlink to f
356 dir/link: a symlink to \&.\&./f
357 plink: a symlink to \&.\&./f
358 alink: a symlink to /etc/passwd
359 .fi
360 .if n \{\
361 .RE
362 .\}
363 .sp
364 For a regular file
365 \fBf\fR,
366 \fBecho HEAD:f | git cat\-file \-\-batch\fR
367 would print
368 .sp
369 .if n \{\
370 .RS 4
371 .\}
372 .nf
373 ce013625030ba8dba906f756967f9e9ca394464a blob 6
374 .fi
375 .if n \{\
376 .RE
377 .\}
378 .sp
379 And
380 \fBecho HEAD:link | git cat\-file \-\-batch \-\-follow\-symlinks\fR
381 would print the same thing, as would
382 \fBHEAD:dir/link\fR, as they both point at
383 \fBHEAD:f\fR\&.
384 .sp
385 Without
386 \fB\-\-follow\-symlinks\fR, these would print data about the symlink itself\&. In the case of
387 \fBHEAD:link\fR, you would see
388 .sp
389 .if n \{\
390 .RS 4
391 .\}
392 .nf
393 4d1ae35ba2c8ec712fa2a379db44ad639ca277bd blob 1
394 .fi
395 .if n \{\
396 .RE
397 .\}
398 .sp
399 Both
400 \fBplink\fR
401 and
402 \fBalink\fR
403 point outside the tree, so they would respectively print:
404 .sp
405 .if n \{\
406 .RS 4
407 .\}
408 .nf
409 symlink 4
410 \&.\&./f
411 .fi
412 .if n \{\
413 .RE
414 .\}
415 .sp
416 .if n \{\
417 .RS 4
418 .\}
419 .nf
420 symlink 11
421 /etc/passwd
422 .fi
423 .if n \{\
424 .RE
425 .\}
426 .RE
427 .PP
428 \-Z
429 .RS 4
430 Only meaningful with
431 \fB\-\-batch\fR,
432 \fB\-\-batch\-check\fR, or
433 \fB\-\-batch\-command\fR; input and output is NUL\-delimited instead of newline\-delimited\&.
434 .RE
435 .PP
436 \-z
437 .RS 4
438 Only meaningful with
439 \fB\-\-batch\fR,
440 \fB\-\-batch\-check\fR, or
441 \fB\-\-batch\-command\fR; input is NUL\-delimited instead of newline\-delimited\&. This option is deprecated in favor of
442 \fB\-Z\fR
443 as the output can otherwise be ambiguous\&.
444 .RE
445 .SH "OUTPUT"
446 .sp
447 If \fB\-t\fR is specified, one of the \fB<type>\fR\&.
448 .sp
449 If \fB\-s\fR is specified, the size of the \fB<object>\fR in bytes\&.
450 .sp
451 If \fB\-e\fR is specified, no output, unless the \fB<object>\fR is malformed\&.
452 .sp
453 If \fB\-p\fR is specified, the contents of \fB<object>\fR are pretty\-printed\&.
454 .sp
455 If \fB<type>\fR is specified, the raw (though uncompressed) contents of the \fB<object>\fR will be returned\&.
456 .SH "BATCH OUTPUT"
457 .sp
458 If \fB\-\-batch\fR or \fB\-\-batch\-check\fR is given, \fBcat\-file\fR will read objects from stdin, one per line, and print information about them in the same order as they have been read\&. By default, the whole line is considered as an object, as if it were fed to \fBgit-rev-parse\fR(1)\&.
459 .sp
460 When \fB\-\-batch\-command\fR is given, \fBcat\-file\fR will read commands from stdin, one per line, and print information based on the command given\&. With \fB\-\-batch\-command\fR, the \fBinfo\fR command followed by an object will print information about the object the same way \fB\-\-batch\-check\fR would, and the \fBcontents\fR command followed by an object prints contents in the same way \fB\-\-batch\fR would\&.
461 .sp
462 You can specify the information shown for each object by using a custom \fB<format>\fR\&. The \fB<format>\fR is copied literally to stdout for each object, with placeholders of the form \fB%(atom)\fR expanded, followed by a newline\&. The available atoms are:
463 .PP
464 \fBobjectname\fR
465 .RS 4
466 The full hex representation of the object name\&.
467 .RE
468 .PP
469 \fBobjecttype\fR
470 .RS 4
471 The type of the object (the same as
472 \fBcat\-file \-t\fR
473 reports)\&.
474 .RE
475 .PP
476 \fBobjectsize\fR
477 .RS 4
478 The size, in bytes, of the object (the same as
479 \fBcat\-file \-s\fR
480 reports)\&.
481 .RE
482 .PP
483 \fBobjectsize:disk\fR
484 .RS 4
485 The size, in bytes, that the object takes up on disk\&. See the note about on\-disk sizes in the
486 \fBCAVEATS\fR
487 section below\&.
488 .RE
489 .PP
490 \fBdeltabase\fR
491 .RS 4
492 If the object is stored as a delta on\-disk, this expands to the full hex representation of the delta base object name\&. Otherwise, expands to the null OID (all zeroes)\&. See
493 \fBCAVEATS\fR
494 below\&.
495 .RE
496 .PP
497 \fBrest\fR
498 .RS 4
499 If this atom is used in the output string, input lines are split at the first whitespace boundary\&. All characters before that whitespace are considered to be the object name; characters after that first run of whitespace (i\&.e\&., the "rest" of the line) are output in place of the
500 \fB%(rest)\fR
501 atom\&.
502 .RE
503 .sp
504 If no format is specified, the default format is \fB%(objectname) %(objecttype) %(objectsize)\fR\&.
505 .sp
506 If \fB\-\-batch\fR is specified, or if \fB\-\-batch\-command\fR is used with the \fBcontents\fR command, the object information is followed by the object contents (consisting of \fB%(objectsize)\fR bytes), followed by a newline\&.
507 .sp
508 For example, \fB\-\-batch\fR without a custom format would produce:
509 .sp
510 .if n \{\
511 .RS 4
512 .\}
513 .nf
514 <oid> SP <type> SP <size> LF
515 <contents> LF
516 .fi
517 .if n \{\
518 .RE
519 .\}
520 .sp
521 Whereas \fB\-\-batch\-check=\*(Aq%(objectname) %(objecttype)\*(Aq\fR would produce:
522 .sp
523 .if n \{\
524 .RS 4
525 .\}
526 .nf
527 <oid> SP <type> LF
528 .fi
529 .if n \{\
530 .RE
531 .\}
532 .sp
533 If a name is specified on stdin that cannot be resolved to an object in the repository, then \fBcat\-file\fR will ignore any custom format and print:
534 .sp
535 .if n \{\
536 .RS 4
537 .\}
538 .nf
539 <object> SP missing LF
540 .fi
541 .if n \{\
542 .RE
543 .\}
544 .sp
545 If a name is specified that might refer to more than one object (an ambiguous short sha), then \fBcat\-file\fR will ignore any custom format and print:
546 .sp
547 .if n \{\
548 .RS 4
549 .\}
550 .nf
551 <object> SP ambiguous LF
552 .fi
553 .if n \{\
554 .RE
555 .\}
556 .sp
557 If \fB\-\-follow\-symlinks\fR is used, and a symlink in the repository points outside the repository, then \fBcat\-file\fR will ignore any custom format and print:
558 .sp
559 .if n \{\
560 .RS 4
561 .\}
562 .nf
563 symlink SP <size> LF
564 <symlink> LF
565 .fi
566 .if n \{\
567 .RE
568 .\}
569 .sp
570 The symlink will either be absolute (beginning with a \fB/\fR), or relative to the tree root\&. For instance, if dir/link points to \fB\&.\&./\&.\&./foo\fR, then \fB<symlink>\fR will be \fB\&.\&./foo\fR\&. \fB<size>\fR is the size of the symlink in bytes\&.
571 .sp
572 If \fB\-\-follow\-symlinks\fR is used, the following error messages will be displayed:
573 .sp
574 .if n \{\
575 .RS 4
576 .\}
577 .nf
578 <object> SP missing LF
579 .fi
580 .if n \{\
581 .RE
582 .\}
583 .sp
584 is printed when the initial symlink requested does not exist\&.
585 .sp
586 .if n \{\
587 .RS 4
588 .\}
589 .nf
590 dangling SP <size> LF
591 <object> LF
592 .fi
593 .if n \{\
594 .RE
595 .\}
596 .sp
597 is printed when the initial symlink exists, but something that it (transitive\-of) points to does not\&.
598 .sp
599 .if n \{\
600 .RS 4
601 .\}
602 .nf
603 loop SP <size> LF
604 <object> LF
605 .fi
606 .if n \{\
607 .RE
608 .\}
609 .sp
610 is printed for symlink loops (or any symlinks that require more than 40 link resolutions to resolve)\&.
611 .sp
612 .if n \{\
613 .RS 4
614 .\}
615 .nf
616 notdir SP <size> LF
617 <object> LF
618 .fi
619 .if n \{\
620 .RE
621 .\}
622 .sp
623 is printed when, during symlink resolution, a file is used as a directory name\&.
624 .sp
625 Alternatively, when \fB\-Z\fR is passed, the line feeds in any of the above examples are replaced with NUL terminators\&. This ensures that output will be parsable if the output itself would contain a linefeed and is thus recommended for scripting purposes\&.
626 .SH "CAVEATS"
627 .sp
628 Note that the sizes of objects on disk are reported accurately, but care should be taken in drawing conclusions about which refs or objects are responsible for disk usage\&. The size of a packed non\-delta object may be much larger than the size of objects which delta against it, but the choice of which object is the base and which is the delta is arbitrary and is subject to change during a repack\&.
629 .sp
630 Note also that multiple copies of an object may be present in the object database; in this case, it is undefined which copy\(cqs size or delta base will be reported\&.
631 .SH "GIT"
632 .sp
633 Part of the \fBgit\fR(1) suite