6 git-for-each-ref - Output information on each ref
11 'git for-each-ref' [--count=<count>] [--shell|--perl|--python|--tcl]
12 [(--sort=<key>)...] [--format=<format>]
13 [--include-root-refs] [ --stdin | <pattern>... ]
14 [--points-at=<object>]
15 [--merged[=<object>]] [--no-merged[=<object>]]
16 [--contains[=<object>]] [--no-contains[=<object>]]
17 [--exclude=<pattern> ...]
22 Iterate over all refs that match `<pattern>` and show them
23 according to the given `<format>`, after sorting them according
24 to the given set of `<key>`. If `<count>` is given, stop after
25 showing that many refs. The interpolated values in `<format>`
26 can optionally be quoted as string literals in the specified
27 host language allowing their direct evaluation in that language.
32 If one or more patterns are given, only refs are shown that
33 match against at least one pattern, either using fnmatch(3) or
34 literally, in the latter case matching completely or from the
35 beginning up to a slash.
38 If `--stdin` is supplied, then the list of patterns is read from
39 standard input instead of from the argument list.
42 By default the command shows all refs that match
43 `<pattern>`. This option makes it stop after showing
47 A field name to sort on. Prefix `-` to sort in
48 descending order of the value. When unspecified,
49 `refname` is used. You may use the --sort=<key> option
50 multiple times, in which case the last key becomes the primary
54 A string that interpolates `%(fieldname)` from a ref being shown and
55 the object it points at. In addition, the string literal `%%`
56 renders as `%` and `%xx` - where `xx` are hex digits - renders as
57 the character with hex code `xx`. For example, `%00` interpolates to
58 `\0` (NUL), `%09` to `\t` (TAB), and `%0a` to `\n` (LF).
60 When unspecified, `<format>` defaults to `%(objectname) SPC %(objecttype)
64 Respect any colors specified in the `--format` option. The
65 `<when>` field must be one of `always`, `never`, or `auto` (if
66 `<when>` is absent, behave as if `always` was given).
72 If given, strings that substitute `%(fieldname)`
73 placeholders are quoted as string literals suitable for
74 the specified host language. This is meant to produce
75 a scriptlet that can directly be `eval`ed.
77 --points-at=<object>::
78 Only list refs which points at the given object.
81 Only list refs whose tips are reachable from the
82 specified commit (HEAD if not specified).
84 --no-merged[=<object>]::
85 Only list refs whose tips are not reachable from the
86 specified commit (HEAD if not specified).
88 --contains[=<object>]::
89 Only list refs which contain the specified commit (HEAD if not
92 --no-contains[=<object>]::
93 Only list refs which don't contain the specified commit (HEAD
97 Sorting and filtering refs are case insensitive.
100 Do not print a newline after formatted refs where the format expands
103 --exclude=<pattern>::
104 If one or more patterns are given, only refs which do not match
105 any excluded pattern(s) are shown. Matching is done using the
106 same rules as `<pattern>` above.
108 --include-root-refs::
109 List root refs (HEAD and pseudorefs) apart from regular refs.
114 Various values from structured fields in referenced objects can
115 be used to interpolate into the resulting output, or as sort
118 For all objects, the following names can be used:
121 The name of the ref (the part after $GIT_DIR/).
122 For a non-ambiguous short name of the ref append `:short`.
123 The option core.warnAmbiguousRefs is used to select the strict
124 abbreviation mode. If `lstrip=<N>` (`rstrip=<N>`) is appended, strips `<N>`
125 slash-separated path components from the front (back) of the refname
126 (e.g. `%(refname:lstrip=2)` turns `refs/tags/foo` into `foo` and
127 `%(refname:rstrip=2)` turns `refs/tags/foo` into `refs`).
128 If `<N>` is a negative number, strip as many path components as
129 necessary from the specified end to leave `-<N>` path components
130 (e.g. `%(refname:lstrip=-2)` turns
131 `refs/tags/foo` into `tags/foo` and `%(refname:rstrip=-1)`
132 turns `refs/tags/foo` into `refs`). When the ref does not have
133 enough components, the result becomes an empty string if
134 stripping with positive <N>, or it becomes the full refname if
135 stripping with negative <N>. Neither is an error.
137 `strip` can be used as a synonym to `lstrip`.
140 The type of the object (`blob`, `tree`, `commit`, `tag`).
143 The size of the object (the same as 'git cat-file -s' reports).
144 Append `:disk` to get the size, in bytes, that the object takes up on
145 disk. See the note about on-disk sizes in the `CAVEATS` section below.
147 The object name (aka SHA-1).
148 For a non-ambiguous abbreviation of the object name append `:short`.
149 For an abbreviation of the object name with desired length append
150 `:short=<length>`, where the minimum length is MINIMUM_ABBREV. The
151 length may be exceeded to ensure unique object names.
153 This expands to the object name of the delta base for the
154 given object, if it is stored as a delta. Otherwise it
155 expands to the null object name (all zeroes).
158 The name of a local ref which can be considered ``upstream''
159 from the displayed ref. Respects `:short`, `:lstrip` and
160 `:rstrip` in the same way as `refname` above. Additionally
161 respects `:track` to show "[ahead N, behind M]" and
162 `:trackshort` to show the terse version: ">" (ahead), "<"
163 (behind), "<>" (ahead and behind), or "=" (in sync). `:track`
164 also prints "[gone]" whenever unknown upstream ref is
165 encountered. Append `:track,nobracket` to show tracking
166 information without brackets (i.e "ahead N, behind M").
168 For any remote-tracking branch `%(upstream)`, `%(upstream:remotename)`
169 and `%(upstream:remoteref)` refer to the name of the remote and the
170 name of the tracked remote ref, respectively. In other words, the
171 remote-tracking branch can be updated explicitly and individually by
172 using the refspec `%(upstream:remoteref):%(upstream)` to fetch from
173 `%(upstream:remotename)`.
175 Has no effect if the ref does not have tracking information associated
176 with it. All the options apart from `nobracket` are mutually exclusive,
177 but if used together the last option is selected.
180 The name of a local ref which represents the `@{push}`
181 location for the displayed ref. Respects `:short`, `:lstrip`,
182 `:rstrip`, `:track`, `:trackshort`, `:remotename`, and `:remoteref`
183 options as `upstream` does. Produces an empty string if no `@{push}`
187 '*' if HEAD matches current ref (the checked out branch), ' '
191 Change output color. Followed by `:<colorname>`, where color
192 names are described under Values in the "CONFIGURATION FILE"
193 section of linkgit:git-config[1]. For example,
197 Left-, middle-, or right-align the content between
198 %(align:...) and %(end). The "align:" is followed by
199 `width=<width>` and `position=<position>` in any order
200 separated by a comma, where the `<position>` is either left,
201 right or middle, default being left and `<width>` is the total
202 length of the content with alignment. For brevity, the
203 "width=" and/or "position=" prefixes may be omitted, and bare
204 <width> and <position> used instead. For instance,
205 `%(align:<width>,<position>)`. If the contents length is more
206 than the width then no alignment is performed. If used with
207 `--quote` everything in between %(align:...) and %(end) is
208 quoted, but if nested then only the topmost level performs
212 Used as %(if)...%(then)...%(end) or
213 %(if)...%(then)...%(else)...%(end). If there is an atom with
214 value or string literal after the %(if) then everything after
215 the %(then) is printed, else if the %(else) atom is used, then
216 everything after %(else) is printed. We ignore space when
217 evaluating the string before %(then), this is useful when we
218 use the %(HEAD) atom which prints either "*" or " " and we
219 want to apply the 'if' condition only on the 'HEAD' ref.
220 Append ":equals=<string>" or ":notequals=<string>" to compare
221 the value between the %(if:...) and %(then) atoms with the
225 The ref which the given symbolic ref refers to. If not a
226 symbolic ref, nothing is printed. Respects the `:short`,
227 `:lstrip` and `:rstrip` options in the same way as `refname`
231 The GPG signature of a commit.
234 Show "G" for a good (valid) signature, "B" for a bad
235 signature, "U" for a good signature with unknown validity, "X"
236 for a good signature that has expired, "Y" for a good
237 signature made by an expired key, "R" for a good signature
238 made by a revoked key, "E" if the signature cannot be
239 checked (e.g. missing key) and "N" for no signature.
242 The signer of the GPG signature of a commit.
245 The key of the GPG signature of a commit.
247 signature:fingerprint::
248 The fingerprint of the GPG signature of a commit.
250 signature:primarykeyfingerprint::
251 The primary key fingerprint of the GPG signature of a commit.
253 signature:trustlevel::
254 The trust level of the GPG signature of a commit. Possible
255 outputs are `ultimate`, `fully`, `marginal`, `never` and `undefined`.
258 The absolute path to the worktree in which the ref is checked
259 out, if it is checked out in any linked worktree. Empty string
262 ahead-behind:<committish>::
263 Two integers, separated by a space, demonstrating the number of
264 commits ahead and behind, respectively, when comparing the output
265 ref to the `<committish>` specified in the format.
267 is-base:<committish>::
268 In at most one row, `(<committish>)` will appear to indicate the ref
269 that is most likely the ref used as a starting point for the branch
270 that produced `<committish>`. This choice is made using a heuristic:
271 choose the ref that minimizes the number of commits in the
272 first-parent history of `<committish>` and not in the first-parent
275 For example, consider the following figure of first-parent histories of
279 *--*--*--*--*--* refs/heads/A
282 *--*--*--* refs/heads/B
291 Here, if `A`, `B`, and `C` are the filtered references, and the format
292 string is `%(refname):%(is-base:D)`, then the output would be
300 This is because the first-parent history of `D` has its earliest
301 intersection with the first-parent histories of the filtered refs at a
302 common first-parent ancestor of `B` and `C` and ties are broken by the
303 earliest ref in the sorted order.
305 Note that this token will not appear if the first-parent history of
306 `<committish>` does not intersect the first-parent histories of the
310 A human-readable name, like linkgit:git-describe[1];
311 empty string for undescribable commits. The `describe` string may
312 be followed by a colon and one or more comma-separated options.
316 Instead of only considering annotated tags, consider
317 lightweight tags as well; see the corresponding option in
318 linkgit:git-describe[1] for details.
320 Use at least <number> hexadecimal digits; see the corresponding
321 option in linkgit:git-describe[1] for details.
323 Only consider tags matching the given `glob(7)` pattern,
324 excluding the "refs/tags/" prefix; see the corresponding option
325 in linkgit:git-describe[1] for details.
327 Do not consider tags matching the given `glob(7)` pattern,
328 excluding the "refs/tags/" prefix; see the corresponding option
329 in linkgit:git-describe[1] for details.
332 In addition to the above, for commit and tag objects, the header
333 field names (`tree`, `parent`, `object`, `type`, and `tag`) can
334 be used to specify the value in the header field.
335 Fields `tree` and `parent` can also be used with modifier `:short` and
336 `:short=<length>` just like `objectname`.
338 For commit and tag objects, the special `creatordate` and `creator`
339 fields will correspond to the appropriate date or name-email-date tuple
340 from the `committer` or `tagger` fields depending on the object type.
341 These are intended for working on a mix of annotated and lightweight tags.
343 For tag objects, a `fieldname` prefixed with an asterisk (`*`) expands to
344 the `fieldname` value of the peeled object, rather than that of the tag
347 Fields that have name-email-date tuple as its value (`author`,
348 `committer`, and `tagger`) can be suffixed with `name`, `email`,
349 and `date` to extract the named component. For email fields (`authoremail`,
350 `committeremail` and `taggeremail`), `:trim` can be appended to get the email
351 without angle brackets, and `:localpart` to get the part before the `@` symbol
352 out of the trimmed email. In addition to these, the `:mailmap` option and the
353 corresponding `:mailmap,trim` and `:mailmap,localpart` can be used (order does
354 not matter) to get values of the name and email according to the .mailmap file
355 or according to the file set in the mailmap.file or mailmap.blob configuration
356 variable (see linkgit:gitmailmap[5]).
358 The raw data in an object is `raw`.
361 The raw data size of the object.
363 Note that `--format=%(raw)` can not be used with `--python`, `--shell`, `--tcl`,
364 because such language may not support arbitrary binary data in their string
367 The message in a commit or a tag object is `contents`, from which
368 `contents:<part>` can be used to extract various parts out of:
371 The size in bytes of the commit or tag message.
374 The first paragraph of the message, which typically is a
375 single line, is taken as the "subject" of the commit or the
377 Instead of `contents:subject`, field `subject` can also be used to
378 obtain same results. `:sanitize` can be appended to `subject` for
379 subject line suitable for filename.
382 The remainder of the commit or the tag message that follows
386 The optional GPG signature of the tag.
389 The first `N` lines of the message.
391 Additionally, the trailers as interpreted by linkgit:git-interpret-trailers[1]
392 are obtained as `trailers[:options]` (or by using the historical alias
393 `contents:trailers[:options]`). For valid [:option] values see `trailers`
394 section of linkgit:git-log[1].
396 For sorting purposes, fields with numeric values sort in numeric order
397 (`objectsize`, `authordate`, `committerdate`, `creatordate`, `taggerdate`).
398 All other fields are used to sort in their byte-value order.
400 There is also an option to sort by versions, this can be done by using
401 the fieldname `version:refname` or its alias `v:refname`.
403 In any case, a field name that refers to a field inapplicable to
404 the object referred by the ref does not cause an error. It
405 returns an empty string instead.
407 As a special case for the date-type fields, you may specify a format for the
408 date by adding `:` followed by date format name (see the values the `--date`
409 option to linkgit:git-rev-list[1] takes). If this formatting is provided in
410 a `--sort` key, references will be sorted according to the byte-value of the
411 formatted string rather than the numeric value of the underlying timestamp.
413 Some atoms like %(align) and %(if) always require a matching %(end).
414 We call them "opening atoms" and sometimes denote them as %($open).
416 When a scripting language specific quoting is in effect, everything
417 between a top-level opening atom and its matching %(end) is evaluated
418 according to the semantics of the opening atom and only its result
419 from the top-level is quoted.
425 An example directly producing formatted text. Show the most recent
431 git for-each-ref --count=3 --sort='-*authordate' \
432 --format='From: %(*authorname) %(*authoremail)
442 A simple example showing the use of shell eval on the output,
443 demonstrating the use of --shell. List the prefixes of all heads:
447 git for-each-ref --shell --format="ref=%(refname)" refs/heads | \
456 A bit more elaborate report on tags, demonstrating that the format
457 may be an entire script:
476 # could be a lightweight tag
478 kind="Lightweight tag"
486 echo "$kind $T points at a $t object $o"
487 if test "z$t" = zcommit
489 echo "The commit was authored by $n $e
494 Its message reads as:
496 echo "$b" | sed -e "s/^/ /"
501 eval=`git for-each-ref --shell --format="$fmt" \
502 --sort='*objecttype' \
509 An example to show the usage of %(if)...%(then)...%(else)...%(end).
510 This prefixes the current branch with a star.
513 git for-each-ref --format="%(if)%(HEAD)%(then)* %(else) %(end)%(refname:short)" refs/heads/
517 An example to show the usage of %(if)...%(then)...%(end).
518 This prints the authorname, if present.
521 git for-each-ref --format="%(refname)%(if)%(authorname)%(then) Authored by: %(authorname)%(end)"
527 Note that the sizes of objects on disk are reported accurately, but care
528 should be taken in drawing conclusions about which refs or objects are
529 responsible for disk usage. The size of a packed non-delta object may be
530 much larger than the size of objects which delta against it, but the
531 choice of which object is the base and which is the delta is arbitrary
532 and is subject to change during a repack.
534 Note also that multiple copies of an object may be present in the object
535 database; in this case, it is undefined which copy's size or delta base
541 include::ref-reachability-filters.txt[]
545 linkgit:git-show-ref[1]
549 Part of the linkgit:git[1] suite