English ▾ Topics ▾ Version 2.33.0 ▾ git-rev-parse last updated in 2.56.0

NAME

git-rev-parse - Pick out and massage parameters

SYNOPSIS

git rev-parse [<options>] <args>…​

DESCRIPTION

Many Git porcelainish commands take mixture of flags (i.e. parameters that begin with a dash -) and parameters meant for the underlying git rev-list command they use internally and flags and parameters for the other commands they use downstream of git rev-list. This command is used to distinguish between them.

OPTIONS

Operation Modes

Each of these options must appear first on the command line.

--parseopt

Use git rev-parse in option parsing mode (see PARSEOPT section below).

--sq-quote

Use git rev-parse in shell quoting mode (see SQ-QUOTE section below). In contrast to the --sq option below, this mode does only quoting. Nothing else is done to command input.

Options for --parseopt

--keep-dashdash

Only meaningful in --parseopt mode. Tells the option parser to echo out the first -- met instead of skipping it.

--stop-at-non-option

Only meaningful in --parseopt mode. Lets the option parser stop at the first non-option argument. This can be used to parse sub-commands that take options themselves.

--stuck-long

Only meaningful in --parseopt mode. Output the options in their long form if available, and with their arguments stuck.

Options for Filtering

--revs-only

Do not output flags and parameters not meant for git rev-list command.

--no-revs

Do not output flags and parameters meant for git rev-list command.

--flags

Do not output non-flag parameters.

--no-flags

Do not output flag parameters.

Options for Output

--default <arg>

If there is no parameter given by the user, use <arg> instead.

--prefix <arg>

Behave as if git rev-parse was invoked from the <arg> subdirectory of the working tree. Any relative filenames are resolved as if they are prefixed by <arg> and will be printed in that form.

This can be used to convert arguments to a command run in a subdirectory so that they can still be used after moving to the top-level of the repository. For example:

prefix=$(git rev-parse --show-prefix)
cd "$(git rev-parse --show-toplevel)"
# rev-parse provides the -- needed for 'set'
eval "set $(git rev-parse --sq --prefix "$prefix" -- "$@")"
--verify

Verify that exactly one parameter is provided, and that it can be turned into a raw 20-byte SHA-1 that can be used to access the object database. If so, emit it to the standard output; otherwise, error out.

If you want to make sure that the output actually names an object in your object database and/or can be used as a specific type of object you require, you can add the ^{type} peeling operator to the parameter. For example, git rev-parse "$VAR^{commit}" will make sure $VAR names an existing object that is a commit-ish (i.e. a commit, or an annotated tag that points at a commit). To make sure that $VAR names an existing object of any type, git rev-parse "$VAR^{object}" can be used.

Note that if you are verifying a name from an untrusted source, it is wise to use --end-of-options so that the name argument is not mistaken for another option.

-q
--quiet

Only meaningful in --verify mode. Do not output an error message if the first argument is not a valid object name; instead exit with non-zero status silently. SHA-1s for valid object names are printed to stdout on success.

--sq

Usually the output is made one line per flag and parameter. This option makes output a single line, properly quoted for consumption by shell. Useful when you expect your parameter to contain whitespaces and newlines (e.g. when using pickaxe -S with git diff-*). In contrast to the --sq-quote option, the command input is still interpreted as usual.

--short[=length]

Same as --verify but shortens the object name to a unique prefix with at least length characters. The minimum length is 4, the default is the effective value of the core.abbrev configuration variable (see git-config[1]).

--not

When showing object names, prefix them with ^ and strip ^ prefix from the object names that already have one.

--abbrev-ref[=(strict|loose)]

A non-ambiguous short name of the objects name. The option core.warnAmbiguousRefs is used to select the strict abbreviation mode.

--symbolic

Usually the object names are output in SHA-1 form (with possible ^ prefix); this option makes them output in a form as close to the original input as possible.

--symbolic-full-name

This is similar to --symbolic, but it omits input that are not refs (i.e. branch or tag names; or more explicitly disambiguating "heads/master" form, when you want to name the "master" branch when there is an unfortunately named tag "master"), and show them as full refnames (e.g. "refs/heads/master").

Options for Objects

--all

Show all refs found in refs/.

--branches[=pattern]
--tags[=pattern]
--remotes[=pattern]

Show all branches, tags, or remote-tracking branches, respectively (i.e., refs found in refs/heads, refs/tags, or refs/remotes, respectively).

If a pattern is given, only refs matching the given shell glob are shown. If the pattern does not contain a globbing character (?, *, or [), it is turned into a prefix match by appending /*.

--glob=pattern

Show all refs matching the shell glob pattern pattern. If the pattern does not start with refs/, this is automatically prepended. If the pattern does not contain a globbing character (?, *, or [), it is turned into a prefix match by appending /*.

--exclude=<glob-pattern>

Do not include refs matching <glob-pattern> that the next --all, --branches, --tags, --remotes, or --glob would otherwise consider. Repetitions of this option accumulate exclusion patterns up to the next --all, --branches, --tags, --remotes, or --glob option (other options or arguments do not clear accumulated patterns).

The patterns given should not begin with refs/heads, refs/tags, or refs/remotes when applied to --branches, --tags, or --remotes, respectively, and they must begin with refs/ when applied to --glob or --all. If a trailing /* is intended, it must be given explicitly.

--disambiguate=<prefix>

Show every object whose name begins with the given prefix. The <prefix> must be at least 4 hexadecimal digits long to avoid listing each and every object in the repository by mistake.

Options for Files

--local-env-vars

List the GIT_* environment variables that are local to the repository (e.g. GIT_DIR or GIT_WORK_TREE, but not GIT_EDITOR). Only the names of the variables are listed, not their value, even if they are set.

--path-format=(absolute|relative)

Controls the behavior of certain other options. If specified as absolute, the paths printed by those options will be absolute and canonical. If specified as relative, the paths will be relative to the current working directory if that is possible. The default is option specific.

This option may be specified multiple times and affects only the arguments that follow it on the command line, either to the end of the command line or the next instance of this option.

The following options are modified by --path-format:

--git-dir

Show $GIT_DIR if defined. Otherwise show the path to the .git directory. The path shown, when relative, is relative to the current working directory.

If $GIT_DIR is not defined and the current directory is not detected to lie in a Git repository or work tree print a message to stderr and exit with nonzero status.

--git-common-dir

Show $GIT_COMMON_DIR if defined, else $GIT_DIR.

--resolve-git-dir <path>

Check if <path> is a valid repository or a gitfile that points at a valid repository, and print the location of the repository. If <path> is a gitfile then the resolved path to the real repository is printed.

--git-path <path>

Resolve "$GIT_DIR/<path>" and takes other path relocation variables such as $GIT_OBJECT_DIRECTORY, $GIT_INDEX_FILE…​ into account. For example, if $GIT_OBJECT_DIRECTORY is set to /foo/bar then "git rev-parse --git-path objects/abc" returns /foo/bar/abc.

--show-toplevel

Show the (by default, absolute) path of the top-level directory of the working tree. If there is no working tree, report an error.

--show-superproject-working-tree

Show the absolute path of the root of the superproject’s working tree (if exists) that uses the current repository as its submodule. Outputs nothing if the current repository is not used as a submodule by any project.

--shared-index-path

Show the path to the shared index file in split index mode, or empty if not in split-index mode.

The following options are unaffected by --path-format:

--absolute-git-dir