Git - git-show Documentation

git-show last updated in 2.52.0

NAME

git-show - Show various types of objects

SYNOPSIS

git show [<options>] [<object>…]

DESCRIPTION

Shows one or more objects (blobs, trees, tags and commits).

For commits it shows the log message and textual diff. It also presents the merge commit in a special format as produced by git diff-tree --cc.

For tags, it shows the tag message and the referenced objects.

For trees, it shows the names (equivalent to git ls-tree with --name-only).

For plain blobs, it shows the plain contents.

The command takes options applicable to the git diff-tree command to control how the changes the commit introduces are shown.

This manual page describes only the most frequently used options.

OPTIONS

<object>…: The names of objects to show (defaults to HEAD). For a more complete list of ways to spell object names, see "SPECIFYING REVISIONS" section in gitrevisions[7].
--pretty[=<format>]
--format=<format>: Pretty-print the contents of the commit logs in a given format, where <format> can be one of oneline, short, medium, full, fuller, reference, email, raw, format:<string> and tformat:<string>. When <format> is none of the above, and has %placeholder in it, it acts as if --pretty=tformat:<format> were given.

See the "PRETTY FORMATS" section for some additional details for each format. When =<format> part is omitted, it defaults to medium.

Note: you can specify the default pretty format in the repository configuration (see git-config[1]).
--abbrev-commit: Instead of showing the full 40-byte hexadecimal commit object name, show a prefix that names the object uniquely. "--abbrev=<n>" (which also modifies diff output, if it is displayed) option can be used to specify the minimum length of the prefix.

This should make "--pretty=oneline" a whole lot more readable for people using 80-column terminals.
--no-abbrev-commit: Show the full 40-byte hexadecimal commit object name. This negates --abbrev-commit, either explicit or implied by other options such as "--oneline". It also overrides the log.abbrevCommit variable.
--oneline: This is a shorthand for "--pretty=oneline --abbrev-commit" used together.
--encoding=<encoding>: The commit objects record the encoding used for the log message in their encoding header; this option can be used to tell the command to re-code the commit log message in the encoding preferred by the user. For non plumbing commands this defaults to UTF-8. Note that if an object claims to be encoded in X and we are outputting in X, we will output the object verbatim; this means that invalid sequences in the original commit may be copied to the output.
--expand-tabs=<n>
--expand-tabs
--no-expand-tabs: Perform a tab expansion (replace each tab with enough spaces to fill to the next display column that is multiple of <n>) in the log message before showing it in the output. --expand-tabs is a short-hand for --expand-tabs=8, and --no-expand-tabs is a short-hand for --expand-tabs=0, which disables tab expansion.

By default, tabs are expanded in pretty formats that indent the log message by 4 spaces (i.e. medium, which is the default, full, and fuller).
--notes[=<ref>]: Show the notes (see git-notes[1]) that annotate the commit, when showing the commit log message. This is the default for git log, git show and git whatchanged commands when there is no --pretty, --format, or --oneline option given on the command line.

By default, the notes shown are from the notes refs listed in the core.notesRef and notes.displayRef variables (or corresponding environment overrides). See git-config[1] for more details.

With an optional <ref> argument, use the ref to find the notes to display. The ref can specify the full refname when it begins with refs/notes/; when it begins with notes/, refs/ and otherwise refs/notes/ is prefixed to form a full name of the ref.

Multiple --notes options can be combined to control which notes are being displayed. Examples: "--notes=foo" will show only notes from "refs/notes/foo"; "--notes=foo --notes" will show both notes from "refs/notes/foo" and from the default notes ref(s).
--no-notes: Do not show notes. This negates the above --notes option, by resetting the list of notes refs from which notes are shown. Options are parsed in the order given on the command line, so e.g. "--notes --notes=foo --no-notes --notes=bar" will only show notes from "refs/notes/bar".
--show-notes[=<ref>]
--[no-]standard-notes: These options are deprecated. Use the above --notes/--no-notes options instead.
--show-signature: Check the validity of a signed commit object by passing the signature to gpg --verify and show the output.

PRETTY FORMATS

If the commit is a merge, and if the pretty-format is not oneline, email or raw, an additional line is inserted before the Author: line. This line begins with "Merge: " and the hashes of ancestral commits are printed, separated by spaces. Note that the listed commits may not necessarily be the list of the direct parent commits if you have limited your view of history: for example, if you are only interested in changes related to a certain directory or file.

There are several built-in formats, and you can define additional formats by setting a pretty.<name> config option to either another format name, or a format: string, as described below (see git-config[1]). Here are the details of the built-in formats:

oneline
```
<hash> <title line>
```
This is designed to be as compact as possible.

short

commit <hash>
Author: <author>

<title line>

medium

commit <hash>
Author: <author>
Date:   <author date>

<title line>

<full commit message>

full

commit <hash>
Author: <author>
Commit: <committer>

<title line>

<full commit message>

fuller

commit <hash>
Author:     <author>
AuthorDate: <author date>
Commit:     <committer>
CommitDate: <committer date>

<title line>

<full commit message>

reference
```
<abbrev hash> (<title line>, <short author date>)
```
This format is used to refer to another commit in a commit message and is the same as --pretty='format:%C(auto)%h (%s, %ad). By default, the date is formatted with --date=short unless another --date option is explicitly specified. As with any format: with format placeholders, its output is not affected by other options like --decorate and --walk-reflogs.

email

From <hash> <date>
From: <author>
Date: <author date>
Subject: [PATCH] <title line>

<full commit message>

mboxrd

Like email, but lines in the commit message starting with "From " (preceded by zero or more ">") are quoted with ">" so they aren’t confused as starting a new commit.
raw

The raw format shows the entire commit exactly as stored in the commit object. Notably, the hashes are displayed in full, regardless of whether --abbrev or --no-abbrev are used, and parents information show the true parent commits, without taking grafts or history simplification into account. Note that this format affects the way commits are displayed, but not the way the diff is shown e.g. with git log --raw. To get full object names in a raw diff format, use --no-abbrev.
format:<string>

The format:<string> format allows you to specify which information you want to show. It works a little bit like printf format, with the notable exception that you get a newline with %n instead of \n.

E.g, format:"The author of %h was %an, %ar%nThe title was >>%s<<%n" would show something like this:
```
The author of fe6e0ee was Junio C Hamano, 23 hours ago
The title was >>t4119: test autocomputing -p<n> for traditional diff input.<<
```
The placeholders are:
- Placeholders that expand to a single literal character:
  
  %n
  
  newline
  
  %%
  
  a raw %
  
  %x00
  
  print a byte from a hex code
- Placeholders that affect formatting of later placeholders:
  
  %Cred
  
  switch color to red
  
  %Cgreen
  
  switch color to green
  
  %Cblue
  
  switch color to blue
  
  %Creset
  
  reset color
  
  %C(…)
  
  color specification, as described under Values in the "CONFIGURATION FILE" section of git-config[1]. By default, colors are shown only when enabled for log output (by color.diff, color.ui, or --color, and respecting the auto settings of the former if we are going to a terminal). %C(auto,...) is accepted as a historical synonym for the default (e.g., %C(auto,red)). Specifying %C(always,...) will show the colors even when color is not otherwise enabled (though consider just using --color=always to enable color for the whole output, including this format and anything else git might color). auto alone (i.e. %C(auto)) will turn on auto coloring on the next placeholders until the color is switched again.
  
  %m
  
  left (<), right (>) or boundary (-) mark
  
  %w([<w>[,<i1>[,<i2>]]])
  
  switch line wrapping, like the -w option of git-shortlog[1].
  
  %<(<N>[,trunc|ltrunc|mtrunc])
  
  make the next placeholder take at least N columns, padding spaces on the right if necessary. Optionally truncate at the beginning (ltrunc), the middle (mtrunc) or the end (trunc) if the output is longer than N columns. Note that truncating only works correctly with N >= 2.
  
  %<|(<N>)
  
  make the next placeholder take at least until Nth columns, padding spaces on the right if necessary
  
  %>(<N>), %>|(<N>)
  
  similar to %<(<N>), %<|(<N>) respectively, but padding spaces on the left
  
  %>>(<N>), %>>|(<N>)
  
  similar to %>(<N>), %>|(<N>) respectively, except that if the next placeholder takes more spaces than given and there are spaces on its left, use those spaces
  
  %><(<N>), %><|(<N>)
  
  similar to %<(<N>), %<|(<N>) respectively, but padding both sides (i.e. the text is centered)
- Placeholders that expand to information extracted from the commit:
  %H
  
  commit hash
  
  %h
  
  abbreviated commit hash
  
  %T
  
  tree hash
  
  %t
  
  abbreviated tree hash
  
  %P
  
  parent hashes
  
  %p
  
  abbreviated parent hashes
  
  %an
  
  author name
  
  %aN
  
  author name (respecting .mailmap, see git-shortlog[1] or git-blame[1])
  
  %ae
  
  author email
  
  %aE
  
  author email (respecting .mailmap, see git-shortlog[1] or git-blame[1])
  
  %al
  
  author email local-part (the part before the @ sign)
  
  %aL
  
  author local-part (see %al) respecting .mailmap, see git-shortlog[1] or git-blame[1])
  
  %ad
  
  author date (format respects --date= option)
  
  %aD
  
  author date, RFC2822 style
  
  %ar
  
  author date, relative
  
  %at
  
  author date, UNIX timestamp
  
  %ai
  
  author date, ISO 8601-like format
  
  %aI
  
  author date, strict ISO 8601 format
  
  %as
  
  author date, short format (YYYY-MM-DD)
  
  %ah
  
  author date, human style (like the --date=human option of git-rev-list[1])
  
  %cn
  
  committer name
  
  %cN
  
  committer name (respecting .mailmap, see git-shortlog[1] or git-blame[1])
  
  %ce
  
  committer email
  
  %cE
  
  committer email (respecting .mailmap, see git-shortlog[1] or git-blame[1])
  
  %cl
  
  committer email local-part (the part before the @ sign)
  
  %cL
  
  committer local-part (see %cl) respecting .mailmap, see git-shortlog[1] or git-blame[1])
  
  %cd
  
  committer date (format respects --date= option)
  
  %cD
  
  committer date, RFC2822 style
  
  %cr
  
  committer date, relative
  
  %ct
  
  committer date, UNIX timestamp
  
  %ci
  
  committer date, ISO 8601-like format
  
  %cI
  
  committer date, strict ISO 8601 format
  
  %cs
  
  committer date, short format (YYYY-MM-DD)
  
  %ch
  
  committer date, human style (like the --date=human option of git-rev-list[1])
  
  %d
  
  ref names, like the --decorate option of git-log[1]
  
  %D
  
  ref names without the " (", ")" wrapping.
  
  %(describe[:options])
  
  human-readable name, like git-describe[1]; empty string for undescribable commits. The describe string may be followed by a colon and zero or more comma-separated options. Descriptions can be inconsistent when tags are added or removed at the same time.
  
  match=<pattern>: Only consider tags matching the given glob(7) pattern, excluding the "refs/tags/" prefix.
  
  exclude=<pattern>: Do not consider tags matching the given glob(7) pattern, excluding the "refs/tags/" prefix.
  
  %S
  
  ref name given on the command line by which the commit was reached (like git log --source), only works with git log
  
  %e
  
  encoding
  
  %s
  
  subject
  
  %f
  
  sanitized subject line, suitable for a filename
  
  %b
  
  body
  
  %B
  
  raw body (unwrapped subject and body)
  
  %N
  
  commit notes
  
  %GG
  
  raw verification message from GPG for a signed commit
  
  %G?
  
  show "G" for a good (valid) signature, "B" for a bad signature, "U" for a good signature with unknown validity, "X" for a good signature that has expired, "Y" for a good signature made by an expired key, "R" for a good signature made by a revoked key, "E" if the signature cannot be checked (e.g. missing key) and "N" for no signature
  
  %GS
  
  show the name of the signer for a signed commit
  
  %GK
  
  show the key used to sign a signed commit
  
  %GF
  
  show the fingerprint of the key used to sign a signed commit
  
  %GP
  
  show the fingerprint of the primary key whose subkey was used to sign a signed commit
  
  %GT
  
  show the trust level for the key used to sign a signed commit
  
  %gD
  
  reflog selector, e.g., refs/stash@{1} or refs/stash@{2 minutes ago}; the format follows the rules described for the -g option. The portion before the @ is the refname as given on the command line (so git log -g refs/heads/master would yield refs/heads/master@{0}).
  
  %gd
  
  shortened reflog selector; same as %gD, but the refname portion is shortened for human readability (so refs/heads/master becomes just master).
  
  %gn
  
  reflog identity name
  
  %gN
  
  reflog identity name (respecting .mailmap, see git-shortlog[1] or git-blame[1])
  
  %ge
  
  reflog identity email
  
  %gE
  
  reflog identity email (respecting .mailmap, see git-shortlog[1] or git-blame[1])
  
  %gs
  
  reflog subject
  
  %(trailers[:options])
  
  display the trailers of the body as interpreted by git-interpret-trailers[1]. The trailers string may be followed by a colon and zero or more comma-separated options. If any option is provided multiple times the last occurrence wins.
  
  The boolean options accept an optional value [=<BOOL>]. The values true, false, on, off etc. are all accepted. See the "boolean" sub-section in "EXAMPLES" in git-config[1]. If a boolean option is given with no value, it’s enabled.
  
  key=<K>: only show trailers with specified key. Matching is done case-insensitively and trailing colon is optional. If option is given multiple times trailer lines matching any of the keys are shown. This option automatically enables the only option so that non-trailer lines in the trailer block are hidden. If that is not desired it can be disabled with only=false. E.g., %(trailers:key=Reviewed-by) shows trailer lines with key Reviewed-by.
  
  only[=<BOOL>]: select whether non-trailer lines from the trailer block should be included.
  
  separator=<SEP>: specify a separator inserted between trailer lines. When this option is not given each trailer line is terminated with a line feed character. The string SEP may contain the literal formatting codes described above. To use comma as separator one must use %x2C as it would otherwise be parsed as next option. E.g., %(trailers:key=Ticket,separator=%x2C ) shows all trailer lines whose key is "Ticket" separated by a comma and a space.
  
  unfold[=<BOOL>]: make it behave as if interpret-trailer’s --unfold option was given. E.g., %(trailers:only,unfold=true) unfolds and shows all trailer lines.
  
  keyonly[=<BOOL>]: only show the key part of the trailer.
  
  valueonly[=<BOOL>]: only show the value part of the trailer.
  
  key_value_separator=<SEP>: specify a separator inserted between trailer lines. When this option is not given each trailer key-value pair is separated by ": ". Otherwise it shares the same semantics as separator=<SEP> above.

Note

Some placeholders may depend on other options given to the revision traversal engine. For example, the %g* reflog options will insert an empty string unless we are traversing reflog entries (e.g., by git log -g). The %d and %D placeholders will use the "short" decoration format if --decorate was not already provided on the command line.

If you add a + (plus sign) after % of a placeholder, a line-feed is inserted immediately before the expansion if and only if the placeholder expands to a non-empty string.

If you add a - (minus sign) after % of a placeholder, all consecutive line-feeds immediately preceding the expansion are deleted if and only if the placeholder expands to an empty string.

If you add a ` ` (space) after % of a placeholder, a space is inserted immediately before the expansion if and only if the placeholder expands to a non-empty string.

tformat:

The tformat: format works exactly like format:, except that it provides "terminator" semantics instead of "separator" semantics. In other words, each commit has the message terminator character (usually a newline) appended, rather than a separator placed between entries. This means that the final entry of a single-line format will be properly terminated with a new line, just as the "oneline" format does. For example:
```
$ git log -2 --pretty=format:%h 4da45bef \
  | perl -pe '$_ .= " -- NO NEWLINE\n" unless /\n/'
4da45be
7134973 -- NO NEWLINE

$ git log -2 --pretty=tformat:%h 4da45bef \
  | perl -pe '$_ .= " -- NO NEWLINE\n" unless /\n/'
4da45be
7134973
```
In addition, any unrecognized string that has a % in it is interpreted as if it has tformat: in front of it. For example, these two are equivalent:
```
$ git log -2 --pretty=tformat:%h 4da45bef
$ git log -2 --pretty=%h 4da45bef
```

DIFF FORMATTING

The options below can be used to change the way git show generates diff output.

-p

-u

--patch

Generate patch (see section on generating patches).

-s

--no-patch

Suppress diff output. Useful for commands like git show that show the patch by default, or to cancel the effect of --patch.

--diff-merges=(off|none|on|first-parent|1|separate|m|combined|c|dense-combined|cc)

--no-diff-merges

Specify diff format to be used for merge commits. Default is `dense-combined` unless --first-parent is in use, in which case first-parent is the default.

--diff-merges=(off|none)
--no-diff-merges: Disable output of diffs for merge commits. Useful to override implied value.
--diff-merges=on
--diff-merges=m
-m: This option makes diff output for merge commits to be shown in the default format. -m will produce the output only if -p is given as well. The default format could be changed using log.diffMerges configuration parameter, which default value is separate.
--diff-merges=first-parent
--diff-merges=1: This option makes merge commits show the full diff with respect to the first parent only.
--diff-merges=separate: This makes merge commits show the full diff with respect to each of the parents. Separate log entry and diff is generated for each parent.
--diff-merges=combined
--diff-merges=c
-c: With this option, diff output for a merge commit shows the differences from each of the parents to the merge result simultaneously instead of showing pairwise diff between a parent and the result one at a time. Furthermore, it lists only files which were modified from all parents. -c implies -p.
--diff-merges=dense-combined
--diff-merges=cc
--cc: With this option the output produced by --diff-merges=combined is further compressed by omitting uninteresting hunks whose contents in the parents have only two variants and the merge result picks one of them without modification. --cc implies -p.

--combined-all-paths

This flag causes combined diffs (used for merge commits) to list the name of the file from all parents. It thus only has effect when --diff-merges=[dense-]combined is in use, and is likely only useful if filename changes are detected (i.e. when either rename or copy detection have been requested).

-U<n>

--unified=<n>

Generate diffs with <n> lines of context instead of the usual three. Implies --patch.

--output=<file>

Output to a specific file instead of stdout.

--output-indicator-new=<char>

--output-indicator-old=<char>

--output-indicator-context=<char>

Specify the character used to indicate new, old or context lines in the generated patch. Normally they are +, - and ' ' respectively.

--raw

For each commit, show a summary of changes using the raw diff format. See the "RAW OUTPUT FORMAT" section of git-diff[1]. This is different from showing the log itself in raw format, which you can achieve with --format=raw.

--patch-with-raw

Synonym for -p --raw.

-t

Show the tree objects in the diff output.

--indent-heuristic

Enable the heuristic that shifts diff hunk boundaries to make patches easier to read. This is the default.

Setup and Config

Getting and Creating Projects

Basic Snapshotting

Branching and Merging

Sharing and Updating Projects

Inspection and Comparison

Patching

Debugging

Email

External Systems

Server Admin

Guides

Administration