Git Trees

A Git tree object creates the hierarchy between files in a Git repository. You can use the Git tree object to create the relationship between directories and the files they contain. These endpoints allow you to read and write tree objects to your Git database on GitHub. See the Git Database API for more details.

Get a tree

Returns a single tree using the SHA1 value for that tree.

If truncated is true in the response then the number of items in the tree array exceeded our maximum limit. If you need to fetch more items, use the non-recursive method of fetching trees, and fetch one sub-tree at a time.

GET /repos/:owner/:repo/git/trees/:tree_sha

Parameters

Name Type Description
recursive string Setting this parameter to any value returns the objects or subtrees referenced by the tree specified in :tree_sha. For example, setting recursive to any of the following will enable returning objects or subtrees: 0, 1, "true", and "false". Omit this parameter to prevent recursively returning objects or subtrees.

Response

Status: 200 OK

{
  "sha": "9fb037999f264ba9a7fc6274d15fa3ae2ab98312",
  "url": "https://api.github.com/repos/octocat/Hello-World/trees/9fb037999f264ba9a7fc6274d15fa3ae2ab98312",
  "tree": [
    {
      "path": "file.rb",
      "mode": "100644",
      "type": "blob",
      "size": 30,
      "sha": "44b4fc6d56897b048c772eb4087f854f46256132",
      "url": "https://api.github.com/repos/octocat/Hello-World/git/blobs/44b4fc6d56897b048c772eb4087f854f46256132"
    },
    {
      "path": "subdir",
      "mode": "040000",
      "type": "tree",
      "sha": "f484d249c660418515fb01c2b9662073663c242e",
      "url": "https://api.github.com/repos/octocat/Hello-World/git/blobs/f484d249c660418515fb01c2b9662073663c242e"
    },
    {
      "path": "exec_file",
      "mode": "100755",
      "type": "blob",
      "size": 75,
      "sha": "45b983be36b73c0788dc9cbcb76cbb80fc7bb057",
      "url": "https://api.github.com/repos/octocat/Hello-World/git/blobs/45b983be36b73c0788dc9cbcb76cbb80fc7bb057"
    }
  ],
  "truncated": false
}

Response recursively retrieving a tree

Status: 200 OK

{
  "sha": "fc6274d15fa3ae2ab983129fb037999f264ba9a7",
  "url": "https://api.github.com/repos/octocat/Hello-World/trees/fc6274d15fa3ae2ab983129fb037999f264ba9a7",
  "tree": [
    {
      "path": "subdir/file.txt",
      "mode": "100644",
      "type": "blob",
      "size": 132,
      "sha": "7c258a9869f33c1e1e1f74fbb32f07c86cb5a75b",
      "url": "https://api.github.com/repos/octocat/Hello-World/git/7c258a9869f33c1e1e1f74fbb32f07c86cb5a75b"
    }
  ],
  "truncated": false
}

Create a tree

The tree creation API accepts nested entries. If you specify both a tree and a nested path modifying that tree, this endpoint will overwrite the contents of the tree with the new path contents, and create a new tree structure.

If you use this endpoint to add, delete, or modify the file contents in a tree, you will need to commit the tree and then update a branch to point to the commit. For more information see "Create a commit" and "Update a reference."

POST /repos/:owner/:repo/git/trees

Parameters

Name Type Description
tree array of objects Required. Objects (of path, mode, type, and sha) specifying a tree structure.
base_tree string The SHA1 of the tree you want to update with new data. If you don't set this, the commit will be created on top of everything; however, it will only contain your change, the rest of your files will show up as deleted.

tree object

Name Type Description
path string The file referenced in the tree.
mode string The file mode; one of 100644 for file (blob), 100755 for executable (blob), 040000 for subdirectory (tree), 160000 for submodule (commit), or 120000 for a blob that specifies the path of a symlink.
type string Either blob, tree, or commit.
sha string or null The SHA1 checksum ID of the object in the tree. Also called tree.sha. If the value is null then the file will be deleted.

Note: Use either tree.sha or content to specify the contents of the entry. Using both tree.sha and content will return an error.
content string The content you want this file to have. GitHub will write this blob out and use that SHA for this entry. Use either this, or tree.sha.

Note: Use either tree.sha or content to specify the contents of the entry. Using both tree.sha and content will return an error.

Input

{
  "base_tree": "9fb037999f264ba9a7fc6274d15fa3ae2ab98312",
  "tree": [
    {
      "path": "file.rb",
      "mode": "100644",
      "type": "blob",
      "sha": "44b4fc6d56897b048c772eb4087f854f46256132"
    }
  ]
}

Response

Status: 201 Created
Location: https://api.github.com/repos/octocat/Hello-World/trees/cd8274d15fa3ae2ab983129fb037999f264ba9a7

{
  "sha": "cd8274d15fa3ae2ab983129fb037999f264ba9a7",
  "url": "https://api.github.com/repos/octocat/Hello-World/trees/cd8274d15fa3ae2ab983129fb037999f264ba9a7",
  "tree": [
    {
      "path": "file.rb",
      "mode": "100644",
      "type": "blob",
      "size": 132,
      "sha": "7c258a9869f33c1e1e1f74fbb32f07c86cb5a75b",
      "url": "https://api.github.com/repos/octocat/Hello-World/git/blobs/7c258a9869f33c1e1e1f74fbb32f07c86cb5a75b"
    }
  ]
}