GIT-INIT(1) Git Manual GIT-INIT(1)

NAME

git-init - Create an empty Git repository or reinitialize an existing
one

SYNOPSIS

git init [-q | --quiet] [--bare] [--template=<template-directory>]
[--separate-git-dir <git-dir>] [--object-format=<format>]
[--ref-format=<format>]
[-b <branch-name> | --initial-branch=<branch-name>]
[--shared[=<permissions>]] [<directory>]

DESCRIPTION

This command creates an empty Git repository - basically a .git
directory with subdirectories for objects, refs/heads, refs/tags, and
template files. An initial branch without any commits will be created
(see the --initial-branch option below for its name).

If the GIT_DIR environment variable is set then it specifies a path
to use instead of ./.git for the base of the repository.

If the object storage directory is specified via the
GIT_OBJECT_DIRECTORY environment variable then the sha1 directories
are created underneath; otherwise, the default $GIT_DIR/objects
directory is used.

Running git init in an existing repository is safe. It will not
overwrite things that are already there. The primary reason for
rerunning git init is to pick up newly added templates (or to move
the repository to another place if --separate-git-dir is given).

OPTIONS

-q, --quiet
Only print error and warning messages; all other output will be
suppressed.

--bare
Create a bare repository. If GIT_DIR environment is not set, it
is set to the current working directory.

--object-format=<format>
Specify the given object <format> (hash algorithm) for the
repository. The valid values are sha1 and (if enabled) sha256.
sha1 is the default.

Note: At present, there is no interoperability between SHA-256
repositories and SHA-1 repositories.

Historically, we warned that SHA-256 repositories may later need
backward incompatible changes when we introduce such interoperability
features. Today, we only expect compatible changes. Furthermore, if
such changes prove to be necessary, it can be expected that SHA-256
repositories created with today's Git will be usable by future
versions of Git without data loss.

--ref-format=<format>
Specify the given ref storage <format> for the repository. The
valid values are:

+o files for loose files with packed-refs. This is the default.

+o reftable for the reftable format. This format is experimental
and its internals are subject to change.

--template=<template-directory>
Specify the directory from which templates will be used. (See the
"TEMPLATE DIRECTORY" section below.)

--separate-git-dir=<git-dir>
Instead of initializing the repository as a directory to either
$GIT_DIR or ./.git/, create a text file there containing the path
to the actual repository. This file acts as a filesystem-agnostic
Git symbolic link to the repository.

If this is a reinitialization, the repository will be moved to
the specified path.

-b <branch-name>, --initial-branch=<branch-name>
Use <branch-name> for the initial branch in the newly created
repository. If not specified, fall back to the default name
(currently master, but this is subject to change in the future;
the name can be customized via the init.defaultBranch
configuration variable).

--shared[=(false|true|umask|group|all|world|everybody|<perm>)]
Specify that the Git repository is to be shared amongst several
users. This allows users belonging to the same group to push into
that repository. When specified, the config variable
core.sharedRepository is set so that files and directories under
$GIT_DIR are created with the requested permissions. When not
specified, Git will use permissions reported by umask(2).

The option can have the following values, defaulting to group if
no value is given:

umask, false
Use permissions reported by umask(2). The default, when
--shared is not specified.

group, true
Make the repository group-writable, (and g+sx, since the git
group may not be the primary group of all users). This is
used to loosen the permissions of an otherwise safe umask(2)
value. Note that the umask still applies to the other
permission bits (e.g. if umask is 0022, using group will not
remove read privileges from other (non-group) users). See
0xxx for how to exactly specify the repository permissions.

all, world, everybody
Same as group, but make the repository readable by all users.

<perm>
<perm> is a 3-digit octal number prefixed with 0 and each
file will have mode <perm>. <perm> will override users'
umask(2) value (and not only loosen permissions as group and
all do). 0640 will create a repository which is
group-readable, but not group-writable or accessible to
others. 0660 will create a repo that is readable and
writable to the current user and group, but inaccessible to
others (directories and executable files get their x bit from
the r bit for corresponding classes of users).

By default, the configuration flag receive.denyNonFastForwards is
enabled in shared repositories, so that you cannot force a non
fast-forwarding push into it.

If you provide a <directory>, the command is run inside it. If this
directory does not exist, it will be created.

TEMPLATE DIRECTORY

Files and directories in the template directory whose name do not
start with a dot will be copied to the $GIT_DIR after it is created.

The template directory will be one of the following (in order):

+o the argument given with the --template option;

+o the contents of the $GIT_TEMPLATE_DIR environment variable;

+o the init.templateDir configuration variable; or

+o the default template directory: /usr/share/git-core/templates.

The default template directory includes some directory structure,
suggested "exclude patterns" (see gitignore(5)), and sample hook
files.

The sample hooks are all disabled by default. To enable one of the
sample hooks rename it by removing its .sample suffix.

See githooks(5) for more general info on hook execution.

EXAMPLES

Start a new Git repository for an existing code base

$ cd /path/to/my/codebase
$ git init (1)
$ git add . (2)
$ git commit (3)

1. Create a
/path/to/my/codebase/.git
directory.
2. Add all existing files to
the index.
3. Record the pristine state
as the first commit in
the history.

CONFIGURATION

Everything below this line in this section is selectively included
from the git-config(1) documentation. The content is the same as
what's found there:

init.templateDir
Specify the directory from which templates will be copied.

init.defaultBranch
Allows overriding the default branch name e.g. when initializing
a new repository.

init.defaultObjectFormat
Allows overriding the default object format for new repositories.
See --object-format= in git-init(1). Both the command line option
and the GIT_DEFAULT_HASH environment variable take precedence
over this config.

init.defaultRefFormat
Allows overriding the default ref storage format for new
repositories. See --ref-format= in git-init(1). Both the command
line option and the GIT_DEFAULT_REF_FORMAT environment variable
take precedence over this config.

GIT

Part of the git(1) suite

Git 2.48.1 2025-01-13 GIT-INIT(1)