GIT-SEND-PACK(1) Git Manual GIT-SEND-PACK(1)

NAME

git-send-pack - Push objects over Git protocol to another repository

SYNOPSIS

git send-pack [--mirror] [--dry-run] [--force]
[--receive-pack=<git-receive-pack>]
[--verbose] [--thin] [--atomic]
[--[no-]signed | --signed=(true|false|if-asked)]
[<host>:]<directory> (--all | <ref>...)

DESCRIPTION

Usually you would want to use git push, which is a higher-level
wrapper of this command, instead. See git-push(1).

Invokes git-receive-pack on a possibly remote repository, and updates
it from the current repository, sending named refs.

OPTIONS

--receive-pack=<git-receive-pack>
Path to the git-receive-pack program on the remote end. Sometimes
useful when pushing to a remote repository over ssh, and you do
not have the program in a directory on the default $PATH.

--exec=<git-receive-pack>
Same as --receive-pack=<git-receive-pack>.

--all
Instead of explicitly specifying which refs to update, update all
heads that locally exist.

--stdin
Take the list of refs from stdin, one per line. If there are refs
specified on the command line in addition to this option, then
the refs from stdin are processed after those on the command
line.

If --stateless-rpc is specified together with this option then
the list of refs must be in packet format (pkt-line). Each ref
must be in a separate packet, and the list must end with a flush
packet.

--dry-run
Do everything except actually send the updates.

--force
Usually, the command refuses to update a remote ref that is not
an ancestor of the local ref used to overwrite it. This flag
disables the check. This means that the remote repository can
lose commits; use it with care.

--verbose
Run verbosely.

--thin
Send a "thin" pack, which records objects in deltified form based
on objects not included in the pack to reduce network traffic.

--atomic
Use an atomic transaction for updating the refs. If any of the
refs fails to update then the entire push will fail without
changing any refs.

--[no-]signed, --signed=(true|false|if-asked)
GPG-sign the push request to update refs on the receiving side,
to allow it to be checked by the hooks and/or be logged. If false
or --no-signed, no signing will be attempted. If true or
--signed, the push will fail if the server does not support
signed pushes. If set to if-asked, sign if and only if the server
supports signed pushes. The push will also fail if the actual
call to gpg --sign fails. See git-receive-pack(1) for the details
on the receiving end.

--push-option=<string>
Pass the specified string as a push option for consumption by
hooks on the server side. If the server doesn't support push
options, error out. See git-push(1) and githooks(5) for details.

<host>
A remote host to house the repository. When this part is
specified, git-receive-pack is invoked via ssh.

<directory>
The repository to update.

<ref>...
The remote refs to update.

SPECIFYING THE REFS

There are three ways to specify which refs to update on the remote
end.

With the --all flag, all refs that exist locally are transferred to
the remote side. You cannot specify any <ref> if you use this flag.

Without --all and without any <ref>, the heads that exist both on the
local side and on the remote side are updated.

When one or more <ref> are specified explicitly (whether on the
command line or via --stdin), it can be either a single pattern, or a
pair of such patterns separated by a colon ":" (this means that a ref
name cannot have a colon in it). A single pattern <name> is just
shorthand for <name>:<name>.

Each pattern pair consists of the source side (before the colon) and
the destination side (after the colon). The ref to be pushed is
determined by finding a match that matches the source side, and where
it is pushed is determined by using the destination side. The rules
used to match a ref are the same rules used by git rev-parse to
resolve a symbolic ref name. See git-rev-parse(1).

+o It is an error if <src> does not match exactly one of the local
refs.

+o It is an error if <dst> matches more than one remote ref.

+o If <dst> does not match any remote ref, either

+o it has to start with "refs/"; <dst> is used as the
destination literally in this case.

+o <src> == <dst> and the ref that matched the <src> must not
exist in the set of remote refs; the ref matched <src>
locally is used as the name of the destination.

Without --force, the <src> ref is stored at the remote only if <dst>
does not exist, or <dst> is a proper subset (i.e. an ancestor) of
<src>. This check, known as the "fast-forward check", is performed to
avoid accidentally overwriting the remote ref and losing other
people's commits from there.

With --force, the fast-forward check is disabled for all refs.

Optionally, a <ref> parameter can be prefixed with a plus + sign to
disable the fast-forward check only on that ref.

GIT

Part of the git(1) suite

Git 2.48.1 2025-01-13 GIT-SEND-PACK(1)